Singapore - First Day

July 22, 2011 – First day in Singapore

After 2 relatively smooth uneventful airplane rides I successfully landed and passed customs in Singapore.  My 2 pieces of checked luggage surfaced quickly and when I exited the baggage area, there was the head of the school holding a sign welcoming me to Singapore.  The head of the entire school and his wife came to get me at the airport.  I think that is pretty incredible!  And he is doing it for all 42 new faculty members.  I was impressed.

We got to the hotel (The Elizabeth Hotel) about 12:45am.  My roommate had already arrived, so I quietly came into the room and went straight to bed.  

Husky bus - Jill and the luggage!

 This morning, Mylene (my roommate) and I went to breakfast and at 9:30am she was whisked away for apartment shopping and I loaded the Husky bus with new colleagues to the Toh Tuck Campus.  The husky paw is the symbol of CIS (Canadian International School).  I briefly glanced around the Toh Tuck campus, which is the campus I will be working at, as I was led to the computer lab for setting up our emails and getting an orientation session. 

Dorothy, her partner Bruce and I were then bused to the bank to set up our bank accounts.  So within 12 hours I had completed all this!  Dorothy, Bruce and I wandered around the mall the bank was in and had lunch, then took a taxi back to the hotel.

This evening my roommate and I ventured out to the famous road Orchard Road and went to a food court / hawker’s court.  I didn’t stray too far from food I knew and had Pad Thai.

Singapore is a bustling city.  Many high rises but also so many trees, bushes and greenery, its amazing!  There are so many people here. I need to remember to walk on the left and look both ways as they drive on the other side of the road!

Well it is 9pm and I am hoping the No-Jet Lag pills I took will work.  I will be heading to dream land soon but was up most of the day today.  I am anxious about apartment shopping tomorrow as everyone seems to be choosing an apartment the day they tour.  As each new person comes into town, they are basically shown the apartments available – many of us want the same thing a 2 bedroom apartment in a certain area.  If I don’t choose an apartment tomorrow, the next person to go with the realtor could pick the one I was really thinking about. STRESS

So I will keep you updated about what tomorrow brings!