First Few Days in Singapore - Part 1

So let's start at the beginning. Matt's job relocated us to Singapore in October! It was a very fast move - as ours usually are! We had visited Singapore together once, a few weeks prior to our move. So we were able to check it out, find a place to live, and get the boys registered for school.

The week before we left was a hazy whirlwind. We needed to sell our cars, get the house in order, pack, get the pets to their new homes, get all the doctor appointments taken care of. . . the list goes on and on. We did our best to get things straight and still have a little time to say quick goodbyes to all of our dear friends in Austin. Ethan's 2nd grade class had a nice little good-bye for him which gave us all a great chance to say good-byes to all our best buddies! Our neighbors even threw us a little going away block party - so great! Here we all are standing in front of our Austin house. Then it was off to the airport! It was a very long flight but the kids did great! We left Austin on October 15th at 8:10am and after a stop in Dallas and a stop in Hong Kong, we arrived in Singapore at 11:55pm on October 16th. Whew.

We stayed in a hotel for the first few days - the Swissotel. It was very nice - right on the river and very close to Chinatown and right across the street from Clark Quay which is a great area with tons of restaurants - but we were anxious to get into our house and try to get settled. Here are photos of the hotel and of Clark Quay.

Okay, more of our adventures after we left the hotel next!

Fun Facts!

• Singapore is 13 hours ahead of Austin, Texas time - so it is already tomorrow here!
• Right now one SingDollar equals about $1.50 USDollar.
• Although right now is the rainy season, the temperature is usually about 80 degrees and humid!
• Singapore is a small island - only about 270 square miles with a population of about 5 million!
• Singapore has four official languages - English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.