Well, I guess it's pretty clear at this point that I'm not too great at being a blogger. Life is fast and furious, and my blog has just taken a back seat. So as I sit here on a quiet holiday Monday night, I will do my best to get back on track. Since it's been months, I will provide a 10,000 foot overview....
(By the way, lots of new pics at the bottom of the page from the last few months!).
Whirlwind travel to Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Hong Kong. I never spent more than 72 hours in either place, but they were all jam packed with amazingness.
- Kuala Lumpur was a whirlwind of ridiculously amazing shoe shopping (I walked away with four new pairs and two purses. Pretty good for someone who says "I'm not a big shopper") and partying. Highlights - best tapas ever (especially considering it's Malaysia, go figure), the best bus ride ever with 8am beers, massage chairs and the original Mario Bros. on my own personal console, all topped off by apparently the hottest expat men in this side of the world all congregated in one city.
- Linda (my fave travel buddy) and I then hit up Manila a few weeks later, pre-work tripping it up in this amazing and very different city. Coming from Singapore, Manila is an entirely different world. It's poor, there are bars infront of every house, it started flooding after 15 minutes of intense rain and there were army guys carrying AK-47s checking bags as we entered the hotel. But, it was also eye-opening and beautiful. It's filled with old, crumbling forts that more closely resemble castles, dirt poor children begging at your taxi for money but with sparkling eyes and gorgeous skin, and hidden gems of local stores, gardens and Madonna statues (not the Material-world version). Definitely opens your eyes to a different side of the world. Oh, and we also danced until our feet fell off and had a blast with old expats from all over at 4am. Lovely time.
- Hong Kong. Most ridiculous time EVER. Linda, George (my other fave travel buddy) and I had 46 hours and a desire to soak in as much as possible. And did we ever. We essentially packed in what others would take 4-5 days to do in less than 2 days, with about 5 hours of sleep. Completely worth it. Highlights included cramming three adults into the tiniest hotel room, in which we had a complete blast, dancing and meeting tons of expats and travelers in pretty much all the hot spots in Lan Kwai Fong (party/dance/dinner central), laughing hysterically at the most drunk people I have ever seen stumbling their way home at 5am - and I've lived in Florida, so I've seen some seriously drunk people, so that's really saying something - seeing a fish sliced open and it's heart still beating as someone bought it at the huge fish market, taking pictures at the peak of the city, watching the lamest light show in the world and watching George do a dance show for us at 6am as the sun rose. I came home exhausted and it took a week for my liver to begin functioning again. And it was totally worth it. Check out some of the pics.
Finally feeling like Singapore is my city.
- As readers know, it's been almost a year since I've arrived (actually 52 days until my one year anniversary!). And it's been a year of ups and downs. Elation that I'm here, excitement at opportunities I would never had imagined a year ago, phenomenal new friends, unbelievable travel, coupled with homesickness, uncertainty at my decision to move so far away from everyone I love, and being sick every time I turn around. But I can say I have really come through to the other side, and Singapore has really weaseled it's way into my heart. I've made a great circle of friends, figured out how to maneuver with ease around the city, become more confident at my work and where I want to take my career, and learned to embrace the differences instead of feeling disoriented by them. It's still a little too hot for me, but I love it and am so grateful that I made the move. Sometimes I'm almost overwhelmed with a feeling of extreme luckiness - how did I get such an amazing chance? It's worth all the struggle and I can't wait to see what the next year brings!
Okay, so I have lots more to catch up on - such as rugby (AKA hot men in tiny shorts), my love of singlish, my near-death experience (slight exaggeration) with the falling chandelier, and being knocked down by the drunkest person to ever function as he literally CLIMBED over me to get in the cab as I was still in it. But this blog is quite long enough.
Now that I've finally caught up with you a little, I will work harder to keep it up and bring the Acker sassiness to My Singapore Life. Quick note - for those in Boston, Caroline and I will be having a NYE party and all our friends are invited! Since this is on the web, I won't out party deets here, but if you know me, you'll know it's at my favorite Boston bar..... Look for more details soon!
For my family and friends, I LOVE YOU and MISS YOU!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment