Ming in Sing

One of the weirdest things about this move was how serendipitous it all seemed once we actually decided to go. After we received Tim’s job offer, we talked a lot about whether we should take it or not. After lengthy discussion we realized there was really just no risk and all of the stars seemed to be pointing us here.

We have no kids. We’re not spending our life savings to go. Tim’s job doesn’t require a contracted amount of time so we don’t have to stay for 5 years if we don’t like it. At the end of the day, we can always buy a plane ticket and just come home. What was there to lose?! 

Weirdly enough, once we had decided to move across the world, we realized just how much of a #squad we could assemble before we were even on the ground. We learned of two mutual friends that had both moved to Singapore individually in the last two months. We were introduced to 5 people (2 couples and 1 individual) who are in the process of moving and will arrive in Singapore this Spring. So many of our friends seemed to have friends of friends, or cousin’s boyfriend’s sisters, or aunt’s dog sitter’s, nephews that already lived in Singapore that we were connected with. Tim learned that one of his coworkers had booked a trip last year to Singapore and would be coming in February for two weeks so we are looking forward to seeing him soon. And another of Tim’s colleagues, Ming, who is Singaporean let us know that he landed THREE DAYS AFTER US to visit his family! Can you believe the coincidence??

We met up with Ming yesterday and had so much fun! It was like we were back in NYC with all of our friends!

First we headed to Lau Pa Sat, a well known hawker center in the Central Business District, for some lunch. Food plays a prominent part of every day life here. It seems everywhere you look, people are eating. Noodles, rice, and soup are the definite majority and I am still so confused as to how people are able to eat such hot foods in such hot weather. Hawker stalls are small hole-in-the-wall setups that dish out all sorts of different foods at extraordinarily cheap prices (think $1-3). Imagine a Smorgasburg type of scenario but a lot hotter, less trendy, and covered. We each picked up lunch (I opted for bibimbap!) and sat and enjoyed our lunch together!!

After lunch we wandered around downtown for a bit, stopped and enjoyed some beers al fresco near the Singapore River, and got caught in a torrential downpour for about 40 minutes. Once the rain cleared up, we headed to meet Ming’s family for dinner. They had been so nice as to invite Tim and I to join and we agreed wholeheartedly!!

Dinner was at a Cantonese restaurant called Wo Peng. It happened to be in the same building as our hotel (the coincidences keep rolling) and food was served family style for our group of about 20. So much fun!! Ming’s family was so nice and accepting and eager to chat with us about our move to Singapore. The food was abundant and delicious!!! We had a clam’s casino type dish, peking duck wraps, black fungus soup (seemed like mushrooms), braised duck, steamed crab in a chili sauce, a whole fish, bok choy with garlic, and a slew of other small plates.

It was so fun to have dinner with Ming’s family. We got to eat things we probably wouldn’t have ordered on our own and had a wonderful time with the group. A true local evening to keep our first week in Singapore fun and exciting!!