2 years ago today in the middle of the pandemic and with the restrictions of visiting apartments we chose this one via a video call. We already lived in D’Leedon, we were just downsizing since we went from a family of 4 when we arrived in 2016 to 2 persons. It’s been a great little cocoon for J & I.
Our life is fitting in 9 bags, 3 carry-ons, 2 backpacks, 1 camera bag, and 1 purse.
Now it’s time to relax until our flight on Sunday night.
It wasn’t named because of the country (well actually Holland is a geographical region of the country The Netherlands which has 12 regions in total with 2 “Hollands”; the North Holland & the South Holland —The things you learn just by reading this little blog 😂)
It was named after Hugh Holland who was an architect and amateur actor and was an early resident of the area.
We are 1 MRT stop away from HV or about 15 mn walk. “The neighborhood is a popular shopping and dining destination for younger Singaporeans and expatriates. […] NB Holland Road is known as Hue Hng in Hokkien which means “behind the flower garden” the flower garden being the Botanic Gardens”
I had an hour wait between appointments, I could have gone for a mani/pedi at the shopping center, instead I opted for HDB climb to see the area from above 😉
NB: Thinking of petitioning for my neighborhood being renamed “Suiter Hood”. Well if Holland could I don’t see with I couldn’t 🙄
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15-Jun-2022: D-4 before departure
It’s easy to say goodbye to people, we know how to do it. But how do you say goodbye to places?
One of the questions that come up often expat forum is where should I live? This is such a personal question. First of there is really no bad neighborhoods in Singapore. Where you want to live depends on schools and/or office locations or your life style such as closer to bars/restaurants, near nature or the beach. Everyone think they live in the best neighborhood and that’s certainly true because it fills their need. Plus one gets attached not only to the place but to the people in it.
Holland Village was great for us, at the center location for school and office, with easy access to park and just a few MRT/bus stops to anywhere on the island.
I will miss this little village in the center of the big city.
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~~~Just a little FYI So for my last 200 days in Singapore I have decided to reblog, in no special order, a post from the 6 years I will have spent on the Little Red Dot. PS: you will then get 2 posts a day!!~~~
I’m a big advocate to go out of your comfort zone.
Move to a different country without speaking the language, it might change your life path.
Take that trip with a bunch of strangers, they bout to become friends.
Sign up for activities that you might not have thought of, it might become your saving grace.
The coaches I didn’t think I needed in my life, especially in the past 2 years: Leeanne, Denes, Jane (+ missing from this picture Eams). I wasn’t the most dedicated teammate, I only trained once a week but I showed up every single week without fail.
I had mentioned in a previous post about the unseen part of expat life and moving abroad with starting new: language, school, friends, activities, bureaucracy, etc… There is also the part which affect in a vast majority the women, the Trailing Spouse 🙄, we become dependent on the main visa holder. Depending on country we can’t have a bank account, or even a phone under our own name, working is often almost impossible. There can be feelings of isolation, lack of purpose or loss of identity (so much of one’s identity is often attached to their job in society) but in truth, a trailing spouse is usually the opposite of that because they play the supporting role. Happy Wife, Happy Life… even more so in Expat Life.
I will re share a post from a few years ago:
One of my friends who recently relocated to Cairo (but really it could be any location) posted on her Facebook that they attended a party and one of the guest told her that in another life he would like to be reincarnated as an Expat Wife. I think the guy is still alive 😉 I just let you imagine all of her friends’ (mostly expat wives!) replies to her post!!!
I had the comment a few times in our 16 years of this expat life. It used to exasperate me, I would try to justify all with do, what we sacrificed. Now, I just nod, smile and pity their wife who have to live with them. Don’t judge me until you walk a mile in my shoes. As a side note & gentle warning: HR department of any company should write in Bold & Capital letters in the handbook they hand out to their expat employees to never ever pronounce these words in front of any Expat Wives (or are we called Trailing Spouse now?); lives (& marriages) could be saved.
And now let me go back to sipping my champagne because if you believe the stereotype that’s what we do all day. (FYI it’s a joke I don’t drink alcohol 😉)
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~~~Just a little FYI So for my last 200 days in Singapore I have decided to reblog, in no special order, a post from the 6 years I will have spent on the Little Red Dot. PS: you will then get 2 posts a day!!~~~
No beautiful sunset this week but what started as and was supposed to be a “Let’s walk next to each other and listen to our respective music/podcast while I show you around Singapore” has morphed into long conversations…. I, however, do not get to pick the subject of said conversations and I also do not dare to object. I merely listen. This week we (and by “we” I mean mainly “he”) talked about Qualia*
* I’m just going to put the definition here so you don’t have to google it 😉. “In philosophy and certain models of psychology, qualia (/ˈkwɑːliə/ or /ˈkweɪliə/; singular form: quale) are defined as individual instances of subjective, conscious experience. Examples of qualia include the perceived sensation of pain of a headache, the taste of wine, as well as the redness of an evening sky.” Yep!
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13-Jun-2022: D-6 before departure
The reason behind the extra 2 years in Singapore.
The blessing in disguise.
Because when he suggested that maybe he could stay in Singapore since the international school options in Paris weren’t a good match, it turned out that life in Singapore would also be a lot better during a great part of the pandemic. Yes there were restrictions but no lockdown and school was always in person which is important in High School.
On my part I got to keep doing my activities even of it was with 1, 4 or 7 friends depending on the level of restrictions. But among all the things I will cherish of my time in Singapore, I will especially remember our little evening walks*
*We did a weekly walk during our 9-week summer break then again a daily walk during the first 9 days of the year before school started. We clocked 60 kms each time and I got to show him “my” Singapore.
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~~~Just a little FYI So for my last 200 days in Singapore I have decided to reblog, in no special order, a post from the 6 years I will have spent on the Little Red Dot. PS: you will then get 2 posts a day!!~~~
The Botanic Gardens and MacRitchie Reservoir, which are both a MRT/bus stop away or within walking distance, have always been a great way of resourcing during my 6 years in Singapore but especially in the last 2 years. On my own or with friends, a walk in nature is always a great idea.
The “garden city” vision was introduced by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 11 May 1967 to transform Singapore into a city with abundant lush greenery and a clean environment.
Creation of intensive tree-planting programme along the roads, mandate for developers (for public and private housing) to set aside spaces for trees and greenery in projects, creation of parks to establish green spaces that provided ventilation or act as “green lungs” in built-up areas, park connectors were established as green corridors to link parks, and nature reserves were set up to preserve the nation’s natural heritage have all contributed to Singapore feeling very green (its green cover stands at 47%) even though it is the 3rd most population dense country after Macau & Monaco and just before Hong Kong. Singapore is the only country to incorporate green building requirements into its legislation.
~~Every city has its own color, smell, sound, and vibe. While I can share the colors through photography and sometime the vibe too, I thought I would try to share with you the sounds that are so specific to Singapore. ~~
It’s called outrigger canoe… and to my own surprise I’m enjoying it a lot. The being in synch with all your teammates while paddling is great to my wandering mind… one split second of not concentrating and I’m off or not doing my strokes correctly.
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12-Jun-2022: D-7 before departure
When I started outrigger canoe sessions I did it because a friend invited me to try it. My husband was a bit surprised because my love for the beach, the sun and exercice are no secret, but somehow I persevered and I quite enjoyed it.
One of the benefit of weekly outrigger canoe session is that I made it to the beach and Sentosa island a lot more than I would have without it (probably almost never 😂).
We usually are on oc6 canoe (6 seaters) but during restrictions, we switched to oc2 so we could keep on training. Give us lemons and we make lemonade. Coach Denes has now found another way of keeping us interested by tying 2 oc6 together.
What was supposed to be just a tryout turned out to be a great activity, out of my comfort zone with an amazing group of ladies.
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~~~Just a little FYI So for my last 200 days in Singapore I have decided to reblog, in no special order, a post from the 6 years I will have spent on the Little Red Dot. PS: you will then get 2 posts a day!!~~~
I usually multiply myself but couldn’t resist doing it again with Henriette in front of the Bayfront Pavillion in Gardens by the Bay with the iconic Marina Bay Sands in the background.
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11-Jun-2022: D-8 before departure
I’ve posted a lot about landmarks, buildings and activities around Singapore. This post is about friendship.
The friends you found through your kids’ school, the club/organization you’ve joined, the workshops you decide to take or just the ones you finally got the courage to make the first move and step out of your comfort zone.
This is for the friends I met when I arrived, the ones I, unfortunately, met as I was leaving and all the ones in between. To all the people I met along the way being for 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month or 1 year you will always be part of me and I’ve cherished those moments spent together. I have been greatly enriched by our friendships.
I would be the first one to tell you that when you start to move around like we do (Expat’) you need to connect to people as fast as you can because you won’t survive without them. They are not your family but they almost become. Friendship abroad develops way faster than anywhere else because you share so much with each other, not only time but the ups and downs of your new life abroad. You might think that you have all you need back home but it’s not the same. It’s not the same talking on the phone and sharing your joy and sorrow around a cup of coffee in your new surroundings. Your friends back home will be there but they cannot understand what you are going through, how could they (unless they lived where you are living right now). Expat are a breed apart. Unless you’ve done it yourself you’ll never know what it feels like. You might read about the cultural shock, but unless you experienced it yourself you’ll never fully understand.
Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ~Anais Nin (1903-1977)
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~~~Just a little FYI So for my last 200 days in Singapore I have decided to reblog, in no special order, a post from the 6 years I will have spent on the Little Red Dot. PS: you will then get 2 posts a day!!~~~
A Total TaiTai Tale 