As I sat on the plane from London Heathrow Airport to Changi roughly three months ago, the prospect of relocating my mere twenty years of life to the other side of planet seemed rather surreal. You spend so many months applying for your university, planning your move, attempting to get scholarships, saving up every penny (or cent, depending on where you’re from) to get the very best of your limited experience abroad. Nearly one-third of the way through my exchange, it was time to reflect on my experience so far:
The City
Whilst, technically, in Asia, Singapore is the most westernised city in the region. There is an astounding lack of traffic jams, road-side street food, unruly motorbike drivers, and an overall absence of the chaotic lifestyle often associated with the South-East region. The city appears, to me, more as an integration of American suburbia, an engineered rainforest and London’s financial district than of the metropolises of Hong Kong and Tokyo. With a most efficient MRT system, Singapore is surprisingly easy to get around. Areas such as Holland Village and Clarke Quay are great places to drink (with significantly cheaper alcohol than you’ll find in most other areas). Also, the city is creepily clean owing to the fact that littering and chewing gum are absolute no-nos.
As a Tourist
In your first few weeks in Singapore, you will attempt to knock out a lot of Singapore’s tourism has to offer. Four zoos, two aquariums, a Universal Studios, eighteen “Supertrees”, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa island, countless gardens, and multiple reservoirs later, you will need to have a rest from what the city has to offer and, when you’ve recovered, there’s the rest of South-East Asia to explore with Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, and many more right at your doorstep.
As a Resident
Coming from Great Britain, my transition from the suburbs of London to the metropolis of Singapore was notably simple. People do speak English here, much to my friends and family’s disbelief who, even now, insistently ask me on how I am ‘coping with the language barrier’. Food is astonishingly cheap! Hawker Centres, or open air food complexes, are dotted around the city selling meals for as cheap as SG$4, meaning cooking for yourself is generally redundant. And, despite my prison-cell sized residence, the cost of rent is very affordable.
As a Student
For the first couple of weeks, even up to the first month, you will seriously believe that you are at some form of holiday camp with hundreds of other students your own age. You will meet more people than you can remember and you will attempt to remember them all. The crazy frenzy of friendships that you will form will be scary, but fruitful. After two or three weeks of sight-seeing, partying, sleeping in until noon, you will get this nagging feeling that you came to Singapore for a reason…
