And the huge news is........
WE'RE MOVING TO SINGAPORE!!!
And what better time to come to this conclusion (by absolute coincidence), than the Singapore National Day weekend. After much discussion in regards to this over the last few months, we cemented the decision over the weekend after ironing out some niggling details.
The primary reason for us moving back is that well.... Erica misses Singapore. It's her home, and she's been away from home a long time. As much as she loves Sydney, she still misses the country she's spent most of her life and I don't blame her.
For me, I really don't mind at all. I was born and raised in Singapore, moving to Sydney at the age of 8 and have been here ever since. I do miss Singapore as well, I have many fond memories of my life back there from our house in Katong that I was born in, to me bawling my eyes out at the airport saying goodbye to my relatives before departing for Australia.
Getting abused from an early age....
I have to admit, part of me is terrified at the thought of leaving my entire life here behind to venture into what for the most will be the great unknown. Parting with my family, my friends, and my dog whom I love so dearly and settling into a big fat question mark.
Unlike Erica and many of her Singaporean friends whom are used to traveling, studying, and working abroad from an early age, I haven't really been exposed to such an experience. At the most I moved to Melbourne for a few years which really is nothing compared to moving overseas.
Bibs.... Fashionable.
We'll be staying with Erica's parents for the first couple of years in the least. It does worry me about the fact that in many ways, I'll be at their mercy, so to speak. Living under their roof and playing by their rules. Also additionally having no social circle, close friends, or close relatives means that I'll be socially reliant on Erica. Another thing which I hate. I value my independence and try to avoid situations where I'm so dependent upon someone else, even if it's for a brief period of time.
Me with a table of ladiez.... awesome.
But those fears only constitute a very small percentage of my overall attitude towards the big move. More than anything else, I'm hugely excited about the new direction our future will take and can't wait to put our plans into action. Currently my plans are to settle in, try to do an intensive mandarin course so I can learn to at least speak a language I should already know, and then try to find a job. Hopefully there shouldn't be any problems getting a work visa or applying for my PR.
It can be quite hard to meet new people, and so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make new friends and establish my own social circle in SG. To begin with, I'll probably trawl interest forums, like photography for example, which should be a start. To further my own abilities plus also give me the chance to meet new peeps. Also hopefully I can find a Futsal team to play with as I'll miss giving up Futsal here in Sydney.
Then there's also the issue of finding a good church that I'll be happy with. A fun, charismatic, and youthful Pentecostal church that will hopefully just feel right.
Groping myself at an early age....
I'm sure everything will work out, but it helps to talk to Erica about my concerns and listen to her reassurances. Anyway, the plan right now is for us to do a trip to New Zealand in October for a few weeks. We'll take a drive from Auckland down to the South Island and just do many stops along the way, trying to do as many cool things as possible such as black water rafting, trout fishing, hang gliding, bungee jumping, etc etc. Plus also catch all the usual touristy sights. It's gonna be great!
Then we come back to Sydney in November, try to hopefully head up to Townsville in Queensland to dive the wreck of the S.S Yongala which is one of the worlds top wreck dives. Head back to Sydney after that, and then it's onto Singapore in the first week of December.
Me when I was living in Pandan Valley. The exact same estate that Erica was also living in at the time! Huge coincidence. We probably met each other and never realised it! Not only that, we stayed in identical but mirrored penthouse apartments!
The December trip will be just a preliminary trip to organise everything before the major move. So we'll be in Singapore from December until just after Chinese New Year. Hopefully in that time I can do some language classes, sort out a work visa/PR, and head to Malaysia to visit my grandparents in Melaka.
After we get back to Sydney, we'll organise the big stuff like shipping all our stuff to SG, renting the apartment, selling our cars, and saying goodbye. So that will probably take a couple of months. We aim to be settled in good and proper in SG by around May next year.
People may ask why I'm giving it all up to move to SG when my life here in Sydney is pretty good. The reason simply is that I'm doing it for my wife. As happy as she is to stay here, I can also see how badly she misses her home and I'm willing to give up my life for her. Women have been doing it for their husbands for decades, following them around as they pursue brighter career prospects. If Erica was willing to stay in Sydney for me, then I'm willing to move to Singapore for her. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.
Plus she feels much more comfortable giving birth to our first child in Singapore, where her friends and family are, which is also a big contributing factor to why she would like to go back. For me, that really makes the decision to go back a no brainer.
So there you have it, some big stuff on the horizon!!! I'm bursting with excitement and can't wait to for it all to happen! I look forward to hopefully getting the chance to meet some of the LJ'ers here that I've gotten to know quite well and attending the awesome cooking classes held by Amanda and Vanessa!!! :)
And what better time to come to this conclusion (by absolute coincidence), than the Singapore National Day weekend. After much discussion in regards to this over the last few months, we cemented the decision over the weekend after ironing out some niggling details.
The primary reason for us moving back is that well.... Erica misses Singapore. It's her home, and she's been away from home a long time. As much as she loves Sydney, she still misses the country she's spent most of her life and I don't blame her.
For me, I really don't mind at all. I was born and raised in Singapore, moving to Sydney at the age of 8 and have been here ever since. I do miss Singapore as well, I have many fond memories of my life back there from our house in Katong that I was born in, to me bawling my eyes out at the airport saying goodbye to my relatives before departing for Australia.
Getting abused from an early age....
I have to admit, part of me is terrified at the thought of leaving my entire life here behind to venture into what for the most will be the great unknown. Parting with my family, my friends, and my dog whom I love so dearly and settling into a big fat question mark.
Unlike Erica and many of her Singaporean friends whom are used to traveling, studying, and working abroad from an early age, I haven't really been exposed to such an experience. At the most I moved to Melbourne for a few years which really is nothing compared to moving overseas.
Bibs.... Fashionable.
We'll be staying with Erica's parents for the first couple of years in the least. It does worry me about the fact that in many ways, I'll be at their mercy, so to speak. Living under their roof and playing by their rules. Also additionally having no social circle, close friends, or close relatives means that I'll be socially reliant on Erica. Another thing which I hate. I value my independence and try to avoid situations where I'm so dependent upon someone else, even if it's for a brief period of time.
Me with a table of ladiez.... awesome.
But those fears only constitute a very small percentage of my overall attitude towards the big move. More than anything else, I'm hugely excited about the new direction our future will take and can't wait to put our plans into action. Currently my plans are to settle in, try to do an intensive mandarin course so I can learn to at least speak a language I should already know, and then try to find a job. Hopefully there shouldn't be any problems getting a work visa or applying for my PR.
It can be quite hard to meet new people, and so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make new friends and establish my own social circle in SG. To begin with, I'll probably trawl interest forums, like photography for example, which should be a start. To further my own abilities plus also give me the chance to meet new peeps. Also hopefully I can find a Futsal team to play with as I'll miss giving up Futsal here in Sydney.
Then there's also the issue of finding a good church that I'll be happy with. A fun, charismatic, and youthful Pentecostal church that will hopefully just feel right.
Groping myself at an early age....
I'm sure everything will work out, but it helps to talk to Erica about my concerns and listen to her reassurances. Anyway, the plan right now is for us to do a trip to New Zealand in October for a few weeks. We'll take a drive from Auckland down to the South Island and just do many stops along the way, trying to do as many cool things as possible such as black water rafting, trout fishing, hang gliding, bungee jumping, etc etc. Plus also catch all the usual touristy sights. It's gonna be great!
Then we come back to Sydney in November, try to hopefully head up to Townsville in Queensland to dive the wreck of the S.S Yongala which is one of the worlds top wreck dives. Head back to Sydney after that, and then it's onto Singapore in the first week of December.
Me when I was living in Pandan Valley. The exact same estate that Erica was also living in at the time! Huge coincidence. We probably met each other and never realised it! Not only that, we stayed in identical but mirrored penthouse apartments!
The December trip will be just a preliminary trip to organise everything before the major move. So we'll be in Singapore from December until just after Chinese New Year. Hopefully in that time I can do some language classes, sort out a work visa/PR, and head to Malaysia to visit my grandparents in Melaka.
After we get back to Sydney, we'll organise the big stuff like shipping all our stuff to SG, renting the apartment, selling our cars, and saying goodbye. So that will probably take a couple of months. We aim to be settled in good and proper in SG by around May next year.
People may ask why I'm giving it all up to move to SG when my life here in Sydney is pretty good. The reason simply is that I'm doing it for my wife. As happy as she is to stay here, I can also see how badly she misses her home and I'm willing to give up my life for her. Women have been doing it for their husbands for decades, following them around as they pursue brighter career prospects. If Erica was willing to stay in Sydney for me, then I'm willing to move to Singapore for her. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.
Plus she feels much more comfortable giving birth to our first child in Singapore, where her friends and family are, which is also a big contributing factor to why she would like to go back. For me, that really makes the decision to go back a no brainer.
So there you have it, some big stuff on the horizon!!! I'm bursting with excitement and can't wait to for it all to happen! I look forward to hopefully getting the chance to meet some of the LJ'ers here that I've gotten to know quite well and attending the awesome cooking classes held by Amanda and Vanessa!!! :)