Finally

I had nearly given up.

As I moved to Singapore I got entitled to a company phone. I could choose between a Blackberry and an iPhone. Obviously I wanted an iPhone.
It finally arrived today!
Almost 3 months after I asked for it.
Why is that?
The initial request was for an iPhone 4S. However by the time the request got processed in the systems, it was about the same time they release the iPhone 5. For about a month, there was debate whether I would get a 4S or a 5. Back then I was fine with getting a 4S if it meant faster. But no. While they were asking it turned out they didn't have 4S left in stock, only 4. I was not willing to settle on a phone two generations old not willing to give up iPhone for a readily available Blackberry.
So I waited.
I sent a lot of email.
Mid October I was told it would take 3-4 weeks because there are no iPhone 5 in Singapore at all.
A couple of weeks ago I saw on the websites of the different providers in Singapore that they had iPhone 5 in stock.
A few more emails later asking why I could get one in stores but a corporate client has to wait, and finally today I got the message: "your iPhone is here".
Unbelievable. I had given hope that I would get my phone before we got back to Belgium. That was close because we are flying back in one week time.
Now I have to go and set it up, transfer all my Apps and more importantly make sure it stays out of range of a certain someone who's jealous.

Little visitor

He's back.
A few weeks ago I found a gecko in front the door. Gently Wolfram took him out. Unlike bugs, I like geckos, especially because they eat bugs. So no killing of geckos.
Tonight as I was putting a box back in the storage, something moved in the shadow. The gecko was back.
Well him or one of his little friends. We couldn't catch him so he's probably enjoying the perfumed night next to the detergents.

I can't help thinking that Mokka and Muffin would have loved playing with him. Even if I know it might have been dangerous for our little visitor.

I miss my cats...

Bananas

I bought them green. The greenest I could find in the shop.
Once back home I put them in the fruit bowl.
5 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) hours later they were yellow.
And from the experience of past week, in two days they will be brown.
That's a pace that I am not used to. Basically anything that's left outside will ripe in no time.

No I understand why people in the office have a second fridge.

BBQ with our neighbours/colleagues

As we moved in our condo we discovered that we were not the only one from our company. There are five other colleagues with their family living in Tresalveo. There might be more in the future as I know that LongLong a colleague of mine is also considering this condo. Soon there will be no point going to the office, we can just take the function room and work from there.
The Japanese crowd was organizing a BBQ and Kimiko was nice enough to extend the invitation to us. A bit after 5pm we showed up with sausages and beer, in the true spirit of a German BBQ... so I've been told.
Each of us brought some elements for the BBQ but the majority came from BBQ Wholesale. Quid? It's an online service that provides everything you need for a BBQ: not only the food, but also the char coal, the paper plates and cups, the cooling box and ice to keep the drinks cold. You order online and everything you need for a BBQ is delivered to your doorstep. Isn't that great? that's for sure an address I will keep in mine for future BBQ.
While the men were working on the fire, the women were setting up the table... so stereotypical if you ask me.
We were a bit anxious about joining a Japanese BBQ mostly because everybody would be Japanese and we don't speak Japanese. It turned out that people made an effort to include us in the conversation at least 80% of the time which is really nice. It's also interesting to chat with people who like us have been living or traveling around the world. It's so funny how they are fascinating by Europe in a similar way we are fascinating about Asia. What is normal for us, is exotic for them and the other way around.
Because we were the two Europeans, we got to try everything they brought that was Japanese:
- Onigiri: these are rice balls or triangles filled with fish or vegetable. Quite good actually although very filling. It made me smile because that's the food I remember seeing kids eating in manga cartoons. Apparently it's typical for picnic, BBQ or any occasion when someone has to eat on the go
- Sauces: lots' of them. There was two for the beef, one for the noodles. All very good. No idea what was inside but I tried to remember what the bottle looks like in case I want to buys some in the future.
- Liquor: someone brought Japanese liquor which "like whiskey" can be drunk on the rock or diluted. If you asked me it tasted vaguely like vodka but not strong enough. Probably because it was only 27% alcohol.

While we were eating we talked a lot about moving to Singapore. Some of the concerns and experiences we had are the same for them. Japan is clearly different in terms of way of living vs. the rest of Asia and for Japanese, moving to Singapore is as crazy as it is for us to move from Europe. Something to do with moving from a developed country to a developing one, even if Singapore is probably the most developed of the developing.

Net, it was a good night with good food (too much food actually) and really nice people.

The rings

Earlier this week Wolfram received a call. It was the jewelry shop. Our wedding rings had arrived!
Tonight we went to pick them up.
As it is the custom in jewelry shops in Singapore, which by now we know by heart, we were asked to sit down and were offered a cup of tea while they were bringing the rings.
Finally they were there. We quickly put them on and...
... mine was perfect.
... Wolfram's was too big :( really too big.
I guess some of the 5kg he lost since in Singapore were located in the fingers. It could also be the effect of temperature making fingers larger or slimmer. Anyhow his ring was too big.
We spent another half hour drinking more tea and trying out different sizes to find the right one. They will order a smaller one and we hope it can be there before we leave for Belgium. If not, we will do the ceremony with that ring and get the final one when back in Singapore in January.
Keep your fingers crossed that it will arrive on time.

And because we spent a lot of money on them we received gifts with the rings:
- a ring pillow, which we don't need because my aunt is taking care of it
- a guestbook, which we didn't have yet so it's one thing less to buy before the wedding
- a bottle a champagne from I don't know where which in principle is a very nice gift in Singapore given the price of alcohol.
All of this got us to wonder by how much we overpaid our rings. Anyway it felt like Christmas in advance.
As for the engraving, we can have up to 22 characters, space included. Any suggestion?

J-30

30 days to go before the wedding.
30 days only to complete the preparation and the last minute details.

Luckily I am surrounded by people willing to help. I am very fortunate to have such family and friends...and yes also my future husband :)

Getting ready to work from home

One of our benefits is an allowance to help us set up an office at home. We each receive some money to equip our home office with things like a desk, a chair, a printer, a phone, etc.
We have the desk, my grand-mother's table and the printer recently bought. But we were still missing a few critical elements like the chair.
As part of our relocation we were entitle to half a day of orientation in our area with the objective to help us find what we need. We had shared a full list of items covering a wide range: French and German bakeries, shoe repair, domestic help, sofa, DYI shop, etc.
As we wanted to have Lena who was so helpful during our Look See trip, it took a while before we could do our orientation. She is very popular therefore very busy.
Today she picked us up around 2:30pm and took us to several furniture shops in Singapore that are "warehouse". What this means is that those shops are not in shopping area but in a warehouse, which means their rent is lower, and therefore their prices as well. Smart, isn't it? We saw very nice "warehouses" with very nice furniture. Not sure any would have a sofa that suits us but for sure should we need shelves, table or any Asian style furniture we know where to go now.
In one of them we found office chairs and took the opportunity to try them all. We did find one that worked for both of us which is not easy given 1) we are taller than the average Singaporean and 2) Wolfram is taller than me so usually what works for me doesn't work for him and the other way around. This time we found and at a reasonable price. Wolfram tried hard to negotiate but the shop assistant was not willing to go down more than 10S$. Still an office chair for 420S$ (270EUR) is pretty ok.
After that Lena took us to another shopping center where we can buy discounted electronics. We bought two fans for only 55S$ each: one for the office, one for the living room. Both working with a remote which is cool. Once we have a sofa we will be able to switch the fan on/off without getting up. We also bought an extra phone.
Why one more phone? because we have three phone lines:
- our private one
- Lamia's work
- Wolfram's work
Thus we need three phones and we only had two. We bought one extra Siemens, same collection as the one we have now. In theory we could connect them all and create a massive phone network at home.

By 6pm we were back home with most of what we need to work from home (chair will be delivered on Tuesday), plenty of addresses for furniture shops, contacts for domestic help agencies and the address of "the" French bakery of Singapore.
Quite efficient afternoon I have to say.

Now let's get the internet to work properly.
After my call on Thursday night, and Wolfram's on Friday, they will send a "senior" technician tomorrow. Let's see if he is any better than the one from last week.