Catching up in my new neighborhood

This weekend was my first real weekend in my apartment.  It still feels a bit fake, since none of my stuff from the US is here, but at least I am out of the hotel!

I have some rental furniture to tide me over until all my stuff gets here, and while its not the most comfortable or most aesthetically pleasing, it works.  Now I have something to sleep on and a place to sit!  I also have some basic kitchen stuff - dinnerware, pots, etc.  I kind of wish that my dishes from the US weren't coming - I feel like I pretty much have what I need!  But I do still want my bed and sofa to get here asap!!  And my haul of things from Costco :)

After being gone for two weeks, I had a million things to do this weekend.  Going to the bank was a one hour excursion, ending in the realization that they were absolutely no help.  When I went to the Starhub (mobile phone, cable, and internet provider), they quoted me a 30 minute wait time.  Gah.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I walked out of there 45 minutes later with a cable modem in hand.  I just took it home, screwed it into the wall, and my internet was live and ready to use!  No waiting for a Comcast person to come and install anything!!!  (I opted to not have cable television here either.)

I also bought some groceries... almond butter, chia seeds, oatmeal, fruit, and almond milk to get me through the weekend.  (Ps - I found 365 brand almond milk for $5!  A relative steal!)  I spent way more money than I normally would in the US, but I really feel like the sticker shock is wearing off on me - as evidenced by my comment about $5 almond milk.  But I am planning to get some jam, nuts, and probably more granola bars in Penang this week!

I had to go into the office to print and submit some expense forms (because it is 1980!!!), so I did a test run of my commute to and from the office.  Successfully got on and off the bus at the correct stops - woohoo!!  The actual bus ride is only about five minutes, but the total commute time just depends on how long you are waiting for the bus.  Fortunately, I downloaded a handy app to tell me when the next bus is arriving!

All the running around this weekend gave me some time to get to know my new neighborhood a bit better.  I live close to an area by the water called Robertson Quay (pronounced "key") that has some areas with shops and restaurants.

Bridge over the river

Evidently, a popular brunch spot - I need to check this out!

Stacked calls itself a dim sum bar.. never heard of such a concept?

I think that the area looks like I will like it.  There is a good mix of Asian and non-Asian food places to choose from, and it seemed like there were a lot of non-locals around too!

Aside from running errands, I also did some real running this weekend!  I was up early on Saturday and did seven miles.  I'm currently reading "Born to Run", and it talks quite a bit about form and stride, so I tried to think hard about not slouching and striking in the middle of my foot.  I was pretty tired when I finished, but I felt great for the majority of my run.  Yay!

Sunday afternoon, I braved the heat to go explore a park near my apartment called Fort Canning.  Its actually an old military fort that was used by British, Japanese, Malaysian, and Singaporean armed forces.  It is now a park and cultural venue that is popular with tourists and locals alike.

Ugh - those stairs

But most of the actual path was shaded!  But there were still lots of hills :(

Random sculpture

There is a sign that says "Sculpture Garden", but I only saw two sculptures?

Gothic Gates

Spice Garden

The internet says (so its obviously true) that you can do some good loops around Fort Canning, but part of the path was closed off, and I think I just got turned around too quickly, because I was only in the park for a little over a mile.  I took it as a sign to just take it easy and jogged back home.  In total, I did just over two miles - not a ton, but I didn't need to do a ton today.  Next time I will try to figure out a longer loop!

We don't get tomorrow off over here, so I'm headed back up to Malaysia tomorrow morning.  Its been weird to see everyone online talking about football and fall.  Over here, it seems as if there is no concept of the change in the seasons.  My favorite thing about Nashville was fall - the football, the cooler weather, the leaves!  Tampa obviously didn't have cooler weather or the leaves, but we still had football, and somehow, you just knew that it was fall.  Over here, none of that is happening, so its like fall isn't even going on.  Maybe once the Pumpkin Spice Latte comes out?  When is that?  Hopefully they have it here in Singapore!!!  

Hope everyone back home is enjoying Labor Day weekend!