Well, as efficient as always, the Ministry of Manpower confirmed that my card was ready for pick-up on Friday, 11th January – only took a few days, having provided my biometrics on Monday.
I can now work legally for a couple of years (at least) in Singapore. The final piece has slotted into place very nicely. It does feel good!
After a couple of weeks, I have finally settled into my local area – I’ve found the local shopping malls, the supermarkets, the wet market, the food courts. I just need to find out a few things to do (sports, events, photography, language courses) to keep me busy. On a serious note, I was thinking of learning Mandarin, but I think this is going to be a bit tough going – but I think I might give it a go.
Now, I just need to start booking those little side trips again – I’m keen to start exploring more of Asia – and Singapore is an ideal base. I want to visit Indonesia, Philippines, Burma (Myanmar), Laos and more of Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. I better get cracking – hehe.
Well I already had to sort out some of the basics, including setting up a bank account in Singapore – to help pay for my deposit and utilities for my new apartment, but also ensure that I am on the Amex Singapore payroll, so I can get paid in January 🙂
The problem is, they have changed the expat accounts on offer since last year, and diluted the benefits. Last year I opened one with a minimum S$500 deposit with no charges, apart if you close the account within 6 months where DBS would charge an administration fee of S$20 (which I did incur in December 2011). I was told that I could have left the account open, if I was returning (even if my Employment Pass was cancelled). The challenge is I wasn’t guaranteed to return at the time, so I had no choice but to cancel it. The minimum balance is a baseline, and if you go below it they will charge a servicing fee of S$2 per month that you are under the limit.
Now DBS have two main account options – they have raised the minimum balance limit to either S$1,000 or S$5,000 and they also limit the number of ATM withdrawals and servicing at the branches – e.g. charge servicing fees.
The options were as follows:
I didn’t want to keep a S$5k balance so I opted for the S$1k minimum balance account – and just have to ‘plan’ around the other servicing fees. I guess most of the account servicing can be performed at the ATMs or Online – so I should hopefully not need to visit a branch 🙂
That’s the bank account sorted…now I need to find an appropriate credit card – all of which has membership and annual fees etc … Hopefully, I can get my Amex one fee-free … well I hope so 🙂
Apartment (condo) hunting is very tiring work – after seeing about 10 or so places from a couple of different agents, I think I’m condo’ed out!
I think I started really badly because I set my rental range too high – about S$4,000, my mum suggested that I reduce the range to S$2,500-3,000 to ensure I don’t spend more than I should on the accommodation. I think this is wise, as part of the purpose of coming to Singapore is to continue to enjoy the lifestyle and region. What made this decision more difficult is that I did so after seeing a few really nice apartments at the original S$4,000 range – hey-ho.
After short listing a few – I think Newton Edge, Alexis, 8-Woodleigh and One-North Residences were the apartment condos that’s I was very interest in, I continued to search on www.propertyguru.com.sg and found one at Novena called Suites@Shrewsbury. It was pretty reasonable at the S$2,900 rental range and was located at 84 Shrewsbury Road. It was a bit cramped inside, but suitably located near the local facilities and amenities in the Novena area – walking distance from the Novena MRT, so the red North-South MRT line to Marina Bay.
So I went for this – hopefully it means my needs. It was only partial furnished, so I sense a visit to Ikea is needed once the lease agreement has been signed. I now need to sort out the deposit, paperwork and then I will have an official base in Singapore :). Saved money to spend on Guinness too – hehe…
Well the first port of call was the hotel to freshen up. Even though I arrived at 8am, I arrived at the hotel with the hope that they had my room available and allowed me an early check-in. The front desk were very accommodating and allowed me to check-in with penalty. I promptly arrived at my room, freshened up and felt actually very awake and rearing to go.
The hotel itself was conveniently located at Outram Park, just up from Pearl Hill. It was a few minutes away from Outram Park MRT – and the hotel offered a courtesy shuttle bus to take you to the MRT – a nice touch. The complimentary refreshments (daily replenished) are a nice treat; so Pepsi, Water, Oreo and a snack is free to eat. There is complimentary wi-fi available throughout the hotel – although it was a bit on the slow side (I guess that is always the risk of being free!).
I had already arranged for my blackberry to be sorted before I left the UK, so I knew it was ready to be picked-up later on in the day. I also had to make my way to pick-up mum when she arrived at 3pm from Hong Kong – would be good to have her around to support the condo hunting 🙂
So onwards and upwards…a trip to the office first 🙂
Well I thought I’d be a loyal worker and arranged to pick-up my work blackberry from the office. Actually, it was great going through the routine the taking the MRT from my hotel to Raffles Place and walk through the mall to the Marina Bay Financial Centre office. Certainly brings back fond memories.
The thing that made this different was that I had to sign in as a visitor as I haven’t officially started yet 🙂
I picked up my blackberry – which should have taken all of 5 minutes, but about 30 minutes later, I was still chatting way to some of the great folks at the office. It was a great time to catch-up – and probably the only time that I could really ‘dress-down’ without anyone batting an eyelid – haha!
I am finitely looking forward to return on the 2nd January 2013 to start my new work routine…2013 is going to be all-change for me!!!
Today, it is the start of a new chapter in my life, as I start my new adventure in Singapore. you may recall that I previously worked in Singapore on a secondment (placement) during the second half of 2011. The challenge was that this was such a short period, I really only felt settled after about 4-5 months, at which point I had to prepare to leave.
I turned to my home team in the UK, but with the intention to find a more permanent role in Singapore. Fortunately, I have now achieved this permanent relocation – and I am about to become a full expat with all the trimmings to finally get used to the Singapore life for good!
Not only is this a bold and huge move, it is also a scary episode in my life, with some elements of uncertainty and definitely a few unknowns, but actually I like the test of being slightly outside of my comfort zone. I am certainly up for the challenge and my head and heart both feel this is the right time to make this move.
So today, I am flying out and going to start sorting out the logistics to support my move. Do wish me luck :). My Singapore Adventure – the next chapter starts today!
Well what should I expect? I arrived promptly at 8am, it took a few moments to disembark from the lovely Singapore Airlines A380 Airbus – and after a walk down from the gate, I arrived in a few minutes at the Immigration desk. I provided my Employment Pass (EP) and the stamp duly appeared in my passport and I was once again in Singapore officially!
A few more minutes, my luggage appeared (it literally as minutes later), and my baggage was about the third or forth to appear on the belt. I picked up my two bags, my hand luggage and ruck-sack and joined the taxi ‘queue’ – when I say queue it was more like a mystery line – as I was magically at the front before I blinked. The taxi arrived, and in about 15 minutes I once again had left the airport in a taxi heading for the hotel!
Only in Singapore 🙂
It is very surreal buying a one-way ticket, the first time in my life that I’ve done so – this was when it became real to me that I was embarking on a new chapter of my life in Singapore.
BUT, I am excited about the challenge that awaits me, and I must admit I still enjoyed the Business Class flight out (thanks to the great service on Singapore Airlines). This time, I made sure I wasn’t over my Baggage allowance, having decided to not ship anything out from the UK (except what I checked-in) – I checked-in two large suitcases (which equated to almost 40kg, which SIA didn’t charge the excess for (30kg is the normal Business Class allowance – phew!). I also took on board my PS3 in my back-pack, and another cabin-sized suitcase with other bits and bobs…and my mum carried over another suitcase of belongings with hers to HK. I guess I’d only need to worry about how to get the stuff back when I eventually return to the UK 🙂
Talking about Business Class – it was a nice and relaxing journey, and the 12.5 hours simply flew by (excuse the pun) – the food was excellent, as always…as you can see below 🙂
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