My (Singapore) Bucket List

As an expat in Singapore, your plans can change at a moments notice, and before you know it, you are packing and getting ready to move back home.  Some people move out to Singapore on a 2 year plan, and end up spending their whole lives here.  My husband and I arrived around 2 years ago, and well, the truth is, we could be leaving in a few months, or we could be here for another 2 years!  If it turns out we end up moving home sooner than we think, I would hate to think back, wishing we did more right here in Singapore.  The island is small, but there really is so much to see, do and experience.  Last weekend, as I was sitting my our pool enjoying the 98% humidity thinking about my friends back home battling another snow storm, I decided to put together my Singapore Bucket List.

1.  Eat Chicken Rice.  I know, it’s bizarre than I have not, in 2 years, tried Singapore’s signature dish.  It will happen, I promise.

2.  Take a day trip to Pulau Ubin.  People say this is what Singapore used to be like, and what you imagine Singapore should feel like.  Just a short ferry ride, and apparently you feel like you are in an entirely different country, enjoying cheap beer and local food.

3.  Spend a night at Marina Bay Sands.  Sure it’s new and some would say an eye sore to Singapore’s skyline, but have you seen the pool?

4.  Go on a coffee shop crawl through Tiong Bahru.  I’m a sucker for good coffee, and I always read about the new hipster coffee shops popping up all over Singapore’s oldest neighborhood. It’s like the Brooklyn of Singapore, and just like Brooklyn, I just don’t think I’m cool enough to pull it off, but why not try?!

5.  A Sunday champagne brunch at the Ritz.  It’s the expat thing to do, and I am probably the only person I know who has not gone to at least 3 Sunday brunches in my expat lifetime.

6.  High Tea at the Raffles Hotel.  I’m a girly girl, so it’s only natural for this to be on my list.

7. Expat Auction.  With so many expats coming and going, you can imagine the goods you could find here!  And often, expats have to leave quickly, so some great steals could be found!  Well, so I hear!  So we have got to get to this.

8.  Finally, the National Museum.  I walk by it at least twice a day, as it is literally in our backyard.  As a foreigner living in Singapore, this should have been one of the first things we did.