Enough of this rain

It's pretty much been raining since I arrived in Singapore 1-1/2 weeks ago. Before I left I booked flights to visit Angkor Wat for 4 days and I'm leaving tommorow. The weather report calls for mostly sun and a few clouds though next Sunday but definitly no rain!

Viva VivoCity

On the cab ride to work the first day I arrived, we passed by a very strange looking building called Vivo City, and the driver told me I HAD to visit it. Yesterday I decided to go check it out since everyone else was out doing last minute Christmas shopping, too.



I think this was the largest mall I've ever been in. At first it was exciting to see how many stores were there and how packed it was w/ people, but after about an hour of wandering around and ending up a little disoriented I began to get very nervous about finding my way out. I went up to the top floor which opened to the roof where there was wading pool for children about half the size of a football field. I wasn't too suprised to see Santa Clause but was a little frightened by the elves. Scary.

one of Santa's little helpers

It never rains in southern California

Moving here direct from San Diego presents me w/ quite a contrast. People sometimes comment on how good the weather in San Diego is... and now I can really appreciate it. Growing up in California and then spending just over 9 years in San Diego has really caused me to lose any appreciation for actual changes in the weather...for example: rain. I knew I would be arriving in the 'rainy season' at the end of the year but I've never seen it rain like this before. The first few days were fine when it just rained in the afternoon but on Sunday it started raining and it's been pretty constant since then. It's strange because I usually associate rain w/ cold but it's warm out which really makes it much more tollerable. Apparently lightning is pretty common here, too. There are some small breaks between the pouring when the air is really crisp; otherwise it really looks like you're in a cloud.

Here's the view of the Singapore River from my temp apt while it was pouring....

...then a few mintues later when the rain let up the air looked cyrstal clear.

I just checked the weather report and it's expected rain until Thrusday...

Welcome to Singapore

I've already landed in Singapore to start a long term work assignment and I could be here as long as 3 years... which is now really seeming like a long time. Some people may be thinking it's very strange for me to be writing a blog like this instead of leading very secretive life as normal but this may be the best way to keep in contact w/ everyone back home.