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Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

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DrJanice
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Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by DrJanice » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 1:42 pm

I am originally from the UK, 13 years ago I came to Indonesia for expatriate work. I lived in Indonesia for 12 years.

I absolutely loved Indonesia with the depths of my heart, it became my home especially as I was there for 12 years. Last year I was relocated to Singapore, it's been approximately a year. For the first say 11 months it was different to Indonesia obviously, but I still liked it a lot. But this week I feel different. I went to Thailand last week for vacation, it reminded me so much of Jakarta back in Indonesia. I came back yesterday, and I feel like Singapore is not my home. It feels like the apartment I live in is just a hotel, and it's not the same. I can't describe it, I can't put my finger on what it is that's upsetting me. It feels like I am on permanent vacation. I love Singapore a lot, and the people are nice I prefer it to the UK, however I don't know how to say it in words but maybe I don't find comfort in such a busy city. Maybe I got too used to living in Indonesia.

Will this feeling pass in due time? :(

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sundaymorningstaple
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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 2:14 pm

I'm still waiting and I've been here 35 years. (However I did work in Indonesia from 1982 to 1992 - 2 months there working and 1 month off in Singapore). :-k
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

DrJanice
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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by DrJanice » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 3:44 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I'm still waiting and I've been here 35 years. (However I did work in Indonesia from 1982 to 1992 - 2 months there working and 1 month off in Singapore). :-k
When you say waiting, waiting for the feeling to wear off?

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sundaymorningstaple
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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 4:16 pm

Yeah. Still hasn't. Been married to a local for 34 years, have two grown children and a grandson and it still doesn't feel like home. I grew up on a dairy farm. I inherently don't like cities. But sometimes you have to live where the work is.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

DrJanice
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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by DrJanice » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 4:36 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Yeah. Still hasn't. Been married to a local for 34 years, have two grown children and a grandson and it still doesn't feel like home. I grew up on a dairy farm. I inherently don't like cities. But sometimes you have to live where the work is.
You are very much right so, and maybe I will never become accustom to it like I did to Indonesia. It's hard to find a city homely I suppose. Thank you :)

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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by bgd » Tue, 24 Oct 2017 6:46 pm

When I first joined this forum there were a few threads talking about the novelty of living in Sg wearing off. If memory serves me correctly it was 1-2 years for most people.

After 10 years I still like it here but it will never be home. Would love to try Jakarta. Think I'd fit in there very well. :)

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Max Headroom
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Re: Living in Singapore for a year, starting to miss my previous relocation alot. Help?

Post by Max Headroom » Thu, 28 Jan 2021 9:30 am

Perhaps you're after the nostalgia that places like Jakarta still offer. I used to feel it in Singapore when I first arrived, but it wore off eventually, either due to the years I spent here or as a result of the green little dot careening deeper into the first world, leaving fewer and fewer vestiges to the old world that many find charming, like the chaps riding their mopeds jacket back to front, the bustling tongkangs in the harbour, samsui women at work, the things I used to marvel at back then.

Time waits for no man eh.

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