better information on everything

[ajgphd]

I visited in February and September of 2009, and fell in love with Singapore.Though I already live in a very desireable location - San Diego, CA. BTW - It would be nice to compete for jobs on a level playing field once, instead of always not being the preferred minority for government required hiring quotas.
1. We've been having Mexican weather this summer, though I think the chamber of commerce is moderating the reported temperatures (I live on the coast, but when they say 70s it is 90s on my thermometer). So I am never positive what I read via Internet. Has Singapore been warmer this past year, or is till in the 80s degrees F?
2. I assume most people cannot win the permit lottery and buy a car. That's ok. I like public transit when it is good. How much per year or month does one typically spend on SMRT passes / link passes. Is there any problem getting home with the groceries? Shopping carts do not negotiate the MRT well.
3. Don't you need PR status to even consider property purchase?
4. Can one play your US NTSC DVDs on your UK PAM compatible systems?

[beppi]

How is San Diego desirable for anything other than trips to Mexico?!?

Has Singapore been warmer this past year, or is till in the 80s degrees F?

Singapore is never in degrees F. We are metric (degree C) like all the rest of the world except USA.

How much per year or month does one typically spend on SMRT passes / link passes. Is there any problem getting home with the groceries? Shopping carts do not negotiate the MRT well.

S$0.70 - 2.00 per trip. How much you pay per month depends on how ofen and how far you travel.
Shopping bags are not a problem in buses and trains, but there's most likely a supermarket within walking distance from where you'd live.

3. Don't you need PR status to even consider property purchase?

Private apartments ("Condos") can be bought by anyone, but you need more than one lottery win for this.

4. Can one play your US NTSC DVDs on your UK PAM compatible systems?

No idea.

Almost all other questions can be answered by using this site's search function or Google. If you come up with something specific that cannot, please post again.

[cbavasi]

How is San Diego desirable for anything other than trips to Mexico?!?

Wow - OUCH! You're insulting not only my birthplace but what I consider one of the most beautiful places to visit!

Mind you - the last time I went someone asked me if Singapore was "up Highway 5" ... but still, a lovely, lovely lovely place to be and some kick ass fish tacos.

[beppi]

some kick ass fish tacos.

Yes, I had some very, very good ones across the border in Tijuana.

[cbavasi]

some kick ass fish tacos.

Yes, I had some very, very good ones across the border in Tijuana.

Ooh you'd have to have some big cajones to go over there these days with the drug wars and all... best to stick to Roberto's Taco Shop in Mission Beach or Wahoo's in La Jolla

[ajgphd]

San Diego has the best weather in the US. But this summer all the south west has been roasting (Dallas consistently around 105 degrees F - roughly 40 degrees C). Have average temperatures for Singapore changed much since 2009 or are they still in the 26 to never much over 30 degrees C range? (I experienced Singapore in February and in September 2009. Do I therefore know Singapore weather, or has this year been crazy hot?) I can read weather reports on the Internet, but when I know the reports for San Diego are not accurate then I wonder how much I can trust comparing San Diego to other places.

My personal taste in fish is tuna fish and north atlantic cold water fish such as cod and halibut and flounder. But these have been over fished and I don't like the pollock. I loved the fish and chips I had at bars along boat quay. I heard they use barramundi.

One problem San Diego has is that LA siphons of all the good water for themselves. Shopping in San Diego means also for for bottled water, which I doubt one has to do in Singapore. But as to getting the groceries home in SIN city, people told me I don't know, the maid has to do it.

I know what it costs to take the train somewhere. What I don't know is what someone pays "in bulk". I hear one used to get a pass. Maybe now an EZLink. I can estimate what I save by not needing a car just to blow my nose, but I then need to figure what I likely will spend on public transportation passes.

[cbavasi]

San Diego has the best weather in the US. But this summer all the south west has been roasting (Dallas consistently around 105 degrees F - roughly 40 degrees C). Have average temperatures for Singapore changed much since 2009 or are they still in the 26 to never much over 30 degrees C range? (I experienced Singapore in February and in September 2009. Do I therefore know Singapore weather, or has this year been crazy hot?) I can read weather reports on the Internet, but when I know the reports for San Diego are not accurate then I wonder how much I can trust comparing San Diego to other places.

My personal taste in fish is tuna fish and north atlantic cold water fish such as cod and halibut and flounder. But these have been over fished and I don't like the pollock. I loved the fish and chips I had at bars along boat quay. I heard they use barramundi.

One problem San Diego has is that LA siphons of all the good water for themselves. Shopping in San Diego means also for for bottled water, which I doubt one has to do in Singapore. But as to getting the groceries home in SIN city, people told me I don't know, the maid has to do it.

I know what it costs to take the train somewhere. What I don't know is what someone pays "in bulk". I hear one used to get a pass. Maybe now an EZLink. I can estimate what I save by not needing a car just to blow my nose, but I then need to figure what I likely will spend on public transportation passes.

I was actually rooting for you San Diego - but after that post - I'm not so sure. Are you for real about fish? Geez, anyone who is from SD would be chiming right in on fish tacos. Not tuna.

I was in San Diego this summer and it was the same as always. Also get daily reports from my parents who have said since I left it's been cooler than average - so not sure if you're inland or what.

Singapore is consistent. Hot, humid, hot, humid - and some rain. Not much else. In re: to shopping - are you being serious? It's the equivalent of being in any city - everything is available at a price. And in re: to your maid doing the shopping... well I won't even respond to that.

It's not California - you don't need a car. You'll spend an average in the MRT of $1 per trip (give or take). You buy an EZ link pass and put the money on it and call it a day. It's not like Europe where you get a discount for buying a month/year travel pass.

[ajgphd]

People who grew up in San Diego will like the fish tacos. I did not develop a taste for them, nor for spicy foods (Mexican or Chinese). As I said, I love the fish and chips at a pub on Boat Quay.

I live near highway 5. In terms of having many hot dry Santa Anas it has not been hotter than usual this summer. Usual is when the days are really warm it is dry heat and any sweat evaporates. What is not usual is instead of just blowing in hot dry desert air from Arizona, we've been getting monsoonal humid hot air blowing from the south east - Mexico. It feels like I have moved to Mexico! This summer we've been getting wet heat like from Singapore, only much warmer than your 28 degrees C. Singapore is right on the equator, yet the weather is more comfortable by far than most places on the equator such as panama or equatorial africa. In fact, Florida in the summer was more uncomfortable.

Touch screens (such as on an iPhone) do not like sweaty fingers. For people who sweat - is this a problem in Singapore?

But I do have a question about the heat with humidity for a camera person. Do I need to think about desicants in Singapore? I have a zoom lens which sucks in air when you zoom. Is condensation ever a problem?

There is no drinking or eating on the MRT. Can you carry a thermos with you as long you don't open it and drink from it?

[sundaymorningstaple]

I'm curious. How old are you?

Is condensation a problem? Have you ever walked out of a cold aircon building into the hot street? what happens to your glasses?

Due to the humidity, you will have more problem with mold so yes, dry cabinets are the best bet.

Singapore's temperatures have changed more than .25 degrees C in the past 30 years. lows of 22-24 at night, highs of 32-34 during the day. Except one day last year I think when it did set a record of 35 degrees.

Carrying a thermos. The signs say no eating or drinking. Do you see anthing about carrying? If you can carry groceries home on the train, and cooked food from the 10s of thousands of hawker stalls, I reckon common sense would tell you it's okay to carry. Just not partake.

[ajgphd]

I am 63, making the imposed relocation requirements extra difficult for me. My wife is much younger- 41.But she is Chinese, and I think her finding work would be much easier for her in Singapore.

I think hot humid imminent thunderstorm days in Manhattan were even more uncomfortable than my worst summer day in Singapore. BTW I had to use an industrial Spectra Physics laser for doing my atomic physics thesis at Columbia University. There was a big power supply, having power transistors and high voltage capacitors. The power transistors were mounted on a cold plate which you pumped cold water through, and it relied on convection to keep the capacitors below cool. Either they designed the thing in a dry climate, or else maybe they assumed you had an air-conditioned lab. We had condensation raining off our cold water pipes, and it must have been raining down of the cold plate onto the high voltage capacitors. You’d keep hearing the sound of an electrical arc, and then the laser would burn out.

I was trained for a teaching career, either university level or secondary school, either physics or math. By the time Columbia awarded me my PhD I discovered that government affirmative action hiring quotas had shut down any chance I had of finding employment in physics or math. I was forced to give up my first love and redefine myself as software development (at least on the coast I could not each - maybe a different story if I moved to Arkansas or Missouri). If I were to find a way to move to Singapore I’d finally escape those darn affirmative action hiring quotas that have dogged me all my life, and I might actually get a chance to do what I really wanted to do all my life, which is teach.

The San Diego economy is really depressed. No jobs, and housing values are way down. Real estate comps continue to be from foreclosures only. But I had saved heavily for retirement, and paid off my mortgage, which is why I am doing ok and surviving this recession. If I have to I am prematurely retired. The only thing that would budge me is an opportunity in Singapore.

I love the San Diego Zoo. But the Singapore Zoo is great too, especially the Orang Utans and the Bird Park. We have things like Disney Land and Universal Studios, only they are a 3 hour or more drive away, in LA. In Singapore everything is accessible.

The San Diego airport is very lacking, and when there was an opportunity to improve it (such as when the Navy consolidated and moved out of Miramar along with Top 
Gun), the dumb voters said no. We are serviced by American Airlines, so there are good connections to NY, DC, and Dallas. But for most flights, especially international ones, you first have to make your way to LAX. If it weren’t such a pain to fly to Singapore I think I would have already visited again, just as a tourist. Changi is a great airport, and it is so easy to get to by public transportation, or taxi after hours.

I got self conscious even taking some quick photos on the MRT. America post 9-11 has acted paranoid about these things, and I did not know what to expect in Singapore.

What type of work brought you to Singapore?

[sundaymorningstaple]

OIL. That was almost 30 years ago.

[Barnsley]

[quote="ajgphd"]People who grew up in San Diego will like the fish tacos. I did not develop a taste for them, nor for spicy foods (Mexican or Chinese). As I said, I love the fish and chips at a pub on Boat Quay.

You will be pleased to know that you wont have to put up with the Fish and Chips they serve you in the pub soon in Boat Quey. Smiths Chippy is opening a shop on Boat Quay

[ajgphd]

Thank you to all the expats who shared their thoughts!

My final plans must still be “up in the air”

[sundaymorningstaple]

[quote="ajgphd"]Thank you to all the expats who shared their thoughts!

My final plans must still be “up in the air”

[mrdodge]

Slightly OT, but having tried smiths chippy a couple of times now, it's overpriced and disappointing. Greasy, soggy chips and oily batter on the fish. If anyone is aware of other alternatives I would be interested to know.