Singapore!

It’s finally decided that we will be moving to Singapore, most probably already in the middle of June! Jonas has been offered to go with Goldman Sachs and I have just talked to my boss and will hopefully be able to continue on my current project at National University of Singapore (NUS).

One of the first views we saw in Singapore of the Marina Sands Hotel with its casino in the front.

It has actually been very calm the last weeks regarding earthquakes, so now everything feels almost back to normal. However, considering we have decided to sell all furniture (if we can, since the market for used things ais over-saturated due to so many leaving because of Fukushima etc) since it’s more expensive to ship them over than to buy a completely new home, terminate our apartment contract along with all utilities (electricity, water, gas, WiFi) and have had to do a major sorting and throwing out all the papers, clothes and other stuff we have accumulated, it’s been a lot to handle.

Tokyo Bay with Tokyo Sky Tree (new Tokyo Tower) in the background

An important aspect is actually all the autumn and winter clothes we have here, since we’ll be moving to a country which is constantly close to 100% humidity and around 35 degrees C. We’ve heard from friends who live there, that they actually experienced heavy jackets and knitted sweaters becoming moldy, so we have decided to bring everything to Singapore and then take it home to Sweden around Christmas.

Jonas in a very much summer outfit in Singapore.

On top of this I have applied for jobs at amongst others the NUS, Nanyang Technical University (NTU) and The Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) Institute of Materials Engineering (IMRE) and we have also had to look for apartments, so it’s been busy. For me it’s of course also important that I can reschedule my current work and that takes a lot of planning too.
Regarding the apartments, we have set sight on a few areas and consulted with friends who currently live in Singapore. They have been giving us very valuable advice and we will set up meetings with agents during our first week. It might then be possible to move in almost straight away, since when the apartments are advertised online in Singapore, they are almost always empty. It’s also a much more effective procedure compared to here, so we hope to only stay at a hotel for about two weeks in total. As soon as we have signed all papers, it’ll be a trip to IKEA to sort out furniture and home delivery; yay!

Our first picnic in Singapore consisting of all things delicious which are insanely expensive in Japan: wine, roasted chicken, feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, green beans, strawberries and cream..

All in all it’s coming together slowly but surely, so now we are just trying to make this last month and a half as best as possible.

View over our beloved Tokyo from Mori Tower (where Jonas works) on the 53rd floor

Magome, Tsumago and Narai

Even though it’s been more stressful the last two months compared to any other time in our lives, people still have birthdays and so does my husband. He was therefore treated with a little trip to the Japanese countryside, visiting a ryokan (Japanese style inn with meals and baths in natural hot springs) after a very interesting hike in the beautiful Kiso Valley.
We set off to Tokyo main station to take the shinkansen (Japanese speed train) to Nagoya. Once in Nagoya, we found another train and then a very small bus, via the really helpful staff at the tourist office at the main station, towards the old postal town Magome.

An interesting view from above parts of the hill (the walk was upwards in a close to 40 degrees angle), down the town of Magome.

The town itself is one of the old postal towns along a route from this part of the country to Tokyo (old name is Edo) and make the starting point of several walks along the Kiso valley. The route is through a landscape of slopes through the Magome pass. However, it’s a fantastic walk and a quite different sight from the Swedish view; instead of pine- and leafy trees, it’s bamboo and Christmas trees looking like bonsais from the Karate Kid. With the mountains being twice as high (at least) as in my home town Ulricehamn and flowers looking like roses in a mountain mist, it feels almost magical to travel back in time and walk through passes of wild sakura (Japanese cherry blossom) gardens. All the tress have blossomed a long while ago in Tokyo.

Fantastic cherry blossoms with the mountains in the background on the way to Tsumago.

After several hours we finally arrived in Tsumago and after some searching we found the Hanaya Ryokan. We had to rush in, since we were a bit late and at a Ryokan dinner is served 18.00 sharp for all guests. We didn’t have time to change before dinner, but the other guests seemed OK with the foreigners being confused.

Dinner was grilled fish, rice, miso soup, sashimi (raw fish), tea, pickles, dried fish parts, horse radish, mushrooms, buck wheat noodles, rice drum stick with peanut sauce, omelet, meat soup and sake.

After dinner, sitting on the floor, it was time to soak in the naturally hot springs of the hotel and then an early night on our futons (Japanese style foldable beds) on the soft tatami (hay/grass mat) floor, since all guests have a curfew at 21.00. Breakfast was then served the following morning at 07.00 and was comprised of more fish in various combinations, rice and green tea.
Unfortunately it was a bit rainy in the beginning, but we decided to continue walking towards Nagiso through several small villages with beautiful gardens and houses.

The scenery was truly breathtaking.

In Nagiso we stopped for picnic lunch and waited for the train to the old postal town Narai. It was quite crowded, since Narai is a very popular site, especially during Golden Week (Japanese holiday). We stayed and did some souvenir shopping, but mainly just walked around and looked in all the ancient shops. We learned that Narai is one of the villages from the Edo period, along with Magome and Tsumago, which has been preserved as much as possible to be similar to the way it was in the old days. After a meal with traditional soba (huge bowls with buck wheat noodles, fish stock and vegetables) we took another small train and then transferred to the big shinkansen towards Tokyo. Leaving the Kiso valley with its Nakasendo walk that we just had experienced, gave incredible views along the Kiso river. It was however kind of nice to return to civilization and not have to worry about being eaten by a black ‘moon-collar’ bear.

Kiso river along the rail road.