White Walls of Singapore

Due to weather, all pictures courtesy of Channel NewsAsia.

Today's weather is a high of 90*F, rain showers in the evening... and a smoke haze all day. That's right, no matter where you are outside, a thin white fog seems to cover everything and the taste of burned ash stings your throat.

The reason for this smoky air is caused by forest fires in Indonesia and according to the weather channels, it is just one of several months to come where the smoke haze is expected to hang over the whole island.

Yep, we are getting hit by smoke from a fire that is 156-mile away (Fine, 251-kilometres!)

It all started Friday evening, I left work happy to sign the lease to our new HDB apartment when I stepped outside. At first I didn't notice it, I was in a rush to grab a nice cold lime juice (a local equivalent to lemonade) and then make the 10-minute walk to the boyfriend's office, then to walk south to our new apartment in the old but surprisingly modern neighbourhood of Tanjong Pagar. It was probably the cold beverage that buffered me a bit but half way into the first half of my excursion and I was noticing a burning smell in the air, a dry and raw feeling in my throat and a small sting in my eyes.

At first I thought it was a fire somewhere nearby, but when I craned an ear to listen, I didn't hear any emergency sirens. In the heart of Singapore known by the impressive and towering title of the Downtown Core (Walk through it once and you'll know the name is deserved), I can usually hear the sounds reverberating off the skyscrapers, the steel, concrete and glass walls like a sound chamber and sometimes when I walk the smaller roads meant for delivery and service vehicles that bisect between the behemoths I swear I can hear voices echoing in the distance.

But it was as I looked up at those glass spires above me, I noticed they seemed a little harder to see. You know when your at the beach and you look at a ship on the very edge of the horizon, it looks a little whited out, details are harder to make out. The intricate and varied towers of the Downtown Core and around Raffles were now harder to make out, like someone had dropped white mosquito netting in my way to blot them out.

I met my boyfriend and was going to voice my confusion that everything seemed 'off' this evening, but we were late and in a rush, he had more work to do and we still had to pack for our move (Hey, its was two suitcases each but in two-months, we've spread out!) so I kept my tongue to myself, instead asked about his day, as we speed walked to our destination.

We arrived on the middle floors of our 24-story HDB and made a beeline to our destination, our new apartment. But here the 'white wall' was all the more evident.

Most if not all HDB's have open air walkways that line the interior walls of their courtyards, causing a spiral maze to grow over your head that seems full of life. Along these walks people hang their laundry to dry in the air, grow plants of staggering exotic variety, line their shoes along the walls, the occasional child's toy or scooter are neatly against the concrete railing and with some homes, a tiny yet lovingly maintained Buddhist or Hindu idol with offerings of oranges or burning incense occupy the corners. But along this almost 200-foot walk (Fine, 50-meters!), I could see the white wall hanging at around the halfway point down the walk, the door of the last apartment on the walk at the far end was almost gone in the mist.

But beyond the white wall was one startling fact of the walkway that I found instantly concerning.

It was empty of all souls... anyone who has been in an HBD in the evening knows its common for windows and doors to be opened, for the sounds of people talking, televisions playing and even children racing up and down the halls while squealing in glee fill the air. It almost always sounds like a cul-de-sac back in the States on a hot summer evening after school's let out, children running free, neighbours chatting from across their porches, the occasional splash of an outdoor pool. You didn't have to see people, you could hear them clear as if they were all right in front of you... ah now I'm nostalgic.

Tonight however the doors were shut, the windows were shuddered, the sounds of those televisions muffled and not a body was outside.

One glance to my left as we walked through this haze, out towards the Port of Singapore, second busiest harbour in the world, I could barely make out the towering cargo cranes that could match our HDB in height. Out on the water, it was like the ocean and the hundreds of ships that floated atop it disappeared into white, not a detail beyond their shadows or silhouettes could be made out.

We signed out apartment lease, hashed out a few details with our landlord, shook hands with a very amicable deal and by the time we departed it was dark outside and though the lights of the harbour and surrounding buildings seemed... off... brighter then they should be... the white wall had vanished and we were heading back up to the Singapore parent's home for the last time.

Fast forward to the next morning and we were rushing about, trying to cram what we could into our four suit cases, two small roller bangs and two backpacks (All we had brought with us from America plus a few purchases), while trying to organize what appliances and extra goodies the Singaporean parent's had graciously gifted to us for our new apartment (Heads up, loving the espresso machine the Singaporean mother added to our pile... my caffeine addiction has been thoroughly quelled this morning!). Again I stepped outside, juggle a plastic hanging rack, an overburdened suitcase and three cooking pans under my arm... and instantly noticed the basketball court that lay atop the parking garage below us was lost in a haze.

The white wall was back, the burning smell of wood hung in the air and I instantly had to stifle a sneeze building in my chest.

Everything packed into the car, we headed out, absently turning on the radio to listen to some music as we made the 20-minute ride down to Tanjong Pagar from Tampines. The music is generally identical to home, Singapore's tastes in music tend to be very American (Western) with a greater preference towards Pop, Rock and Hip Hop... Country thankfully hasn't made a real dent here. But just as we were starting to pull onto the highway, the music ended as the broadcast switched to the local weather.

"All Singaporeans are reminded that due to forest fires in nearby Indonesia, smoke haze is expected for most of the next week. Please remain attentive to the Singaporean Air Quality Service and be appraised of government bulletins. Thank you."

Today's rating is 74, moderate. Anything over 100 is unhealthy to be outside without a face mask, over 200 dangerously unhealthy and over 300... well unless the fire is burning right next to Singapore I think we are safe for the time being.

For someone who has never been near a forest fire in his life, such a 'weather phenomenon' is weird to say the least. I lived in California for too short a time and at too young an age to register the yearly forest fires that plague the dry western states of America, the closest fire I've been to outside our home fireplace or an outdoor wood bonfire was a controlled burn of an abandoned house when I was 14. It was started, supervised and then doused by the local fire department who kept the crowd of curious onlookers upwind for the entire thing. We never were hit with the smoke head-on, we could feel the heat and smell the burning, but never we're we in the smoke path.

Singapore is in the smoke path from an entire forest, not just one house. I wonder if I should invest in one of those sterile surgical masks I see some people walking around with.

Until next time, the AngMoh will be hiding inside from the smoke.

Registering for Employment Pass

Heads Up: This is a continuation on my blogging about applying for an S-Pass employment visa in Singapore. If you miss part one, scroll to the bottom of the page for links to the corresponding sequences! 

And now the moment of truth. I have all my paper work filled out, every document notarized by the proper professional and I've even put it in a nice purple folder for presentation... hey, purple is super professional looking so stop snickering!

It's time to register my employment pass and have it made official by the government.

So in most cases, if your company has any legitimate Human Resource department, they can make the appointment at the Ministry of Manpower for you. Those that don't... it can require some hunting through the usual bureaucratic nightmare that is a government website. I personally believe that instead of going this route it just easier to call the Ministry and wade through the hour of operators to get a real live person to confirm your appointment. I however lost charge on my battery and was thrown back to step one before my appointment was confirm.

But HR came to the rescue and got in my appointment situated.

Once your confirmation is in the system, they send you a email with all your details, along with a registration bar-code. Print off this paper and bring it along with all your other documents.

With that all nailed down it was just holding out the days until it was time. Now remember this is a bureaucracy... it doesn't mean being punctual, it means being early. Finding the front entrance to just the campus wasted at least 20-minutes and thankfully I was there nearly an hour early, so it wasn't a mad dash to the door.

Inside its crowded, but keep your eyes peeled because Ministry officers are moving through the cluster of confused and waylay people, helping to get you to your appointment as fast a possible. They will take you to a nearby electronic kiosk. This is where that confirmation paper you printed off comes in. A quick scan and all your information is confirmed along with your physical arrival and in response, it prints off what lettered queue you are suppose to head to (A, B or C).

Inside the queue you have to wait in another line, though this is so short it will barely take longer than a few minutes. A screen on the wall will chime when a interview desk has opened and the corresponding number of said desk. Within minutes you'll be ushered into a glass lined cubicle that is so small you'll feel as if one wrong move and you'll be in the interviewer's lap!

Here is where you'll be handing over all your important documents that you've been collecting since the beginning of your journey:

• Passport (Include multiple photo IDs and your social security card just to be safe).
• In-Principle Approval Letter (the letter you were sent when your application was approved).
• Disembarkation/Embarkation Card (basically the long-term visitor visa you were issued at Singapore customs when you arrived).
• Completed Medical Examination form.

Make sure to note if your American or European, that the sequence your name is in will not match the common naming sequence on naming documents in Asia. To clarify, in Asia it is common to first list your last name, any numeral relation (junior, senior, III, IV), your first name next, finalized with any middle names you have (its common in this region of the world to have none at all or more than one, hence going last). In the case of Americans, who go First, Middle, Last, Numeral, this means you'll have to be issued a name amendment so they don't completely spell your name on the card in a disorganized manner. I had to correct the interviewer twice that she listed my name out of order... interviewers don't like to be corrected.

Next is the picture for your card and lets be clear, make sure you look presentable and wear something that you won't be embarrassed to be seen in. For the Indian man in the ratty, stained and torn t-shirt with Michael Jackson on the cover... congratulations, every official document your picture will appear on in this country will also show your poor taste in fashion.

I will admit I looked damn good in my picture, though at 5-foot 8-inches, I still had to bend my knees to fit into the camera's frame. You get two takes and after that its picking the lesser of two evils. I very much approve of the black and white, high contrast picture of me... whoever the photographer is, I want her doing all future photo shots for me!

With this completed, all those documents you brought (save the official ones like your passport and social security card) are taken for your registration and now are all gone... never to be seen again... thank God!

Now its time to wait. In general, you or your company will get a call within the next four to five business days, confirming that your card is ready. If you work for a major company, generally they will send the card directly to your office by secure messenger. If not, then you'll have to go all the way back to the Ministry office and pick it up yourself. 

Until that day, I'll keep you posted but until then, the AngMoh is now a semi-registered American Expat in Singapore!

For those that missed it, here is the complete S-Pass Application Process. Click below for:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Forests Atop the Concrete Jungle

Disclaimer: Because I mention my job in this post I am enforcing the anonymity rule with comments. Do not mention my name, position, company or office location. Any comments that do will be deleted. Same applies to me, I will NEVER refer to my position, company, its location beyond country, refer to colleagues or anything they say. I will also never post pictures, taken of either colleagues or on the office premise. In general I will be as vague or broad as possible with details! Thank you.

So today I am walking out of my new office (I love saying that!) and into the lobby of sorts we share with the other branch offices of our lovable, multi-national corporation to notice two construction workers drilling green leaves into the wall. Yes, you read correctly, they were drilling holes in a newly added facade wall in the lobby and plugging a ranging selection of grasses and ferns into each hole.

According to the rumors circulating through the oddly always crowded and bustling lobby, it is our corporation's desire to go green and add some life to our always open air office.

Considering my last two offices were so sterile they could have doubles as surgical theaters, this was a sudden change of sorts.

I have to say without a doubt... I love urban gardening and quickly noticed I was spending too long staring at the construction workers as they went about their duties... earning a few perplexed stares back before I head back to my desk after my bit too long bathroom break.

This is one rising trend that is certainly not a fad or theme running through Singapore at the height of the laughably obvious global warming debate (seriously, if you don't think Human activity is not effecting our world, play a game called count the extinct animals for just the last decade... it stop's being a game real quick). Singapore is one the country is actively making an effort to incorporate the ideals and designs of urban gardening into itself.

Every day I head out in the plaza that lays before our office, I get a glance up at the oddest skyscraper you'd ever see. It has to be at least 50-stories but its missing chunks, like someone cut entire floors and cubes out of the structure. From down on the street you can't miss these sudden voids of space, where you can clearly see the sky beyond and long concrete stilts holding up an amazingly immense portion of the structure above it.

You can also see the tops of trees growing up and out of those voids.

Yep, from down on the ground I can clearly see the green of leaves swaying in the wind and from some of the better angles I can definitively see those are tree branches, not bushes. There is literally a forest of green several hundred feet in the air.

And it doesn't stop there, the floors that do have continuous domain over their section of the structure actually have balconies and even pods hanging off of them, each with a fully grown tree or garden to support it.

On the ground it is about the same, any space that is open seems to be bursting with plant-life. Buildings are covered in creeping vines, tall palms cluster every patch of ground and special care is used to maintain them, to make it appear during your ride down the highway that you've suddenly driven into the rainforest.

When polled, almost 80% of Singaporeans voted for more urban gardens, more parks, less restrictions on community gardens and more buildings that actively incorporated a common area dominated by nature.

In fact, the idea is so popular the new EDITT Tower being built in the heart of the city will be the first of its kind, a paragon of “Ecological Design In The Tropics”. Read more here.

I will also admit I've noticed the animal life is missing and tragically I know that even these tiny patches of green are not enough to sustain Singapore's larger fauna. Birds are prevalent, a particular black bird with yellow cheeks seems to fill the niche of Pigeons or Red-Breasted Robins out here... the little buggers also squawk, not sing, so they're all the more noticeable.

But still, anyone who has lived in New York City will note the only real place where you can be considered in a forest is in Central Park, out in Brooklyn's Prospect Park or lost in the horrifying suburban twilight zone that is Staten Island. But these are all finely kept, with lawns that never grow thick and always look like they have been trampled flat into artificial astro-turf. Even the lakes and waterfalls in Central Park are fake, maintained by complex pipes and pumps that keep the waters nearly clear and always flowing.

Yet take one hour to walk around Singapore and you'll notice the residences themselves will install gardens anywhere they can, they will literally cast aside the well manicured lawns in some areas to establish gardens entirely planted in clay pots sitting on the aforementioned lawns, expanding these all the way up to the open air walk-ways in the HBD apartments you'll find the corridors lined with fruit plants and ferns. Plastic trash-cans are left out to collect rain water, which falls amply, and none are ever fenced in or vandalized. Most carry a greater variety of fruits and vegetables than any normal supermarket could conceivably hold either.

There are actually dangers to this type of gardening, as it adds some clutter to the hallway, making movements a restrictive when you stumble in from work or God forbid fire-fighters must rush in to put out a blaze. It can be fatal too, as reports of heavy clay pots absently placed on window ledges, balconies or too close to stairs have fallen, in one case a 12-year old girl was tragically killed instantly while walking home when a clay pot slipped from the window it sat in and struck her in the head.

But this is act of gardening in an urban landscape is a necessity I believe, Singapore's population continues to swell daily but the amount of land is less than New York City and more or less consumed by concrete. Atop this is the fact that Singapore is a single country by itself, New York has the whole of the United States to turn to for economy, work force, population overflow, disaster support and military/police protection. While economically successful, commercial agriculture is near impossible on this island, which hit almost completely urban only a decade or so ago, now speeding on to become a mega-metropolis.

You can really understand why Singaporeans make an effort to grow their own food, to return as much nature as they can when they have to build housing units, to keep their plants maintained with care and to avoid harm when possible, why they try to be as conservative as possible when they use water (Seriously if you shower longer than 15-minutes they start knocking to see that you are okay!). They are a nation that has to import so much from the outside world, including a far chunk of their workforce, while actively trying to be as independent as possible from the same world.

It certainly is a concentrated effort to maintain the semblance of nature in this otherwise city island, one that I wish every single American city would take seriously and begin to encourage their citizens to undertake. Support solar and wind energy, support community or personal gardens, support the usual of local plants in landscaping and to avoid plants that only grow to be beautiful for one season before they wilt in winter.

Be like Singapore, where a forest can be grown on a skyscraper, where a lobby wall can become a pasture, where even the hallway of an apartment can be a garden.

Attack of the Microscopic Millions!

Black specks, that is what I first registered when I pulled the cereal bowl from the rack above the sink. It was when those specks started to bite and crawl over my fingers I realized a whole battalion of ants had become enraged I'd disturbed there morning stroll.

Horrified, that is the only thing that my mind registered and I'm sad to say that foul thoughts sprang up about how my boyfriend's mother goes about her cleaning routines.

That is until I realized something that everyone has been nagging me about since I arrived.

Every time I had thrown something into the trash, washed a dish or left a dirty bowl sitting in the sink, everyone had been warning me to wash it clean as quickly as possible or tie it up in a plastic bag. That includes even stuff you're throwing into the trash itself. Ants in Singapore always find food... ALWAYS!

They are tenacious little things, leave any bit of food out and they swarm the area like the TSA does when a grandma flies with more than two bottles of shampoo.

Just yesterday I made myself a cup of coffee, though I'm a bit odd and actually like my cup of Joe to be cold, so after dropping a few ice cubes into it, I went off to a shower. Upon my return my desk was covered in these multi-legged invaders, scurrying around my mug, over my notebook, hell they were creeping out from under the keys of my laptop.

Seriously, I was dancing around the bedroom, shaking my computer upside down, getting a odd look of concern from the boyfriend's mother.

Now before you say anything about this being a tropical country and anytime you open a window in hot weather, you're inviting in bugs remember that this is in a fifth story apartment in Tampines, an otherwise developed area of Singapore know for its shopping malls, in an air-conditioned bedroom, all the windows and doors closed. These tiny creepers had to have made an almost titanic journey into an largely hostile environment and they showed up in regiment strength.

Singaporeans deal with this by trying to eliminating any items that could attract them. When you finish a container of yogurt, you just don't toss it. Instead you're going to have to wash it thoroughly, replace the top and then you toss it. If you're throwing out leftovers, you tie them in a plastic grocery bag. Don't expect to use the garbage disposal in the sink to get rid of your chewed on food bits, those are a rarity in Singapore.

There are some very simple ways to deter ants from using your home as a food court without having to call an exterminator:

• Cleaning: Clean counters with a mixture of half vinegar, half water. 
• Repellent: Add one tablespoon of a herbal oils like Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree Oil, Witch Hazel Extract into a spray bottle full of water. Don't use scented chemicals, soaps or cleaners made to smell like them, they almost never contain the real thing!
• Traps: Make ant taps by combining a two cups of sugar, one cup of water and two table spoons of boric acid (Borax). Borax can be found in most grocery stores as a cleaning product but the pure form is preferred  Spread it on a plate or something flat, then put it where you the ants most commonly appear. The result, the ants collect the Borax thinking its food, bring it home, where the nest consumes the poison and dies.
• Lock-down: Seal any holes or cracks in the kitchen/trash area, if you can't afford that or its impossible, rub cinnamon, ground black pepper, bay leaves, salt, chili powder or coffee grounds on the holes. Make it into a paste by mixing in water. (F.Y.I. this can cause mold if repeated too often so watch it!)
• Containment: Buy a trash can with a lid on it. Not a plastic one that comes with a little button on top of it to make it pop open but a real metal one, with a food pedal on it to make it open. If you have to put your weight into opening it, an ant is not going to break through this barrier easily. Get one that can also be easily washed, in case you spill food on it and the ants swarm, you can bathe it in chemicals to drive them away without fear of poisoning your whole family. 
• Beautify: Plant mint, lavender or sage in pots and place near normal points of entry, from vents to windows to sink drains. They look and smell nice, while driving ants away. 

For more examples, check out this site on WikiHow, they have a ton of tips. 

DISCLAIMER: Now remember every ant species is different (seriously, there are 22,000 species!) and while some of these remedies can work to deter some, it can attract others. The easiest way to avoid this is to use the first method I noted, just remove the sources of food that attracts them and be vigilant not to leave scraps.

You will quickly latch onto this form of religious cleaning very quickly once you pluck a bowl from the cleaning rack and find a black swarming puddle go scurrying across the counter! 

Don't Worry, It Will Only Hurt A Lot!

My shoulders are sore, my mouth taste like sand, eye's dilated to the size of dinner plates and my level of humiliation is through the roof. No, I haven't just gotten back from spring break in Florida, I've been to the doctors... and the dentist... the eye doctor... and because of my infinite brilliance of scheduling, all in the same day!

I'm about to travel abroad so of course I want to use every bit of my insurances (fine, my parent's insurance) to make sure I am in tip top shape... and after my little experience I think I should share the correct things to do when traveling abroad for an extended period of time to sidestep most of the stupid mistakes I made... there weren't too many... alright, they were big mistakes but there weren't a lot of them so they even out... shut it and just keep reading!

First and foremost, go right to the travel medicine clinic. I know, it seems like the last thing you want to do but in order to avoid the confusion, the fusing, the annoyed nurses staring at you at the doctor's office, it should be first on your list and moment your ready to go. These people deal with travelers every single day and know from the get-go that 99% of them have no idea what to do. They have little pamphlets on everything you can want and from those times I worked at a check-in desk in high school, I guarantee they've read them all at least seven times each!

Make sure to bring a record of your vaccinations along with a list of all your allergies, aliments and oddities (stop judging me, I didn't have that many!)

Second tip, vacationing abroad and living abroad are two different things. You have to tell them that because living abroad for years against two weeks means those shots your gonna get become a lot bigger and a lot more numerous. Now don't worry, its not too much. First thing they ask you when you call for an appointment is where your headed and be specific with countries! Saying you may travel around south-east Asia to a travel clinic doctor is like saying "Oh, I'm going to roll in raw sewage in ever country I go to!" Don't lie, don't say its a possibility or you think maybe. You think your going to Thailand  Malaysia  Japan, China... the works... you think you could be there any time for any reason in the next three years, you tell them. Because of that my simple shot for Hepatitis-A grew to include a shot for Typhoid Fever, another shot for Yellow Fever, another for Tetanus and to top it off, four test tubes of blood drawn to make sure you have the appropriate antibodies from childhood vaccinations. Check the CDC website on travel's information for more details.

Now these places can be expensive and will cost around $250 and more (your gonna lose $80 just for coming in!)... but a quick call to your insurance company can lead you to the only hospital in 100-miles that will take your worn and bent plastic insurance card! A massive bill then becomes a $30 copay.

The reason you need to go to the travel clinic first is because when you leave they hand you a nice big folder of information on your destinations, along with prescriptions for a number of terrible things (seriously, Malaria and travel's diarrhea CAN KILL, you definitely don't want to locked up at a hospital with that!). Inside that folder is a folded yellow card, on which every one of your doctors has to sign-off on, detailing your immunizations, your medications, even what your eye sight is.

This little card is now your best friend to accompany that folder you've been building with your social security card and passport. You know the one you'll have to be prepared to whip out any time you travel farther than 50-feet from you home. As you head off to your other doctor's appointment, in my case a cleaning at the dentist (No cavities! Suck it floss, I never use you!) and a psychical (seriously an EKG-test is freaking cold!) they are going to sign this little paper, confirming that your are both sane, healthy and seriously medicated. Also because they are going to ask you what medications you are on, you can hand them over the nice list of very exotic and very expensive drugs the travel clinic put you on so their own cheapy, run of the mill crap drugs don't counteract it or make you ill!

Once your done, your all set to go... maybe leave a few days to recover since those damn Tetanus shots really do make the muscles ache!