Here

Yes!  We made it!  We are actually here!  At this point I was going to include a cheesy upside down picture of us for giggles, but frankly our jet-lagged faces would have caused serious emotional and physical damage to you, not to mention the camera.

So, after we took refuge in the safe haven of Singapore Air, we hunkered down for our first 12 hour flight.  Several films and thousands of bags of peanuts later we arrived, bleary-eyed, into a ridiculously sunny morning in Singapore.  We met a friend of Jan's there who was on holiday and kindly took a day out of his own sightseeing to escort us around town.  We caught the train into town and walked around the harbour area where there is a giant three-tower hotel with what looks like a large boat atop of it.   

This is the Marina Bay Sands and for a tenner you can ascend in the ear-popping lift and get a good view from the top. 

Of course the one and only thing to do once you have reached the top of said dizzy heights and had a look around is to participate in a bit of Movember Blue Steel...

After that we went to get food, by which time I was practically asleep on my feet and drowning in my own sweat (a difficult feat, but totally achievable in the insane humidity).  We ate at the Food Trail which is a series of small huts selling different foods and drinks and it was yummy.  We ate satay skewers, Hainanese chicken rice and pak choi in oyster sauce, and tried cold bird's nest soup* and sugar cane juice† to drink.  We then headed to Raffles hotel for a mandatory Singapore Sling‡ before we headed back to the airport and on to even more bags of peanuts and our final destination.

And now we are here.  And it is kind of strange.  We are not rushing about doing the sightseeing touristy things like we would if we were on holiday.  We have sorted bank accounts and phones and wandered around a bit looking at a city we don't know, but knowing it will become ours in time.  We have unpacked our clothes (how did I manage to bring only ONE pair of trousers and ONE long sleeved top and NO pyjamas for slouching around in?!?!) but we have no house to call our own yet.  It has rained (trust us to move half way around the world and have it RAIN) but that actually made me feel a bit more at home.  We have done a shop and found some brands the same and some brands different.  Home feels far away at the moment, which is both exciting and scary, but we will take it a day at a time and, for now, say a big CHEERS!  We are here!

* Meh.

 † Also meh.

 ‡  Definitely NOT meh.