Where the hell..?

(picture of the post: Singapore is right in the middle of each map, just for your information..)

FIRST TASK: BECOMING ACCLIMATIZED...

Well, as for the climate..just imagine a place that is just covered with tropical jungle. Suddenly Mr. Samford Raffles comes along in 1819 to found a city at this spot, which is so ideal for a free port...(1) Fast forward...all forest ist basically flattened and replaced now by one of the most vivid metropolis in Asia. Of course, the climate did not change..many foreigners seem to ask themselves, why on earth one should work and live here. But there are plenty of good reasons..So, when I walked out the airport for the first time (it was late, around 10pm on Friday, 16th Sept), it felt like walking right into a wall..still 27°C and so humid. I was picked up by Jan and Philipp, two interns from Infineon who used to be here for quite a while.

...LEARN TO MOVE AND PERSPIRING LIKE THE LOCALS...

Cabs and Buses, virtually everything that drives around in the city has aircon, which is badly needed. As an 'untrained' Middle-European, you start sweating right away everywhere and almost everytime in the first week, especially whenever there is no aircon in close proximity. Every fast movement leads to sweating, especially during the day, when there are more than 30°C and around 80%-90% humidity. This climate is really...special. Hard conditions for your deodorant :-) The most difficult challenge was to get to work without getting into the state that you would need a shower right after your arrival..

Nevertheless, it has advantages. You will never need any skin cream, since there is always a thin layer of moisture on your skin. It is much more comfortable to wear contact lenses, for example. At home in Germany I could wear them for about 8-9 hours, here I can virtually keep them for the whole day without ever noticing them. There is simply no way they could ever dry out (except the fact that you stay in a freezer-like place that has the most aggressive and drying aircons..which really strikes me sometimes when I enter a store. You feel chilly immediately, and if you ever get a cold in this country you'll surely get it from evaporation cold pretty quickly, I suppose)

I remember myself pondering about riding a bicycle to work every morning..one hour in this climate tells you that this idea is just nuts..So I was happy to sit down in a chilly cab with the 2 guys and to have my first Singaporean beer one hour later, because were going right to one of their favorites bars.

...AND TO LOOK FOR A FLAT!

I slept at Jans place for the first two nights. Infineon itself does not arrange anything regarding accomodation..but after talking to some interns I was confident that I would find something somehow...and I did! I virtually won the lottery. But more of that in the next days..

(additional potp: Infineon Asia Pacific Headquarters, 8 Kallang Sector, Singapore)

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore