upside down and backwards.

I feel like the world has turned upside down.

A month ago, I was living in a small, creaky apartment and now I live in a humongous house that seems as though it could withstand a hurricane and typhoon at the same time. I used to live in the middle of a big continent and the closest body of water to speak of was Lake Como. Now I live on a small island in the middle of an ocean (well, close enough anyway). That small, creaky apartment had no air conditioning to speak of and was hot when it was supposed to be cold and vice versa. This mansion has AC units in every room, with individual remotes. Instead of being a white person amidst a majority of white people, I am a white person surrounded by Asians. The cars drive on the left not the right! And I have officially swapped day for night and night for day. Which means, all my lovely readers, you will be waking up to this post like it was the morning newspaper on your doorstep.

My mind is in a much more coherent and sane state than it was the last time you heard from me (though it is completely debatable whether or not my mind is ever in a completely coherent and sane state). Today is Friday, which means I have been residing in Singapore for almost three and a half days. And so far so good. I am officially unpacked, though some of my things are still scattered about, waiting for the arrival of my bookcase. I would offer a wordy description of my new abode, except it would probably bore you out of your socks, so I am going to wait until the rest of my furniture comes and I can take proper pictures.

To satisfy your curious little minds, I do have pictures of the neighborhood to share. I ventured out on my own today, and took a little stroll around and scope out my immediate surroundings. Here's what I saw:

 This is the nifty little market complex thing near our house.

Our street!

"It pays not to breed. Fine $200 for mosquito breeding"

Told you mosquitoes were illegal...

The house.

Ok, so, see the roof straight ahead, above the pool? My room is behind that--backside of the second floor.