We all have them. A collection of stories that we trot out at dinner parties, or when we’re making new friends.
They are usually stories borne out of adversity or difficult times. Mine include:
- the 3 day stopover in Singapore last year where I was doing a the solo parenting thing and wound up in the emergency room at 1am.
- a lion roaring really loudly in the vicinity of my very thin tent in Kenya.
- the Big Missy’s premature arrival (she weighed 3lb 15ozs!).
- forgetting to put the date on my wedding invites.
There’s a couple of other ones founded in awesome experiences (particularly the journey I went on for THE BOOK), but it’s the shitty, scary, frustrating experiences that most people turn into a funny story. And that’s what I hope our leasing saga will become, something to laugh about with friends.
I’m not quite there yet, though.
We’ve been in Singapore just short of 8 weeks and our situation has not really changed much from Day 1. Whilst we haven’t been truly homeless, we have lacked an address and this has prevented us from sorting out stuff (car, school buses, furniture, helper) that would have been sorted weeks ago had our plan had gone to plan.
So, I sit and I wait to hear if tomorrow is the day we will get the keys to our new life.
I look forward to turning The Leasing Saga into an amusing story. But that may be some time away as we need to heal first.
Postscript: Thank you to all my wonderful friends who have had the misfortune to witness The Leasing Saga. x
Our Big Expat Adventure 
Fingers, toes and eyes crossed for you!
It’s been a ‘journey’. (I wrote that using the sarcasm font!)
One day we will meet and over a big slice of cheesecake laugh our butts off at the end of this story. I hope it is sooner rather than later babe xxpt
Mmmmmm…cheesecake.
Not quite the adventure you had in mind, eh? What happened to the legendary Singaporean efficiency we’ve heard about, such as on the transport system? Obviously doesn’t extend to the real estate sector
There are quite a lot of ‘holes’ in Singapore’s renowned efficiency. Transport is awesome, but trying to get the bill at a restaurant is another story all together.
Can’t the Department of Manpower do something? Anything?
Hoping very hard that it is all resolved soon and you can all get past it.
Big glass of wine tonight. xo
I share your trauma. I have a very “amusing” story regarding our arrival at airport to leave Australia only to find that indeed our tickets were not paid for and we could not fly that day. Is still not funny 3 months later. I am giving it a good 3 years.
I don’t think anybody was expecting (least of all you) such incompetence at the SIngapore end. Perhaps a new Fawlty Towers style spoof is in order on the expat rental market in Singapore.
I am crossing all body parts that the saga will be over and you will be happily settled tomorrow.
Michelle
I hope you get to dine out on the ‘happy ending’ of this saga sooner rather than later, Kel. I echo the other comments about Singaporean ‘efficiency’. Whoda thought it? Now if we were talking about Spain, land of the siesta, I could well understand.
Hope all is well & you sleep in that bed reallllll soon x