Living in Leeds

So after my stop over in Singapore I FINALLY get to London.

It’s here I pick up my BRP (biometric residence permit) that you always need when entering the UK. I find it kind of redundant as you still need to fill out a landing card on arrival after being anywhere and also it doesn’t get you in any faster at the border patrol. Why it’s considered so necessary I suppose is for applying for jobs.

FYI I repeat as soon as you find a permit residence apply for your National Insurance Number (NIN). It’s like your tax file number and is completely necessary to get a job. Don’t be like me who applied for a job and got it, but had to wait a month for the stupid bloody number!

Also good luck trying to open a bank account. Seriously it’s ridiculous how nit- picky they are about you proving your residency. It’s the most difficult thing I encountered and found it so odd about how strict they are just opening a bloody bank account.

I didn’t get approved by banks and it was only because my partner went through a teacher’s agency that helped him set it up that I was able to jointly use to deposit my wage.

I eventually made my way to Leeds and honestly I wish I knew how different life would be here.

I found a job fairly easily at Marks and Spencers and they were pretty good to work for.

What I found hard to adjust to was how the Brits use so many different words for types of food. It was so weird. For example a simple bread roll; a bap, bread cake, tea cake. They have mushy peas with their fish and chips. MUSHY PEAS. The horror of swallowing a spoon of mushy peas as my work mates looked on was horrifying. I felt like Monica from friends saying ‘MMM yummy’ even though it was FAR from yummy. Yorkshire Pudding is not a pudding it’s more like a pie; a pile of meat either beef or chicken covered in potato. An ice block is an ice lolly. They have a dessert pudding called spotted dick. I laughed when I saw it sitting in the work fridge thinking they were just pulling my leg but nope it’s a real dessert here. Honestly trying to learn the lingo was bloody tough.

Accompanied with the Yorkshire accent I really struggled. Often I’d just nod and laugh at my work mates and hope they weren’t asking me a question when we spoke because I had no bloody clue what they were mumbling to me.

Oh and saying pounds and pence… I never want to say again. A few times I’d slip up and say dollars or cents to the customer who would look at me like I told them I’m from outer space, whilst my work mates would be snickering as they looked on.

My accent got mistaken for American so many times here I couldn’t believe it!

Get used to people talking about the weather and whinging about it whether it’s hot, cold, raining, snowy, windy, sunny or cloudy. Seriously it’s the topic most spoken about every single bloody day.

But what I loved most about my six months is seeing the snow. I was in Leeds for the Beast from the East and holy crap was it a sight to see! The snow was so amazing especially since it was my first time seeing it. I was so incredibly happy that I experienced such great snow fall.

After all this though, honestly I missed home. My friends and my family. I also just missed the Aussie way of just getting in and doing things. You see someone needs help, you help em. Not in England. People tend to keep to themselves and even though I had work friends I didn’t socialise much outside of work. I honestly feel like there’s no place like home.

I decided to do some travelling through Europe for the summer before heading home where my heart still belongs.

My final opinion of England frankly (and this is probably a pretty unpopular opinion) but you’re kinda over-rated… I just don’t see how Aussie’s make the move and fall in love here and stay. Six months has been more than enough for me to go running back to the Land Down Under. Home feels so clean, free and just has this ambience that is indescribable. I can’t wait to feel the warm Aussie sun on my skin again!

Marina Bay

Day two in Singapore was another very humid day but amazing nonetheless.

I visited Marina Bay shopping centre and gardens and it did not disappoint. There are numerous eateries and shops to check out plus the casino.

The gardens were by far my favourite place in Singapore. It was such a lovely place to visit filled with an abundance of flowers from all over the world, even flora from Australia!

They still had up their Christmas exhibit which was such a nice little treat. Definitely if you’re in Singapore over the Christmas period check out the gardens it is worth the humid trek!

The waterfall is also incredible to see here at the gardens. It looks unreal and completely majestic with the greenery as its backdrop.

The list as to why these gardens are beyond gorgeous are numerous so trust me on this you’ve got to check it out before you leave Singapore. Just check out the pictures for yourself!

Singapore: Day one;

G’day!

I want to start by introducing myself. I’m Ell, a twenty- two year old woman who’s travelling with my fiance and we’re originally from Sydney, Australia. I’m currently living abroad in England and thus came up with my name Ell abroad.

I’ve always wanted to do some blogging and there’s no time like the present. My first city I travelled to was Singapore as a stop over before the long flight on to England.

I was so apprehensive about travelling to Singapore because I had this idea in my mind it would be somewhere no one spoke English and  only had Asian cuisine (also from hearing it a thousand times a place which has banned chewing gum).  How wrong my assumptions were!

Singapore is a wonderfully gorgeous mixture of both Malaysian and Western culture.

Almost all the people I encountered on my three day stop over spoke fluent English. On many streets you experience a mixture of Asian and Western cuisine. McDonalds, Nandos, KFC and Subway were all within walking distance and made me feel right at home. The streets are also so tidy and clean. I saw next to no litter on the steeets and it was extremely refreshing. No wonder gum is banned it’s too gorgeous a city to allow for it to get littered by disgusting gum.

After getting off the seven hour plane ride we were immediatly hit with the humidity. It was ridic how much the humidity affected me even though I’m from Sydney. It was not something I think I could ever get accustomed to.

We then hopped into a taxi. We began the thirty minute taxi ride which had us looking at amazing scenes of greenery whilst listening to some nice, peaceful Malaysian music. I wasn’t expecting so much nature in the city hub so it was a pleasent surprise to follow the greenery into the city.

My fiancee had done some research and discovered it should’ve been $40 SGD max to our hotel.

Unfortunately at the airport they don’t tell you that also at the ground taxi rank concierge taxis await, so we ended up in one that cost flat rate $55 SGD to the city (when you can get them for as little as $20-35 which charges normally per kilometre). On our way back to the airport we got one for $15 so we were peeved we wasted so much getting into the city. So my advice make sure you ask if the taxi is concierge or normal.

Once we arrived at our hotel (the Carlton which I highly recommend for their great service and location) we went to explore for some food.

We had Japanese and Chinese in the hotel which looked great and we also had McDonalds on the same street a mere two hundred metre walk.

I am a VERY fussy eater and will admit I didn’t try any of the street food. But for normal or experimental eaters out there Singapore honestly has it all!

There was a great shopping centre across the street called Bras Basah Complex which had lots to see and eat. Also a five minute walk away was Bugis Junction which is a HUGE shopping complex with a massive array of Asian cusine along with KFC, Nandos and Burger King for those looking for some Western cuisine as well.

All in all our first day in Singapore was a great beginning and really made me open my eyes to what a beautiful city I would begin my adventures in.

Ell x