Obviously, moving from one foreign city to another, one can’t help but make comparisons. Even a domestic move would warrant them as adjustments are made. So, this got me to thinking about all of the ways that Singapore and the U.K. are similar and also different.

Singapore was a British Colony for 144 years so, it goes without saying that the similarities are vast. Singaporeans drive on the same side as the U.K. Their electricity voltage and outlets are the same. The public school systems are also quite similar with children taking aptitude tests at the age of 11 which then funnels them in the direction of their future occupation. The children also wear uniforms to school.

Again, because of the whole British Colony thing, some Enlgish words are the same such as “lift” for elevator, “biscuit” for cookie, “lorry” for truck, and various parts of the car such as “boot” and “bonnet.” “Drink driving” for drunk driving always made Marcus and I laugh for some reason because it just sounds totally wrong. Other words like “flyover” for an overpass and “torch” for a flashlight while not familiar, make sense. You know what? I’m just going to send you to this site because it’s kind of interesting to see the linguistic differences between Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.

Other than the fact that both countries are islands, they couldn’t be more different geographically. Singapore is about 95 miles (200km) off the equator and is a tropical rainforest. In other words, it’s hot. Like, walk out the door and immediately sweat through your clothes, hot. The U.K., not so much. Looking back, I think I was genuinely hot once during our first summer in London. Otherwise, I was wearing jeans regularly and not looking like a drowned rat by the end of an outing. I can appreciate that.

Housing prices are similar though I think Singapore is more expensive. Nope. I was wrong. I just Googled and it says that London is 18% more expensive than Singapore. Not like I had the pulse on property values in Singapore though I did know that the condo we lived in cost upwards of $13 million. It’s hard to compare though when Singapore has very limited land and is predominately high-rise living and in the U.K. you can live in the city, the suburbs, or the country.

One way that the U.K. and Singapore are quite different is the cost of food. Groceries are decidedly less expensive in the U.K. considering that a mere 30% of it is imported. In Singapore, 90% of the food is imported and it shows when you’re checking out with two items and spending close to $50 SGD (only a slight exaggeration). Though I do find that dinning out costs are roughly the same with the only difference being hawker centers in Singapore allow for eating cheaply (though not necessarily healthily).

One other, less obvious, difference is on which side of the escalator Singaporeans and Brits stand. In Singapore, we stood to the left of the escalator. It never felt right (ha!) the entire time we were there. Walking down the sidewalk was generally also very orderly in Singapore and we would walk to the left. In the U.K. it’s an “every man for himself” situation and you kind of just make your way the best you can; there is absolutely no conformity while walking.

Getting back to the escalator, which I realize it seems a bit unhinged to make more than a quick mention of it but, we stand to the right of the escalator in the U.K. The only reason I mention this in detail is because, I think due to our time spent in Singapore and being conditioned to stand to the left, one of my children managed to accidentally hit the emergency stop button on a rather long, tube station escalator. Thankfully, we happened to be the only ones on at the time. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on an escalator when the emergency stop button is hit but, the escalator doesn’t just casually roll to a stop, it f***ing STOPS and to say my life flashed before my eyes is an understatement.

There you have it. Just a few examples of how the two countries are alike but also different. I’m sure the excitement over how cheap groceries are will eventually subside and with any luck, we’ll figure out how to ride escalators without causing harm.