Week Two of Classes, Adventures, and the Weekend

I know it has been awhile. Sorry guys.

Monday: With my FP&D professor in running military exercises in the jungle somewhere (mandatory service for all males) that meant my second class of the day was still being web cast so a friend of mine in some of my classes, Erik (from NJ, goes to Wisconsin), headed down to Chinatown to do some exploring/ shopping and to grab an early dinner. The place was somewhat deserted because we went somewhat early. I was also on a mission to replace my flip-flops that somehow managed to get lost in Bintan. Chinatown is gearing up for the New Year so decorations were being erected everywhere. The place had a lot of flip-flops (and tons of other useless items) but nothing that I would be willing to wear. One of the most interesting shops was the dried meats stand (I'm not sure you can make out the entire ducks, chickens, and geese hanging in the picture). I ran into a stand devoted to selling durian, a fruit that is so pungent that I refuse to get within 15 feet. Somehow its considered a delicacy here. I grabbed a kiwi juice at one of the many fruit juice stands located at almost every hawker center and proceeded to locate satay (chicken on skewers served with peanut sauce). Erik got carrot cake, (nothing like our carrot cake...it is basically eggs, radishes, and a few other vegetables) which is actually pretty tasty. After dinner we headed back home.

Tuesday: I don't have class on Tuesdays so I did what any normal college student would do, I slept in. The day was fairly uneventful. I did manage to do my own laundry, a feat that hadn't been attempted since NYC. We don't have a dryer so we have to dry our clothing the old fashion way (like the rest of Singapore) on clothes lines. Being bored and still in search of flip-flops, I decided to join Samm on his trip to the Immigration Building to collect his Student Pass because it is located just down the street from Bogies (a mall/ market area with very good prices). After searching for quite a while I finally found a comfortable pair. Samm (who also lost his flip-flops at the beach) wasn't as lucky. It isn't that easy to find a lot of choices in size 14. We did manage to locate ping pong balls and solo cups. After a New Orleans DMV like experience we headed back to the apartment. We grabbed dinner and eventually headed to the hawker center. Tuesday night bottle service at Koufu has become somewhat of a tradition. The cast changes slightly each week but its a great way to spend the evening.

Wednesday: The roommates and I planned a day outing in Singapore. We got off at Bogies again (Mike and Brian hadn't been there yet) and browsed around on our way to Arab St. in search of an all you can eat Indian Buffet for $10 that Mike discovered. In addition to all of the chicken curry, butter chicken, and various other items that are delicious (but I have no idea what they are called) the buffet included all you can eat naan. After gorging ourselves we headed towards the Raffles Hotel for the famous (and overpriced) Singapore Sling. It tastes somewhat like a Hurricane. After walking around the downtown area for a bit we called it a day and headed back to the MRT. After dinner it was time to test out the recently purchased cups and balls the only way we know how, beer pong. We played room vs room in a highly anticipated match up. Samm and I slaughtered Mike and Brian in a 3-0 sweep. After we headed to a birthday party being held in one of the building next to us in Commonwealth for another NUS exchange students. It turned out that they had invited everyone so when we arrived the party of at least 100 had spilled onto the front lawn of their building. It wasn't long before a very timid security guard closed the party down. The group dispersed in various directions and I went with some friends to a 24 hour Muslim place that had late night chicken curry and roti prata (cheese bread similar to naan). After the late night snack I headed back to the apartment to call it a night.

Thursday: This was the first day that we can register for Tutorials (small discussion classes held every other week). Despite not having class I had to go into the Poli. Sci. office to sign-up. I also managed to get into Govt. and Politics of Singapore which means I can drop the extremely intensive Chinese 1. After signing up I went with Erik to check out PGP (where the other half of the international students live). We hung out there for awhile and then headed to the NUS pool to go swimming. It ended up raining near the end of our swim, cutting it slightly short. I went back to PGP to meet up with a kid who had picked my flip flops up in Bintan by mistake (so now I have two pairs). We followed peer pong with another game the next night, bombs. The plan was to go to an "American Party" but after that fell through we decided to head out to the Helipad (view from the rooftop bar). Mike stumbled upon a way to sneak into the club that involves a back stairwell and a balcony. We could see a Hooters from the club and decided that after such an American night it was the perfect way to end the night. Brian ended up getting the number of our waitress (who thought he looked like Justin Timberlake).

Friday: Our night at the track. We planned another roommate adventure to the Singapore Horse Track. It cost $3 admission to sit in the lower area. We checked out the horses being paraded around the showing area to determine which horses we were going to bet on. On the first race Mike bet based on the jockey. Samm determined that the crazy horse was the most likely to succeed because of all of the pent up energy. I bet based on the fastest pre-trial run and Brian bet on a number. Samm's strategy proved to be the worst because his rambunctious horse wouldn't even go in the gate and had to be scratched from the race. None of us won. With a little more experience under our belts and a better understanding of the odds we proceeded to make a few more bets. I won one race by betting on the favorite to show and Mike's underdog picks almost payed off when his 30:1 horse finished a head away from a 150 payout. Overall it was a pretty fun night. The weirdest thing about the whole night was that 95% of the thousands of people were all men.

Saturday: I went to lunch with the Tay's (Michael and his wife Marylin). They chose Uncle Sam's Clay Pot. Clay pots are very common (and somewhat similar to Steamboats). You order whatever meats and vegetables and mix them together in a hot clay pot with rice. Some of it was very good like the venison but some of it was not very tasty (like the fish cakes). After lunch I headed back home to enjoy the day off. We planned on heading to a small island for some mountain biking but the bad weather delayed that trip. I spent much of the day anticipating the NFC Championship game to be played early the next morning. I stayed in because I was feeling a little under the weather. Turned out I had a 38.6 degree temp. which meant nothing until I looked it up to discover I actually had a fever (101.5).

Sunday: I woke up very early (around 6) despite my illness to tune in for the Saints game. My roommate Samm woke up as well to keep me company for the game. Watching the game on the Slingbox at such an odd time was a very unique experience. When it was all finally over with I still couldn't believe what had happened. I wore my jersey proudly for the rest of the day but because of my fever that actually went up I did nothing more than sleep. The plan was to head to the health center on Monday for a diagnosis.

Bintan, Indonesia

A group of nine of us headed out on Friday morning headed to Bintan (an island accessible by ferry about 1 hr away). Originally we had planned to visit another beach but because of the weather we switched to Bintan. This was also the place where many of the other international students would be going to on Saturday. We found a resort adjacent to the organized group and made reservations via text message (the owner's English was not great). The ferry terminal is on the other side of Singapore so we had to wake up early and catch the MRT so we had enough time before the ferry boarded to check in. After a little wait we headed to the ferry and staked out our spot on the top of the ship. The ride started out very calm but as we picked up speed it turned into a very different ride. I lasted all 55 minutes without throwing up but that wasn't the case for most of the occupants (but I was very close). After finally being on dry land we went through customs and out to the arrival area where a driver waited with a sign for "Mr. William". The driver spot limited English but was very nice. We made a request to stop at a store in the hopes of picking up some beverages for the weekend and he was happy to oblige. We were shocked to find that the beer was just as expensive as back in Singapore and the locals were not willing to negotiate at all (they know they have the tourists right where they want them). After the pit stop it was about a 45 minute drive to Pondok Wisata Susy (the name of the little resort...you can check it out at http://www.pondoksusy.com/index.html) Basically the place was a tiny resort (10 rooms) located on the beach that was run by a family that lived at the place. They cooked for all of the guests and helped with whatever requests they could. We got there in the early afternoon and after a quick lunch it was off to the beach. After a quick swim we decided it was time for a sandcastle (which was destroyed by a tragic tunneling accident). Next we focused out attention on a coconut tree. After many failed climbing attempts we resorted to throwing a large bamboo pole at the prize. Micheal (roommate) was finally victorious so we headed back with our prize to have it opened and enjoyed by all. By the time we headed back to the resort some other international students had arrived at the resort. Mr. Suh, as well called him, prepared dinner for the group. With night falling the group decided to make a fire. After a few drinks (including one mixed inside of a coconut) it was off to bed. The group woke up early to take full advantage of the day (and the tide which changes dramatically) and after a quick breakfast we all headed down to the beach for a swim. The water temperature was amazing and barring some seaweed the water was very clear. The morning swim was a lot of fun despite a near drowning incident that occurred. After that everyone was ready for lunch. The local "mall" (as we called it) down the street stocked assorted snacks and drinks. They had the most delicious peanut butter crackers any of us had ever had. When we came back from the snack run we built a fire to kill some time but the real attraction that afternoon was that Mr. Suh had promised to let us watch him prepare dinner (aka kill the chicken that they would be serving). After convincing Mr. Suh that I had no interest in killing the chicken myself the spectacle finally took place (I will spare you with the pictures). The main group (of about 30) that was staying in the resort over finally made it to Bintan so much of the night was spent on their beach drinking and talking with new people. On Sunday we rented motorbikes from the owners and cruised around the island. I have some pretty cool pictures that I will hopefully upload soon. The ride was cut somewhat short by Brian (roommate) taking a spill while rounding a corner and scraping his knee up pretty bad. The taxi ride back was quite interesting just because I am fairly certain we went airborne and ran a scooter off the road. The ferry back was much larger and therefore not nearly as sickening (I was totally prepared to throw up). After clearing customs we each picked up a Duty Free bottle of liquor because it was much cheaper. The trip would not have been complete without stopping at Burger King for a nice double cheeseburger with turkey bacon.

First Week of School

My First Day at NUS: The school has arranged a shuttle from Commonwealth to campus and back, unfortunately the schedule is rather inconvenient so despite my class being at 4 I hoped on the last available bus before class at 10am. It gave me time to explore campus and sort out some administrative and registration issues. I ate at one of the campus canteens and then headed to Foreign Policy of Singapore (2-4 once a week, Monday). The professor went over the syllabus and a brief lecture before giving a brief bio. He studied in the U.S. at Washington State, Wisconsin, and Harvard. He will also be visiting New Orleans over the Chinese New Year break in February. The class sounds very interesting and he seems like he is going to be a good professor. Next I went to Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (4-6 once a week, Monday). Nothing too special about the class but the professor will be gone for the next three weeks because of the mandatory service for all Singaporean males so the class will be web cast. After class I headed home for a much deserved peanut butter sandwich, a staple snack in the apartment. The very eventful day came to an end with an uneventful evening.

Day Two: No class. I slept in. After some emailing, etc I headed to the hostel office to complain about some broken chairs and hot water heater. The heater has never worked but the hot weather makes a cold shower very bearable. I explored around the neighborhood and did some shopping for snacks, etc. The picture on the left is my favorite building around my apartment. It is a parking garage that is covered in flowers and plants and explains what much of Singapore looks like. After enjoying the day off I headed to the hawker with Samm for dinner and "bottle service" with some other exchange students. The beers are served in ice buckets. It was a great way to get to know some of the other students and I really enjoyed talking with people from very different backgrounds.

Day Three: (Wednesday) Back to school for Public Policy and Administration (4-6). The class was fairly boring but I expect it to get more interesting as we get deeper into the class. Additionally the discussion about the mentality of the people about the govt. seems to be a common theme of the class. I headed home on the MRT and grabbed dinner on the way home. The plan was to have some people over for a little gathering before Ladies Night (a very popular night here). It turned out that a few other apartments in our Block (71) also had people over and the small gathering turned into about 50 people on the grass in front of the building. It was off to Clark Quay to meet up with more international students. We hung out for awhile and avoided the $30 cover by bringing some of our own drinks and stayed out of the bridge until around 2. It was a pretty good night.

Day Four: I changed my schedule around to avoid having class on Friday. It turned out that I will mostly have classes on Monday/ Wed. and a few tutorials (every other week discussion classes) on Tuesday and Thursday. We spent the day planning a trip to Bintan, Indonesia (a small island about 1 hr away that will be the feature of my next blog). That night a group of us went to Little India to join in on the festival of Pungol (A harvest festival similar to Thanksgiving). The scene on the left is the crowd that gathered to watch the performances. We found a restaurant around down the street and listened to the music and enjoyed some Tiger Beer (which is much cheaper in Little India). After we went shopping for towels and bathing suits for the trip to the beach on Friday. I stumbled upon a great hat which I couldn't pass up.

Day Five Preview: A small group heads to Bintan.

Day 4 and 5

Day 4: A few of my roommates and I decided that we were going to join a larger group of international students that were headed to the beach for the day. There is a small island called Sentosa that was used as a fort before WWII ( I visited it when I was here 6 years ago). Since then the island has completely changed. It has been developed in a giant tourist attraction. The island already has beaches, shops, shows, and an aquarium but has two casinos and two amusement parks under construction (one is a Universal park). Despite the commercialization and tourist trap nature of the place one can actually take the monorail to the island for only $3 (View of the port from the monorail). Once there we met up with other students and spent the day hanging out at the beach. Luckily we had perfect beach weather all day. After an afternoon at the beach we headed back home to Commonwealth (our lovely apartment complex). It wasn't long before we cracked open a few Anchor Beers in preparation for the night ahead. The complex has other international students so we invited a few people that we had met that day to join us for a pre-gaming party. It actually turned in to a pretty good party with a very international flavor. We also had the opportunity to introduce a few Norwegian friends we met some American drinking practices, like the shotgun. Eventually we headed out to the MRT (subway) with a very large group. After a missed stop on the subway we eventually found our way back to Clark Quay. We went back to the same bridge where even more international students had gathered. The plan was for everyone to meet up and head to another outrageous club called the Helipad but after hanging on the bridge for awhile I left early after a very long day. From what I was told the club had a pretty cool view of the area. I'm sure I'll get a chance to go back soon.

Day 5: I finally got a chance to sleep in... and it was glorious. Eventually after a shower and hanging out in the apartment Samm and I decided we would explore Little India. As soon as we got off the MRT it was very clear that we had arrived. The shopping and food stands are much cheaper than most of Singapore so we picked up some fresh fruit drinks and headed towards the shopping areas. Right in the middle of the shopping was a neat little temple. A little ways down the road we saw large lines forming at promotions tents. Upon further inspection we learned that people were being given free bread, haircuts, and cookies in exchange for signing up for cell phone services (Its called a Handphone here). Very bizarre. Not far from Little India is Orchard Road, a very touristy area that is equivalent to 5th Avenue/ Time Square. The malls there were insane. They are much bigger than the biggest malls at home. Many of the stores are U.S. based like Levi's and Guess. For me the most interesting part of the whole street was an outdoor McDonald's and a separate detached McDonald's that only sold drinks. We made out way to one of the cheaper malls where we picked up a late lunch at a place called the Graffiti Cafe. The walls, tables, and chairs were graffitied with lines like "____ was here" but we resisted the urge to join in on this practice fearing a caning. After a long and hot day we were both ready to come back home. With school slated to start the next day most of the roommates, including myself, sat around talking before turning in early.

Week One

Day 1: After 3 flights and a few layover I finally arrived in Singapore almost two days later. Nothing very interested on the flights on the way over but it was apparent that I was heading to Asia based on the population of the planes occupants. Before reaching customs I was happy to see that Christmas decorations were universal, although slightly more tropical. I also accidentally brought illegal gum into Singapore, which is not illegal to chew bu is to improperly discard. I was then greeted by a family friend who picked me up from the airport around 12:30 am and brought me back to his house. After a late night coffee with his family it was off to bed. I was shown the bathroom so I could shower, etc. but was confused upon entering when I discovered no shower or tub. (The picture is of my apartment bathroom, the shower is not separated from the rest and a drain is in the middle of the floor) Afterward, because I spent most of the flights sleeping actually going to bed was not as easy as anticipated.

Day 2: The day started very early. Melissa, Michael's daughter, who is only a year or two older agreed to help me with getting over to campus and settle in to my new city. We headed over to NUS around 8:00am so I could secure housing for the semester (an issue that was more concerning for mom then anyone else). After only a few minute housing was arranged and paid (approx. 1500 sing dollars = 1075 US) sight unseen. Then we headed to the orientation for international students. It was somewhat interesting to see everyone together and where everyone is from (Americans make up about half). We then headed to the much anticipated apartment (or hostel) to see where I would be living for the next 4.5 months. After I got over the slight odor, filth, and bugs the place began to wear on me. After a quick run through it was off to lunch were we met up with Michael. After some quick shopping were I got my new phone (8108 6254) we settled on a place called a steam boat (pot). The name is misleading but it is basically the equivalent of a fondue pot. You order whatever meats and vegetables and cook them on the table. We roamed around some more in the area, mostly visiting the countless shopping malls. We headed back to Michael's house for dinner with the family. The food courts that are very typical are always close walking distance to apartments because almost all Singaporeans live in large government owned high rise apartments. These communities also come with all of the necessary shopping centers and health clinics. I got a chance to get me first Tiger Beer at dinner (the Asian equivalent to Bud, and it is actually pretty good). The food is all served family style where I sat back while various members repeatedly piled more and more food on my plate (even if I declined). The food is very different then Americanized Chinese food but is all very good (at least the stuff that I was willing to try). Much of Singapore is very western like the stores and some of the food/drinks and other stuff is very traditional. As soon as we got back from dinner I watched some local and very boring news. Without the murders, crime, and corruption I guess the news is very bland. After about 30 minutes or so I headed to the room to check email but passed out almost immediately from exhaustion.

Day 3: I slept a little later (10:00am). I headed back to campus, this time with all of my bags headed for registration. I went through the registration process very easily. I did experience something that was somewhat unexpected. When I told the processor my name at the table most if not all of the staff looked up at me. Apparently mom had called enough times that my name was so familiar that they all reconized it immediately. Kit, the woman that was helping us was very sweet, was happy to hear that I had a place to stay. Melissa, my manager, was with me for most of the day making sure that I had everything I needed and fielding my random questions as I attempted to learn about the culture and city. Without her I would have been lost. We headed to the apartment, this time armed with cleaning supplies. After a brief cleaning it was off to the local food court for lunch. After we went across the street to pick up some essentials at the grocery store. I knew that drinks are expensive in Singapore but was shocked to see the price of a case (53.30 sing on sale, but we buy the cheaper stuff called Anchor). We spent the rest of the day exploring different parts of the city, which I've learned is one giant shopping mall. They even had a three story Forever 21. Melissa and I went to dinner at a nice asian buffet (not the kind we have at home). I came home around 8:30 to be greated by all 3 of my roommates (who I had never met) sitting around drinking a beer. Needless to say I was pretty excited. All 3 of them are American. Michael, Dennis, and Samm (we share a room). They were getting ready to go to the Quay. Its a bridge were everyone goes to drink which is also very near to a bunch of clubs. NUS arranges various events for the exchange students to meet each other. We headed to a club, Zirca, which is unlike any club I have ever been to (including NYC). Drinks were very expensive but the $15 cover included 2 free drinks. We stayed till around 2 then caught a cab back (which are very reasonable).

Day 4 Preview: Went to the beach.