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.