SUPER BOWL MONDAY

Sunday/Monday: The anticipation is killing me. I slept in my jersey last night (as I have done for the last couple of nights). I slept in, as usual. When I woke up I filled my time by gchatting, facebooking, watching random TV shows, and watching and reading about the Saints journey. While facebooking I checked out the event details for the Super Bowl party at the Chili's and got some pretty terrible news. The info box read "Please call to confirm your reservation. At this time we are not taking any more reservations or walk-ins." My heart sank. The previous information was that they would not be taking reservations and it would be first come first serve. I called all over town looking for another bar that might be showing the game. No luck. So naturally all that I could do was to call and confirm my reservation. Knowing the chaos of the event I decided I would simply call to confirm my party of four. It worked like a charm. "Oh yes sir we have you confirmed for four. Please arrive early at the south end of the Tanglin Mall. We look forward to seeing you Mr. Stoudt". I was ecstatic. The plan had worked perfectly. We had to be up at around 5:00am so we could be there for 5:30. The place wasn't slated to open till 6:00 but with all of the confusion there was no way we were leaving it to chance. I tried staying up the entire night but eventually settled on about a 2 hour nap. It took about an hour of lying there before exhaustion finally took over. Samm opted to stay up because he had some work to do. When we went to wake up Mike he informed us that he wasn't going. He had developed a pretty nasty rash all over his arm. He headed immediately for a doctors office as soon as one opened. Our friend Ian from Norway, who is a big football fan, joined us as well. We grabbed a few beers for the road and got a cab down to Chili's. When we arrived we were greeted by some other NUS students that we had planned to meet there. The two groups actually arrived before the wait staff. They let us in the restaurant as they prepared to open. Everyone else was forced to wait in a line outside until they were ready to open. Each table had a name card with the parties name but the three of us decided to sit at the bar. We had a much better view than everyone else. Additionally because we got there so early we were able to get the best pick of seats. They had purchased the Game cast online so we missed out on most of the pregame talking heads. Instead we watched a hockey game via a sling box until it was game time. At 6:30 they started offering 2 for 1 drinks for the first hour. When Melissa (Tulane) and her friends showed up without a reservation the host tried to send them away but after some arguing (because I did have a reservation for 4, as they said) I was able to get them a table. Singaporeans really don't like conflict so situations like this are usually resolved favorably. By this time it was almost game time.
I don't think I need to go over the game highlights but do have a pretty good story that happened in the 3rd quarter. I was watching quite intensely when I heard a somewhat familiar voice from behind say "if the Saints are going to win they are going to need to play some defense". I turn to find that my Singapore Foreign Policy professor is the person that is talking shit. After a brief conversation I tell him that I probably won't be in class later that day and that the Saints don't have anything to worry about (at that point I think we were in the shootout).
Among the host of people watching the game (most of them cheering for the Saints) was a very nice couple from Houston that I talked with a lot during the game. They were cheering just as hard for us as many in the Who Dat nation.

Top 5 plays during the game that need mention.
1)Ambush.
2) PT screen TD - How is he so good at those
3) Fumbled exchange after failed 4 and Goal
4) Roby's special teams plays.
And Lastly
5) #22 sealing the game.

After the game it all seemed pretty unreal. It was probably my most unique Super Bowl experience, as it was for everyone at home, but for slightly different reasons. I'm bummed I missed it but I don't think I would trade my experiences.

The Week Leading up to Super Bowl Monday

I apologize for the lack of pictures as most of them are up on my Facebook or Picasa.

Monday: This continues the previous blog of getting off the plane on Monday around noon from Thailand. I had to hustle from the airport which is about an hour away back to Commonwealth so I could change and pick up books/etc for class. I had just enough time to take a shower before it was time to head out. Mike and I split a cab which costs about $6 from the apartment to school to save ourselves a lot of time. I made it to class just in time. The first class, Singapore Foreign Policy went by pretty smoothly. As did the second which is in the same lecture hall and was actually taught by the same professor due to an absence. Naturally he was a little tired so he let us go a bit earlier. Still tired from the weekend we enjoyed a relaxing night in.

Tuesday: Every other Tuesday is an off day for me. This was one of those days. Except for sleeping in a little later than normal I actually used my day wisely catching up on some much needed laundry. I was nearly depleted of almost everything so this day off couldn't have come at a better time. I decided that the best way to use the time in between loads was to clean the apartment. So I went about my day sweeping, mopping, and taking out the trash. But my productivity didn't stop there...I even managed to work in a run. For those of you that know me well enough I assure you that this is not a joke. I'm actually going to stop procrastinating my fitness and now is as good a time as ever. The food is good but can be wearing at times. Chicken and rice is also relatively healthy, which has caused me to lose a little weight since being here. By the time all of this was over some of the roommates who had school began arriving to a much more livable apartment. We grabbed dinner and waited for the Tuesday tradition. This one was pretty fun. I met Arnuad and Stephanie (two people who will appear in the Bali and Java posts to come).

Wednesday: I overslept and missed my first class. I called Erik to see what I missed and he gave me the best news of the day...class was canceled. I vaguely remember the professor telling us that class would be canceled but only because Erik reminded me. Had I bused my way all the way over to campus just to learn that there was no class I would have been very upset. Instead I got to sleep in and go over some of my readings for my class at 4. I got to campus with enough time to go to the library to print out notes. The class, about public policy, is very interesting but can also be very boring. I was fading fast so during the break I made a quick stop at the canteen to get something to wake me up. After class I headed to the free shuttle that resumes pick-ups at 6:30. By the time I was back it was almost time to start getting ready for ladies night. We were headed to Baroque. It offers a live cover band and free flow from 8:30-11:30 for $20. We planned on meeting some other exchange students there but were surprised by the number of people that we knew from school that were at the club. This wasn't the first time this has happened either. The best way to explain this phenomenon is to relate it to the high school party. Although there is an endless number of clubs exchange students always manage to bump into one another. One person will tell another until most of the exchange students end up showing up. When the free flow ended the bar began to empty, naturally. I called it a night.

Thursday: No school every other Thursday. Its pretty great. The excitement I have for the Super Bowl is almost unbearable and I still have to wait till Monday. I think the only highlight of the day was ordering McDelivery. You can do it online or via the phone. It is also 24/7. I also spent a lot of time reading almost every article I could find about the Super Bowl.

Friday: It turns out that every other Friday I was forced to sign up for a tutorial. It sucks but I can live with it for another 3 weeks (only three more tutorials). These are discussion based classes. I'm not sure how much I already talked about them but it was definitely an interesting experience. For starters the icebreaker used to introduce one another was: name, year, where you're from, and something interesting about your grandparents (ie where they are from, etc). The highlight of the class for me is when another exchange student came in late (without knowing the topic) to about midway through a girl talking about how her grandparents are dead. Her face was priceless. The rest of the time is spent by the tutors asking the class useless questions like "what would you like to discuss?" and "how should we go about discussing this?". I sat through almost two hours of a class where we never reached anything relevant. The discussion was literally how we would discuss things in the future and arguments on what are the best ways to discuss. It was maddening. This Friday in particular I had my first group presentation. The professor threw our group under the bus in class on Wed. and none of us had time to work on it till the morning. I ended up presenting about something I knew very little about but the professor seemed to enjoy what I was saying and I think it ended up going pretty well.
Tonight was another one of those night were everyone ends up at the same place. We went down to Arab St. (bars, restaurants, and hookah cafes) and met up with some friends. After waiting a very long time at a the large table with a a ton of other NUS students Samm, Sarah, and I decided to go to another place down the street to grab some hummus, kabobs, and a hookah. The food was very good and we had a good time talking and drinking. Some of our friends were going out to the bar but it was already about 11:30. We got a cab and headed to China Town. It was all lit up because of all of the decorations for the new year. It was a pretty good night of strolling through the streets and shops of China town at night. Everything was about to close so there weren't as many people which was nice. After about an hour and a McFlurry we grabbed a cab back to Commonwealth. The can took us through downtown which is very impressive at night and past the giant new casino under construction.

Saturday: Other than the amount of sleep I got this day was probably the most wasted day since being here. Normally I could give an insight on something silly or interesting that happened specifically today. Since I waited too long to write this post I'm going to just talk about some of the general things I've noticed about Singapore. Everyone walks like they are in a grocery store all the time. They have almost no homeless and the ones that are don't beg for money, instead they try to sell you travel packs of tissues (which can be very useful especially because of the next point). The food courts don't have napkins. They are nowhere to be found. Instead Singaporeans bring and use tissues as napkins. Police officers are almost never seen. In fact the only time I've seen one is for a traffic accident. I even walk by a small police station every day and I still don't see them (I'm not sure if this is as interesting to everyone else or if I've already typed about them...for which I apologize).

I decided that the Super Bowl deserved its own post so look for that tomorrow. A picture of the Pig Organ Soup stand. Calling my name. The bet calls for me to eat this shops namesake if the Saints win the Super Bowl.

Web Album

If you want to see more pictures check out my Picasa Web Album at http://picasaweb.google.com/WilliamStoudt or for those of you on Facebook I've uploaded most of them.

Blogs in Progress:
Super Bowl Monday
Bali
Java

Phuket, Thailand

Day 1: (Wednesday) After my two classes I hurried home to meet up with the roommates. The flight was for around 8:30 so I quickly packed the last minute items and we were off. We took the MRT to the airport which is a straight shot from our stop at Commonwealth (and takes about an hour). We were flying Jet Star which is a budget airline that is pretty cheap as long as your are traveling light. The security was somewhat different in that everyone was screened at each individual gate, not one large line for all of the terminal. The flight was about an hour and because of the time change we actually arrived before we left. Thailand doesn't require a visa, which is very convenient for last minute traveling. We met a guy on the flight that lives in Thailand and works in Singapore that briefed us on the arrival card (required when traveling internationally). He told us that they never look at it so we played around with the occupations a bit. Mike (the roommate) declared that he was a farmer and I was a teacher. No questions were asked and we were on our way. After clearing customs we were berated by individuals peddling tours, taxi rides, etc. from little stands. We grabbed a taxi and headed to our hostel in Phuket Town. The hostel was nice and very modern for Thailand. We checked in, consulted the desk, and got directions to the nearest drinking establishment. After failing to find the place we stumbled into a pretty cool place that had live music. Mike treated himself to a Singapore Sling (although this time it was pretty cheap). The music (all in Thai) was very entertaining but because we were diving very early the next morning we called it a night around 1am.

Day 2: We had to wake up around 9:00am to meet our driver (who was already there) so he could bring us to Calypso Diver's (name of the school). Boon (pictured) picked us up and dropped us off every day using the truck that was modified to hold passengers. This is very common in Asia, especially Phuket. We did all the necessary paperwork but before we were allowed to go into the water we had to watch instructional videos. They were incredibly boring and intentionally cheesy. The one take away we took was to constantly high five one another (a practice that we continued to do throughout the trip, much to the confusion of our diving instructors). After the videos we headed to a pool designed specifically for diving. We grabbed lunch and then it was time to go over some of the basics. The biggest hurtle was getting comfortable breathing in and out of your mouth under water. We swam around for a bit to get acclimated and then it was time for some of the safety skills. Everything was very simple and came pretty easily so we actually had time to finish all of the pool dives in one day. The long day at the pool was somewhat exhausting so we decided that the night would be more low key. We went to the local market to pick up a snack before dinner. One of the stands offered almost any type of meat on a stick. Samm, Mike, and I selected the beef satay (or so we thought). The first bite tasted pretty good but it was apparent almost immediately that the texture of the beef was much more like that of an organ. After the second bite it was clear we weren't eating beef so we gave up on the satay. Down the street was an Italian place that we had heard had good pizza. The reviews were very accurate (although it was no Tower, it did offer a more traditional Italian Pizza). Next we went to a place called Mike's Bar for a couple of drinks. All of the tables had little games like Connect Four, Jenga, etc. We played for awhile but eventually Mike and Samm gave up because they could not beat me. Another early day was in store, but this time it was actually going to be a dive in the ocean.

Day 3: We had to watch two more videos and then it was time to head down to the beach for the first official Scuba dive. It was quite a site with hundreds of people enjoying the beach and a few people in full wetsuits and gear walking slowly towards the water. After about a 150m swim out we dove down to the reef. My first thoughts were right out of Finding Nemo (complete with clown fish and all). We got to swim around the reef and explore for most of the dive. We also had to do various skills that would happen in an emergency like losing your regulator or water getting into your mask. We headed back to shore to talk about the first dive and go over some of the skills for the next dive. The second dive of the day was more skills based but we also got to go a bit deeper (10m). After a long day of diving we headed back and grabbed food at one of the local restaurants. The class isn't all fun and did require that we take some quizzes. We went over the book and took the quizzes (which were actually insanely easy). Wanting to get all of the class work out of the way we requested that we take the 40 MC test then and there to get it out of the way for the next day. Naturally we all passed quite easily. Knowing that all that stood in our way to passing the course was two beach dives the next day we decided that we were going to celebrate tonight. The popular tourist attraction Patong (about 20 minutes away) was the local version of Bourbon with bars, clubs, and tacky shops. Also present was a large population of "lady boys" a much more accepted and common profession for men. The day of diving made us hungry so we set out for dinner first which followed by a bit of shopping and eventually drinking. Patong's version of the hand grenade (the bucket) is quite simply a clear pale filled with mixed drinks. At 3 for 10 it was hard to resist. Its also very common for owners to throw in extra shots and such to keep customers from leaving. They also had a ton of bar games like those at Mike's bar but also a very simple game that involved using a small hammer to strike a nail into a stump. The first to do so was the winner. I was challenged by one of the bartenders to a game of Jenga, only this game was slightly different. We played for awhile before I eventually succeeded. The bar was family run and all of the employees were the children or friends of the family. We were content staying there and they were content giving us free drinks because we were drawing a lot of other people into the bar. By the end of the night we were making our own drinks behind the bar.

Day 4: I was feeling fine the next morning but that wasn't the same for the roommates who were obviously moving a little slow the next morning. The second day of diving brought us back to the same beach and reef but we were content exploring different areas of the coral. Also much of these dives were to master the more difficult skills that are necessary to master like completely taking one's mask off or ascending to the service using a buddy's spare regulator. Not too much else happened. I was very tired so decided to stay in for the night but Mike and Samm went out with one of our instructors for drinks. They had a great time but ended up spending a lot trying to bet shots vs. some of the bar girls in many of the silly games. We officially completed the course and were given free t-shirts and our temporary PADI licenses.

Day 5: (Sunday) Because diving changes the amount of Nitrogen in the blood stream you cannot fly 18 hours after diving. Knowing this we spent this day at some of the local markets and exploring some of the city that we had yet to see during the day. The heat all week was incredibly but this day was especially hot because we weren't in the water. Other than a bit of shopping and watching a movie the day was simply a day of rest before we could head home early the next morning with just enough time to make it back for classes.