Greetings once again from the Lion City!


Saturday was the group's first free weekend day. Everyone was ready to take on the city and discover what Singapore has to offer. I know I was almost overwhelmed while choosing between all of the places I want to explore in Singapore. The only event that was on the schedule was an informal lunch with some NUS students in addition to Nadiah and Yong. Lunch was in Chinatown at Annalakshmi, a vegetarian Indian restaurant. Sathya, Virginia, Laura, and I arrived in Chinatown early enough to visit Sri Mariamman, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, before lunch.

Later, I found out that Annalakshmi is a non-profit organization that is staffed by volunteers and all of its proceeds go to sustaining the activities of the Temple of the Fine Arts. The food was amazing, but this was even more impressive to me.

Inside the Buddhist Temple

We then ventured into Chinatown, weaving between the stalls of vendors selling clothing, lucky cats, postcards, jewelry, and pretty much every other touristy gift you can think of. Some people broke off from the group to get there feet cleaned of dead skin by tiny little fish. We visited the Sri Mariamman again and then went to Buddhist temple, built to resemble the architecture of the Tang dynasty, which also happens to be a tooth and relic museum. Behind the museum was wonderful market with produce and a huge seafood market. We ate rambutan (literally meaning hairy) fruit, a small red fruit with green hair-like spines that is similar to lychee (I later bought a kg of lychee because it's so good) and incredibly refreshing.

Tanks at the Market in Chinatown

A Catfish Making a Break for Freedom

We then headed to Arab street to visit the oldest mosque in Singapore. For me, Saturday was the first time I had ever visited a Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple, or a mosque. I've read so much about different religions, but actually visiting the different houses of worship was incredibly interesting. All of these buildings were beautiful, but for me observing people in prayer or worship was much more interesting. I really appreciate the diversity of religion here. Though the United States is a very diverse country, we have very little access to the myriad of religions and religious cultures that span the world. Because Singapore is so compact, I was able have more experiential religious education that ever before in my life. I am really excited to contrast Buddhism in Thailand to Buddhism in Singapore. Even at the Asian Civilisations Museum, regional differences in Buddhism were very apparent in the artifacts.

The Sultan Mosque

After visiting the mosque and taking a satay break, we headed to a market on Arab street. After browsing through 8 for $10 earrings, we decided to try some durian. The man selling us the durian talked us into D24 durian, which I am told is high quality durian. He and his partner were cutting up a huge pile of durian and putting it in packages for sale. It was so hot, and when I opened the package and picked up the durian it felt like flesh. Biting into the durian was intense, the creamy inside is not my favorite part. After getting over the initial repulsive reaction to the durian, I found it tolerable and ate the rest of my piece. Steven even claimed to like the durian. It may be the King of Fruit, but I think trying it once was enough. Next on my list of unusual fruits, mangosteen, the Queen of Fruit.

The So-Called King of Fruit

Reactions to Durian

Well, that's about it. Singapore is such an interesting place. Sometimes it seems so familiar (dancing to Baby Love in the grocery store) and sometimes it seems so far away from home. I am learning so much, even through what I have experienced outside of class. I can't wait to visit Little India, and I am so excited to continue to explore this unique island state.

Academics, Fine Dining, and River Cruising

So much has happened in the past two days; an update is definitely warranted.

Thursday was our first day of classes here at NUS, so we all managed to get up bright and early to make it to the Arts and Social Sciences building by 9:00. Many of us discovered the amazing prata stall in the canteen near our dorms and have made it our usual breakfast haunt.

Our first class every morning focuses on issues surrounding human migration and is taught by our very own Dr. Steiner from UNC. Our other class, which starts at 10:30, is on the history of Southeast Asia and will be taught jointly by two professors while we are here in Singapore. The first half of the class is on the history of Singapore and is being taught by Dr. Quek. Meeting her on Thursday was a pleasure, as she seems like an extremely interesting person.

After our classes ended on Thursday, we all headed over to a nearby canteen to grab lunch. Many people decided to be adventurous and ordered things like fish ball soup and soursop juice. The reaction to fish balls was mixed, but everyone now seems to be a fan of soursop, which is apparently some exotic type of fruit.

After lunch, the few of us that were lucky enough to get to revisit the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (which we had been to on Wednesday as a group to get our student passes) were once again valiantly led into the annals of bureaucracy by Nadiah while the rest of the group made a trip to a supermarket to pick up some necessities. Everyone reconvened at the Welcome Dinner held later that day, which took place in a lovely Indonesian restaurant. We were joined by Dr. Quek, the professor that will teach us Malaysian history during the second half of our stay here, and an administrator from NUS.

On Friday, we had class again and then took a bus downtown, where we ate at a remarkable Thai restaurant before heading off to the Asian Civilizations Museum for a tour. We split into two tour groups and led around by extremely knowledgable guides. The museum was divided into four sections: South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia (the Middle East), and China. All of the artifacts were amazing, to say the least, although I think some people were a little put off by the head-hunter's shield covered in human hair.

It was a short walk from the museum to the riverfront, where we boarded a boat to take a short cruise through the downtown area. We could see a bunch of noteworthy things from the water, including the performing arts center that looks like a durian and the infamous Merlion.

After the cruise, we all went our separate ways to forage for dinner and explore the city on our own. For the first time, we were responsible for finding our own transportation back to the dorms. It's a great feeling to know that you can navigate a large city like Singapore without much outside assistance.

To end, a few pictures of our experiences so far:



Prata and a watermelon milkshake from the canteen near our dorm



A typical canteen lunch



The durian building!



...and the Merlion!

A Day Lost, A New World Found

Hello from Singapore!

The past few days have been incredible. After upwards of 20 hours in transit by plane, all of us were happy to stretch our legs and discover that yes, our bags had arrived (in tact and with their original contents). Most of us were pretty jet-lagged. We left on Sunday, but as a result of the travel time and time difference (12 hours) we arrived in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon.

Nadiah and Yong, two NUS joint-degree students, were waiting at the airport when we landed. After we exchanged some currency Nadiah and Yong helped us board the bus to Prince George's Park (PGP), a residential area on NUS campus. It took about thirty minutes to get from the airport to PGP by bus, but the ride gave us an opportunity to begin observing one of the most amazing things about Singapore: the flora.

Everything in Singapore is so GREEN! It's obvious the city has comitted itself to being not just a "garden city" but "a city within a garden." Everywhere streets are lined with trees and bushes and flowers (and more trees and bushes and flowers). Walls are covered with vines, and guardrails are disguised by plants! Even some high-rise public housing buildings had green roofs, where miniature gardens are kept.

When we arrived at PGP, Nadiah and Yong assisted us in finding our rooms and gave us about an hour to freshen up before taking us out to explore the NUS campus. After our much-needed showers, we learned about the bus routes we will use on a daily basis to get to class in the mornings, then took a public bus out to Holland Village, "the Franklin Street" of NUS, for dinner. Buying dinner at the hawker stand was an exciting (although somewhat confusing) experience. Some people were adventurous enough to try a desert which consisted of durian (that stinky fruit), ice and some stringy-jelly things resembling gummy worms. Most agreed that the desert was "different."

Today we got down to business. After making sure we were all properly registered at NUS, Nadiah took us on a tour of the NUS library and then we headed over the the office for immigration and customs to handle the paperwork for our student passes. After, we took a bus to the Singapore Botanical Gardens and did nothing remotely related to paperwork (much to my relief)! The orchids in the garden were beautiful, as were the rest of the plants. It's no wonder that many locals come to picnic, jog, or walk their dogs in the gardens.

An Orchid in the Orchid Garden

Stephany, Andrea, and Nicole frolic in the Orchid Garden

Oh no! Steven's caught in a bird-cage!

Testing

Hello world!