Malaysia, etc.

On Friday morning we left bright and early for a short trip to Malaysia (by bus). We were joined by Nadiah, Dr. Emmanuel, Dr. Steiner's family, and a tour guide named Francis. Francis meant well, but he was rather...talkative. Almost none of us had eaten breakfast, so after we crossed into Malaysia we stopped in a small town for prata and pulled tea (this amazing milky, sweet tea you can get here). There were tons of stray cats hanging around, but I managed to resist buddying up to them.

After that, we headed to Tanjung Piai Johor National Park, which is home to a mangrove swamp. It's also the southernmost point of continental Asia. We only spent a little while there, which was kind of disappointing since I think mangroves are really interesting.


long-tailed macaque




mangroves!

For lunch, we stopped in a fishing village and had wonderful, fresh seafood. Francis ordered the food for us, so we all got to eat bok choy, tofu, fishball, fried fish, prawns, squid, crab, and possibly the best clams I have ever eaten (they were in a wonderful sauce and were so well-cooked that they melted in your mouth).


The fishing village where we ate lunch


View from the restaurant

From there, we had another few hours in the bus before we reached Melaka (also known as Malacca). Melaka was once an important port on the spice trading routes (it's situated on the Strait of Malacca) and was colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. Influences from all three are still evident today. We stayed in the Puri Hotel, which is in the historic district (it kind of reminded me of the Gloria Hotel I stayed in while in Jerusalem because it also had a central courtyard layout). We arrived in the late afternoon, so after settling in Nadiah took a group of us to the nearby night market (basically, an open-air market that only operates at night). Allison, Laura, Monique and I ended up eating dinner with the Steiners and Dr. Emmanuel, which was fun.

On Saturday, we were all led on a walking tour of historic Melaka by Dr. Emmanuel after eating a wonderful breakfast provided by the hotel. We started out at the Porta de Santiago, the only part of the original Portuguese fort (A Famosa) that remains. It's at the bottom of the hill that is home to St. Paul's Church. After visiting the church, we went into the Melaka History Museum and looked around for a while. From there we walked up and down a few famous streets before eating a splendid lunch at a Peranakan (Malaysian Chinese) restaurant. We were given the rest of the afternoon to explore on our own. That evening, I went back to the night market with Stephany and managed to pick up a few things to give out when I get back.


Porta de Santiago


St. Paul's Church






awesome graffiti/mural





On Sunday, we all checked out of the hotel after breakfast and drove to the countryside for our bike tour. The tour was meant to give us a look at rural Malaysia, and it started out in a palm oil plantation. Almost all of the girls on the trip braved a squatter toilet before starting the journey, which is always tons of fun. I think the bike ride was around 10 km (NOT miles, as many people are claiming) long, and very little of it was on paved ground. One particularly harrowing part was on a narrow path with a barbed wire fence only about a foot away. I managed to make it through relatively unscathed (I have some interesting brusies and scrapes on my legs) although I had a few run-ins with shrubbery and the chain came off my bike at one point after I unintentionally went airborne. The ride was very rewarding (seeing the plantation, some houses, rubber trees, etc.), but I was somewhat relieved when it was over. We ate lunch at a nearby hotel and changed out of our muddy and sweaty clothes in the bathroom before the bus ride back to Singapore.

On Monday, we had class in the morning as usual. I spent the afternoon working, and around dinnertime a group of us headed to K Box, a karaoke bar near PGP. The way karaoke works here is that you and a bunch of friends pay a flat rate for the use of a room with a karoke machine and 2 drinks each. Karaoke was extremely fun, although I'm sure I made a complete fool of myself (you can't really hear yourself singing...). We mostly sang in mobs, though, so it was okay. Selections from the evening: Every Breath You Take, I Believe I Can Fly, Barbie Girl, Wannabe, Hollaback Girl, Toxic, Lady Marmalade, I Want It That Way, Bye Bye Bye, Brown Eyed Girl, Rehab, Say My Name, That's Not My Name, Just Dance, etc...

Tuesday after lunch, Dr. Emmanuel took us around Fort Canning Park and the area around Arab Street. Fort Canning Park once was home to a functioning fort as well as a graveyard. After the tour, a bunch of us ate dinner on Arab Street at this restaurant that makes great murtabak (basically prata with meat in it). I had chicken murtabak, which was both delicious and very filling. Afterwards, Kelsey, Sean, and I bought some mangosteen and then attempted to start researching for our group project, which didn't really work out. However, we DID make it to Clarke Quay in time to get soursop margaritas before happy hour ended (they're significantly cheaper then).


Fort Canning Park



We had free time this afternoon, so I set out on my own to wander around downtown and buy souvenirs for people. I started out at Bugis (there's a big open air market there) and then took the MRT to Chinatown, where I got a bunch of postcards (give me your address if you want one!). Then I got back on the MRT and went to Little India, where I had a delicious dinner of mango lassi and onion masala dosa.



It's Wednesday, which means tonight is ladies' night at all clubs, so we're about to head out to Butter Factory (a club which overlooks the water on Clarke Quay). More later!

Oh, and for the benefit of Noots, a mangosteen experience:




The inside usually looks more appetizing...I kind of mangled this one

Stop! It's update time.

Clubbing on Friday night was amazingggg. Yong got all of us into Zirca (a fancy club on Clarke Quay) for free. We had two tables with couches, armchairs, etc. reserved upstairs, and then we had access both to Zirca and a connecting club. The dance floor was extremely crowded, but we all basically stuck together, so it was fun and I didn't feel too claustrophobic. In homage to Tina Fey, I did the robot and framed the face multiple times.

Saturday was our "home stay," which turned into "spend the day with a Singaporean" due to fears of swine flu. I was in a group with Aja and Nina. We spent the day with a woman named Lynn, who just got back from the US after spending 3 years at Johns Hopkins getting her bachelors in chemical engineering and 1 year at Duke getting a masters in engineering management. Apparently the Singaporean government funded her education on the condition that she come back and work for them for a certain number of years (education is the second largest part of the national budget after defense). We spent a lot of time just wandering around the city and chatting. We ate lunch at a fancy sushi restaurant in one of Singapore's numerous malls and then went to Liang Seah Street for traditional Chinese dessert. I got sticky rice balls (which were filled with either crushed peanuts or sesame paste) in hot ginger soup, which was delicious. After eating, we went to Lynn's family's house (most Singaporeans live in government housing, but people who are wealthy enough live in private residences) and played Guitar Hero rather badly while she looked up directions to some of the farms on the island. She ended up driving us to an ornamental fish farm, which was really interesting. There was one breed known as "dragon fish" that is supposed to bring good fortunate upon the owners. They cost up to several thousand dollars, of course, so you'd already have to be pretty fortunate to be able to afford one...


Liang Seah Street

On Sunday morning, Lynn picked us up from PGP and took us to her church on the eastern side of the island (the opposite side from NUS). I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when she invited us to come to church with her, but it certainly wasn't what I ended up experiencing. The congregation is so large that services are held in the Singapore Expo Center--basically a quintessential "mega-church." The other catchphrase that comes to mind is "contemporary worship." When we walked in, the church's own Christian rock group was on a stage performing (fancy light show and all) and there were thousands of people already in the crowd. There were several reverends, one of which reminded me of Pastor Skip from the movie Saved! They were all dressed rather casually, I guess to fit in with the rock music theme. The main sermon was given by a woman named Mary-Alice Isleib, who runs a ministry in Florida. It was certainly an intesting service. If any of you are curious, the website of the church is http://www.chc.org.sg/eng/index.php#

On Sunday night, Nadiah invited all of us over to her house for dinner. Her family lives on the eastern side of the island in government housing, so it was cool to get to see the inside of one of those flats. Her mom cooked tons of AMAZING food and we all hung out and talked while we ate.

Monday after class was devoted to preparing for Dr. Quek's in-class essay on Tuesday (we also had a take-home essay due on Tuesday). On Tuesday after class and lunch we all went to the Economic Development Board to see a presentation. The guy giving the presentation was really nice and seemed much more frank than some of the other government officials we've talked to. The EDB is on one of the upper floors of Raffles Tower, one of the fancy buildings downtown. On the MRT ride back to the dorms, Allison and I got to talk to a Singaporean woman who initiated conversation with us after recognizing us as American by our accents. She had just returned to Singapore after studying in Europe, and she was eager to hear what we thought of the island. She said that she thought Singapore was boring, which was certainly a surprise to us (she obviously didn't go to college in Chapel Hill!). Most of the rest of the day was spent finishing up the essay for Dr. Quek and a journal entry for Dr. Steiner, but to celebrate finishing all of our work Sean and I took a taxi to Holland Village (an area near our dorms that's pretty popular with expats) at around 10:30. We ended up going to Wala Wala (one of Yong's favorite bars) and ordered lychee martinis, which are actually quite tasty. It's an outdoor bar, so we just sat and chatted for a while before catching another cab back to the dorms.

Views from the windows of the EDB




Wednesday was Dr. Emmanuel's first day of teaching our history class (he's teaching us Malaysian history). He's a really cool guy, and I got to sit near him at the welcome dinner the first week we were here, so I already kind of know him. After class we saw a presentation from one of the people working with the local NGO Transient Workers Count 2 (TWC2). The organization works on behalf of migrant works in Singapore, trying to get some basic employment rights for them under the law. I bought a book co-authored by the guy who gave the presentation because it looks really interesting and I think it'll help with my group's presentation later in the program (we have to present on the rights of non-citizens in Singapore and Thailand).

After chilling in the air conditioned dorm for a while, Sean and I went downtown to just wander around in the afternoon. We both had an ice cream craving, so we (wonder of wonders) found a Swensen's and ate there. I ordered something called "Wham! Bam! Yam!" which consisted of yam (taro) ice cream, marshmallow topping, whipped cream, and fresh longans (which are like lychees). After eating dinner, we went back to the dorm to change because a large part of the group was planning on going clubbing (Wednesday is ladies' night, so all of us girls were going to get in free). We all met up at the Chocolate Bar in the Esplanade. I ordered a brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce this time, which was awesome. I miss simple baked goods...I'll definitely be in a baking frenzy when I get back to the states.


The Sultan Mosque on Arab Street


the Wham! Bam! Yam!

We tried to go to The Butter Factory, which overlooks the water on Clarke Quay, but the line was obscenely long, so we decided to try Zirca instead. The line there was also long and extremely slow-moving, so I ended up just hanging out on a bridge on Clarke Quay with a few other people. There was a group of obnoxious, drunk French people having an impromptu dance party on the bridge, and watching them was kind of amusing.

Today we only had one class, so Allison, Mary, and I visited the Sustainability Office at NUS and talked to the director about Singaporean environmental policy and what the government/university was doing to try to promote sustainable energy use, construction, etc. On the walk over, we saw this mysterious bird and all took pictures:


(I trust someone will identify this guy for me? Please?)

We're about to head off to East Coast Park to bike and/or play soccer with some NUS students, so I should probably wrap this up. We leave for Malaysia tomorrow morning (!!!!!) at 7:00 and won't be back until some time Sunday, so don't be concerned if I don't respond to any messages you might send me. I'll try to update on Monday with Malaysia stories/pictures. Dr. Emmanuel is leading the trip to Malaysia, so we should learn a lot.

Hasta el lunes!


Sign warning us not to jump onto the tracks at the MRT station (in English, Chinese, Malay, and...Thai? or Tamil?)


Example of a goofy sign trying to dissuade the "kiasu" instinct to elbow your way onto the MRT before people have a chance to get off


ALSO: If anyone has any requests of things you want from Singapore, let me know ASAP...next week is my last full week here! I'm hoping to send some postcards soon...

Better Nate Than Lever

Okay, I apologize for being such a failure about updating this, but SO much has been going on! Plus, I didn't have internet for the first couple of days I was here, so I got behind...and it's hard to catch up. This will be a very condensed version of my first week and a half here. I promise future entries will be more detailed!

After a number of harrowing flights, we arrived in Singapore last Tuesday and were met by Nadiah and Yong (two NUS students who spent a couple of years at UNC) at the airport. We all headed off for our dorms, Prince George's Park Residences (PGP), where we all have small single rooms with attached bathrooms. The rooms have A/C, which is a godsend. Almost everyone on my floor has had ant infestations at various points, but I think we've scared them off for the time being.

We all took much-needed showers and were given a tour of campus by Nadiah before eating dinner in the canteen below our dorm and going to sleep early, as we were all pretty exhausted. The next day, we completed our preregistration and took a tour of the NUS library before going to the Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) to get our student passes. Although Singapore prides itself on efficiency, bureaucracy is much the same everywhere, I guess. I was one of the lucky few that had the privilege of returning to the ICA the next day because of complications the first day...at least it's a good place to people-watch.


View from the balcony of the Central Library at NUS


Typical canteen lunch

After our appointments at the ICA, we all went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which were lovely. There's one section devoted to orchids that has an admission fee, but the rest is a park that's free to the public.


National Botanical Gardens






(I have MANY more orchid pictures on my computer for you flower fans out there)


The "big-ass tree"



We started classes on Thursday. From 9:00-10:30 we have a class on human migration, which is taught by Dr. Steiner, a professor from UNC. Our 10:30-12:00 class is on SE Asian history and will be jointly taught by two professors at NUS and another in Thailand. Right now, we have Dr. Quek teaching us about Singaporean history. She is quite a character...very frank and opinionated. I'm really enjoying both classes, although I'd obviously rather not have the homework associated with them.


Typical breakfast from the canteen (prata and watermelon milkshake)

Thursday was also our official welcome dinner, which was held at a fancy Malay restaurant downtown. I sat at a table with the other NUS professor who will be teaching us about Malaysian history and leading our short trip to the Malaysia. He seems like a really cool guy, so I'm looking forward to talking with him some more.

After class on Friday (we won't usually have class on Fridays, but the first week was an exception), we ate a delicious lunch at a Thai restaurant before going to the Asian Civilizations Museum. The museum was great. We had a tour guide lead us around the four different sections: China, South Asia, SE Asia, and West Asia (the Middle East). The museum is on the waterfront (a river runs through Singapore), so after our tour we all went on a short boat tour of the section of river that goes through downtown. After that, we broke off into small groups to explore downtown on our own. I ate at a food court called Food Republic which is known for its great Singaporean food and then walked around Orchard Road (the big shopping district) with Sathya before heading back to the dorm.


Boat similar to the one we had our tour on










The Esplanade (aka the durian building), a performing arts center/mall


The Merlion!


View from the Esplanade's rooftop terrace

On Saturday, we had lunch with a bunch of NUS students at a vegetarian Indian buffet. The restaurant is near Chinatown, so a group of us walked around there for a while. It's pretty touristy, but we got to visit a Hindu temple, which was really neat. There are also a bunch of places in malls where you can get pay to have tanks full of small fish eat the dead skin off of your feet! I watched a few of my friends have it down, and now I'm intrigued...I'll definitely have to try it before I leave Singapore. We also explored Arab Street (we visited a mosque and had some satay) and an open air market. I had durian for the first time! I split one with Allison. The first bite was kind of painful (tasted like onions), but as I ate more and more of it I began to enjoy it. It kind of tastes like a fruit to me now...although I'm still getting used to the texture. After chilling out at PGP and eating dinner at a canteen, a bunch of us went to Clarke Quay (the swanky bar and nightclub area on the riverfront) and ended up going back to the Esplanade, where we at this place called Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar. I had a banana split waffle, which was DELICIOUS.

Sunday was pretty much devoted to resting and catching up on work, and Monday we had classes again. I think Monday afternoon was when Sean and I explored Little India very briefly (it was super hot and super bright outside), but I don't remember exactly. Little India is much less touristy than Chinatown, and it looks like there are some really great restaurants there. On Tuesday night, we all had tickets to go see a play that's part of the Singapore Arts Festival. It was called Seven Boards of Tricks (translated from French), and was performed by Chinese acrobats. It was very...modern. Basically a bunch of people moving a giant tangram set around and climbing on it, jumping off of it, etc. The geometric aspect was really cool, and there was also some huqin (a traditional Chinese instrument) music incorporated that I really liked. One of the women sang some Chinese opera, and I totally recognized the word "meimei"!! It's probably not something I would have chosen to see on my own, but it was interesting. In the words of the inimitable Margaret Cho, "What is comes down to is that I CANNOT RUN UP A WALL."

Wednesday was ladies' night at all the clubs in Singapore, which means that all girls get in free. I hung out with Sean, Steven, and Lionel at Clarke Quay (just sitting on a bridge and chatting) before going to a club, but then I couldn't get in because I had neglected to bring my driver's license (sigh). We're going out again tonight, though (Yong is getting everyone in free to a club), and I'll definitely remember it this time!

On Thursday some of us went to see a movie with Nadiah in the afternoon. We saw Night at the Museum II, which was vaguely dreadful...but I entertained myself by making fun of it with Monique. Then we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant in the same mall as the movie theatre. We were all pretty tired after that, but Sean, Allison, and I went down to Clarke Quay to hang out by the river before going back to the dorms.

Today, we didn't have class, so we went to a presentation given by some government officials about Singapore's Community Engagement Program (CEP), which is meant to "preserve communal harmony in a crisis." I think it was formed after the bombings in London in 2005. Singapore is such a diverse place, both ethnically and religiously, that the government is fairly concerned about potential tensions. We also visited the Harmony Centre, which is associated with a local mosque. It's meant to promote interfaith dialogue in Singapore. And as I already said, we're planning on going out tonight, so I should probably get ready for that.

If you have any questions, requests, etc., just ask in the comments! I know this post was kind of vague and overwhelming...

(Oh, and click on the pictures to view larger versions)