For the past few weekends in earlier February I have been going to Malaysia in search of surf. First, instead of going to Kuala Lumpur with some friends, I went to Cherating, east of Kuantan, on the South China Sea coast in search of monsoon surf with UCLA Arye. He brought his board all the way, and I ended up "borrowing" a cute board, pictured here. Cherating was quite the quiet little town as it was off-season. The waves, however, were perfect minus the crazy current that was a battle 'til the end. The second day the current wasn't as strong, but we had to leave earlier than we wanted to. On our way back, we met these local kids, all around our age, who took pictures with us and eventually we bussed back with them(the local busride back was amazing, so packed, at one point I was standing at the open door as we sped along). We had lunch with two of the guys and it was quite the enlightening experience. We talked a lot about our differences. They asked me about how I felt about the veiling of women, and of course I just said that I respect their choices, it's their religion. One of them told me that they think of it as protection, not oppression. We also discussed our schooling and money-related things, and it was brought to my attention how priviledged I was. Arye's surfboard was 20 hrs of work for him, while for them, they would have to work twice as much while concerned with numerous other things. We ended up watching a ridiculous Thai exotic horror movie at the theatre, and headed back to Singapore late that night.

Other things to note about Cherating were:

1. Fiddler crabs beckoning down by the riverside, favourite part

2. Shandy(beer lemonade drink)

3. Puppies(3)

4. Our hut's broken toilet that violently sprayed water all over the place

5. The effectiveness of a mosquito net

6. A crazy compilation of music blasting from an old radio nextdoor

7. Feeling overexposed in a Muslim country

The next weekend I went for a day to Desaru in search of surf with Arye and Leonardus. It was closer, but not as good as Cherating, nor a beautiful of a beach. I caught quite a few waves on Arye's board though...

1. Giant owls

2. Biggest Monitor Lizard I've seen yet

3. Saw some surfers from Singapore who we had met a day earlier. Apparently they were involved in some surf contest there last month. I would have liked to see it during better conditions.

OK...so wednesday of last last week, technically called January 31, 2007.
In the morning I went to the National Stadium with Waterloo* Akheil and collectively, we purchased 8 tickets to the first leg of the Singpore Lions vs Thailand Tigers Asean Football Championship. After class, I went to the swimming pool at Clementi with UCLA Arye and Malaysian NUS Jason. It was great...refreshing and lovely. After swimming in the evening, I rushed back to PGP, got ready to go to the game and met up with Western Zohara, Akheil, and Queen's Clare and caught a cab to the National Stadium. It was wild. A huge sea of red shirts(Singapore) and a small pond of yellow shirts(Thailand)...The crowd was intense and sooo full of energy, I was just overwhelmed by the buzzzzz(and the cursing in multiple languages). It was beautiful. The quality of the match itself, however, was comparable to watching Naomi's high school soccer games(no offense) along with 5 injuries involving stretchers, numerous uncalled fouls, and referee stalling. Hilarious. Singapore won 2-1(thank goodness for no shoot-outs, it was close). After this, we wandered over to McDonalds, then to Dbl O because we can't help it, then to St. Jame's Power Station, another huge club with Ladie's night. And here we danced like crazy until closing. Mosied on to 24 hour Cheese Prata...the usual plan of action on Wednesdays, then on our way back to PGP at around 5am, Holland Leonardus pops out of a dark corner and mentions going to the Thaipusam event the next morning at 8:30. Wow...To think that I went to sleep at around 6:15AM, woke up around 8, and jetted to meet three people, all who were not Leonardus, and went to Little India to watch the Hindu festival, check it Wikipedia-style: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam We(UNC Matt, USC Katie, USC Evan, and I) got caught in the procession, found ourselves taking off our shoes and entering the temple. I was about a meter away from a possessed man, who I'm guessing was embodying some kind of Hindu monkey god...not sure, but he certainly looked and acted like it. I was actually afraid for my safety for a while, but he recovered quite well.




And here are some pics:






















*People mentioned are labeled by their university or where they're from.

Almost four weeks in Singapore...where has my life gone?! School is picking up its pace, which is nice because I am here to learn and I'm finding that the system is quite different here when it comes to little things. Here's the list:
1. Lectures are once a week and only two hours long (I'm only taking 4 modules = 8 hours [oh yes])
-New Media and Society
-Malay Culture and Society
-Health Psychology
-Issues in Developmental Psychology
2. Tutorials are taken very seriously and are either lead by the Profs themselves or the nicest TA in the whole wide world as in my New Media and Society class.
3. Students enter lecture theatres late and talk all throughout lecture. This really surprised me because I expected more discipline/respect from these kids, but perhaps Singapore being "Asia lite" has a different kind of new generation, similar to Hawaii perhaps. The chatting actually gets out of control sometimes and I even find myself cringing.
4. I can stay awake in lectures because the air conditioning is freezing

Anyhow, this past weekend I went on my first out of Singapore trip to Bintan, an island which is part of Indonesia, with a group of exchange friends. On the ferry there, several babies vomitted...poor little ones.

Once in Bintan I could tell it was going to be an excellent getaway and enjoyed the quite deserted feeling because its the off season. We stayed at Mana Mana, surfed, played volleyball, sunned, and basically hung out. It was wonderful and definitely fitting for my lifestyle. The locals clapped and whistled when I got out of the water with my foamy rental shortboard. I think they were impressed. Hey, it's what I do. The waves were weird beachbreaks, but it proved to be an excellent ride. While on the island, we saw monitor lizards and bats. I had never seen either before so it was quite exciting and I would be amused by such things. The ferry ride back to Singapore was quite rough, the rocking sideways made me nervous. Nevertheless, while everyone else was feeling a bit ill, Fraser and I had popsicles and ice cream. I got a major tan!

Today was the start of my first real week of classes...I guess. Last week was a nice adjustment week full of strange adventures, but this week is a little more real. However, before I go into the petty details of what I have done here, I would like to express my true and sincere fondness, affection, longing for, respect, admiration, and missing of the sweetest man in the whole wide world times a million...a man whom I am so gratefully honoured to call my friend......Tim. While Singapore has been marvellous to me with its clean and efficiently safe subway system, beautifully jungled skyscrapers and elaborate architecture, and its modernity so well-integrated into its culture so rich with diversity...it is missing one most magnificent thing that is the embodiment of Tim. Tim, if you are out there, and you are reading this, I just want to commend your humour, your exigent wit, your honesty to a tee, your peaceful and most humble way of living, intense compassion, loyalty, kindness, might I add sexiness...and universal appeal. At times my heart explodes with laughter when in your presence, and at other times I feel safe and contented by the sound of your voice. I just want to dance with you forever(robot style or waltz) and go to the beach and catch the Frisbees you throw so well into the sunset. Tim, I look up(way up) to you. This much is true....

With that being said...
Outline of past events:
I. Wednesday night, January 11 was ladie's night
a. Went to a club called Dbl O
b. Free cover for the girls, free-flow alcohol for girls
c. Free-flow alcohol equals danger for girls(illegal in the U.S. and Canada, for a good reason I believe)
d. My own experiences:1. broke my slipper almost immediately2. managed not to fall the whole entire night even though I couldn't see beyond a radius of five feet and was dancing quite outrageously) 3. many funny things that cannot be described here also occurred(sorry to mention them)
e. The group ordered delivery from McDonalds to PGP at 4 in the morning(yes, they deliver here)

II. Friday, January 12-->Sushi night on Orchard road.
a. So many people were out and about. Orchard Road is supposedly the Champs Elysee of Singapore, and I agree that it sure is beautiful and quite extravagantly near perfection. So clean and classy with beautiful buildings, trees, and all the high end stores you can imagine. The Japanese food at 10PM was excellent and the 45 minute long MRT ride was just as satisfying. Girls text-messaging, a guy and his entourage in funky clothes listening to Indian music and hip hop on speakers hooked up to his laptop just as the Lonely Planet had told Akhil. It sure was a party on the subway.

3. Saturday, January 13-->Became legal.
a. Woke up early to go to the ICA(Immigration and Citizenship Agency???)
b. Encountered many many many and many more lines
c. Found our(Zohara and I) way to Clarke's Quay, a beautiful area along a riverside,very chic, for "Extend-a-Brunch" with Clare.
d. Adventured to Little India and wandered around through endless shops selling garlands for prayers, the smell of incense everywhere. All colours were bright and beautiful and the little Indian children and goats and cows and coconuts and sugarcane...like a dream. It was the harvest festival. I saw many fruits and vegetables and many smells/fragrances/odours that I didn't recognize; I'd like to go again.
Went to bed early...

4. Sunday, January 14--> the bus is a horrible idea
a. Went for a run...I think I like overcast conditions
b. After forever on several wrong buses and angry busdrivers, we found Clementi Interchange where we needed to do a few things(finally bought laundry detergent).
c. Later, we found the extravagant movie theatre on Orchard Road and a nice western style restaurant for the boys.
d. Watched Blood Diamond----excellent!

5. Monday, January 15-->An ordinary day, I suppose
a. I missed my second class today because I didn't write down what lecture theatre it was in...smooooooth...
b. So I came back did some laundry and blogged.

p.s. I hope my next entry is more organized and coherent.

The Beginnings

Prince George's Park Residences, NUS


View from my window at PGP

Some fountain action to the right.

Singapore! Yes, I am here and alive and updating...a little!
So far things have been stressful in the area of school and financial matters, but no one wants to hear about that. No one wants to hear about how Singaporean institutions only take weird cash cards for fees and will not accept credit card for most things. I think I need to pay for housing in cash...that's a lot of cash. My point exactly.

Saturday, January 6
1. Went to Clementi, an area of shops, kind of rugged
2. Got a phone
3. Saw some Stingrays in a food kiosk...really want to try one
4. First day after sleeping without a pillow
Observations:
1. It is really hot, but people here still wear sleeved shirts and pants.
2. Food is cheap(I got a plate that looked like a 7 dollar meal from panda express and it costed me 2 singaporean dollars, like a dollar fifty American). This could get dangerous.
3. Not many people speak/understand english(the national language)...good for me.

Sunday, January 7
Lately we(Clare and I) have been exploring the area with our Finnish friends who are also here on exchange, without any real planning or prior research. We just go out, catch a bus here a cab there and stumble upon places. The adventure on Sunday was to Sentosa Island in search of a beach party that was rumoured to be taking place. We cabbed to one of the beaches(cabs are incredibly cheap and efficient here) and found nothing but a somewhat deserted beach and small bar, a few tourists. After looking at a map, we realized that there was more than one beach on the island and continued down the coast, still managing to find nothing. Then, a few phone calls and a short island-busride later, we stumbled upon this farely huge jacuzzi/techno/rave-esque beach party that looked and felt exactly like something you would see on MTV(tons of drunken bikini-clad girls dancing along side the jacuzzi). People looked like they were on E, and ragin' guys were all over the place, especially in the jacuzzi. Luckily there was a safety zone with a sign that designated the spot for "couples and women ony." I'm serious(There really was a sign, but it wasn't exactly necessary). I decided to swim down at the beach which was nice and warm and felt normal for a man-made place. The seaweed was different from what I'm used to, but it was nice to be in water after being so hot and sticky all day long. Looking back at the shore party with crazy house music ringing through the night, the flashing lights, dancing people, and madness...everything felt so surreal, I couldn't believe what was happenning. I'm in Singapore at a crazy beach party and it feels like summer, when's reality going to hit...It probably won't. So that was that.

Monday, January 8
I registered in the morning and Clare and I went to our first class. We spent most of the day exploring campus, figuring out the library our schedules...National University of Singapore stuff. In the evening, we went to Holland Village(or what we thought was Holland Village), had pizza because I think the Fins were in need of western food. Saw some stray cats and weird rabbits in a pet shop. Later we found the real, new Holland Village which was a hoppin' place for a monday night, found a pub, had a few drinks, and wandered back to PGP.

Holland Village area

Written January 5, 2007

Finally…after too many hours to keep track of and several realizations, I have arrived at my destination: The National University of Singapore, Prince George’s Park Residences. Anyway, the journey has been long and at some points excruciating. I woke up at 4:10AM Thursday; Bryan picked me up and took me to the airport for a little after 5. Thank you, Bryan. I did the usual Maui to Honolulu…cake flight. I also managed to get on my flight to Manila…breeze…I even went to sleep a little and the plane food was decent enough. It wasn’t a bad 10 hours after all. However, I would like to discuss the Philippines. My initial impression was wow, it is beautiful; so many colourful houses, trees, waves, skyscrapers, shanty-towns of tin. I thought I’d like to go back for a real visit….that is until I had to hike my bags(an enormous hiking bag, two back packs) about three-quarters of a mile from one terminal to the next. When I asked an airport guy about how I was to get to Singapore Airlines from the Philippine Airline terminal, he shrugged…”no shuttle, nothing”…only beaming sun, humidity, my shoulders, legs, and a million Filipino men who watched my trek. That was weird, and I’m pretty sure I got a nice sunburn, bruised shoulders, and super disgustingly sweaty. I figured from that experience, I wasn’t going to give the place a second chance. It’s over between us. Anyhow...that was the first of my travel "experience."