Beige-and-gray-jing, China

Greetings from Beijing! I can't see sun, clouds, or blue sky for that matter. The smog causes constant grayness and dust everywhere! It's been 3 days, and I have already been blasted with a gale of dirt and dust, yanked around by the wind, and soaked from a monsoon. I have also gotten lost on campus, learned to bike with no hands, and gotten ripped off on a few Chinese purchases. I have eaten fake pizza and fake McDonalds, but I have also eaten good rice and have started perfecting my chopsticks skills. Not in the least, I have a new name: Lee Meiguei. My new Tsinghua friends helped me make it up. Lee is my family name and Meiguei is Chinese for "roses". It sounds really pretty! Chinese people say their last name before their first name. Chinese in general is a complicated language because there are four tones. So, one sound could mean four different things depending on the tone you use for it. By the way, the only people who can speak English are children and some Tsinghua students (but even then you have to speak v..e..r..y.....s..l..o..w..l..y!
I'm getting the basics down for getting around! I have learned "hello", "bottle of water", "this", "thank you", "yes", "no", "I don't understand Chinese", "I understand Chinese", "I am American", "I am Canadian", "one", "two", "three", "four", "Tsinghua University Northeast Gate", "I love you", and "I want chicken".

RIEL Money: See'em Reap-U.S.-Dollars, Cambodia

Disclaimer on previous posts... I take EVERYTHING back about Singapore being hot. I've never experienced dull heat like I did in Cambodia! Especially inside the ruined stone temples...

We were welcomed at the teeny tiny Siem Reap airport by a teeny tiny man waiting for us with a sign that said "Katie". It was our guide for the weekend, Milky. He is 28 years old, speaks excellent English, and makes more than most Cambodians at $20/day for being a tour guide. That's in American currency. Since Riel are worth practically nothing (8,000 Riel = 1 Dollar), everything in Cambodia is in USD (U.S. Dollars, an acronym that rolls off my tongue now). I think tourism is booming in Siem Reap now. Anyway Milky got his nickname because when he was little, his mother didn't have the strength to nurse him, and some Vietnamese soldiers had brought over tons and tons of milk to Cambodia because there was a shortage or something, and supposedly they stacked enough cans of milk in Milky's house to fill a whole room. So he was nursed off of Vietnamese relief milk. That's what I caught... not sure how accurate that story is! Nonetheless he was a wonderful guide and made our trip so much more enjoyable!

I'll be honest, since Cambodia is known as practically 4th world, I was a little nervous pre-trip. But after spending the weekend exploring ruined stone temples in the jungle (transported by an air-conditioned Mercedes, no less) I wouldn't take it back for anything!

Here's what we did in a nutshell:
Friday, June 16th :
Arrived at 7 am, met Milky at airport, who had a van waiting to drive us to our hotel, Angkor Voyage Villa. I stayed with Kristen and Carlanna in a big 3-person hotel room with our own beds, etc - whole room was $35 a night - very nice place for Cambodia!
Breakfast at Molly Malone's across the street
Morning: Visited Angkor Thom... including the South Gate, Bayon, Baphoun, the Royal Palace, Terrace of Elephants and Lepper King, and Preah Khan
Lunch @ local restaurant... I ordered some really good fish
Afternoon: Visited Angkor Wat (picture at top) - should be another World Wonder!!!!
Evening: Shopped at local markets
Night: Molly Malone's for dinner and drinks

Saturday, June 17th :
Morning: Visited the Floating Village at the lake (boat ride to floating houses)... VERY eye-opening. A one-armed boy in a mixing bowl spun over to us begging along with many other women and children... really sad.
Lunch @ local restaurant... I ordered fish in a coconut with curry... yummm
Afternoon: Visited the distant temple Banteay Srey, headed back to the jungle to see the temple/tomb where Tombraider (Ta prohm) was filmed... that was cool!
Sunset: Phnom Bakheng (like climbing Stone Mountain but steeper)

Evening/Night: Buffet dinner at a traditional Cambodian dance show

Cambodia was the neatest place I have ever been. I picture it as full of ancient history and still very 3rd world... I keep thinking about the Vietnamese refugees living in poverty in floating shacks... I also picture people in pointed straw hats biking litters of pigs in baskets... and I also remember how HOT it was!

Go to Cambodia if you can! Angelina Jolie did and even adopted a child. She also helps a lot in preserving jungles and animals in Cambodia. Just don't step on the land mines in the deep jungle! In fact, don't go in the deep jungle at all, just stick with the guide.

Phuket-cha wave, Thailand

No thanks the highly original title suggestions for this one, I thought "catch a wave" was relevant - not only because of the magnificent fun we had playing in the Phuket waves, but also because this island took the biggest hit from the Tsunami not too long ago. I'm actually still here (Sunday night) and don't want to leave! My motor bike is parked outside this internet cafe, and some friends are at a bar/restaurant across the street. With my helmet in lap, wind-blown hair, sandy bathing suit underneath beachy clothes, and red cheeks - complete with an oil-massage-on-the-beach afterglow - where do I begin...

We arrived in Phuket on Thursday night after dark and gained an hour on the way. After some mini-bus drivers followed the 8 of us around the airport parking lot and hassled us to no end, we opted to hire two regular taxis to take us to our hostel (M's Guesthouse at Patong Beach, picture above), which turned out to be 45 minutes away from the airport. By the time we got there it was pouring rain, which was all the more reason to take off our shoes at the door... given it's a Buddhist custom anyway (I think). The other group, which consisted of 8 guys, was checking in when we got there - I think they took the mini-bus route. Anyway this quaint little 4-story guesthouse put us up into 8 double rooms which we reserved the week before (apparently Phuket's a popular place during the summer weekends.) The rooms were huge: each had a double bed, TV, refrigerator with a mini bar, and a bathroom. The shower was part of the bathroom. Imagine a little square room with tile floors and walls, a sink, and a toilet. Look at the toilet and look above it: there was the shower spicket. Haha, at least Carlanna and I are comfortable around each other! It wasn't bad, though: the shower spicket was hooked to a water heater box with a power button. The room was cleaned and new towels were there everyday. It was like a real hotel (we're not used to this!) and it was only $7.00/night/person. The only drawbacks to the room were that there weren't any sheets (?) and the roomkey was used for the room's power, so while away nothing stayed on. Anyway the Thai manager and bellhop and maids were as nice and helpful as could be. Some people were brave that night and took off to the bars and the ocean after the rain ceased, but Carlanna and I could barely stand up we were so tired. So we ordered some Pizzeria Hut pizzas and went to bed. We had a big day ahead of us...

7:30 AM came quickly the next morning (Mom, after trying 3 different travel alarms that didn't work, I finally bought a double-A for my old one that I happened to throw in my bag) but I jumped out of bed because I was so excited about what we had in store: at 8 AM the Siam Safari people picked us up in their Jeep trailor thing, drove us through the mountains with 9 of us in the back cab, and took us elephant riding around a mountain! Our guide's name was Tan. They had 15 elephants. First we watched a little show in a stable type set-up with bleachers. They had 3 elephants show off their tricks - that was cute. But then the best part came. The elephants we rode on were HUGE! The one Carlanna and I boarded was 45 years old with liver spots all over its trunk. Each elephant had a Thai guide who probably didn't speak a lick of English on its HEAD. The guides were barefoot, wore pointy straw hats, and used a pointed stick on the elephants' ears to guide them. In a slow, spread out line, we all trekked through a jungle path along the mountain's edge. We saw some massive spiders, lizards, and flowers on the way, and stopped at a couple clearings where the Indian Ocean was out below us. Cool! Don't worry, I got a t-shirt.
We had a great plan for the afternoon. Our next destination: food and Mai Tais. Final destination: beach. Both turned out to be incredibly refreshing! We ate at Saxophone's, which would turn out to be my first Pad Thai meal of 4 total for the weekend. Across the street was Patong Beach, where we spent the entire afternoon playing in the waves and sleeping. The water was warm and the weather was fantastic: not too sunny but just right.

You will never guess who these people are in this picture. A few of the girls had checked out some ticket deals around the beach during my skin-tanning slumber. They got us a deal on the Cabernet that night... if you really want to know what that is, it's a "must-see" for everyone visiting Phuket... yes, it's nothing less than an authentic transvestite show. So we showered up, picked up some Subway, and headed to the Cabernet at 9 pm. The next hour proved to be the most ridiculous time I've ever spent seeing anything. These men had not only gone through sex changes, but they actually had GREAT bodies and proved to be gorgeous women. That sounds a little off, but I'm telling you, I was mesmerized. The show consisted of elaborate sets, many famous songs, and lip-syncing, dressed-up, dancing transvestites who pretending to be girls. I was mesmerized. After the show I got a picture with a few of them and was really surprised to hear their deep voices. Wow. Now I can say "been there, done that", and never go again!

Across the street was the Bavarian Octoberfest, which was offering free Chang beer after each German goal in the Germany-Costa Rica football game starting at 11 (although due to the Thai king's birthdays - how many birthdays can Asian kings have close to each other? - they couldn't serve alcohol until midnight). Everyone's crazy here, just like Europe, about football. We couldn't NOT go to Octoberfest- it was the first game of the World Cup! I was excited that Germany won. Mostly because that meant I could crash into bed again - the beach wore me out. It's a hard life.

When I said those girls got us ticket deals, I mean they really did some bartering. With Kristen Kerns' bargaining skills, the entire group of 16 was able to charter a speed boat for a day through the remote islands close to Phuket, complete with canoeing through caves, snorkeling, sightseeing, snacks, drinks, and of course an all-you-can-eat lunch on a private island... all for 1,300 baht ($32) each. What a day! Starting at 8 AM Saturday once again, I've never had a more adventure-filled day. The speed boat was really fun and seeing all of the islands (some were more like tall rocks jutting out from the ocean) was exciting. We got off on canoes next to some big rocks with caves in/under them, each canoe with a Thai guide. Carlanna and I jumped into a canoe and our little guy introduced himself as Boo Boo. Boo Boo looked to be in his twenties or thirties and he laughed at us a lot. He was also a crazy daredevil. He picked up the biggest jelly fish I've ever seen by its tenticles and pretended to throw it at us. I'm pretty sure it was dead... but how did he know??? He showed us some neat-looking crabs and tried to pick them up. He pointed out some crazy rock formations that looked like different animals. We had some splash fights with the other canoes. I think the guides liked young people! They took us through some pitch black caves which we had to lie on our backs to get to. Scary!! But exciting. Boo Boo said goodbye to us by dunking us out and letting us swim back to the boat! At least he thought it was funny. It was suddenly noon and we were at a remote, private, gorgeous island. When I say island, I mean that the sandy plot had a diameter about the length of one of my tee shots (not very far). We were surrounded by a sea in the Indian Ocean and we were the only ones on the island except a few people who ran the shops and restaurant. I was in paradise. The water was blue, the sun felt so good, and little Thai ladies were setting up a huge feast of rice, chicken, fish, vegetables, and soup for us on the restaurant patio. After this little piece of heaven we decided to go snorkeling. Too bad we were barefoot and the masks were cheap! I think the entire coral reef had exploded on the ocean floor. Everywhere I stepped I cut myself. The Indians in our group all got stung by the spiky black Sea Urchins. Several people had cuts and gashes from the urchins and coral reef (dead or alive) on their arms and legs... ouch! Somehow I made it out in one piece, but then again I am typically slow and careful, kind of like a turtle. When I was 2, I would sit in my crib and carefully turn the pages of my Mother Goose book... not much has changed! I also tend to get lost in my own world and forget about the group and the time. I think I followed a pink and green fish around for about an hour...? Anyway, continuing on, our next stop on the day's excursion was James Bond Island. It was drizzling rain and the island was full of tourists. We climbed on some rocks, took a few pictures, and got creeped out by some of the people so we left as soon as we could. The big rock from the movies was cool though (picture above)! On the speed boat ride back to Phuket, our guide made the girls things out of straws. Using 2 straws he made me a rose, and then for Carlanna he made an angel fish... and I'm talking elaborate! Well we got back at 5 pm, all the beer was gone, and we were worn out from being at sea all day. We made it back to the hostel in time for half of us to crash and half of us to shower and go out. Mainly the people leaving Sunday morning at 8 (my usual travel group minus me) wanted to make the most of their last night so some of us got dressed up to go out on the town. I didn't make it past dinner! My second Pad Thai meal was delicious, though, and so was the strawberry gelato afterwards. I fell asleep to a football game on TV in Bart's room, then somehow made it to my room shortly afterwards, and I still don't remember Carlanna coming in at 10 something nor leaving at 5:30 am!

Staying an extra day in Phuket was the best decision I've ever made; it made my entire trip to Asia worth all my hard-earned money I put on the summer. The only people in Phuket on Sunday were me, the 2 crazy Indians (Sid and Akshay), the Indian who isn't really Indian (Nikhil), the Mexican (Jorge), the Buddha (Kevin), and the short white guy (Scott). As you can tell, this group is extremely politically correct. :) The reason I was so excited to hang out with this crew on Sunday was because they weren't planning the day... they just had motor bikes to drive wherever they wanted to. They were so nice to me and really looked out for me. They totally took me in and no one stopped me from getting my own motor bike. They probably winced at the thought of waiting for me to catch up or help me learn... but boy were they in for a surprise. I woke up at 9 which was relatively late for my weekend but extremely early for these guys. Bored and probably out of my mind, I rented a bright red Yamaha motor bike and a helmet from the front desk and spent the next hour figuring the thing out. The closest thing I've ever operated was a jet ski. Surely they were similar? With some pity help from random strangers, I managed to start the engine, hobble around a bit, get myself to the gas station (which was down a dirt road and a sharp turn to a busy street... so I learned fast!), fill up the tank for 70 baht (less than $2.00), and practice turning and driving on the strip in front of M's, all before the other 6 opened their eyes from beauty rest. I was so excited about my new abilities that I ran into Sid and Akshay's room (I can always depend on them to sleep with their doors unlocked) and jumped on their bed as their wake up call. It was time to go! An hour later, the 7 of us were on the road headed to a beach 30 minutes away. There were 5 motor bikes with 2 of our guys riding on a couple backs... neither one had ever been able to ride a bicycle so I guess that goes hand-in-hand with balancing a motor bike... makes sense. The drive to the beach was beautiful! It was about a half hour on windy, mountainous, scenic beach roads. I couldn't believe was I was doing! I was actually part of a motorcycle gang. I only drove on the right side of the road once accidentally, and only got freaked out a few times by the non-stop passing by cars, honking, and disregard for road markings - but besides that, I was pretty good! We ate lunch (3rd Pad Thai) and got full-body Thai oil massages ON the prettiest beach in Phuket. What an hour of goodness. The water was warm again, but the rip tide was strong! It was a little rough and I won't lie: I was a little scared... but we all got out and decided to keep going! The rest of the day was so exhilerating because all we did was ride the hilly roads and stop at random beaches and look-outs. We even made it to the famous Cape at the southernmost part of the island. The boys never let me go last just in case I got left behind or something happened. But nothing ever happened to me or anyone else and I kept up with them, if not made them go faster, all day! The biggest difference to me in riding a motor bike is that there is NO exception to losing awareness of your surroundings and constantly being ready to brake or turn. Turning is the best and worst part: it's my favorite because it's a cool feeling to lean into curves, but it's also the most dangerous part. I could have been really unlucky I'm sure! Thank the Lord we're all safe!
Here's a marked up map of where we motor biked. We used 1.65 tanks of gas, so it was probably over 100 kilometers of riding! What an amazing day. It was BEAUTIFUL.



















If you couldn't guess, I fell asleep early again that night. We ordered a mini-bus for 6:00 AM, but left at 6:25, made our 8:00 flight in the nick of time, and losing an hour on the way home, I made it safely back to Prince George's Park by 11 am, just in time to eat and get ready for class at 2.
Here are the rest of my pictures from Phuket: Phuket pictures
Like I said, it's a hard life. =) Seriously though, I'm having the time of my life and wish all of you at home were here too!

Kuala Lumpur-fect, Malaysia

We took an 8-hour train to Kuala Lumpur (let's just say, Kevin and I kicked some booty in multiple rounds of Spades and Hearts) on Friday, June 2nd afternoon and got to our hostel (Punjangga) around 11 pm. Malaysia is primarily Muslim so we had to take our shoes off inside the hostel... and the hostel was notably wonderful. Everything inside was from IKEA and it was absolutely adorable. There were couches upstairs, dishes and cereal, unlimited refreshing water, and cool showers that felt wonderful after spending time in the heat outside. And cheap just like last time: 20 Ringot (RM)/person/night, which is about six American bucks. Again, we had our own 8-person room with bunk beds... and although we didn't get much sleep, we slept hard and good that night. The area we stayed in was very nice and extremely cute! Down the Christmas-lit street there was an Irish Pub (playing 80's music!) that we relaxed at until the early hours Friday night/Saturday morning. By the way Tiger Beer is the beer of Asia.
Saturday most everyone (not me... oops) got up at 7 to get time tickets to see the Petronas Towers... for 11:15. I have great travel buddies. We have a very, very proactive group! Here are some pictures from/by the Petronas Towers... (88 stories; we went up to the Skybridge which is on the 41st/42nd floors)

More pictures here.
So then we stayed in the towers most of the day! There was a mall and it was the King's birthday on Saturday, so there were TONS of people out shopping - there were some killer deals. We ended up taking a taxi to the MegaMall as well to tear up its 300+ stores... I bought a beautiful beautiful barrette, earrings, and a belt for pretty cheap. We never made it to any markets but we had a great time shopping at the malls! There were American stores, European stores, and I suppose Asian stores... but I'd say all the clothes were Western geared for Asian sizes, haha! Yes they had my size, although it's bigger here than in the U.S., and yes they had size 10 shoes (I saw like 1 or 2! Haha) - not all Asians are itty bitty! For dinner we found a Chili's at the bottom of the mall and it was AWESOME... I think we all wanted some good American food!
I realize I haven't been including things like tipping and driving, etc.. There is absolutely no tipping in Singapore, but there IS tipping in Thailand and Malaysia. We Americans tip well! Also the driving is crazy in Thailand and Malaysia... in Singapore it's not as bad because everyone takes public transportation or taxis to get around - private cars are discouraged in Singapore.
Back to the weekend, we headed to the train station after dinner and hopped on the "red-eye" train back to Singapore. Thank goodness we had sleepers - all of us crashed behind our little curtains! The ride was 10 pm - 7 am, but including customs/immigration and taxis afterwards, we didn't get back to Prince George's Park until 9 am.
Now it's back to school... we finished our extremely hard history class last week, and have just begun Quality Control (ISYE 3039) with Professor Lee Loo Hay. Same place and schedule as before, but probably more difficult.
Hope everyone's doing well at home!

Bang"for your buck"kok, Thailand

Our first weekend of traveling came quickly! Jet Star Asia frugally flew us to Bangkok, Thailand for an adventure I will never forget. We arrived on Thursday night, May 25th, figured out the bus system, and bussed it to Big John's Hostel, which turned out to be an Australian-owned, Internet-accessible, 24-hour food/drink bar, little backpacker's abode. Although the showers weren't high class (what can you expect? It's Thailand), we were lucky enough to get a big room to ourselves. We have a tight group of about 8 - great friends, good times traveling together.
Friday morning we woke up, ate an eggs and bacon breakfast, and headed out to the city. Our first destination was the Grand Palace... and getting there was the coolest part! We took the intercity train to the canal and then hired a private boat taxi to take us to the Grand Palace. The boat, like other decorations I saw in Thailand, was shaped like a long, narrow elf shoe, and you could say it was the ride of our lives! Some people were actually scared but I enjoyed every second... especially for a few cents a person. We got off onto a dock that led us through little street vendors and a particularly obnoxious man trying to sell me a sun umbrella like his life depended on it; he almost followed me across the street (and I almost hit him with one of his umbrellas). We were walking down the sidewalk almost to the entrance when the Grand Palace "manager" in a suit and tie waved us down, informed us that we couldn't wear shorts or tank tops inside, and told us that we couldn't go in until 1 pm. At first we were glad he would go out of his way to tell us this, and he was nice enough to point out some locations on our map that we "had" to see. Suddenly 3 tuk-tuks pulled up and the "manager" told them to take us around the city for a few Bahts and that we were his "friends"... we said no and they started getting angry... um, scam! We took off and got inside the gates with no problem.
The Grand Palace was indescribable. Everywhere you turned you would see gold. Only some of it was real; mostly it was stone painted gold with the most intricate decorations from the ground to the 50-odd foot roofs. It was like an inner city of Bangkok - this place was huge. Most of the buildings were Buddhist temples or shrines or sanctuaries, guarded by towering statues painted just as . We had to take our shoes off to go inside the temple of the emerald Buddha... that was a cool experience! The Grand Palace itself was huge. You can look at pictures (they're actually Katie's, but I stole them since my camera's battery was dead this weekend) although none of them do this place justice!
After a couple of hours of wandering around with our mouths open and taking a bizillion pictures, we finished our sightseeing realized we were famished. Closeby there was a cozy-looking indoor Thai restaurant that turned out to serve the best Pad Thai I've ever had and also the most refreshing Coke I've ever had (maybe I was just incredibly hot and tired).
The rest of the day proved to be "whole"some. Some went to a wholesale clothes market, and some of us went to some wholesale gem stores. Thank goodness my friends Katie and Marianna read up on this beforehand, because they knew of a great place to go! We spent hours there... I wasn't planning on buying anything, but my friends got themselves some bling! Seeing what deals they got, I ended up getting two half-carat blue sapphires and two half-carat pink rubies for about 30 bucks each. In the United States those are worth thousands of dollars... I can't wait to get back and set them into earrings! I got a request from a friend at home and actually went back the next day. Those store owners really liked us...
Friday night was so fun. After jewel shopping, we headed back to the hostel as fast as we could: Big John's bar gives out unlimited free drinks to girls every Friday night. This was fun and then we met the other big group (they stayed at another hostel but flew with us) at a really happening dance club... we danced until our feet hurt! Those Asians are hardcore, it's hard to keep up...
Saturday we slept in a little bit and headed out to the markets! I bought a pair of Birkenstocks for 4 bucks and some jewelry for about the same. That night, 3 of us went and got full-body, 1-hour Thai massages that might have been the best experience of the weekend! We even went back on Sunday morning before our flight at 2!
Overall the city smelled and parts were a little third-world, but what a great time!! I remember one instance where I was walking down the sidewalk and an elephant passed me. Don't see that too often in the States! I would definitely go back if I could.

"Heaven Sent"osa Island

One brilliant afternoon in "Lu" of class, Professor Lu and Professor Zhou took us to Sentosa Island, which is a small island off of Singapore with museums, parks, beaches, and other attractions. We arrived around 3 pm and went through the "Images of Singapore" museum, which was a history museum with wax figures and displays - pretty cool, except I opened a door that said "Toilet" to use the bathroom, and there was a wax man inside! Ahhhhh! Very funny. Singapore is an incredibly diverse place and is so funny in delivering messages to people. English is almost always used, and it's extremely clear and basic. Probably because it's everyone's second language, although the only language they can use to communicate. Throughout the museum you'd see murals with really happy children jumping and pointing your way through the building with words like "This way to the end!" or "It's not over yet!!" - I've also noticed that communication in Singapore is geared towards getting everyone excited about its diverse, family-oriented culture. Like a typical advertisement is an excited kid with his dad or something. It would probably be funny to y'all at home because the only advertisements we see in the U.S. about Asia are the poor children who need nourishment.
That brings me to another point: Asians aren't starving - there is a lot of food! And you better believe that people like to eat. I guess they stay so small because they eat noodle bowls and rice with vegetables all day. This is good for me except rice has permanently expanded my stomach. :-) We ate well at Sentosa Island - chicken nuggets and fries. (We're such "damn Americans"!)
Continuing on Sentosa Island... after the museum our obligations to class and the professors were over, so we split up and proceeded to tear up the island! Jennifer, Karinna, and I went to Underwater World, which was a neat aquarium... we saw a fish that resembled a mermaid, and we thought maybe that westerners made up mermaids after seeing this in Asia for the first time and not knowing what it was? It's a theory. Anyway then we met up with another group to watch a dolphin show. The dolphins were pink and cute and so fun to watch! I'd never seen a show before. We met the whole group at a beach bar next to the water and some of us ventured across a bridge to the Southernmost Point in Continental Asia, which was a right next to the bar. The above picture is taken from this bridge... I like this photo so much that I think I'm going to submit it to the Study Abroad photo contest at Tech!
And the best part comes next: a few of us caught the Musical Fountain Laser Show right at dusk... wow! The fountain is overlooked by a huge Merlion statue, the symbol of Singapore - that was neat too. Not only was the fountain incredible, but the lasers were so technologically advanced and actually used the water as its backdrop. I was so entertained. To top the night off, our group decided to take the Skybuckets back to Singapore. My friend Patrick made us feel great by telling us that our spines would snap if the bucket fell into the water, but we wouldn't die.
After our upscale cab ride home and adventures coming to a close for the day, I did what I do almost every night: crash hard! What a great day in Singapore.

SingaPOURING SWEAT

I have been in the incredibly gorgeous and modern country of Singapore for over a week. The minute we walked out of the airport (midnight on 5/17) I was drenched in sweat from head to toe! But nonetheless this island is beautiful. It is a cultured mix of Chinese, Malays, and Indians... and they all speak English. Local dialect is actually called Singlish - it's a little hard to understand but it's pretty neat to hear! There is a unique dynamic here: since the people are so diverse and act just like westerners we seem to fit right in. Actually, at orientation the speaker said "In Singapore, we like to eat. I hope you like to eat!" I knew right then and there that I would have no problem in this country. And the people are great. I could honestly people-watch all day. The tidbits I get are on the train (MRT) and on campus during lunch. And really it's not a huge culture shock, not only since it's modern and English, but also because Tech has a high Asian population anyway so I'm used to it.
Classes officially started the first Friday we were here. There are 4 classes total, which we are taking one at a time, each class lasting 10 school days, mornings and afternoons. I'm not going to lie... it's already been tough and stressful: trying to cram a semester's worth of already-hard-enough-give-me-a-break material into 2 weeks is insane! Our second class starts this Thursday... isn't that crazy? But we're plowing through it and crossing our fingers for passing grades. At least we're all in it together! Our professors are so funny though: they are all from Asia and also want to enjoy their time in Singapore. They always want to know what we're doing and constantly offer to help call cabs or book tickets, etc... it's really cute! Too bad they're not interested in helping our tests go from hard to easy...
Speaking of hard, my bed is like a rock - but this is okay since I like sleeping on hard surfaces. When I was younger I thought I was a hardcore ballerina, so I would sleep on the ground on my back because my dance teacher told me it was good for the back! So no complaints... and my room is pretty decent! I am a resident of Prince George's Park. My room is a one-person dorm room, with a twin bed w/ sheets (it's too hot to have a blanket), a desk and shelf, a sliding-door closet, and a corner bathroom with a shower. It's not very big but it's enough room for me! The only times I'm in here are to sleep, shower, and study. Sometimes if I feel like I can't afford the normal $2.00 meal at the canteen, I'll come to my room and eat a peanut butter sandwich. (They have honey roasted crunchy peanut butter! Can you believe it? - For those of you who don't know what that is, don't try it because you'll get addicted. I was warned and didn't listen!)
You're probably wondering what I eat everyday. Okay, there are several canteens on campus. The two I eat at most frequently are the one next to our dorm and the one next to the NUS engineering building. They are very similar, with 8 or 10 different stalls of Asian food. I've attempted to try most of them, but haven't mustered up the courage to try Muslim Cooked Food stall or Indian food stall, since most of what I eat has been mostly fatty meat in noodle bowls or quite honestly "Guess-that-Food" meals. Last week I was proud of one of my choices for food from the Chinese Cooked stall: it was chicken (I think) and 2 different vegetables: bean sprouts and some kind of green dish... it reminded me of really dark asparagus in spinach or something, but I have no idea what it was. Anyway I took a bite of these greens and it was delicious! The second bite of it I took was crunchy... so with raised eyebrows, I glanced down at my plate. There were dozens of little bitty eyes staring back at me. Ever had greens with fish heads?
There's a good ending to the story: NUS has a McDonald's next to the engineering canteen. Never before has McDonald's made me so happy!
But we have eaten at some pretty good restaurants, don't get me wrong. Campus food is just the cheap stuff. There's a good western grill behind the basketball courts next to our dorms, and they have pizza and burgers. Downtown Singapore offers a great variety of places to eat and also really good drinks. Ever heard of a Singapore Sling? Or Tiger Beer? Both are extremely popular over here and delicious! There's also a famous, abundant Singapore fruit called the darian that supposedly stinks pretty badly (there are pictures of them in the trains with X's through them. Hahaha... no smoking, no food, no darian fruit.) It must be good, though, because the big Symphony halls are in the shapes of darians. The halls are about the size of the Sydney Opera House, on a bay and everything. Next to those buildings is a big Merlion statue, the symbol of Singapore! There are no lions and certainly no mermaids on this island but for some reason it's their symbol, I believe for strength and being an island.
I will leave my Sentosa Island story for another entry because it deserves lots of words. But other places we've been around Singapore have been the Cinaplex (crazy modern, 10-floor building with restaurants, stores, and movies) to see The Da Vinci Code, the Immigration Office (woo!), Little India, Zouk (the most popular night club), and a couple of neat restaurants for random occasions.
Left: picture taken in Little India in front of the Sultan Mosque. We spent an afternoon in Little India to check out the temples and mosques and what the streets were like. In all honesty, parts of Little India were pretty sketchy! But at the same time, it's a heart of the city and a neat experience.

All in all, Singapore is just like the United States, but 20 years ahead AND 20 years behind. The buildings, transportation, and technology are hands-down 20 years ahead of us. On the other hand, some of the food and customs could be 20 years behind us. The people are the best part, though. Get this: I went to Mass last week and the priest told the same jokes as one would at home. The songs and recitations were the same (I think --- I'm not Catholic --- but I knew a lot of it!) and people dressed like anyone from the U.S. would. The people here are loving and helpful and very nice. I'm having a great time!!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

(Although I DO know - and that would be August 3rd, if I'm still alive!)
I can't believe it's finally here. Monday evening I get on a plane for the other side of the world. It's basically impossible to get further away from home! Other than space, I mean...
All of you who travel probably know that packing for long periods of time is pretty tough. You want to be as light-loaded as possible but at the same time you don't want to forget anything! The thing I keep hearing over and over, however, about China is that you can bring close to nothing and then just buy everything over here for [also] close to nothing. My problem with that, though, is that I'm a half foot taller and wider than everyone in Southeast Asia. With the exception of my continually-darkening hair, I am going to stand out like a sore thumb.
Speaking of sore thumbs, I'm pretty sure I have a minor form of carpel tunnel from typing so much this Spring, so I'm going to keep this one short and let the summer begin!
Happy reading!
Laney Laney Lane
E-mail address: anna.lane.clark@gmail.com
Time difference: I'm exactly 12 hours ahead of y'all. So when when you're waking up in the morning, it's dinner time for me and I've already seen the whole day! And when you're falling asleep at night I'll be sitting in class (falling asleep too) the next day.
Flight itinerary:
May 14, 7:20 pm: Atlanta --> L.A. --> Beijing --> Singapore (arrive May 16, 9 pm)
June 23: Singapore --> Beijing (arrive June 23)
August 2: Beijing --> LA --> Atlanta (arrive Aug 3)