A nice relaxing weekend at home

Traveling four weekends in a row took it's toll on me last Wednesday evening and caused me to be sick that night as well as all of Thursday. I was worn out, plain and simple, not to mention my bed is not the comfiest.  However, by Friday, I was feeling much better.  

Friday afternoon my roommate Alex called me from the Vietnam embassy where she was getting her visa for spring break and invited me to go with her and Roman to Orchard Road.  It was a nice shopping/dining trip, and was really just a good chance to get off campus and see a part of Singapore I hadn't seen before.  Orchard road is the most popular shopping area in Singapore, comparable to Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  It was nice to see familiar brands, even if I couldn't afford them.  We walked around, bought Roman some jeans, and dined at one of the New York Times Top Ten Places to Eat.  

  There we got Chinese steamed dumplings--Roman and I got ginger pork, Alex got vegetable pork, vegetarian salad, beef stock noodle soup, jasmine green tea, and tau sar pau (red bean paste bun) for dessert.  Tau sar pau is one of my favorite snacks here!  It was so nice to eat a great meal that was actually hot, made with quality produce and meat, and not thrown on your plate like in the canteens on campus.  I am beginning to hate canteen food, but Alex assures me that it gets easier to like.  

After a long day on Orchard, we came home and watched a movie.  Alex and I watch movies before bed at least two nights a week.  We're running out of movies!  Her friend from last semester, Karin, showed up late Friday night from her journey through Australia.  She had been storing her suitcase in our room while she was away, and couldn't find a hostel to stay in on Friday or Saturday night as apparently Singapore hostels rent out hostels to couples.  The taxi driver was telling her that it is not acceptable in Singapore to have an affair, even less than in other countries, so illegitimate couples are confined to cheap hostels for their meetings.  Of course they often don't stay the entire night, so the hostel owners are able to rent to two maybe three couples per night at full price each.  This is more profitable for them than one lowly traveler like Karin, so they say there are no vacancies.  In the end, Karin ended up waking us up at 2AM to stay with us on our floor.  In return, she gave us the things that she couldn't fit in her suitcase home.  Not a bad deal.  

On Saturday Alex was a hero.  She swam for our hall, Hall 15, in the Interhall games.  We ended up getting 3rd in the tournament of 16 halls, and it was only because she stepped up and filled the girls team.  If it wouldn't have been for her, the girls team would have been incomplete and Hall 15 would have been forced to forfeit.  Thanks Alex for saving the day!  Karin and I went to watch her in the finals and cheer her on.  I was so proud!  Here is a picture of Alex with the Hall 15 Swim Team and a picture of her with her biggest fans.

   Sunday many of our guy friends were playing "football" (soccer) in the International Games.  They represented The Union (this is like the melting pot for all of the countries that don't have enough people to make up an entire team--most if not all are exchange students).  We lost the first game to China and won the second game against Indonesia.  Alex and I went as the proud soccer moms to both games.  

In between we went to the pool to hang out, study a bit, and work on our tans.  Little did we know that the Singapore sun was more intense than usual, and we fried ourselves despite the many applications of SPF.  The games, going to the pool, and just getting outside and hanging out with friends was really nice. 

 

It really made me feel a little more at home here.  I was doing something here in Singapore that, while it may not have been extravagant by any means, was fun, exciting, and allowed me to get to know the people here better.  This weekend was really good for me in terms of realizing that this isn't vacation, and that staying here in Singapore is part of this experience too.  

School is going well.  I really like most of my professors (in particular my Advance Advertising professor May Lwin), although my Marketing prof is a complete drag.  Most of them really like me, and find it refreshing that someone speaks up in class as it is Asian culture to not speak up.  I am in for a hellish week next week as I have three presentations, one project progress report, and one paper due all Monday-Wednesday.  I am going to literally live at the library this weekend, but Alex has a similar week ahead, so we'll be there together.  My grades here are pretty much based on a couple of projects and the final so I am kind of freaking out about these projects even if I am on a pass/fail grading scale.  

Until next time!