Ladies Night

In Singapore Wednesday nights are considered "Ladies Night" at most bars and clubs. The majority of exchange students choose to go out this night of the week because women can drink for free. This is much different than the typical $10 (or more) mixed drink at the bar any other night.

  

I live on the west(left) side of the island

Alcohol is very expensive in Singapore, so this past Wednesday a big group of us decided to go out (guys and girls). We met up before in residence and then cabbed downtown. The club we went to, Attica is one of Singapore's nicest or most popular clubs. Attica is right downtown in Clarke Quay (it is the trendy district of shops and restaurants just upstream of the Singapore river). It is very nice and therefore expensive. 

I live on the far west coast so although the island is small it is still a distance to go "downtown."

The shops & restaurants at night

 

In Clarke Quay there is this bar called "The Clinic"where people order drinks in wheelchairs and are served their alcohol in IV bags. Pretty crazy but awesome!!! I snuck a quick photo in one of the chairs.

  

Can you believe you get served your drinks in a IV bag with a straw hose. Wild!

Once inside club Attica I noticed that there was a lot of females (obviously) but also great music and free drinks. Needless to say it was a great night.

 Ladies drink for free -how awesome is that!?!

Here is a photo of the "ladies" I went out with and our free champagne. The 6 of us (4 Canadians and 2 Americans) have come to be a pretty close group. We have lots of fun out together at the bars. As my friend K taught me "YOLO"- standing for "you only live once" as the cool, new slang word/verb/expression that her sorority friends say. I am definitely going to start using it!

Singapore Lifestyle

My friends and I managed to befriend the manager of Attica and he invited us to have our own booth free of charge beside some very wealthy Euro and local people. Although this wasn't the bottle of vodka we were given, it was at the booth beside us and I think it is the biggest amount of alcohol I have ever seen! To put this in context, at the 7 eleven downtown a 1 ounce bottle (yes that is the size of the freebie you get attached to your 26 ounce bottle at the LCBO in Canada) costs $11. Therefore the huge bottle that I was holding in the club would would cost who knows how much!

The next morning (Thursday) we had a lot of class. I don't know just how well my friends retained information. See the photo below for how they waited in between classes and before our pick-me-up of Subway for lunch. [Yes, we give into Western food, there is a McDonalds and Subway on campus]

MONSOON!!!

My first monsoon rain storm was on Monday.

Life as an exchange student is quite trying, as I was lounging by the pool talking to friends about where I want to travel to when some dark clouds came by. I thought it would be a light rain that would pass by but it didn't. It did rain on and off all day but somehow still remained hot enough that pants would be uncomfortable.

It does not RAIN it POURS!!! The rain here comes at such a fast speed and in such a large quantity that everything is instantly wet. Luckily all over campus they have coverings so that you don’t get wet. They also have run-off drainage for every building and hill. Beside my residence stairs for example is what looks like miniature stairs but it is for water run-off as it rains so much. I live on the side of a hill but on the end of campus. Even though it is far, I love it and the view from my room is worth the hike of stairs.

 My friend jesse's photo of the stairs and a typical covering

Although it rains here it does not seem to rain for too long. I like that it feels cooler after it rains (not that cooler is bad as I can definitely handle it I did leave Canada and the -30 weather at home!) Also, as classes are beginning to take over my weekday schedule with my new student card I feel more like a NTU student and resident. I am starting to feel at home here and less like a tourist. Things are going really well to say the least. So far exchange is pretty awesome. I cannot believe that this is my life

My student card here

The "School" aspect of NTU

I am at Nanyang Technological University as an exchange student from UWO. I applied to NTU because of Singapore's location as a travel hub of South East Asia but also because of the communications classes offered here. The school is really advanced in researching and a lot of the exchange students are here for engineering and business. MIT at UWO allows us to take communication classes here from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communications.

While I am studying at NTU I am taking 4 classes which is 16 hours of lectures and tutorials (even more than I had in Canada). So far I am really excited for my classes. I am taking Speech and Argumentation, Creative Practices and New Technologies,  Advertising Creativity and Copywriting and Creative Strategies. These all sound similar as they are all marketing and advertising classes. Each one is specific in different areas however, and I really am looking forward to the Creative Strategies class as I won the first advertising challenge where we had to design an ad concept in the first tutorial.

My professors for these classes are from all over the world with various professional and academic backgrounds. I think what makes these classes so interesting is that these professors all did not start out as just an academics they used their knowledge in the workforce. For example my New Technologies professor worked for a TV production company in Taiwan and my Creative strategies prof is from England and worked ad a big ad firm.

I know that what I learn at NTU will drastically change my perspective on media, technologies, and marketing and I am eager to learn. Although it may not seem like it with my travel ambitions the school here is definitely what makes being an exchange student so awesome. Also all the people I meet in class and around campus are so friendly and wonderful. I love the "garden campus of NTU." Here are some of my favourite pictures so far from around campus.

 The Chinese Heritage Museum on Campus

The pool

Outside the comm. building there is the cutest lil palm trees

 My new favourite snack

 Something that's Canadian on campus...so strange that we are famous for pizza

SENTOSA ISLAND!!!

SUNDAY

On Sunday, a big group of exchange students decided to enjoy the sun and go to Sentosa island. Some went by MRT but my friends and I cabbed as it is faster (for nearly $26 which included the $3 fee to use the island) we got there fairly quickly. Sentosa is a small island connected to singapore by a causeway (for cars and buses), cable car, train and of course by ferry.  According to wikipedia (yes, I did wikipedia it) "sentosa" is a malay word that means peace and tranquillity. The island has a lot of tourist attractions such as bungee jumping, zipliner, constant wave surfing machines, expensive bars and restaurants ect.

The chairlift / luge ride

When you get there you go through gates and pass by the universal studios that was just built. The island is very touristy and very expensive but only if you choose it to be. You can easily pack a lunch and your own alcohol instead of buying a $16 dollar mixed drink.

 My first step on sand!

The sand and even the island itself is considered man-made. I think everything was imported there and people say that if you knock on the rocks in the harbor even they are hollow. If you can see, in the distance the whole time you are on the island you can see the big ships near all the ports. Singapore became an "Asian Tiger" country because it is such a successful port for Asia and the world.

Although it is weird to think the island is fake, because at first it all seems so real and beautiful it does not matter. By the end I figured I didn't care though as it still was real sand just not naturally there and still a great place!

 On the beach

 All the exchange students met up on the beach and had a great afternoon of frisbee and getting to know each other. I even played a game of throw the water bottle with an Indian family in the water.The sun was not unbearable at all and the water was quite nice. Next time we go we will bring more snacks though! 

 Our new friends from NTU on the beach

 Friends from all over the world

 This little temple area is the southern most point in continental Asia

It was all in all a great day. I can not wait to return and spend more time there. I can't believe that not very long ago I was in the cold Canadian winter. It is so beautiful and tropical here that seems like such a distant past. I may love winter but I can certainly get used to this!

Friday and Saturday

FRIDAY

At 10 am there was an exchange orientation for all new students. I learned that the school's exchange program has drastically changed in demographics over the years. It is now heavily NAmerican students. The USA has 60 students, Canada 55 and then Sweden with 35 and then various other places. We learnt all about how the school works and other academic matters. My favorite part was that they acknowledged that most students will be traveling but to please at least try to attend some classes.

Clearly I am the most pale but I hadnt traveled before like they did.

From UWO there are lot of students. I am lucky enough to have 3 close friends - C J and M. I think that there are about 14 people from UWO mostly or all from FIMs (the faculty of information and media studies).

I met all my friends and got so many peoples numbers and Facebook I felt like it was first year again. I also forgot that some people of different cultures kiss on the cheek and some handshake so it was very entertaining. I especially love all the European exchangers accents in English. We all decided that we would go to a big Singapore exchange student event at CLUB SOUL. 

We pre-drank for the bar (as alchol is soooooo expensive here especially in Clarke Quay). Then had a great night of dancing and meeting all the exchange students at NUS,NMU and NTU.

Some of us exchangers on the bridge

Our new closest girl friends are from the states (seen in this pic are from the states)

SATURDAY
My friends and I explored campus a little but got lost trying to find the pool. When we arrived we were sad to learn it was closed for a kaying race. Then we decided to do some "errands" and shop for things for our res room as well as just relax and see a movie. We saw Burlesque with Christina Aquilera. Movies here you get reserved seating and I got yummy half sweet half salty popcorn. I also got some interesting candy. We pay for the MRT (mass rapid transport) usually to get around but at night or sometimes it is more efficent to simply cab. The island only takes an hour really to get across so it is never too much money.

Here are some other pics of downtown Singapore.

 Me on orchard road with all the high class shopping

 

Some Pringles flavors include -seaweed, grilled shrimp 

Some yummy candy

 Jesse's photo: but a great drink here that makes me laugh.

A typical canteen (cafeteria) lunch or dinner. This is bbq chicken. The food here is taking some getting used to but there is a lot of variety. I am still figuring out what I like and do not like.

 My friends in their res hall's canteen (struggling to decide what to eat they had an unadventurous diet of diet cokes, fruit and yogurt). The next day however, we found waffles and some pasta so things are getting better for those who are struggling adjusting to an all asian diet.

The First Day

Welcome to my new home for the next 4 months!

Singapore or as the malay word "singapura" means lion city. It is a gorgeous, lush, green country. It is really little but so filled with things to do, see and especially eat.  It is just below Malaysia, but is different as it is strict, clean and a little more expensive. The first language is English, as everyone seems to ask me if I will be learning Chinese on exchange but NO, mandarin and Malay both seem too hard. Oh also I am really here to travel anyways.

I live in residence again like I did in first year at Saugeen. I arrived here in the late afternoon with my moms friend and another lady. I had been sick so I lugged up 100plus (like Gatorade) the three flights of stairs --no ramps or elevators to my dorm room. I live with another exchange student in a traditional style res room. My residence is pink and at the top of a hill. NTU  has a huge campus so at this point I had no idea where I was situated.

Here is some pictures of my res hall, campus and bedroom.

My hall

 The greenest campus

 The very cool art media design building (you can walk on the roof)

It was so hot out and felt so weird to be here. I was so excited to go around and explore but I had a lot to do. As I had access to a car and some experienced shoppers I bought a small little "oldschool" phone for texting my friends on campus and a pay as you go card. When I returned to my room I met my roomate, who I will call C from Canada. She goes to Ryerson and is also taking communications here.  We have my big Canadian flag that I brought proudly hanging.

 My room note my backyard is a tropical forest

 

The lovely flag is blowing as the fan is always on

My faculty building

Almost 4 minutes of returning to my room I was invited out for dinner with my roommate and some girls down the hall. These other girls were also Canadian so I used my phone, texted my friend M who I hadnt seen in 9 months to come too!! We had a wonderful reunion and bussed down to the water in a little group of 6.

The waterfront was beautiful. M and I left the other girls as I was hungry (typical) and some how managed to get on the rooftop of the Fullerton hotel where to pool is. It is one of the most expensive hotels I have ever been in. The view is of the other most expensive hotel, the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino has 3 infinity Olympic size pools on that roof.

 Reconnecting after 9 months apart

 The view on the rooftop of the Fullerton hotel

It has 3 Olympic size infinity pools on the rooftop.

Malaysia

KL MALAYSIA

DAY ONE

I arrived in Malaysia on Sunday afternoon. I felt quite jet-lagged and icky from being on a plane for so long therefore it felt nice to actually breathe fresh air as I made my first steps outside in Malaysia. It was hot! I knew it would be, but I didn’t quite remember what humidity felt like until that moment. I felt relaxed by the heat, but also tired from the weight of the air. Perhaps it was my jet-lag but the air-con felt particularly special when it turned on in the car (I definitely take it for granted at home). 

Driving to my family friend’s house I was shocked at the tropical, lush, and green nature of the landscape. It really is a rain forest! KL is a beautiful city but I was much too tired and needing to shower to explore today. I felt a little off but I assumed it was just the jet-lag so it was a lazy day resting around their house in Petaling Jaya (just outside KL).

 Here is a map of Malaysia (Singapore is the little island at the bottom)

DAY 2

After a restless night of feeling sick and not tired, I was eager to explore the city. My mother’s friend took me out and about downtown KL with her driver. It was beautiful to see the variety of houses and architecture. I was shocked by the sheer number of stores and people. Looking back on my understanding of Asia before departure I did not really understand the heat, the smells and the way of life that I was embarking into.

Our first real destination after some errands was to some funky little stores for clothes. Clothes are CHEAP here. I love it!!! I bought a dress, shorts, and a jumper for 55 RM this day which is divided by 3.09 for Canadian equivalence. I was restraining myself knowing not to spend all my nickels in one place but I couldn’t help but be excited.

We then went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. I was feeling fine and hungry. I ate some curry on a banana leaf feeling quite shocked and in awe that just a day or two prior I was binging on chocolate (...that I thought wouldn’t exist in Asia...but it does) before I left in the snowy city of Toronto.

 LUNCH! 

After this late lunch we were getting tired so we finished with getting some groceries. I saw an ugly fruit, that is like a jack fruit (similar to durian) and smelt it. I started feeling quite sick as a few minutes passed and believe it or not I was sick in the store. None of the fruit for me in the future thank you... the thing is it didn't even smell that bad..

 Who knew this would make me sick without even eating it?

This is when I realized I was getting sick. That evening I felt not amazing and lounged around. All night I was up not sleeping and vomiting. I had the flu :( I was sadly up all night getting sick as well. Not so nice.

DAY 3

I took this day-off mostly to rest. I felt rather sick and yucky so that was really unfortuanate. I spent a lot of time reading travel books outside (in the shade) because it was so hot and I felt so crumby. By dinner I was able to hold down some food so that made me feel better. I started to get ready for school as it is why I am in Asia (**actually that is a lie- I came to travel)!  I was rather down today because now the jet lag was going away and I was quite sad I didn't feel better.

A papaya tree in their families' backyard!

DAY 4

Feeling much better I was up at 8 to explore the city! I went downtown with my mom's friend and the whole drive downtown (15 minutes maybe) she explained everything I pointed to out the window. For those who don't know I was shocked to learn that people drive on the left-hand side of the road. This is because Malaysia was a colony of England. I think it made me feel a little car sick as I had not fully recovered from the flu. The sight of the Patronas towers however drastically altered my mood.

It was rather exciting. The bottom is a mall.So i got to window shop and see the building from all angles. It was built by an Argentinian architect to express the cultural heritage of the country by using shapes and characteristics of Muslim architecture. Patronas is a main oil company in Malaysia and the country itself is quite oil rich of a fine grade of oil which they export out.

After seeing the towers we shopped for school stuff such as a pillow and kettle. I felt like a freshman again. I was moving into res in a day and I was very excited.

I started feeling a bit ill again and after eating some delicious Japanese bread I got sick driving around downtown like a 6-year-old again in the car. It was quite disgusting. So we went to a pharmacy to get some motion sickness drugs...believe it or not after that it was the end of me being sick.

A park (the Hornbill (the national bird) and butterfly parks are here too -i will have to go back!)

The National Mosque

Really beautiful buildings

So in the afternoon I felt ready to shop again, knowing that shopping always makes me feel better anyways. I got some linen pants, cargos, a tank top and a t-shirt for very cheap. I love shopping in Asia but I realised I have to pace myself. I do have a lot more time here so i limited myself to only those clothes and some more items for school.

An old English polo club

 The window architecture coverings were designed so woman could look out without being seen

For dinner, I had incredibly fresh japense sushi. The sashimi (fresh sliced raw fish) was so fresh and delicious I couldn't believe it. I  was also very happy I was keeping food down. Later that evening I just got ready for school the next day!



DAY 5

Driving to Singapore. We left at about 9 am and had a nice drive down the beautiful green country of Malaysia. You can see the mountains as you drive and in the trees if you look closely you can sometimes see monkeys. A lot of plantations were along this drive. Palm oil is a big export of Malaysia. There were also a lot of fruit farms. It was sooo green I took a picture but it DOES NOT capture the beauty.

For lunch we stopped in a small town called Tangkak (nearish to Malacca). It was very cute and clean. My mom's friend and her friend (who came along to drive me to Singapore) took me out for beef noodles. Delicious! They are homemade rice noodles too!!!

I crossed the border not long after...and now my next update will be about SINGAPORE my new home for the next four months as I live in res at NTU.