Sorry For The Delays

I have been to four countries since I last updated my blog, I guess its safe to say that I am behind at my updates.
I promise to soon have some photos and stories about traveling up to Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and Hong Kong asap. I have some much needed school work to attend to as my travels seem to have taken over school this March.


For some entertainment, here is my favourite asian music group - Girl Generation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_gfD3nvh-8

Recess

I am not talking about the 10 minutes in between social science and math...but reading week has arrived for NTU students.

Tonight I bus to KL to await my flight to CAMBODIA!

I am going to be in Cambodia for 6 days then returning to the Singapore airport for 2 hours, then off to BALI for 5 days.

I am so excited! Cambodia is what I have been looking forward to this whole time as my number one destination.

See you in 12 days!!!

Singapore Zoo & Night Safari

After visiting the Singapore Zoo I now know why it is known as one of the best in the world. The zoo is completely open concept and most animals have low fences if at all so you can easily see everything. If you want to check it out http://www.zoo.com.sg/ and you are ever in Singapore I highly recommend it. It was an incredible experience and I saw animals I never even knew that existed (especially rare or Asian animals).

These monkeys are just roaming around above your head as you walk around

They had two white tigers, which are one of the rarest almost extinct animals in the world

Field Trip

There were lemurs every where in this rain forest area. Despite the signs that said not to pet and took photos with them. They were so cute.

We then went to the Night Safari "critters of the night show" and my friend was called up on stage with the big snake. I was front row and did not like seeing the 30 foot snake that close. I did however, like seeing the animals more active at night and all the other animals we didn't see during the day. The Night Safari is unique because you can be taken through a whole other zoo on a tram to see the nocturnal animals at play.

   

 I have to say, although the zoo was super great I feel like every day is kind of a visit to the zoo on campus. Here are some of the new friends I have seen near my dorm room.

a praying mantus like creature



a wild boar

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

The Marina Bay Sands hotel is one of, if not the nicest hotel in Singapore. It has a casino, conference centre, and its selling point- three olympic size pools on the roof of the building. It is built in an interesting shape, it is two towers with a boat balancing on the top. The boat is where the pool and rooftop restaurant/bar is. Here are some photos of the 24 hours that I was lucky enough to stay at the hotel. My friend and her boyfriend intially got it for the two of them as a splurge (the lowest room cost is about $500) but after some complications it ended up being a girly sleepover and swimming date. It was the most incredible hotel I have ever been to. Here is the website if you want to look at it more http://www.marinabaysands.com/

 

Our first swim was at night, a perfect and jaw-dropping time to look at the city lights.

We couldn't afford the movies on TV, they were $20 dollars each and room service was even more outrageous. We ate peanut butter out of a jar and just relaxed. I even had a bubble bath. 

The next day I had a $ 6 mini macaroon for breakfast, (everything else was too expensive) then we played in the pool until we each had a million photos. It was a great atmosphere with music and three different types of free water - cucumber, lemon, and orange.  It was a great day. Look at that view!

 

Picnic @ Chinese Gardens

One day, my friend JJ, her sister (visiting from Canada) and I were feeling a little homesick for some cheese and bread. After eating so many types of noodles and rice, we eagerly went wild at the grocery store. We bought all the goodies we had been craving and decided to go on a picnic in the beautiful Chinese garden park that is only 2 MRT (subway/train) stops away. We stopped at our mall, Boon lay first to get the supplies. There happened to be a market so my friend Charlotte and I inquired about the foreign objects  (different types of food). 

 Various flavours of steam cakes

Tea leaves are used to flavour this type of boiled eggs

A durian (a type of fruit) and I

Durians are in my opinion the grossest fruit, they are large and have a very distinct smell. To be honest, everyone will tell you that they smell although some really enjoy the flesh of the fruit raw or even fried. It is such a strong smelling fruit that it is even illegal to have them in public or confined spaces in Singapore.

My friend Charlotte looking at all the various fried meat, fish and veggies

Arriving at Chinese Gardens, I felt like I had been teleported and was entering China or Japan. The gardens were huge and well kept. There were temples and monuments decorated with lanterns and lights. I cannot imagine what it looked like during CNY celebrations. Here are some photos of our delicious feast and then playing around the beautiful grounds.

  

I happened to meet a small Irish boy in the park and we had an imaginary tea party. We were interrupted by a huge lizard running across the grass. I didn't manage to get a photo but it was maybe 2 feet long and seemed more like a komodo dragon to me. The small boy was way less scared of it than me..to say the least. 

 Like every nice day in Singapore, we were stopped by a big powerful storm. I would say that almost every day that that gets very humid and hot ends in big showers or a thunderstorm. These storms are not really that bad as they are short lived however, we did leave the gardens this day and went back to the reality of living on campus.

Chinese New Year Dinner

        In Singapore Chinese New Year is one of the biggest events of the year. The population is heavily Chinese, with Malay and Indian decent following. The celebrations and events usually last about 15 days.

      My residence hall, Hall 9, also decided to be festive and provide a CNY dinner for us. My hall has a student council- the JCRC that organizes events, fund-raises ect. One night someone knocked on my door and offered tickets for this Chinese New Year celebration, to which my roommate and I decided "why not?"

       Our evening cost $12 and consisted of Chong Pang Steamboat, music, and games.  My roommate, Charmaine and I got to know some other exchange students as they placed us in a front table (close to the stage) with the 2 other exchange students that decided to go to this event. There are a lot of exchange students in our hall, although maybe they were busy getting ready for Ladies Night, which coincidentally falls on Wednesday night.

           Here you pick your own meat, seafood, veggies, eggs, (basically anything you could want-they had it all) and you cook it yourself. You can either steam boil it or grill it at your table. I was rather modest the first time I got a little bit of everything and I was told by many people that I wasn't getting nearly enough stuff to cook. The whole night I was just impressed by the amount of food consumed by the locals.

The JCRC sang us songs, played music, and had an MC who gave out prizes all night. It was really well put together and I loved being front row. I should have taken a picture of the crowd however, I was the only person not of Asian decent and definitely the only blonde. Everyone wanted to learn my name and ask me where I was from. They all loved helping me figure out what the food was and how to cook it. Every single person I met that night was kind and so eager to help me eat more.

The exchange student table, representing Canada, The USA, and India. More could have come, there is apparently a lot in our halls, but maybe they were too nervous to try it out!

 This is fish bladder. Apparently it is a Chinese delicacy, that is really good for you because it is so rich in nutrients. I was told that people put it in soups so I decided "when in Rome," dropping a couple pieces into our tables pot. It was crispy until it soaked in the water, then it was slimy like seaweed. I went first and took a big chunk and swallowed it. It honestly did not taste much different than something salty, just the concept grossed me out. After I did it, everyone else chickened out and I ended up being the only one to try it!

My roomate and I getting more food after being peer-pressured that Canadian girls don't eat enough.

 Cooking the food on the grill and in the water.
My favorite thing was the satay or ginger sesame marinated chicken. So delicious!!

 Randomly during the meal I was called up on stage by the MC. Some other students were called up as well and we were told in pairs we were playing a game like bobbing for apples. I had to sit on Chester, a local student's shoulders  (who I am the same height as) and using only my mouth bite down the red envelopes. I won the most due to my height advantage as my mouth was closest to the hanging envelopes. I won some coloured ikea dishware for this valiant effort of talent.

 Then I ate a quail egg. Small and I think not fully cooked.

 My roommate also won a multi-cooker in the lucky draw. We went home, full with our new prizes excited to have met such great new friends.  All in all, a great night!