Easter Weekend

As a skier and chocolate lover I associate Easter with hopes of one last run down the hill followed by an easter egg hunt. This year however, I felt far away from the snow and cold that I am used to.  Not only are easter eggs hard to find in a Muslim country but there is definitely no snow in Asia (at least where I currently live). I decided to go on a last minute getaway with some new friends to Malaysia, after feeling a little homesick for my family and the time they would be spending together at our beautiful chalet up north back in Canada.

Last year, the weather at my family chalet in Collingwood,Ontario was very unique. In the morning, my family and I went skiing in shorts (or Easter dresses) and then hit the beach on Georgian Bay in the afternoon as it was warm out and the ski hill had enough snow base to ski on. 

This Easter however, I was far from snow as I spent 3 days on Tioman Island in Southern Malaysia. I was surrounded with tropical lush forest covered mountains, walking along one small path that separated the sea and the inexpensive huts we stayed in.  As Singapore is connected to Malaysia by cause-way, you can take the city bus from Singapore into Malaysia with follow commuters. You simply pay $1.80 SG and cross the boarder then get back on the bus to arrive in a Malay town just on the other side of the water. 

After the city bus, came the other bus, then the ferry and finally the beach! The travel distance was well worth it as we got there in time for a few hours of afternoon sunset and to settle in before happy hour began.

This was my breakfast at the bus terminal. It is called roti
and is basically a crepe with onion egg and fried. mmmmm

Our room, no aircon, no frills, just a bug net and a pink sheet.

There are nicer hotels on different areas of the island, although most backpackers settle in ABC beach for the happy hour specials and cheaper accomodation. As the pictures show, there was not much offered for our $5 or $30 ringit ($10 for 2) a night little shack. (But then again what do you really need?) The only thing that I found weird was that we had no sink. I literally brushed my teeth into the hole where shower water drains into....this is also in the 1 ft by 1ft closet that also hosts the toilet. At least the shower had strong water pressure and the sea was steps from my bed.

Walking down the "main road" a.k.a sidewalk

I still cannot believe how perfect this secluded beach was.

My friends and I climbed up this pile of rocks with our happy hour beers to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It was so calm, maybe 30 degrees with a slight breeze as the sky changed to rich reds, oranges and yellows. I felt so at peace, with new friends and such a gorgeous surroundings.

Keenan and I (a fellow Canadian)

My friend Sarah  (from Austria) and I.
Her and I instantly bonded over the fact that we both love skiing.
She was even on the Austrian ski team "back in the day!!"

I have really fostered a new addiction to traveling. There is just this rush when you arrive at a new place, learning the way the locals live, getting in a routine with your favorite restaurants and just talking to other travelers about all the wonderful things they have done and seen in their life.

The next morning I got up and went for a run (which turned into a walk as it was so hot). We had bought tubes the day before and after a delicious hearty breakfast we hit the beach. I ended up spending the whole day floating in my tube, meeting some other wonderful Canadians.

green crepe for breakfast?

The island is very tropical and has a big mountains covered in forest. With this comes a lot of creatures. These big lizards grow up to 2 m and were everywhere, even walking right up to the restaurants. I personally was very scared by them although most people did not seem to fazed by them. I think I decided I did not like them when I heard that one had recently eaten a little kitten. I was informed I didn't need to be afraid, and to be more cautious of the devilish monkeys as the lizards would would wander away as a human approached them.

 Later in the afternoon I went for a long swim with my friend Griffin, a knowledgeable fisherman. He told me what all the types of fish and coral were that were bright and flashing before my eyes. The best part of snorkellign here was that I could swim out merely 20 ft and see sea turtles, sting rays and beautiful corals.

We spent on night on the beach having a bonfire with a bunch of other travelers. I felt like I was back at summer camp looking at the stars and playing with fire. It was really relaxing to just relax and enjoy nature.

All in all it was a great vacation spent relaxing, floating in the water and eating great seafood. I never really liked seafood other than Salmon and Shrimp before coming to Asia but now I really do. When I first got here all I ate was chicken and tofu (they call it"beancurd") but now nothing quite compares to the fresh catch of the day.

The goat that lived behind my cabin

I wish that I could have had more time to enjoy the sites and maybe other parts of the island, although as I was off to Thailand in a few days school work was calling my name. Being on exchange has really taught me how to manage my time, I am now a master of sleeping on the bus all the way back to Singapore so that I can cram for a project. Life skills right!?

3 Weeks Left in Singapore

As I write this I have:

22		days
541		hours
32510		minutes
1950635		seconds  LEFT IN SINGAPORE !!!!!!!

That is until my last exam on May 12th, coincidentally also my last day in Singapore. It is crazy how fast time has flown by! Since moving into to residence over three months ago, Singapore has become more than just a travel destination, it has become my home. I am proud to say that I am a PR of this country, own a student's pass and can skip the line in the airport where the "foreigners" have to wait. One in two times at the airport I am  told "excuse me miss, can you queue in this line," by airport security while pointing to the large line-up of those getting entry visas. I quickly retort "umm...I live in Singapore, PR."  Security staff at the airport always seem surprised when the group of backpackers with blonde hair and a tan whip out their student passes and scan their fingerprints at the Singaporean entry gates.


Other than being proud to skip the line (as it clearly has its perks), I am in love with this country for a number of other reasons. In fact last night I told my mother that if I had planned better I would be staying in Singapore this summer for an internship here because I can see myself living here so easily. Although it is not in my cards for this summer, hopefully one day I can return to Asia and live in Singapore again. It is a expensive city to live in (other than if you are a student as everything is subsidized) so I would need a great job to be able to do so!

My Student Pass -  Fingerprint and all!

Here are a few top reasons explaining why I love living in Singapore:

1) It is efficient.
I would have never listed this as a desirable quality about a city/country until I lived in Singapore. The MRT and bus system in Singapore is so much more advanced than the TTC it is comical. When you are waiting for the trains, there are lines instructing you where to wait on the sides of where the doors will open when the train arrives. Few people pay in cash for the MRT buses or trains, using their "Easy-Link" tap on/off cash cards instead.  The train system is fast, and there is a variety of lines to get you across the city.

MRT SLANG: "q" means queue or line up and they also say please "alight"
or get off at the next station and tell you which door to use.

Beautiful Indian Women on the MRT

Helping you cram on the trains in an organized way!

2) It is clean.
Singapore is known for its strictness. You cannot litter and gum is illegal so that people do not spit it out on the streets. You cannot buy gum anywhere here although you can sneak some across the border if you really want it without a problem. I have to say however, Asia is very behind in terms of the "Green" movement. I hate that they do not recycle everywhere and they always give you a plastic bag for your bag. I am not kidding you honestly get a bag for your to-go coffee mug or bag of fruit. It makes no sense and every store or canteen (food stall) staff always seem flustered when I say no bag because everyone seems to take them.

3) You can try everything
I love how diverse the options are for food. You can honestly try any type of Asian/Indian/Middle Eastern food as well as get your favourite local things downtown. The country is fairly western-ized downtown and has a lot of touristy places to eat. It is more expensive however to eat this way as a subway sandwich costs $6 SG but chicken rice with vegetable curry costs $3 SG.

4) Everything is so gosh darn cute!
Just look at the photo booth pictures my friends and I took. I have become a huge fan of stickers and Hello Kitty since arriving here. My favourite snack also is Hello Panda, cute little cookies with various sweet fillings. Oh also, the funny English translations make me laugh a lot. The city is bright and colorful too!

5) You can drink in public
I am lucky because I travel often, ensuring that I always stock up on duty free. Alcohol is very expensive in Singapore. Although we seem to avoid this problem by not drinking at restaurants and going out on Wednesday nights when girl drinks are usually free or you get one or two drink coupons to simply go into certain bars.

This picture is of the Clark Quay bridge. It is where you will find all the young adults drinking before hitting up some of Singapore's nicest or coolest clubs. There is no laws against open containers here!!!


6) Although people are shy, they are so helpful if you can get them to talk to you.
A lot of the local students and people in public are awkward if you say "hello, how are you ?" while waiting for the bus like you would at home. However, if you are ever lost or need a hand, Singaporeans are very kind and are glad to help you. I have been lost numerous times and been walked to my destination by complete strangers. I also have been ignored because they have been shy. Even my next door neighbors keep to themselves and seem rather shy towards me. I guess it is simply a different culture, and that I am a chatty cathy!

7) Its beautiful and tropical.

Not only is it 35 degrees with a nice costal breeze everyday, there are incredible flowers everywhere and big beautiful rain trees. The buildings around my campus make me feel like I am walking around a resort.

The buildings downtown are beautiful, I really like how they made their water marinas - boat quay and clarke quay such big tourist attractions.  Even the buildings are nicely designed too.

Here is the inside of a mall downtown, with a huge water fountain!

I love Singapore for a lot of reasons. I think I love it best however for where it is located. I have been able to see 7 countries because Singapore is such a central hub of SE Asia with a large airport. It is safe and clean and a great place to call home. I will definitely be sad when I have to move out, but I know I will come back one day because it is a city I can see myself living in. Who knows maybe one day I will live and work here...

Learning in School

If anyone was to ever ask me if I would recommend studying abroad my answer would instantly be "YES." I have learnt so much since arriving at NTU about communications and marketing as well as work ethic.

First of all, I really love the learning style and testing for the Communications courses that I am taking. At a first glance, the Asian school system is what one would expect it seems very intense and yes, everyone is always studying.

That time I volunteered to be in another group's video commercial to represent diversity!

In terms of academic performance, as my local student friends have told me you have to do well, there is not really a choice. A lot of students are on scholarships to university and to maintain them they have to keep their GPA high, the same applies for living in residence.

Parental pressures are also a huge factor for schoolwork stress, many of my friends have told me that they were canned as a child if they did not receive top marks as a form of discipline. They would feel ashamed for letting down their parents and would be embarrassed with their peers if they did not get top grades.

For my personal workload here, I can really only speak about the communications faculty "Wee Kim Wee School of Communications". All of my coursework so far has been very hands-on, application of knowledge such as designing a new media campaign for a hotel in Singapore that we have to do in-field research of to learn our insights and competition.  Unlike UWO, I have no big theoretical based papers and everything is done in group projects and is weekly applied learning not essays.

For example for my Creative Strategies class, each week I create a marketing campaign or new media campaign for various products, industries (basically whatever my professor chooses).  A lot of the time we get real clients who pay us for our strategic thinking and therefore we forfeit our rights to our ideas. I recently won a campaign for The Singapore Maritime Industries, because they have the misconception amongst local youth as only a "blue collar" on the boat career path. We presented out client insights, consumer insights, marketing timeline, print ads and so on to the client. My TVC (television commercial storyboard) which i hand drew in cartoons was one of the selling points that allowed us to win $300 - $60 each!!! Although I get frustrated with weekly group projects because it involves a lot of time management to meet and discuss our ideas, it has been really practical learning that I can hopefully apply to whatever my future education or career will be. I certainly think that what I have learned has been more topical.

I think my favourite thing about school here is my COM231 class where we create weekly marketing strategies. My group is comprised of my American friend Kara, three local students and myself. Each week we get together and have lunch or dinner and go over the content. This past week I asked for them to take me to a "must-go" place in Singapore. We went for Xiaolongbao at a restaurant in Raffles mall right downtown.

Hot and Sour Soup and Spinach with Sesame Seed Dressing to Start

The intricate process involves 18 folds to twist each dumpling shut

 The restaurant is world famous for their dumplings things. Although I call them dumplings I was informed they are NOT, they are a type of steamed bun or baozi from eastern China, especially Shanghai. It is traditionally steamed in small bamboo baskets, hence the name (xiaolong is literally small steaming basket). Xiaolongbao are often referred to as soup dumplings or simply dumplings in English but are not regarded as "dumplings" in China. You suck out the soup inside of the dumpling before you re-dip it into vinegar and soy sauce with ginger. I hope when I am in Shanghai I eat lots of dim sum like this. It is absolutely nothing like what we have in Canada, the pastry/noodle is so light and soft that it is the meat (pork/shrimp) that is filling.

I cant wait to have it again!!!