Tuesday 20 September 2011

Best Tuesday Ever!

So as you know Tuesdays I have no class.....I usually do the same thing on my Tuesdays: sleep in, do laundry, eat lunch, stare at the walls out of boredom, and do work all day, but today was no ordinary Tuesday! It was a fun-filled and very rainy Tuesday!

I spent my Tuesday with Jolene, Gerlynn, and Lotta, who are girls in my PR writing group. Jolene and Gerlynn are locals, born and raised in Singapore and Lotta is from Sweden. Did I mention there are over 70 people from Sweden? They beat us! I think America is 3rd? Anywho, we went out to lunch, to a Japanese restaurant called "Waraku" followed by a "dessert" drink (bubble tea to be exact) from "Gong Cha."

Waraku was DELICIOUS! It was sooo nice to have "real food" instead of canteen food. There was a special too, you can get noodles and rice for $9! Not too shabby. I got Udon noodles and "Chicken Katsu Don", which is basically rice with eggs and chicken. When they served you the food, two spoons were given, one for rice, and another for noodles. Singaporeans have a special way to eat their noodles; with chopsticks in one hand, spoon in the other, they put their noodles onto the spoon and slurp it up! I cannot explain how happy I was at that moment. The food was warm and comforting. Sipping on Chinese tea, with "zen" music playing in the background, good company, and good food, I was having such a lovely time with the girls. We got to know each other more by talking about our homes, families, and "girl stuff." I learned so much about Singapore and Sweden in one sitting! The girls are all so sweet! In fact, Jolene's boyfriend is studying at Penn State U and they visited Ocean City, MD...such a small world! Ahhh Ocean Shitty... I miss you. hahaha.

After walking around and digesting our Japanese feast, we were off to Gong Cha. Bubble Tea is the speciality, basically it is pearl milk tea. The pearls are black squishy jelly balls. I personally do not like them, but it is a very popular drink! So popular that customers are given a number to wait to be made and get their drink. I got a drink that had Ovaltine in it with cereal. It tasted like a less sweeter version of chocolate milk with bits of cereal. It was cold and refreshing, and a nice "ending" to my Japanese meal. I am just getting the best of Singapore! haha. I love hanging out with the locals, they know what is good and what is not. I love food and they love food, so food brought us together hahaha. We had such nice chats too. I really enjoyed my day.

Tonight, there was an Oktoberfest event at Hall 12. There was beer and sasuages---so German lol, except the beer was Carlsberg which is Danish.....Diversity? hahaha. I had a sasuage, of course! So yummy! I didn't get to indulge in beer because I'm still on allergy medication and I don't want to jinx it! There was a pool of Exchange students there and it was a nice atmosphere. It was nice to run into new and old Exchange friends, nice community and company. Although, it would have been sick to actually celebrate Oktoberfest in Germany, so you Loyola abroaders in Europe, I am envious of you! Represent Loyola well and go cray cray! <3 But, overall it was a nice "event" to end my Fun Tuesday.

4 more days until down unda in Aussie! SOOOO excited! This is a short and sweet post; I usually don't post about Tuesdays haha, but this Tuesday was really special, since it was my first time hanging out with locals off campus and trying new foods! I LOVED it! Until next time, Much love from the Chatty Chong! xoxo

P.S. I know Swedish, well only "hey! how are you?" hahaha, it's "ey humudo"...I definitely butchered the spelling...but you get the idea! hahaha I love my international life!

Sunday 18 September 2011

When in doubt, PEACE it out.

Happy Sunday!!

This was a rather boring yet chill weekend for me. This is the week before Recess Week, where I will be spending an exciting week in Melbourne, Australia with Andrew, Caitie, and Bobby. I needed to catch up on work and such... get the nitty gritty things done before I leave Singapore for a week, hence why it was a "boring yet chill" weekend.

My health status: Better. After 3 long days of resting and missing out on lectures, I feel so much better. I got more medication, so I should be good to go for Aussie, except my headaches have been killer lately, especially in the sinus area of my face. Still a little congested here and there, but I will be okay! (just in case if you were wondering...)

On Friday, Fiona, Bobby, Leo, Andrew, Justin and I went to Jurong Point for dinner where I had a spicy Korean stew (yuk-kae-jang) that my mommy makes at home. It was expensive, but I missed the Korean cuisine. It tasted nothing like mom's, but it was an acceptable substitute. It definitely had a spicy kick to it, which I enjoyed. I love me some spicy food! After dinner, we decided to watch a film at the Golden Village in the shopping centre. We bought tickets ($10.50 each) to see "Crazy Stupid Love." What is interesting about the movies here is that it is assigned seating. The concession stand's foods cracked me up. They served mashed potatoes and cheese sasuages....not my favorite, instead I bought a box's worth of sweet popcorn ($5 each). I would say the prices were the same as home's, but at home, I never go to the movies because it costs too much! But hey, when in Singapore (when in Rome) haha. Our movie did not start until midnight, so we had 2 hours to kill. We went into 2 "play areas" which reminded me of adult version sizes of Chuck E. Cheese. I did not play any games, but the boys did. Boys love video games! I did play one round of DDR (dance dance revolution) with Bobby. HA, DDR reminded me of middle school days, going to the movies, and watching competitions against people... oooh middle school.. the days of awkwardness, puberty, and sass. 

After watching the boys beat the highest scores and run around playing the next game, we headed back to Golden Village. Our seats were not bad at all. The movie had Chinese subtitles, which was definitely new to me. I thought it was cool haha. "Crazy Stupid Love" ended up being a great movie! It was about love (obviously) and how dysfunctional it can get, but in the end, everyone deserves and wants love. I felt a little bad for the boys to sit through a romantic-comedy chick flick, haha. I warned them! haha, but Steve Carrell was in it, and heyyy that man is a genius! His best role is Brick from "Anchorman." I enjoyed my first movie experience in Singapore, so I call that night a GREAT SUCCESS.

On Saturday, Sanaz, Fiona, Meg, and I spent our day at Marina Bay for Marina Bay Day! It was basically a "touristy" day where we saw the big attractions, modeled our peace signs and took numerous photos in Marina Bay. We visited the Helix bridge, Merlion, Esplanade, and even ended up on Arab Street. The weather was very strange. It started out as an ominous, gray, and cloudy day but then miraculously transformed into a sunny, bright, and hot day. Singapore is bi-polar with its weather, just like good ol' Baltimore. I don't know why but we find the peace sign pose very amusing in pictures, so in almost every picture we have peace signs up. In fact, when we were taking pictures in front of the Merlion, a group of Asian people asked to take pictures with us! Now is that racist or.... appreciation of diversity? HA. I personally did not care and enjoyed the fun. PEACE SIGNS FOR EVERYONE! lol.

Sanaz, Fiona, and I had dinner on Arab Street which I believe is near Little India. I had a Malay dish, Seafood Mee Goreng, which is basically fried noodles with seafood, but I decided to "kick it up a notch" and get it spicy. I must have a tolerance for spicy food, because it was not spicy at all. It was actually nice. At first, I was skeptical, but since I have been here for almost 3 months, I have enjoyed trying new dishes and opening my palate to new flavors. It ended up being a very nice evening too, with the sun going down and nice calm breezes within the Street. We were so exhausted from walking around in the sun all day, so we took the mrt back to NTU. I ended up staying in my room, relaxing and chatting with friends and family back at home for the rest of the night and slept like a baby. Oh, and we booked tours for Aussie and my poor bank account is crying and begging me to stop abusing it. HA.. oops...I need a lesson on budgeting.

I cannot believe that my Australia trip is in nearly 6 days! I remember sitting in my living room with my parents and Bobby and Andrew on the phone booking it few months back. I remember being so excited and nervous at the same time. Time really flies. People ought to appreciate what they have and not spoil it. I still cannot believe I have been in Singapore for over 2 months now. I have met amazing friends, tried new dishes, and opened my heart to culture and people. I love traveling. I love Singapore. Most importantly, I have learned to find myself and the person I want to become.

Now all there is left to do is to wait and get through this week off to DOWN UNDA (that's Australia, if you didn't get it). I am really sad I won't be able to see Erin or CJ there, but that is OK! How amazing would it have been to hang out with Loyola people in Aussie!?! Oh, how I miss my Loyola lovers and EGs. I hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy, and happy =)  I've got to run now, I'm going to eat dinner with another family friend from Singapore. Can't wait to see what I try tonight! Until next time, Much Love from the Chatty Chong! xo

Monday 12 September 2011

Sniffly in Singapore Part 2

From lantern-making to Staff Club McDelivery chaos and to a failed attempt to get to Turtle Island, but ended up at Fort Siloso to a visit to the 24-hour clinic...this weekend was... chill yet interesting and "sucky" at the same time. Oh, and it was Bobby's 20th birthday, so shoutout to Bobby!

On Friday, we stayed on campus and went to the Mid-Autumn/Lantern festival at the Garden across from Chinese Heritage Centre. It was a hands-on, interactive, and fun festival where we learned about culture. We tried traditional Chinese tea, made lanterns and an origami flower, and watched a magic show all in Chinese! I tried fish balls for the first time... it was very squishy and fishy, not my favorite, but I was happy to finally give it a try after making fun of its name, "Fish BALLS." I felt like a kid running around with my friends, going to different sites and waiting impatiently in the queues. Origami flower-making was quite a show. I am terrible at arts and crafts, so I had a few times where the girl had to take my flower away and fix it up, hahaha, same with Campbell, so I was not alone! Lantern-making was a lot of fun too, we each got cups with handles and hand-painted them. I wrote my middle name, Haesun, in Korean, I thought it was appropriate since I was at an Asian festival. My cups ended up in flames though, because after watching Ed play with hot wax and relighting his candle, I thought I would give it a try...oops, my B. After that, we watched a magic show in Chinese, it was very fascinating to watch. Even though it was Chinese, we knew exactly what was going on, interesting how language works, hmm? It was nice to do something sober and cultural, instead of being on the Bridge and drinking away our sorrows from school (lol).

After stealing many lanterns and random things off the ground from the festival, Campbell, Leo and I headed to the hawker centre behind NTU. We were walking aimlessly in circles and loops, not knowing where we were going. Apparently, Jurong Point is known as the "ghetto" in Singapore, but really Singapore does not know ghetto, unless they have visited good ol' Baltimore haha. We finally made it to the 24 hour hawker centre, where I ordered teriyaki chicken with chips (fries) and a salad. The chicken was soo good, nice and juicy full with flavors. The boys got Singapore's famous, Chili crab with rice, a veggie dish, and cute balls of bread. We ended up staying there for 4 hours, just relaxing, chatting, and getting to know each other more on a personal level. It was a very nice night. Campbell and Leo are such genuinely nice people. They have great stories to share and are nice company. With our stomaches happy and satisfied, we walked back to NTU and slipped into our beds.

After sleeping for hours and hours, I woke up to a rainy Saturday. Katie, Kirsty, and I headed to Jurong Point mall at Boon Lay and had lunch at, "New York New York," their tagline, "It's all American, baby!"....except it was not American, more like fake-American. I ordered pizza, it was like the pizza you eat in elementary school cafeterias. But for Singapore, I'll give them some credit, hahaha. We walked around after lunch and eventually headed back. I did some work here and there, and then went to Katie's room to watch "Ratatouille" with Kirsty. At around 8pm, we had dinner with Andrew, Bobby, and Justin at canteen 2, then it was off to Staff Club for Bobby's party, night two. It was some-what chill, nothing too crazy. Katie and I played some pool...which I am awful at! Funny story, so Katie got us two pints of Tiger...but the barman ran out of pint glasses, so he gave us half-pint glasses, I was upset 'cause we paid money for a full pint, so I went to the toilets, washed the half-pint glass and stole the cup! TAKE THAT! muhahaha. I enjoy drinking at the Staff Club and hanging out with friends...it's like a high school reunion, because other groups of Exchange students go there, and we all end up getting to know each other again and just being typical college kids, ranting about school work, what we are going to do on the weekends, and etc.

On Sunday, we were going to visit Kusu Island, where the turtle sanctuary is located. Don't rely on Wikipedia, they give you false information! We ended up at the wrong ferry. No big deal, we headed off to Sentosa Island. We had lunch at "Cafe del Mar," where we had acceptable western food. I had a wrap with chicken and lettuce with fries...it was not bad at all! It was much better than what the canteens on campus make. In hopes of getting tan, we walked around in the boiling heat and sun, trying to find Fort Siloso. By the way, there were peacocks and monkeys casually running around the place...NBD!

Fort Siloso, Sentosa was the coastal artillery fort in Singapore during war. We learned a lot about the military bases and the battles Singapore was involved with. Trying to focus and concentrate on what was going around, my eyes started to water and my nose was itchy, to the point, where I was blowing my nose every ten seconds. I tried to ignore it, until I felt a bit dizzy from the heat, and couldn't breathe normally. I tried to brush it off, stealing as many napkins around Sentosa. We got to Vivo City to head back to NTU, where I could not take it anymore, so I ran over to Watson's to grab some medication. Nothing seemed to work as I was closing my eyes and holding my nose from the itchy pain on the mrt. We had dinner at Pioneer Station hawker centre and had delicious Indian food, but I could not appreciate the flavors, as I had to excuse myself to purchase more tissues and to get a breath of air. I was starting to worry so we went back to NTU.

I could not get myself to breathe normally without sneezing and wiping my nose every few seconds. I was skyping Libbie and afterwards Allie, and could not think right with my eyes swollen and dry, I could not hold a conversation without putting my head down....right there, I knew something was not right. I texted Jing Ying and Luo Er (my Singaporean friends) and asked them where the closest hospital or clinics were. Jing Ying offered to drive me over to the 24 hour clinic in Clementi. The doctor told me I have severe allergies due to the burning of trees in Indonesia. The debris and smoke blow into Singapore, hence why it was foggy and gray, and has affected me badly. He advised me to stay indoors and gave me two types of medication. It's like allergies on steroids...

Today, which is Monday, I slept in til about noon and tried to get back on my feet. I had lunch with Fiona in canteen 13 where Andrew, Bobby, and Justin ran into us. Canteen 13's doors are always open with the wind blowing in and out. I could barely enjoy my meal, without my eyes and nose irritating me.. I could not even last 30 minutes outside, I had to go back to my room. So, now here I am on my bed, I feel like a prisoner, not allowed out of my room, unless I want to practically die. I hope the two medications kick in soon. Here we go again, being sick.... really stinks. Australia is only 12 days away.... counting down until I can cuddle with a kangaroo and hear, "Crikey, Mate!" haha. Until next time, Much love from the Chatty Chong!


More vocab coming your way.........

pudding = dessert

Monday 5 September 2011

Staff Club Gone Wild

What an epic weekend.... what started out to be a sober and educational night turned out to be a wild [Saturday] night that I will never forget... do I even remember it to begin with? oops...?

On Friday night, we all decided to go to the National Museum of Singapore. It was free admission, plus it would be good for my cultural immersion project! It was a little boring to me but overall, it was interesting to see how Singapore has "grown." I made a box of hopes and dreams, and being a retarded Communications major, my box looked like I had made it in the dark. The kids around did better than me! We went on a self-guided tour. Headphones and a controller box of some sort was given to each person. You basically choose what you want to listen to. It was interesting. Of course, not even 15 minutes into it, I got bored. I think museums are better during the day, I would probably be more awake and actually interested, than at night, when I am thinking of Clarke Quay and Tiger haha.

After the museum, it was off to Clarke Quay bridge. As tradition, we went to 711 and bought some beers, mingled, and met new friends! yay I love people! And, of course, I was sweating buckets because it's always hot in Singapore, no matter what time it is, you are going to sweat 24-7; I have accepted it, but it would be nice to actually look decent when I go out, instead of having the shiniest and stickiest face in the crowd. Katie and I got hungry, so we decided to go on a voyage for something greasy and yummy. We ended up at Verve Pizzeria. Okay, so the man gave us our pepperoni slices and asked for $8, so we gave him $10. He was like "No, one slice is $8." UMMM hold the phone, $8 for one pizza slice? Damnnn and I thought Loyola was expensive! =)  Anyways, it was the best pizza I have had in Singapore, so I was a happy girl! I love to just sit, eat, and bond with people... the simple things in life really make your night.

Okay, so now off to "staff club gone wild".... Before that event, Katie, Kirsty, Justin, and I went shopping... ohhh how much I love to shop! It was soo good to be back on Orchard Road and be a girl and SHOP! The first H&M opened in Singapore and the lines were ridiculously long, wrapped around the store and down the street, this was some serious shit! We decided to skip that and go another time, and hit up Forever 21... I LOVE FOREVER 21!!!! I was going wild and picked up anything that was colorful and pretty! I ended up buying two new dresses, a top, and gold flower sandals, AND got a discount for having a Student's Pass! SCORE! Justin was such a trooper, sticking with us girls, cause boys hate shopping, am I right? He ended up buying himself some nice things too, so it was a WIN-WIN situation! Hooray for spending money! haha. After our lovely day of shopping, we went to the Pioneer hawker centre and ate dinner. I had pork dumpling noodle from the Chicken Rice stand...super yummy! I believe I paid $2.50 for my meal...so $2.06 US? Not too shabby!

Off to the night...so we rushed home, I put my new dress and sandals on, and we pregamed a bit in my room. Katie drank her 6% alcohol content "cooking" wine, as I drank my 15(?)% alcohol content Yellowtail wine..... mmm I love wine, such a cozy and warm feeling, but not when you chug it. Do not chug wine, kids! We walked over to Lizzi's party on the rooftop. We were greeted by old friends and new friends. I really love the friends I have made here. They are all soo nice, welcoming, and sweet! I feel "at home" and comfortable with them. I can be me without any worries! Anyways, we drank and had a great time, UNTIL the security guard ruined the party and told us we had to leave because we were loud, but ummm it was 11pm on a SATURDAY night? Hmmm.......

We took the party to the roof of the Arts and Media Building (green glass building), which actually was awesome, except the boys chose the steepest hill that had no stairs... cool. Oh and I'm afraid of heights and falling, so climbing up that hill drunk was boat loads of fun! Anyways, we all sat and lounged on the grass and continued to drink. I was out of wine, so Katie gave me a healthy mug of vodka. After drinking, chatting, laughing, and being stupid-drunk, we took the party to Staff Club, which was about to be in "lock-down"?, meaning they were going to lock it, so no one else can get in.

This was not a typical staff club night, usually it's verrrrry chill, but that night, it was like walking into Zouk or Forbidden City (so, basically, in simple terms.. WILD). Music was bumpin, people were dancing, and drinking. The bartender, Jong, remembered me, so of course being best friends, I got free drinks! I made my own drinks behind the bar too! SOO COOL! I want to be a bartender! hahaha, mom and dad if you're reading this, don't freak out, I'm not actually going to be a bartender.... I won't get into details cause there might be some judgment thrown here and there, but to put it in the simplest terms... there was dancing on table tops, free drinks, dancing, loud music, tons of pictures, laughs... just great times! Probably, the best staff club night ever... so epic! OOOH met Korean people! Woohoo, represent! except I can't speak it very well...oops... everybody was so drunk (wasted) and happy though, so I call that success!

On another note, the phrase, "it's a small world after all" is SOO true! So in my PR writing group, there's this girl, Jolene. Her boyfriend goes to school in Pennsylvania. She visited Ocean City...in MARYLAND! I have been going to Ocean City since I was a wittle Asian baby! She is sooo nice too! Another girl in my IMC class, Jing, is studying abroad/exchange at LOYOLA in this upcoming SPRING semester...and lives in the same hall and floor as Lizzi....... the world gets smaller and smaller! How crazy is that?!?! Who would ever think Maryland and Singapore would have a connection?!?

Also, I would just like to say how NICE it is to have OUTDOOR POOLS on campus. I love swimming and catching up with Lizzi. The pool right by our halls is so quiet and peaceful. After a long day of lectures, tutorials, and sweating, it's just nice to jump in a nice cool pool. Sometimes, I have to shake the water off my face and tell myself how fortunate my life is, to be in such a beautiful place. I really love it here, I really do.

After swimming, Lizzi went back to labs, and I headed off to Jurong Point with Fiona. We grabbed some dinner, and were greeted by Katie who met up with us later. Poor girl... her camera broke after a dreadful rainfall in Malaysia.... It's so nice eating off campus, for a change and just chilling out with the girls! We went to a shop, where I bought granola and toiletries. Afterwards, we went to Lizzi's room with Kirsty and ate eggs.. yes, scrambled eggs with... toast with butter! It was amazing! After a month of endless amounts of rice, noodles, and chicken, we had a little snack of REAL western food! My mouth was in bliss! Ahhhh, I love the friends I have made =) Good food and good company, what more could you want?

Some new added vocab to the list......

trainers = sneakers
postal code = zip code
kopi-o = coffee with sugar/milk

.... I'm becoming soo European/Singaporean =) Ahhh, I love my life! (So funny exactly a month ago, I was the total opposite, I was so homesick and wanted to come home....)

Can't wait to see what life brings me next, until then, Much love from the Chatty Chong!