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
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