Study Abroad - the Adventure Begins. Ok, so for everyone that I somehow failed to mention this to, I'm studying abroad in Singapore for the Fall semester. I'm at NUS (the National University of Singapore), not to return to the Western Hemisphere until late December or early January (not sure yet).
It's been a pretty hard adjustment so far. I didn't have working internet for nearly a week, which was quite excruciating. (Bit torrent doesn't seem to work here either, so I've resorted to IRC to get my anime fix.) In addition, I didn't get a cell phone here recently, so it was impossible to contact me for a couple days. But yea, so far, life has mainly consisted of settling in and taking care of administrative matters. I didn't realize how user-friendly everything was at UT until I came here and had to use a school website that's impossible to navigate and take care of all this paperwork that I feel should be computerized.
So far I've met a lot of people from various countries, but haven't found a group that I really click with yet. I still feel most at ease around Americans though. I'm constantly surprised when I talk to people and get replies in incomprehensible accents; I'm still getting used to "Singlish" (Singaporean English, lah =P).
I'm staying in Prince George's Park Residence (PGPR), which I guess is the NUS equivalent of Jester. It's pretty huge, at any rate. Instead of traditional keys and swipey cards for entry, they've got "transponders"- you push a button on this electric keychain thing and it beeps to unlock gates, doors, elevators, the whole shebang. (It's not as fun as it sounds; I hate it actually, haha.) Anyways, I'm holed up in a room with no A/C and no sink. It gets pretty uncomfortable at night, rolling around all sweaty and stuff. =/ At least there's a ceiling fan. But yea, the first night I got here, I didn't have sheets or a pillow or anything, so I slept on the bare mattress; and there was this huge stain on the mattress, so I was kinda squished onto half of an already small bed trying my hardest not to roll over (which I tend to do a lot)- it was terrible.
The humidity here is pretty unbearable also. Like the heat's not so bad; you'll like walk outside and think hey, this isn't bad at all, then 5 minutes later, you wonder why you're still drenched in sweat. It wouldn't even be worth my while to bathe after every time I sweat, so I take a lot of European showers (thorough spray down with fragrance, e.g. Axe bath). By the end of the day, I'm all sticky and nasty and stuff, but if all goes well, at least I don't smell half bad.
I've been here less than a week, and I'm already starting to get sick of the food. There's a decent amount of choice in the cafeterias, but it's all like second rate Chinese food and stuff that I really just have no desire to eat most of the time. On the plus side, it is a lot cheaper eating here- a typical meal at the cafeteria here costs in the neighborhood of US$1.50 and $3. Firewater on the other hand is absurdly expensive here cuz they tax it like mad. Like you can't find any drinks at the clubs under US$9ish; none of that "dollar wells" stuff like back home. I was forewarned to stock up at duty-free before leaving the airport, haha.
Well anyways, should you feel the need to contact me, here are my particulars:
Daniel ----
Blk 21, #03-24, Room G
35, Prince George's Park
Singapore 118426
Phone: 9466-2906
*So I went to a club called Indochine down at Clarke Quay on Saturday night. (Contrary to my original belief, "quay" is in fact an English word (as opposed to say, Viet), pronounced "key" and means a wharf parallel to the shore.) The quay area had a really interesting look to it; I probably oughta get myself a camera one of these days, eh? Anyways, the club was pretty nice I suppose; they had an ice bar, but my crew didn't wanna go in. They were spinning techno, and in keeping with non-American fashion, all dancing was done at an arm's-length away. Have decided that all future club visits will require some serious pre-gaming.
Sunday night, I went to Little India for dinner, and it was PACKED with moustachioed Indian men (no women out). Ate Indian food with my hands for the first time- was kinda fun, actually. But yea, I was feeling adventurous, so I ordered a random item off the menu; I realized half way through the meal that I was eating tripe (cow stomach)... I had thought it was chicken skins, hahaha. Anyways, so walking down the streets, we passed some music stores, and there were posters advertising an album called "Laka Laka Laka REMIX," hahahah. And my friend claims he saw a sign advertising "Chocolate Testes" where they clearly meant chocolate-covered nuts. Ah, good ol' Engrish.
It's been a pretty hard adjustment so far. I didn't have working internet for nearly a week, which was quite excruciating. (Bit torrent doesn't seem to work here either, so I've resorted to IRC to get my anime fix.) In addition, I didn't get a cell phone here recently, so it was impossible to contact me for a couple days. But yea, so far, life has mainly consisted of settling in and taking care of administrative matters. I didn't realize how user-friendly everything was at UT until I came here and had to use a school website that's impossible to navigate and take care of all this paperwork that I feel should be computerized.
So far I've met a lot of people from various countries, but haven't found a group that I really click with yet. I still feel most at ease around Americans though. I'm constantly surprised when I talk to people and get replies in incomprehensible accents; I'm still getting used to "Singlish" (Singaporean English, lah =P).
I'm staying in Prince George's Park Residence (PGPR), which I guess is the NUS equivalent of Jester. It's pretty huge, at any rate. Instead of traditional keys and swipey cards for entry, they've got "transponders"- you push a button on this electric keychain thing and it beeps to unlock gates, doors, elevators, the whole shebang. (It's not as fun as it sounds; I hate it actually, haha.) Anyways, I'm holed up in a room with no A/C and no sink. It gets pretty uncomfortable at night, rolling around all sweaty and stuff. =/ At least there's a ceiling fan. But yea, the first night I got here, I didn't have sheets or a pillow or anything, so I slept on the bare mattress; and there was this huge stain on the mattress, so I was kinda squished onto half of an already small bed trying my hardest not to roll over (which I tend to do a lot)- it was terrible.
The humidity here is pretty unbearable also. Like the heat's not so bad; you'll like walk outside and think hey, this isn't bad at all, then 5 minutes later, you wonder why you're still drenched in sweat. It wouldn't even be worth my while to bathe after every time I sweat, so I take a lot of European showers (thorough spray down with fragrance, e.g. Axe bath). By the end of the day, I'm all sticky and nasty and stuff, but if all goes well, at least I don't smell half bad.
I've been here less than a week, and I'm already starting to get sick of the food. There's a decent amount of choice in the cafeterias, but it's all like second rate Chinese food and stuff that I really just have no desire to eat most of the time. On the plus side, it is a lot cheaper eating here- a typical meal at the cafeteria here costs in the neighborhood of US$1.50 and $3. Firewater on the other hand is absurdly expensive here cuz they tax it like mad. Like you can't find any drinks at the clubs under US$9ish; none of that "dollar wells" stuff like back home. I was forewarned to stock up at duty-free before leaving the airport, haha.
Well anyways, should you feel the need to contact me, here are my particulars:
Daniel ----
Blk 21, #03-24, Room G
35, Prince George's Park
Singapore 118426
Phone: 9466-2906
*So I went to a club called Indochine down at Clarke Quay on Saturday night. (Contrary to my original belief, "quay" is in fact an English word (as opposed to say, Viet), pronounced "key" and means a wharf parallel to the shore.) The quay area had a really interesting look to it; I probably oughta get myself a camera one of these days, eh? Anyways, the club was pretty nice I suppose; they had an ice bar, but my crew didn't wanna go in. They were spinning techno, and in keeping with non-American fashion, all dancing was done at an arm's-length away. Have decided that all future club visits will require some serious pre-gaming.
Sunday night, I went to Little India for dinner, and it was PACKED with moustachioed Indian men (no women out). Ate Indian food with my hands for the first time- was kinda fun, actually. But yea, I was feeling adventurous, so I ordered a random item off the menu; I realized half way through the meal that I was eating tripe (cow stomach)... I had thought it was chicken skins, hahaha. Anyways, so walking down the streets, we passed some music stores, and there were posters advertising an album called "Laka Laka Laka REMIX," hahahah. And my friend claims he saw a sign advertising "Chocolate Testes" where they clearly meant chocolate-covered nuts. Ah, good ol' Engrish.
posted by Dear Daniel at 4:30 PM
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