Singapore: Birthdays and International Fiesta!

Wow! How time flies...this is nuts! My blog posts are, well, firstly delayed, but secondly organised based on the trips I make away from Singapore! I knew I would travel, but not this often! Ah well, you only get a chance like this once, right? The money can work itself out later.

Sandwiched in the two weeks between my weekend in KL, and my big mid-term break in Cambodia was Chinese New Year (my first in a Chinese-majority country), Kiran and Doreen's birthdays, and the NUS International Fiesta! Plus my first assessments (one for SE Asian studies, and one for History). It started relatively quiet...and then rapidly accelerated until the day we left for Cambodia I was majorly stressing! But more on that later...

Tuesday, February 1st, 2005.
Tonight we went to dinner with my host father. The Host Family programme is one established by NUS to help exchange students, however as with many things, it has its limits. Basically, the program involves each student being paired with a local 'parent', with the aim being they take them out to the non-touristy attractions and places, and show them a side to Singapore that would otherwise not be known. Since signing up for the program when I arrived, I have only been out once with my host father - Prof Albert Teo - and this level of meeting seems quite normal. Many have only been out once. Whilst it would've been great to have seen him more and done more, everyone knows how busy we all are - because after all, we are not just here on holiday.

Regardless, thanks Albert! It's been great! He took us to Muthu's, an Indian restaurant owned by the brother of the owner of the Apollo Banana Leaf restaurant 2 doors down!. It turns out they worked together until about 30 years ago, when they had an argument and began operating competing restaurants. Having eaten at both now, I can say its a neck-and-neck race - both are SOOO good! Although Muthu's has just undergone a refurbishment and looks really nice. Definitely wins points for style. No more banana leafs though

So, back to the evening. Faruuk (Bosnian, studying in the Netherlands), Martin (Hungarian, studying in the Netherlands), Albert and myself headed off to Racecourse Rd. Once there, an ex-student of Prof Teo's came up and said hello - something which would rarely be done at a Uni level in Sydney I think. Or maybe not. I dunno - I would do it with my year 12 teachers, but I don't think I would with Uni lecturers etc... - they wouldn't know me for a start!

We ate fish head curry (!) - the first time for us exchange students - and it was really tasty. Not too spicy (we specifically asked for it mild), and really juicy. Definitely a must-try. Just don't eat the eyes - leave that to the locals! We also had vegetables, and an assortment of curries. All of it was far more authentic (as far as I have been told) than Sydney Indian food, and so cheap too! Even better.

We then went for a walk through the red-light district of Little India - somewhere that I didn't even think existed. Well, it does! In all its un-subtle glory. One moment you are walking down a seemingly innocent busy street, full of money changers and food stalls, and then you turn left down a back alley and end up in a distinctly different world. Compared to the almost-clinical Signapore portreyed in shopping centres and Orchard Rd, this is something else. We almost called it un-Singaporean, but of course, that's nonsense. ALL of Singapore is Singapore, and it's this variety that makes it so special.

The alley (Deskar Rd if you're interested) is just a very simple street, with red lanterns hung above all the (open) entrances to the brothels. As you walk along, you can peer in and see the ladies 'available' - the idea being you can see before you buy, so to speak. Apparently this street exists to serve the migrant workers mostly, with the 'quality' being lower than the other red-light district of Geyleng.

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005.
No clubbing for me tonight - need to budget now! KL ate too much money

Instead, I went to two cultural performances held on campus. Tonight made me realise how un-cultured USyd is, and also, how busy NUS is at night - even so early in the semester. It just seems to be far more lively come 5pm+, at a time when USyd just dies. I still can't pin it down to one, or a few, reasons, but I think it has something to do with regular and efficient transport leaving the Uni till 11pm, and a general desire to study and stay at the libraries to do so, until late in the evening. I'm presuming living in apartments adds to the quest for space - which NUS' libraries have in abundance.

So, instead of my regular diet of Dinner-->Procrastination-->Clubbing-->Cheese Prata-->Waking up at midday on Thursday, I went to the pre-Chinese New Year (CNY) presentation at PGP, and a Thai Dance performance by a group from a Thai University.

Both were really interesting - and for different reasons. The CNY presentation was given by some local students, as was more an inidication of Singaporean presentation-styles, than it was about CNY - but that's cool. As a result, I met Pavi, an international student here who runs iCare - a program similar to ADG or UniMates at USyd. We talked about the similiarities and differences between volunteering in our two countries, and how Uni students respond. As may seem strange there are far more similiarities than differences.

Back to the presentation: we went through the various rituals and traditions associated with CNY, and the various Singaporean touches - such as Bak Kwa (glazed pork). We then gave two mandarin oranges to the person next to us, and learnt the standard CNY greetings: Xin nian kuai le / Gong xi fa cai. Which translates to: Happy New Year / May you be very prosperous!

At the Thai Dance performance, we were treated to some really beautiful, fluid dances performed by students our age! It felt far more real than those I've seen at hotels and tourist attractions in Thailand, and it demonstrated the different styles and motions of Thai dance through about 10 dances. It was great to be able to see performances like that - I really think USyd should start promoting local and regional performances on its grounds. I'd definitely go.