Singapore: Day Two

Day two in Singapore began similarly to Day 1 - except a little bit earlier I think. I seem to remember a similar thing happening at the start of 2005, when I was last here. Singapore is 2hrs behind Sydney, so waking at 9am is (in my mind at least) 11am. This means that I am more of a morning person here, which will come as a huge surprise to those of you who know me in Sydney!!

Today was more of a 'seeing old Singapore' day than a sightseeing-touristy one. I went back to NUS (National Uni of Singapore - where I studied last year) and Clementi and saw my mentor. It was great - not much has changed, except everything has. I no longer know the Uni like the back of my hand, although it didn't take long to work out where things were. The ice-blended (i.e. EasyWay) was still there, as was the Claypot stall at Arts Canteen. Thank god! I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have my claypot fix! Had lunch with Han Yang and Li Ling, friends of mine from Project Yun, which was fantastic. Li Ling spent last semester at UBC on exchange, so it was good to hear such a positive endorsement of the school I'm studying at in September.

At NUS I also bumped into my mentor from my exchange semester - Prof Teo - with whom I have booked dinner tomorrow night. Not too sure how I'm going to fit it all in, but hopefully if its hawker as requested it will be OK lor.

From NUS I went to the Old Ford Factory in Bukit Timah. It only opened in February this year, so it was brand new (you'll understand why soon!). This particular building holds a special significance to Singapore as it was the site where the British surrendered to the Japanese in WW2. As such they have turned it into a museum of the war and the Japanese occupation of Singapore (Feb 1942-1945). Pretty interesting stuff, although you can see similar at Changi. If you're in the area (i.e. visiting Bukit Timah) then go, otherwise, it's not really worth it.

Then back on a super-long bus past all the landed properties (Singlish for houses) and the prestigious JCs (Junior Colleges - i.e. Senior schools) - Chinese High, Nanyang JC, National JC etc. They are some of the few schools with good sports facilities - huge buildings too! As far as I know these places are more expensive than the local JCs, but they are really hard to get into - so sort of a cross between Sydney's selective and private schools. Seemingly most of my S'Porean friends went to 'good' JCs - showing that it takes a lot to get into NUS.

Anyways, I spent about half an hour on Orchard Rd shopping at HMV (bought some awesome Punk/Rock CDs: Saw Loser, AFI, Lostprophets and Muse) as well as my first Singaporean DVD - I Not Stupid. It's the prequel to the movie I saw on the plane and from what I've heard it is much better than the one I saw, so I'm definitely looking forward to it!

The end of the day was the second of our Yunner gatherings. This time to Boon Lay (the furthest west I've ever been in Singapore - pretty much the end of the island) to see Xinhuan's wedding videos and have dinner. It was a really nice night, and I got to say hi to Jingmei, Yao Dong, Yi Ning, Xinhuan, Lyna, as well as the others who I'd seen before - Chye, Han Yang, and Kat.

So now I'm back at the hostel ripping my CDs for the long flight tomorrow night. Spending most of tomorrow at Sentosa with Kat & Han Yang, which should be great.

Probably won't blog for a few days, until I'm settled in the UK, so till then, ciao!

Tris.