Nov 28, 2011

Living the Life

Ann-Katrin and I went to a photo booth and took some Japanese inspired pictures!

I went to the Titanic exhibition at a museum. They had remade the grande staircase, state rooms, and there were actual artefacts which came from the bottom of the ocean where the Titanic vessel is slowly decaying. They actually predict that in 80 years there will be nothing left of the cruise liner, because the fungi/bacteria at the sea bottom are slowly de-constructing the ship.

At Orchard Road the shopping is amazing and the Christmas decorations make it even more exciting to be there!

Today was my last High Tea with Ann-Katrin; this time it took place at the St. Regents.

Nov 21, 2011

Quote

I just finished "London: the Novel" by Edward Rutherford and at the end of this comprehensive history of a dynamic city, the following quote presented itself. Because I found it so moving I thought I would share it here, in the hopes that you may understand and gain something from its historic significance.

"Imagine, a summer. At the end of it the leaves fall. They lie on the ground. They almost dissolve, you might say, but not quite. The next year the same thing happens again. And again. Thinned out, compressed, those leaves and all the other vegetation build up in layers, year after year. It's the natural process. It's organic.

Something similar happens with man, and especially in a city. Each year, each age, leaves something. It gets compressed, of course, it disappears under the surface, but just a little of all that human life remains. A Roman tile, a coin, a clay pipe from Shakespeare's time. All left in place. When we dig down, we find it and we may put it on show. But don't think of it just as an object. Because that coin, that pipe belonged to a someone: a person who lived, and loved, and looked out at the river and the sky each day just you and me.

So when we dig down into the earth under our feet, and find all that is left of that man or woman, I try to remember that what I am seeing and handling is a huge and endless compression of lives. And sometimes in our work here, I feel as if we've somehow entered into that layer of compressed time, prised open that life, a single day even, with its morning, and evening, and its blue sky and its horizon.

We've opened just one of the millions and millions of windows, hidden in the ground."

Nov 20, 2011

Christmas Lighting

Last night, on Saturday the 19th, the official Orchard Road Christmas Lighting Ceremony took place. The PM, Mr. Tony Tang, pushed the button and the whole of Orchard lit up. Hitachi was the sponsor and chose the color blue for the lighting this year, because blue is the color for "harmony".

At Orchard Central all the decorations are pink/purple.

The Tangs department store is decorated with blinding gold and red.

Decorations over the road.

The huge tree at the ION Orchard mall - a huge mall that is above and below ground.

Bright blue lights. It's really fun to walk to the streets now with all the pretty lights!! :)

Nov 16, 2011

Marina Bay Gardens

The Marina Bay Sands Gardens are still under construction and mostly closed. However, due to an orchard exhibition this week we were able to see the finished parts and witness some gorgeous flowers/fauna!

Colorful flowers that reminded me a bit of Keukenhof. Yes, because all Dutch citizens should have visited that natural Dutch heritage site once.

Inside a huge dome there were dry, cold climate trees and flowers. Most notable were the bulbous trees you see in this picture. They are from Australia and are bulging at the bottom, narrow at the top.

Me in front of an olive tree. This tree, transported to Singapore from Spain, is more than a thousand years old!!!

Singapore's national emblem is the orchard and there was an orchard garden present in the flower dome. I went to the park with Kirsty (Canadian) and Christopher (American).

Nov 13, 2011

Chocolate Buffet #2

Last Friday night I frequented yet another chocolate buffet. In my honest opinion, this one wasn't as great as the other one - but still had some delicious treats and I really enjoyed it!

The milk chocolate fountain.

Various cakes, tortes, and other chocolate goodies. One of my favourites was the salted caramel chocolate cake.

My plate was full and let me tell you; it was delicious!

There was also a large assortment of yummy macaroons.

Nov 11, 2011

Study + Food

A quick update. Lately I've been studying, eating, and going out a lot. Basically just enjoying my last month in Singapore.

Somehow we ended up in this really nice Swiss chalet styled restaurant in a basement on Orchard Road. Lovely ambiance and great fresh food!

Rosti with sour cream and salmon - Swiss food at the Marche.

Brown rice and green vegetable curry (vegetables and tofu).

The Medzs buffet; kind of like Vapiano in Holland where you order all types of great Mediterranean food and pay at the end for the balance that was charged onto a card.

Our farewell party for the exchange took place last Wednesday. We all dressed up in cocktail dresses and danced the night away!

I bought the burgundy dress for the dance. It's the colour of the season and is very Asian; it covers the chest and is not too short.

Nov 6, 2011

Christmas is Here!

Christmas has come to Singapore. It started the 1st of November when malls were decorated and the favourite coffee houses put up their Christmas offers.
In the malls, the Christmas decorations signal the start of the Christmas shopping craze that occurs every year in South East Asia's shopping capital.

Starbucks offers its Christmas specials. The toffee nut latte is a very nice drink.

Orchard Road is the main shopping street in Singapore and there are a few huge Christmas trees decorating the avenue.

Vent

The people in Singapore can be VERY strange. Some rather annoying aspects:

1. Eating. It is unappetizing to sit next to someone who is not just making loud sounds while chewing with their mouth open, but also provides you with a lovely view of their processed food. Don't ever sit next to someone with noodles, because the slurping sound is terrible. Worst still is the burger; imagine cheese bits flying out of someone's mouth while they are eating. *shivers*

2. Public transport. Public transport, such as the metro and bus, is used by everyone. There are some weird people on my bus (probably b/c it passes through Chinatown where most get on or off) who make creepy noises, look scary, cough (with phlegm = spuug) in their hands and then touch every imaginable surface. I sat behind this woman the other day who kept making kissing noises.

Also, when seated on the isle seat and someone wants to sit at the empty window spot, you normally get up to let that person pass. Not so here. Instead,they just move their legs onto the isle so that you have to press your butt into their face to get into the cramped seat.

Because people here are smaller, so are the seats (in terms of height, leg space, and width).

3. The elderly. Sadly most of those strange people mentioned above are older. I don't think there are special homes for the elderly; this means that disabled and sick elders are sitting around outside in the city. There is not a very good pension system in place here and 70 or 80 year olds are still working at food courts (cleaning up plates) and as cleaning ladies of public toilets.

4. The side walk. This one is the weirdest. Imagine a side walk (stoep) where two people can walk next to each other. On one side is the road. On the other grass and bushes. You are walking alone and two people are walking towards you. In Holland (and the rest of the Western world) one of the two oncoming people will walk in front or behind so that the two have to walk behind, rather than beside, one another for a few seconds. Not the case here. The two people will just keep walking side by side, attempting to force you either onto the street with oncoming traffic or into the bushes. Sadly, most exchange students have learned that you have to be assertive and just walk straight ahead, forcing them to alter their behaviour, or violently bump into them in the hopes that they will get how rude they are.

Chocolate Buffet

Singapore is the city that never stops eating. This is definitely a mouth-watering post that will make you a little bit jealous. Best part: I go again next Friday!

There were two chocolate fountains; dark and milk chocolate. You could dip fruits, marshmallows, profiteroles, and madeleines (my favourite!) into the thick layers of chocolate.

A chef prepared hot chocolate for you. You could choose from ivory, 30%, 70% to 99% cocoa and all kinds of levels in between.

Chocolate mouses in unexpected flavours; the white chocolate salted caramel was titillating. They also provided various macaroons.

Bread and chocolate pudding with warm vanilla sauce, a cup of white hot chocolate,and an assortment of goodies.

Me. Quite happy. :)

Nov 1, 2011

University

29 more days to go... and then I'm done studying!! I have two more weeks of classes, one study week, and then one more exam week.

Today is a monumental day for my SMU studies, because I have completed 2 presentations in non-exam courses, meaning that I am done with them.

However...

I still have 3 exams to go.

21 Nov. The Shipping Business exam encompasses a lot of knowledge. I mostly fear the Bills of Lading, insurance, and legal part of the course as well as the financing (futures etc.) component. On my midterm I got a 9.5/10 so hopefully with a lot of studying I can do well on this final exam.

26 Nov. The Singapore Society exam will be the most obscure one. Without any study books, I suppose I will have to write an essay based on the knowledge I gained during class. One can't really prepare for this exam so I'm just hoping for the best.

29 Nov. The Psychology exam is the most exhaustive, because for this exam I need to memorize (yes, memorize) 400 pages of information.

Interesting fact: SMU grading is based on a bell curve. Rather than absolute grades, relative grades are employed. This means that 15% gets an A, 30% a B, etc. So the person with the highest score gets an A+ and after that the rest follows.

Singapore Library

Food Court in University