With less than a month left to go the excitement for my exchange seems to have exponentially increased. I can't stop myself from googling about Singapore; from shopping to dining to what to do. Researching Tiong Bahru, the Chinese neighborhood where I'll be staying for 5 months, is both refreshing and nerve-wrecking. There is not a lot of info, but the info that is there is curious. For instance, Tiong Bahru was the neighborhood where in the 1800s the Chinese mistresses of wealthy (English)men lived. The Tiong Bahru Market is renowned for its Chinese food and apparantly people from all over the island come there to eat. You see, Singaporeans usually don't eat at home, but go to hawker centres. And Tiong Bahru is the location of one of the most sought-after hawker centres in the country. Nice to have one block away from your apartment. But (yes, there is a but) when I start googling the indigenous delicacies I am slightly frightened. Chinese food will be an adventure by itself.
Another thing I found out, was that Singapore Management University has its own gym and swimming pool. Since the school was completed in 2006, everything is supposedly state-of-the-art. Which led me to investigate the gym a bit more and what I found out was just beyond awesome; every single treadmill has its own TV. If you walk on the treadmill nearly every day like I have done for the past two years, then this is an amazing feat. This does, however, mean that I will have to pack yet another pair of shoes.
For all the women out there; how do you pack clothes for 5 months? At least I don't have the same problem as my friend who guesses what the temperature will be like in Madrid; I know that it will be around 30 degrees Celcius every day. = hot Hot HOT. I'm sure a blog post about this topic will follow within the upcoming months.
I don't think that I'll pack a pair of sneakers. Some things are too heavy and you simply have to make the resolution to find a reasonably priced alternative in Singapore. Because shopping there is no torture. Indeed, there are a lot of shopping opportunities throughout the city. Most definitely more on that later since my mother already fears I may have to go into retail therapy upon my return home.
Welcome to my blog: Kim @ Singapore
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