Singapore: The Beginning (July 30th - August 8th)

Who knew a month could fly by so quickly. It honestly feels like its been days since I arrived, but as I reflect back on all the stories so far, it's clear that this should be my 4th post as opposed to my second. I could probably try and blame the fact that I've been too busy, but when it comes down to it, sometimes its just difficult to get everything down.

I'm going to split the last month into 3 posts, starting with this one: The Beginning July 30th - August 8th. As I begin to write this - I'm telling myself that I will be more prudent about getting my other posts up on schedule so that I don't miss out on the details. But we'll see how this goes.

Buying. Meeting. Drinking. Eating.

July 30 - August 3
The day after I wrote my first post in Singapore, which included the fan incident, I spent the day with Chu Hwai, my welcome buddy and Vincent Ko, another Sauder student. After being treated to breakfast by my friend Hao Su, I hopped on the bus with the boys and I felt lucky to be with a local as I had no clue what bus I was on, where I was going and most importantly how to get back. We made our way to Vivo City which is one of the larger malls in Singapore. I bought my EZ Link Card (bus pass), Cash Card and hit up equivalent of WallMart to pickup the essentials: pillows, sheets, beer, hangers, etc. Chu Hwai had to run off to welcome another student at the airport, so Vincent and I where left with the task of making our way back home. There's something liberating about feeling like you're lost in a new city. As I pieced things together, I became much more aware of my surroundings and I engaged with the environment more, whether by looking for signs or asking locals where to go. We made our way back to NUS without much fuss and I got back in time to sort out my student card and student VISA. Thanks to the beauty of the internet - the beautiful Carla Culos was in town and wanted to dine out Singapore style. I met up with Carla and some friends she had made at various Case Competition. We took a walk through ultra-swanky Clark Quay, the club district with some expensive touristy restaurants right on the Singapore River (very nice). We enjoyed a load of dishes, including stingray, and it was the perfect cap to my first full day in Singapore- lah. We also paid a visit to the famous "MerLion".

I spent most of the next day, Thursday, going around campus trying to meet people. I made another stop down to the Sports Hall that was doubling as a registration centre to meet some people who were as lost I was. A big part of the reason I wanted to meet some people was that I was going to this party at club called ChinaOne, but I didn't really know anyone else who was going. Luckily - I saw a cluster of "Westerners" (that's what Singaporeans call the white kids), hanging out in the Air-Con Canteen at Prince George Park (my residence). Lucky for me I have no shame in trying to meet new people, so I grabbed some food and invited myself to sit down. It was here I met Fraser, Maria, Alex and Georgi (the first 3 of which I hang with pretty much every day now). I was happy to find out that they were planning on going to the party as well and so we decided to meet at "the steps" (the main PGP entrance) to head out later. To cut a long, and painfully boring story short - my first impression of the Singapore Party Scene was that drinks are overpriced, service is slow, and bars don't know what good music is, and walking between bars is hell as one tends to sweat an immense amount (one being me). The only good thing that came out of the Thursday Night Shenanigans was that I met a good friend Claire. I named her "Drunk Claire" (1/2 because she was drunk off her rocker and 1/2 because she's Irish). The name continues to have a purpose.

Friday was spent recovering as well as going to NUS orientation sessions (all of which were great. FALSE!) At one of the sessions, I signed up for a tour around Singapore for the next day with a bunch of other people I had met in the session. The tour was called Yummilicious and it was a Food Tour around Singapore. We headed out early on Saturday morning after being clustered into groups. Each group had a local student taking us around the sights, smells and tastes of Singapore. We made a stop to Little India (where I got some henna done), one of the Hawker's Market and a Wet Market. Most of the food was great, while some left me questioning the need to have corn in my ice cream. During the stop to the Hawker's Market, we made a quick detour to this new Buddhist Temple. The temple had such a tranquil feeling to it and the monks prayers were harmonized and beautiful. It was gorgeous outside and in and I'd encourage you to check out more pictures, along with some hilarious reactions to some friends trying "The Infamous Durian". yuck!
Some Thoughts In Between

3hr Lonely Stint
Sometime into the first weekend, I was walking back to my room, and all I could think was that I made a mistake. I wanted to be back home. The emotions weren't necessarily intense, but it was clear that Singapore/Residence/People/NUS wasn't what I had expected and I wanted to be back at Vancouver, making calls to all my friends and making sure we were going to the King's Head that night. Realistically that wasn't an option. At this point I was hanging out with a pretty big group, but no one really stood out to be as my closest friends. It was tough to think that I'd go 5 months without any real friends, and more importantly my closest ones. I was trying to figure out how to feel more connected to the people I was with, which proved to be a useless exercise. All I wanted was to have jokes with them, be able to tell them anything like I can do with everyone back in Vancouver, and although this wasn't my house I wanted it to feel like my home. I started to realize that the only thing I could do was to go forward and wait for it to work. I told myself that time would make stories and from that, friends. I tried to think of a time in my life that I felt so alone, but I'm pretty sure this was it. Part of what made it so bad was that I expected to jump right into it, and everything seemed to be moving awkwardly forward. I wanted to skip to the next chapter where I'd feel needed and connected. As time has gone on, I've far surpassed this time, but going through it was an interesting realization of my need for meaningful/deep/full relationships.

Lack of Local Connection
Speaking of feeling connected...(best transition ever) Singapore is something that I have yet to feel a connection with. The city itself is something to behold. Everything is pristine, I have yet to see someone who I'd consider poor, the city is clean and the air is fantastic, the landscape has been carved and the city feels like it's been built into a garden (where in reality the garden was built around the city). As much as Singapore presents itself as one of the most modernized city, I can't help but feel sorry for it. Everything is fabricated. It begs the question: What really is Singapore? If not for the constant makeover, what makes the city what it is. In the few conversations I've had with locals, the government appears to be engaged in some questionable activity for example: Social Cleansing: a term my friend Fraser and I made up to explain how Singapore had a plan to eliminate the lower class citizens of the nation by creating an incentive (cash) for young people with university educations to have children, while those without eduction don't get anything. But after spending more time in the city, and how clean and well off everything is, who am I to question what the government does if it works. (btw - I still question it, but I can understand how locals seem to have a "que sera sera" attitude towards their situation). If you'd like to read another interesting take on Singapore, please read the article from WIRED by William Gibson titled "Disneyland with a Death Penalty"

I feel like the people mirrors the city in a way in that image and saving face is very important to them. I have yet to meet a Singaporean who'll admit they were wrong, and for some reason I find a certain mistrust of anyone I'm buying something from. Am I racist? I don't feel so, as I never felt this way in Vancouver. Maybe ethnocentric, but the more time I spend here, the more and more I feel as though I'm able to trust and feel part of the community.
Alright - back to what's happened..

Week 2 in "The Pore" August (Aug. 3 - 8)
I was happy to find out upon my arrival to Singapore that "Orientation Week" has nothing to do with classes and it meant that I had another week off school before I jumped into lectures. This week proved that Singapore was going to be a great time as my social circle started to solidify. Rather than me list off who's who - I suggest you take a look at our facebook group to get a sense of who the gang is.

Bollywood Superstars
Monday started off with a a bit of a hit &
miss adventure downtown. My mate Liam got a letter under his door that encouraged "Well-Off Looking Westerners" to come be a part of a big commercial shoot and earn $100. The shoot was at the Esplanade Theatre so a bunch of us thought it would be pretty funny to be Bollywood SuperStars so we got all dolled up and off we went. We couldn't help but laugh when we realized the film shoot was for a tacky Breath Mint and/or Peanut Commercial (we couldn't really figure it out). We basically sat in the audience clapping for a couple hours. Once the four hours ran up (that we were told we'd be paid for) the shoot kept going. We started asking if we'd continue to get paid for our strenuous work, but the assistant director avoided our questions. Most of us decided to leave as it was clear we weren't going to get paid for any overtime work (and lucky we did leave, because a couple friends stayed behind and got offered $20 for 4 more hours of work). We're not really sure we'll be big superstarts in India just yet, but hurray for making $100 for doing nothing.


Drinking. Shopping. ARS.
That Wednesday night redeemed Singapore's nightlife. Even though I spent the better part of the night separated from the crew, I met a bunch of other Canadians (and a rowdy Irish bloke) and got smashed for $20 Freeflow (aka all you can drink). I ended the night at the Ministry of Sound on the spinning dance floor which was in sync with my spinning head. The days during the week comprised of a lot of time by the pool, sorting out my classes to make sure I got into the courses I wanted. I was lucky and got into some pretty interesting classes which should make the academic part of my time out here much better. The pictures below are some shots of the gang as we went out to one of the famous "Hawkers Markets". You'll always find clusters of old Chinese men, and at this particular time of year, see table set up with candles, incents and food for the "Festival of the Hungry Ghost". Later that week, we were able to take in a movie (Dark Knight) and on the the Friday we all went to a Korean BBQ near NUS and feasted on some great food. I knew when coming to Southeast Asia that I'd be doing my PADI Certification for Scuba Diving, but I didn't really plan how soon. I then looked back on my last 4 years of first week lectures in university, and as much as they're all good fun, you never really get much done and get sent home early most of the time. So hopping that things worked out the same in Singapore (and after confirming my assumptions with a couple locals) I decided to make my way to Koh Tao, Thailand (located in the Gulf of Thailand) for the first week of school. I told myself that if anyone asked, I didn't really miss the first week of school as I was still technically in class (just not at NUS). Claire was looking to bring a crew to meet me on the weekend of my trip for the Full Moon party, so she came with me to the Golend Mile Complex (a strip of local travel agents) to book my ticket. I was lucky enough to get the last seat on the bus leaving on Saturday, August 9th which would land in my Koh Tao on Monday morning...but I'll leave that for another time.

I spent a couple nights this week at a bar situated right behind Prince George Park (my residence), called Blooie's. It's great because they don't really mind/don't see that we just bring our own drinks and hang out. After one such evening the following conversation ensued (told in the 3rd person for my enjoyment):

Claire, Tasha and Conor were walking back to PGP after having some drinks and laughs at the bar behind PGP. While walking they talked about how lame PGP was with all its "chains & locks" and how it doesn't allow for a community to grow.

With classes, work, and exams approaching, the three of them were afraid that everyone would hide in their rooms and they'd only see each other when we they were "doing something".

That's when they decided that the students of PGP needed A Regular Spot: ARS (pronounced arse).
After deciding the name, they expending pretty much every crude joke possible:

"We love it in the ARS"
"We'll be in your ARS"
"Show me to your ARS"
etc.

They liked the name (and more importantly the concept) and decided it was important to make happen. So they did.

I hope you've enjoyed the blog and I apologize again for the huge delay. I hope to have the Koh Tao post up by the weekend. If you want to look ahead of my stories - free free to creep my facebook pictures.

Love,

Conor