A Day Lost, A New World Found

An orchid in the Orchid Garden

My first Singaporean meal (wonton noodles)!

A BIG plant in the Orchid Garden


Mary and I with the flowers!

My friends Stephany, Andrea, and Nicole frolic in the Orchid Garden

(Psst: I'm being a bit lazy -- I did this entry for the SEAS blog, but I'm going to use it here too! So if it seems a bit formal for my personal blog, that's why. Either way, I hope it's informational!)

Hello from Singapore!

The past few days have been incredible. After upwards of 20 hours in transit by plane, all of us were happy to stretch our legs and discover that yes, our bags had arrived (in tact and with their original contents). Most of us were pretty jet-lagged. We left on Sunday, but as a result of the travel time and time difference (12 hours) we arrived in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon.

Nadiah and Yong, two NUS joint-degree students, were waiting at the airport when we landed. After we exchanged some currency Nadiah and Yong helped us board the bus to Prince George's Park (PGP), a residential area on NUS campus. It took about thirty minutes to get from the airport to PGP by bus, but the ride gave us an opportunity to begin observing one of the most amazing things about Singapore: the flora.

Everything in Singapore is so GREEN! It's obvious the city has comitted itself to being not just a "garden city" but "a city within a garden." Everywhere streets are lined with trees and bushes and flowers (and more trees and bushes and flowers). Walls are covered with vines, and guardrails are disguised by plants! Even some high-rise public housing buildings had green roofs, where miniature gardens are kept.

When we arrived at PGP, Nadiah and Yong assisted us in finding our rooms and gave us about an hour to freshen up before taking us out to explore the NUS campus. After our much-needed showers, we learned about the bus routes we will use on a daily basis to get to class in the mornings, then took a public bus out to Holland Village, "the Franklin Street" of NUS, for dinner.

Buying dinner at the hawker stand was an exciting (although somewhat confusing) experience. Some people were adventurous enough to try a desert which consisted of durian (that stinky fruit), ice and some stringy-jelly things resembling gummy worms. Most agreed that the desert was "different."

Today we got down to business. After making sure we were all properly registered at NUS, Nadiah took us on a tour of the NUS library and then we headed over the the office for immigration and customs to handle the paperwork for our student passes. After, we took a bus to the Singapore Botanical Gardens and did nothing remotely related to paperwork (much to my relief)! The orchids in the garden were beautiful, as were the rest of the plants. It's no wonder that many locals come to picnic, jog, or walk their dogs in the gardens.