The Land of Smiles

Me at the Singapore Zoo! No, that is not a real seal...


Monkeys!

Some interesting vintage furniture featured in an exhibit in the Singapore Museum -- the designer wanted furniture that was fun!

Hi all!

Since I last posted, I have thoroughly enjoyed my last week in Singapore, and am now settled in Thailand -- the land of Thais, the land of smiles!

During my last week in Singapore I was very busy traveling around & doing planned program activities & working on the final, small reserach paper I had to do for Dr. Emmanuel's class on Malaysian history. Dr. Emmanual was also kind enough to guide us on a historical tour through Singapore, so during my last week I took another trip to Arab street in addition to the Singapore Spice Gardens. It was so neat to see a real cinnamon tree!

Speaking of plants...

I went out with a few people and our friend Yong to do a walking tour of Hort (as in Horticulture) Park three or four days before we left Singapore. Singapore has a lot of parks, but it's a small enough island that it plans to actually LINK all of the parks together. The Hort Park part is linked to two other parks, and the entire thing links to Vivo City, the HUGE mall at the east end of Singapore. We all walked for about two and a half hours, which made breakfast at the end taste quite delicious (if not sweaty).

There's so much to update! I'm sorry if this post seems disjointed -- being in Thailand already makes Singapore seem so far away, although it's only about a two hour plane ride. I did much, much more during my last week in Singapore -- including a visit to the Singapore Zoo, a tour of the Urban Development Board, a ride on the Singapore Flyer, and a visit (or two) to the National Musem of Singapore and the ajoining Art Museum. There's no way I can possibly condense all of these experiences on one blog post or twenty, but I am so grateful to be here in SE Asia, learning about the cultures and histories of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Thailand. Thailand, THAILAND! Have I mentioned how excited I am to be here in Thailand? We landed in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon, but we didn't stick around long -- a bus (laid out in ridiculous psychodelic-colored interior) came to pick us up and take us to Mahidol University International College, which is about an hour away from Bangkok by bus, give a little more or even more due to crazy Bangkok traffic.

Upon arriving we recieved the warmest welcome I could have imagined. Not only did Mahidol students help us get our bags from underneath the bus, they insisted upon bringing them to us on the sixth floor (luckily be elevator), so we wouldn't have to trouble ourselves. Afterward, we went downstairs to eat a lovely Thai buffet. They "lei'd" us when we got off the elevator as another sign of welcome, and after dinner we treated to performances by both Thai student dancers and Thai Boxers (who practice a martial arts discipline called Muy Thai).

Yesterday we got a campus tour & were treated to a Muy Thai lesson! My shin is sitll sore from kicking (ouch).

I need to go get ready for class now -- I hope everyone is safe & happy back at home! I can't wait to see you!

Love,

Allie