Good Friday

On this past Good Friday, all the students in Singapore had the day off as a national holiday. To take advantage of this, our teachers worked to set up a community service project for us to take part in. In Singapore this is called a CIP or community involvement project. All students are required to do a certain amount of CIPs. The americans and our buddies, along with some other Hwa Chong students went to a methodist children's home and took the kids out for a day of fun. These children have either lost their family or their family is unable to take care of them full time. We took the kids to a sport center with plans to go bowling and ice staking. Upon arriving we realized the 'queue' (or line) for ice staking was two hours long! Instead we bowled for two hours, played in the arcade, and had ice cream! All in all it was a great day for both the kids and the volunteers!

Flyer and the Food Trail

Today was another interesting day in Singapore as we saw the magnificent view of the city within thirty minutes! One of Singapore's most famous attraction sites is known as the Singapore Flyer which Virginia, Leah, Jennifer, Rachel, and I got to experience. It is one of the tallest ferris wheel's in the world as it reaches approximately one hundred and sixty-five meters which can be equivalent to about a forty-two stories high. To go around once takes around thirty minutes which was all it took to amaze us with Singapore's beautiful landscape.

Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain in addition to some violent thunder and lightening when we arrived to the Flyer. Because of the terrible weather, the Flyer had closed. We simply waited out the rain and we kept busy with the food trail at the Singapore Flyer. We had a brilliant idea where each individual bought a different dish and we combined the food to make our own buffet. This was a great way for us to experience different cultural foods in one meal!

Because of the unfortunate weather, we were not able to continue our day with the tour of the Marine Barrage. Even with the rain, our day at the Singapore Flyer was filled with excitement and many memories. Hopefully you and your families will make a trip to Singapore and experience the outstanding view of the Singapore River and Sinapore's many gorgeous skylines and beautiful landscapes of the country itself from one of the world's largest ferris wheels.

Singaporean Perspective on World War 2

Today we went to the Changi Museum, a sort of memorial for what Singapore went through during World War II when they were taken over by Japan. Though it was really sad seeing all the terrors that the Singaporeans went through, it was also pretty interesting. We found out that they got a lot of help from the Australians, British, Indians, and several others. Since the Indians were under British rule, they automatically volunteered to help out. The Japanese offered to help them break away from British control if they joined the Japanese, and many Indians were tempted since British people still treated them as their subjects. About one third of the Indians switched to the Japanese side.

We also talked about how in America we pretty much learn just about how the U.S. "saved" everyone during WWII. Instead, in association with Singapore, Americans played a really small role in the war. This was the first time most of us were hearing about the war from a viewpoint other than the American one.

After the museum we all got some delicious frozen yogurt and educated our Singaporean buddies on the American way of life. We talked, played games, and got to compare teenage life in both countries. It was very interesting! :)

"Morning Announcements" and neighborhood visits

Day three of Singapore and we had a great time! We started off the day with their way of morning announcements, which is much different then ours. There's this giant space where all the students meet and a railing for the kids or staff to make an announcement. Imagine if Dr Brewer did that! We were "presented" to the school, which meant we had to stand on this "bridge" 20 feet above the hundreds of students below and Leah gave a brief speech to introduce ourselves.

We then started our journey into Singapore, visiting the Malaysian/Muslim section of the city. We were able to walk into a Mosque, but had to put a robe because of their religion, and did some amazing shopping.



Next we went to Little India, where we all got henna tattoos and explored the streets seeing the many different shops and housing. We made it just in time to visit a Hindu Temple, and learned more about their culture and religion.

The next step was the Supreme Court, which was Mrs Rodgers favorite. Singaporeans say the building looks like a UFO. The architecture features a lot of glass to represent "transparency" in their judicial system.  It was very interesting to see how different the government was compared to the United States. Did you know it's a $500 fee if you're caught chewing gum?!

Our last stop was Chinatown, which is where we ate our lunch. I had the lemon chicken, and was amazed at how different the food is compared to American food. For starters, you can find a lot of traditional Chinese, Indian, Malay, and also Singaporean food. After we went into a museum about the Chinese heritage. The Chinese went through a lot of hardships back around 1800s. With such tiny living space and hard work, these people showed how their determination got them through many difficult times.

Day One Photos: Durian and Dim Sum

                                                        Dim Sum welcome lunch

                                                              Durian.... a Singaporean rite of passage

Day 1

After waking up from our jet lag, we immediately starting filling our Singapore experience with amazing events. We each enjoyed a yummy breakfast with our own Singapore buddies. I went to a Hawker center for breakfast which is an outdoor food market made up of individual food stands.

Everyone then met at 3pm for a welcome lunch at a Chinese restaurant. There was a large amount of unique food for everyone to try with a great deal of diverse tastes. One of the most unique fruits Singapore has to offer is called the durian fruit. After lunch we each tried some of this at one of the market stalls. It has a very interesting flavor that is like nothing i have tasted in America.

After lunch we walked through an outdoor market place and then made our way to one of Singapore's many many shopping malls. When we were done hanging with our new Singapore friends, we each returned home to our host families house to get ready for another exciting day tomorrow!

-Leah

30 Hours Later...

We're heeeeerrrrrrrreeeeee!  4 Airports.... 14 time zones.... 4 bad airplane meals..... and we've arrived!  Here's a before and after picture of our long journey.  The first picture is at Dulles Airport at 8 AM EST Friday morning.  The second picture is at 1:00 AM in the Singapore Airport.