Some Who Wander Are, In fact, Lost

We all (maybe) know that Tolkien quote: "Not all who wander are lost."

Perhaps we've seen it on Pinterest, or on Google Images where, if you keep a quote book, you've stumbled upon it when looking for "inspirational sayings." Or perhaps from Stumble Upon itself (a personal favorite). Or from Lord of The Rings, from which it actually derives. But regardless, I am declaring myself part of the quotient of Wanderers who have been, of late, very very very (x 30) undeniably "Lost."

Quite Lost.

I have been in Singapore for 3 days now, and while those three days have been lovely, they have been a confusing as all hell.

Aside from moving into my dorm, I have spent a vast majority of the last three days either a) in a registration line to get my student visa, b) getting lost trying to find said registration line, c) bussing around the city to purchase "amenities" like food, a pillow (previously I was sleeping on two towels and Mufasa, my stuffed lion), hangers, a sheet that doesn't pop off of my bed every three seconds because it's too small, etc. etc, or d) getting lost trying to bus around said city to purchase said amenities.

I have also tried to pay in Chinese currency (cue judgmental eye-roll from the lady working the cash register), paid three fees twice (cue pitying glance from Registration guide), and have found myself "very interested" in a certain poster about organic vegetables while really trying to discern where the f*** I am without pacing back and forth like a madman (cue confused laugh from a Singapore student after I turned to him and said "Lettuce Turnip the Beet!" *he backed away slowly*).

Ok that third interaction did not happen, but I have been staring at that poster a lot whilst collecting my bearings. The campus here is extremely spread out and lacks the architectural homogeneity that UVA has, so it's been more difficult differentiating between the campus itself and the city. The buildings actually look pretty 80s-esque, which would make sense due to an apparent merger with Nanyang University in 1980 (thank you, Wikipedia), but there are very few signs and, for example, the Eatery could be positioned next to the bus stop, but where one ends and the other begins ... you get the gist.

Actually, I spent a full ten minutes trying to find the bathroom in that Eatery two days ago. TEN minutes. I had to ask six separate people where to find it, and after they vaguely pointed in an upward direction (so ... it's in the sky?), I surmised that it was upstairs in the farthest, most discreet corner of the building.

Though this may seem like the grumbling diatribe of a war-worn curmudgeon, Singapore is really very beautiful. I only mention the other obstacles in the effort to paint an image (create a video, per-say), of how my days have been. Mostly. Because yesterday, for instance, I did get to go to the beach. These photos are of Tanjong Beach, the last stop in the Sentosa island beach stretch. (I pulled them from Google because I forgot to take my phone). Perhaps I'm just unseasoned, but it was the wildest beach I have ever seen. People ages 5-60 (mostly tourists and ex-pats) roamed, danced, played volley ball, and swam while a dj played "club music". Most were getting drunk (except the 5 years olds). Alcohol here is ridiculously expensive (S$15 which is about $12 US dollars), but in general, the atmosphere in most places is very club-esque, and people seem to really enjoy having a good time. (Except drugs! Those can get you anywhere from caned to decapitated, according to a bill enacted in 1973. So maybe Nearly Headless Nick would imbibe, freely, so he could finally join the Headless Hunt, but otherwise, I think most are choosing their heads over drugs. Call me crazy.)

I just thought of about 3 puns in relation to this ^: 1) Head over h-E-E-ls. 2) Not about that Base. 3) You'll be tripping . . . literally, because you won't have your head! (Yes, the third was bad, I know. Moving on).

I went out last night for the first time, which was, in a word, an experience. After spending 1.5 hours in bus/subway transit (due to confusion, once again), 4 of us (me...duh, a new friend named Angela from Canada, another Canadian and one French girl, all very nice and fun) made it to the Clarke Quay bridge, where a lot of NUS and exchanger students were gathering. The bridge was massive, so easily hundreds of people were commiserating (no, really just socializing!), and because there are no open container laws here, people could take beer/wine etc and drink in the open. (<-- And that, kids, is a self-explanatory sentence!) A lot of the "night spots" are lit with colorful lights, so it was visually as interesting as it was meeting a lot of new people from all over the globe. Thus far, I've surprisingly encountered a lot of Canadians. Not sure why, but I certainly don't mind it. After talking on the bridge for a while, we headed to the Clarke Quay night clubs.

Eesh.

These clubs were smoky, strobe light-y, and in general, a bit over stimulating, but I had to roll with the punches, because I think clubs and such are the norm in Singapore. The evening, from here on out, consisted of me swaying back and forth, looking around and hoping that *dear God* no one would notice how uncomfortable I sometimes am in those situations. But good news! Someone noticed! In fact, one boy even told me that I was a "good dancer but [he] had literally no idea what to talk to me about." Abbey suggested that maybe he didn't speak great English, but nay, hopeful readers, he was from Canada. I think it was because I could not hear him when he asked what I was studying 4 times, so I responded, "America!" I took this declaration as a compliment, regardless, because at least he thought highly of my swaying.

(Mom, I know you will be furious with me for sharing this story -- ("don't tell people about those horrible conversations you always get into! It will make them think something is wrong with you!") -- but it was amusing, at the very least.

The night, in all, was very fun. Albeit expensive, but fun. I'm excited to explore the city more, especially the nature walks and "Little ______"s. There is a Little India, a Little China, and some other culture oriented areas, and furtheremore, I'm still excited to see the trees!

I should also mention my cancelled flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, only because it gave me the opportunity to see a bit of Lantau island (the airport island, essentially) of Hong Kong for a few hours. I met a fellow NUS student (Daniel) in line at the airport, so we decided to stick together for the remainder of the layover, and aside from eating in the airport together (three times!), we took a cable car to see the "Giant Buddha", which was situated in an "authentic Chinese" town in the mountains. This Buddhist-themed town actually looked a lot like Epcot Italy, or the Busch Gardens version of Germany (which, surprisingly, offers very good ribs in its Festhaus), except of course, it was Epcot China. With an "ancient Tree of Knowledge" positioned next to a hand-crafted chop-sticks stand next to a 7-11 with a "real Kung-fu master" posing for pictures outside, who could possibly question the validity of this historic landmark?

The Buddha itself was enormous. It was only 26 years old, so not the product of an insane instance of manual labor, probably, but it was cool. I was (and still am) curious as to how it was built, to which Daniel said "you ask a lot of very specific questions", but it was copper and truly massive.

Not pictured: the progression of women bowing at every step in honor of the statue. There were easily 200 steps, so it was fascinating to watch.

I was not allowed to take a picture of the Buddhist temple to the right of these stairs, but it was something to behold. Very ornate, very golden (literally everything was painted gold), and inside there were about 100 monks worshipping. I wondered how they felt about worshipping in such a public vicinity (as they were on display, essentially), but nonetheless, that, too, was fascinating to watch.

Interestingly (and un-related), I saw three monks walking through the mall yesterday in traditional garb. That's a paradox if I've ever seen one.

Though our stay in Hong Kong was short lived (1 night), I'm glad we ventured out to this attraction. Touristy, sure, but still worth seeing.

This is all for now. I will undoubtedly have more to add as the days progress, but for the time being, I'll just say that Singapore is "shiok!" (This means "delicious" in Singlish, so really doesn't make sense, but it's the only word I've held on to thus far. And "cheem," which means "confusing." And "act 'blur'" (sp?), but the meaning of this one, despite multiple explanations, still evades me.

Finally, I'll include a picture of the wonderful little cockroach I found outside of my bathroom. (Despite this, the country is really great, thus far.) So long!