Saturday, June 23, 2012

First two weeks in Singapore

Hi, everyone!

So I recently remembered that this blog actually exists and decided that it would be a good way to keep track of all the cool things I'm doing in Singapore this summer (just in case all the Instagramed photos don't suffice long-term).  Feel free to stop by as often as you like - I'll be posting on Facebook when I provide updates, just FYI.

So I landed in Singapore on Monday morning, June 11, two days after taking off in Boston on Saturday night.  The flights went well and I slept almost entirely through my second one - I din't even get to experience takeoff in the A380!  Oh well, hopefully on my way home.

My first week in Singapore was a lot of work - Chris and I had a lot to do to get ready for the launch of our program at SUTD on June 15.  We did have a bit of time for fun, though - highlights included:

  • Eating at "Kinki," a super nice sushi place on Marina Bay overlooking the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) hotel
  • Fish head curry in Little India (food will be a recurring theme on all lists of things done in Singapore - they really love their food here)
  • Meeting Hugh Mason, a British entrepreneur living in Singapore with some amazing insights on culture and life here
Over the weekend, we spent two and a half days busting out the Orientation of our program, which was both awesome and very well documented - photos can be found here!

After the end of Orientation last Sunday, we went with the MITers and a few SUTD folks back to Little India, where we had some authentic South Indian cuisine before hanging out at the Esplanade at night chatting about Singapore, MIT, SUTD, and lots of other things.

Monday, Chris, Melanie, and I took a half-day to recuperate from Orientation and relax for our first time since arriving here.  We shopped on Orchard Road (the well-known shopping district in Singapore) all afternoon, and I came home with a few new outfits, which was great.

On Tuesday, the hall master of the hostel we're living in, Queenie, took all the MITers to a Korean family restaurant on the Western edge of Singapore for a nice group dinner.  Singapore really is incredibly small - the West Coast was only about 15 minutes by bus, and the airport (which is all the way to the east) is about a 30 minute drive.  Crazy!

On Wednesday, a few of us went to a cool event called BlinkBL_NK, which is a TEDx-like monthly event in Singapore where locals (and expats living locally) talk about something that they're interested and knowledgeable in.  Wednesday, we listened to talks on Singapore taxi policies, biking in modern-day Singapore, and the cognitive revolution...I kid you not.  Afterwards, Melanie, Chris, and I went to Clarke Quay, one of the main hustle-bustle bar areas of Singapore.

Last night (Friday), Melanie and I went to another event coordinated by Hugh or one of his local friends - an open house for the Joyful Frog Digital Incubator, a tech start-up incubator he runs with his business partner.  We got to meet some interesting people and get more tips on what to see here, and after a nice western dinner (despite the fact that the garlic bread was made with hot dog rolls, yum) we got late-night pedicures and went to a bar by MBS.  As we were waiting for the other MITers to show up, we watched this amazing light show they have in Marina Bay every night - basically, they project images onto water droplets that tell a story with lots of lights and music and pyrotechnics to add to the experience.  Here's a panoramic photo I took, but I'm not sure it does it justice:



Today was more chill - some more shopping (both for work and to pick up some supplies I needed for home) then dinner with Melanie and now we're just catching up on emails and our various social media outlets.  I'm for one probably going to bed pretty soon - tomorrow will be the first day since arriving here I wake up without an alarm clock!

Sorry for the long schpiel, just wanted to get everything down before I forgot!  Miss you all!

Dara

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