Singapore: When it rains, it pours!

So as many of you probably know (mostly from my griping), Singapore is located one degree north of the equator, meaning that it is very hot here most of the time.   Looking back, it's actually kind of similar to DC summers in terms of climate - hot and sticky for days and days on end.  The only difference here is that they don't have seasons at all and the weather never really changes; I keep referring to the MITers as being here "for the summer" and no one really knows what that means!

Additionally, another peril of Singapore (besides the constant threat of dehydration) is actually catching a common cold - bodies react very strangely to abrupt, irregular transitions between dry, 60 degree weather (i.e. anywhere air conditioned) and humid, 90+ degree temperatures (i.e. everywhere else).  A couple of our students have already caught colds since being here, and I've been carrying cardigans around constantly to try and protect myself!

The only relief from the heat are the rainstorms, which have actually been few and far between since we arrived here 3 weeks ago.  When it rains, however, it's a torrential downpour, and it actually pulls a lot of the water out of the air and makes it far more tolerable to be outside.  Below is a view from our apartment during one of these storms, which usually are really quick (lasting for an hour or two at the absolute max).

As you can probably deduct from my lengthy discussion of the weather, not much has been happening in SG this week.  Tomorrow is the launch of the SUTD entrepreneurship programme (British spelling and all), and yesterday was a postdoc in our office's birthday, so we celebrated at a little bar by Orchard Road.  It was a lovely evening, although it was definitely tough to say goodbye to Anine, a good friend of mine from my office at MIT who left today to head back to the States.  We'll miss her a lot here!

Anyway, I'll let all of you go - the adventure to Bali starts tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have lots to report after that.  Wish us luck!

Singapore and "The Mall"

So this last weekend Melanie and I decided to stay in Singapore and take a few days relaxing, which meant a lot of sleeping, some eating, and - of course - SHOPPING.

So although I'm not the most avid of shoppers Stateside (although some may disagree), the culture of malls and shopping is so pervasive here in Singapore that it's really hard to get away from it.  Within our first few days here, Chris and I discovered that if you're in any type of metropolitan area of the island, a place to shop or eat will be within at least 100 yards, if not 50.

The main shopping area of Singapore is called Orchard Road, and the most famous of the malls is called the ION Orchard.  The mall is huge in itself (and has a giant food court in the basement, where it is totally acceptable and encouraged for anyone to eat - unlike at mall food courts in the states), but the most amazing part is that it is connected through underground tunnels and passageways to malls on each of its sides that continue for at least a half a mile.  If you walk south on Orchard from the main corner, within the first block you'll pass 2 Cartiers, 3 Louis Vuittons, and more Ralph Laurens, Swatch retailers, and Armani Exchanges than you can count.  At first glance, the sheer volume seems completely ludicrous, but the thing is: all of the malls are always crowded.  I've had to head down to that area on a Monday afternoon, a Thursday evening, a Saturday afternoon, and a Sunday morning, and each time it's been so packed with people that it's difficult to maneuver (additionally difficult if you're used to walking on the right side of hallways - they follow the British system here, which means I'm constantly running into people).  Maybe they're tourists, maybe they're expats, but it appears that people in Singapore really like to shop.


Additionally, some of the best restaurants here are located in or around the malls.  Food is very interesting in Singapore; it's all delicious, but the price distribution is bimodal - you can get lunch or dinner at a Hawker Center (an outdoor food stall area) or food court for $2-$8 SGD, but if you eat in a sit down restaurant, all prices jump to around $16-$25 SGD for an entree, and there really isn't anywhere that sells in the middle.

On Sunday, Melanie and I had brunch at a famous Taiwanese dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung which has 9 branches in Singapore (you guessed it...all in malls).  Their specialty is "Soup Dumplings," which are traditional pork or chicken dumplings that are also filled with delicious broth.  They come to the table steamed, and you eat them by dipping them in sauce, placing them in a soup spoon, and then poking them with a chopstick to make all the good broth come out and mix with the chili, ginger, soy sauce, and vinegar you've put on top.  They were absolutely amazing, but Melanie and I potentially ordered a bit too much food - after those, some pork shumai, a cucumber appetizer, fried rice, beef noodle soup, a red bean and rice dessert, and sesame buns, both of us were so stuffed we could barely move (see below).

Anyway, that was it for the weekend, and now it's Monday morning and I should really be getting to work!  Exciting things in store for this week are the celebration of a coworker's birthday on Wednesday, the launch of the SUTD entrepreneurship program on Friday, and Chris and my trip to Bali this weekend.  Stay tuned!

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

Help Dara!

Hi, everyone...

Long time no blog! So it's been a crazy semester thus far, and there's so much to do! Right now, though, I'm trying to choose my submissions for the IPE Study Abroad photo contest, and I'm having some trouble--I think I just took WAY too many pictures to make this easy. I've already chosen two, one from Austria for the "Wolverines Abroad" category and one from Lisbon for the "People and Culture" category (see directly below). After those two, I'm having some trouble picking, so if you could leave a comment with your favorite for each of the categories, that would be great!

Thanks for your help,

Dara

For the "Wolverines Abroad" category:

For the "People and Cultures" category:

Home!

Okay, so I know that I promised that I'd write the minute I got home, but I've just been so busy/jet lagged that I didn't get around to it...sorry!

Anyway, I am home safe, and the summer is starting to feel like a very good dream that was a million years ago. If it wasn't for all the stuff laying all over my room I almost wouldn't believe it ever happened :-)

Anyway, happy summer, everyone, and I hope to see you all soon. Thanks for reading!

Dara

Done with finals!

So as of about an hour ago I'm totally DONE with finals and all class obligations! I'm also all packed at this point, so I'm kind of out of stuff to do. In about half an hour Kathryn and I are going out to lunch, then I think I'm going to go to the Oxford Castle (which will undoubtedly be overrun with tourists since it's Saturday) before all of us have our farewell dinner tonight.

Anyway, I thought it might be nice to finish off my blogging with a quick rerun of the last three months and a top ten list of my favorite things I've done during this incredible summer. I've been trying to keep track of the best moments all throughout the trip, and it's been really hard to choose, but here's the finished result:

10. Mass at Sacre Coeur - Paris

We totally stumbled upon mass going on at the cathedral, and so we sat in the back and watched the end. It was absolutely beautiful, and the space was totally incredible. Afterwards, we wandered around Montmartre with other people from our group, which was also lots of fun.

9. Day Trip to Glendalough - Ireland

After weeks of being in cities, it was such a relief to get back to the country! Glendalough was absolutely beautiful, and it was definitely just what Ireland is supposed to look like. Hiking--even if we were schlepping our backpacks the whole time--was such a nice change from city walking and subways.

8. Bike Riding to the North Sea - Belgium

After our finals, we rented bikes and rode out to the North Sea with one of our professors. It was a really relaxing afternoon, and I had forgotten how much fun bike riding is. Seeing an actual beach was also a nice change, as was drinking good Belgian beer with a professor. Quite an afternoon.

7. Borghese Museum - Rome

Even though this museum was one of the smallest we saw on the whole trip, I absolutely adored the Berninis they had there! It was great to finally see them close up, especially after studying them so much in art class.

6. Pimm's at the Eagle & Child - Oxford

Even though it's totally full of Americans, my friends and I fell in love with the Eagle & Child here in Oxford. It's everything that a good English pub should be, plus they have the most delicious Pimm's I've ever had (Pimm's is a very British drink that involves fruit, lemonade, and cucumber--AMAZING). We spent many a Thursday night there :-)

5. Climbing the Fortress - Salzburg

Austria was one of my favorite countries we visited, and the views from the top of the fortress in Salzburg were just SPECTACULAR. It was, admittedly, quite a climb, but totally worth it in the end. That was such a fun day.

4. Churchill War Rooms - London

By far the coolest historical museum I've ever been to! I mean, the British Museum was absolutely spectacular, but I'm so interested in World War II history that I just had to love the War Rooms. They've been so perfectly preserved for the last sixty years... absolutely amazing.

3. Weekend in Lisbon

Okay, so I know that it's cheating to say that a whole weekend was a particular thing we did, but it was just so much fun! Good food, a great hostel, fantastic company, and beautiful architecture all over the place. What could be bad?

2. Our Last Dinner in Italy - Venice

The best food we had in Italy (which is saying something) with great company in a beautiful garden. Proves the worth of waiting to eat and finding a restaurant far away from the tourist centers. I'll definitely never forget that pesto.

1. The Vienna Philharmonic - Vienna

Listening to one of the greatest orchestras in the world in a beautiful concert venue. The finale of the Mendelssohn suite we heard was one of the most incredible musical moments of my life. Everyone should try to hear the Vienna Philharmonic at some point in their life.

So that's it! I--of course--also loved learning about art and music, eating lots of good food, and improving my photography skills (stuff like that), but those are the biggies. I hope that you've all enjoyed my blog all summer, and thanks so much for reading! I'll post a quick update on Sunday letting you all know that I've gotten home okay.

Happy end of summer, everyone...

Dara

Last Week in Oxford

Two days left! I'm halfway done with finals, (kind of) halfway packed, and very ready to head back to New England :-) Even so, it's been a very interesting last week here. Here are some of the highlights:

My classes on Monday were arguably my most interesting thus far--in International Business we had a speaker who is the head of McDonald's operations in the Netherlands, and in Ethics we had a lecture about photo manipulation and the ethical implications of photoshop (all the way from Lenin and Trotsky to modern-day airbrushing). Both were actually really great! The McDonalds guy had some very interesting things to say--apparently McDonalds views the European market as a completely different entity than the American market, and they're trying to bill themselves here as a "low cost eatery" rather than as a fast food chain like in the US. Hmm.

On Tuesday, Uncle Bob was in the UK on business, so he came to Oxford with one of his business associates and his associate's son (who attends University College here). After wandering around Oxford for a bit, the four of us went to dinner at this amazing restaurant in Oxford that I didn't even know existed! I had lamb with potatoes and mint, and it was absolutely delicious (definitely one of my best meals in Europe). Everyone was very nice and friendly, but Bob was flying out early to Tel Aviv on Wednesday so the evening ended fairly early. I--very sadly--missed the Georgia Tech-UGA Oxford Study Abroad yearly soccer game, but quite frankly I wasn't that crushed. I have my own rivalries to worry about :-)

On Wednesday the Provost of Worcester College held a champagne reception for all of the GT students and faculty in his garden. It was lovely--everyone got all dressed up (see photo of my travel group below) and there was free champagne and everyone took a million pictures. All of my professors were really nice; they told me that they loved having me in class and that I should definitely keep in touch even after I get back to Ann Arbor.

Yesterday was our last day of class, then last night I babysat for one of the professors who's teaching here. The kids were really great and it definitely made me miss camp just a little bit. I got lots of studying for my exam this morning done, and the professor is in aerospace and he had a lot of very interesting things to say about various departments at different universities.

This morning I took my first final, and I have another one tomorrow morning (which means, sadly, that I can't do anything fun like go to London tomorrow). Tonight Kathryn and I are going to our last weekly movie--"The Ugly Truth"--then tomorrow a bunch of us are going out for our farewell dinner. Sunday we fly home! Hooray!

Looking forward to seeing everyone,

Dara

PS: I've also added some more photos of Oxford goodness since I last shared this link, so if you're interested in more pictures, here's the link again: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016776&id=1326450024&l=9f8d8220f0 (Includes lots of pretty pictures from the Oxford Botanical Gardens)