2 WEEKS LEFT IN SINGAPORE

FEBRUARY 2011

So I'm almost caught up to real time writing this blog now. I have two weeks left in Singapore before I head off to meet my college buds in the Philippines! Allison decided to go home early because of China visa issues and left on Saturday, leaving me homeless for a week but I'm so lucky-- Minnie and Josh (the couple we met in Phuket) are letting me stay with them for a week! I was considering staying at the airport (which has showers/gym/pool/food...it would be like The Terminal with Tom Hanks) or flying to Malaysia because it's a lot cheaper there (but also more dangerous). But luckily Minnie and Josh took me in to their lovely home!

VOLUNTEERING WITH SG CARES

This past week, I started volunteer with an organization called SG Cares, where you just sign up for events and they have a huge variety--from tutoring to cleaning Singapore's bathrooms. I had applied for a few with the Children's Cancer Hospital but got rejected (!) since you have to have a long term commitment of at least 6 months and a bunch of health checks (which makes sense since you would be working with patients). So I signed up with SG Cares and went to this tutoring program called Evergreen Bees, for kids 10-12 years old. It's an after school program where they get to play and also get extra tutoring. So far, it's been pretty fun...some of the kids are SO hyper, and there's a mix of Malay, Indian, and Chinese students. We tutor them in math and English and some of the math I needed a little refresher on! It's been a while since I've done Algebra...The school system here is SO strict and competitive and therefore a lot of Singaporeans have a hard time "thinking out of the box." I was tutoring this really smart Chinese girl and looked at her report card from school. She is evaluated on categories like:

- Patriotism

- Resilience

- Responsibility

- Compassion

- BMI--from severely overweight to severely underweight

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY (OR MONDAY MORNING)

On Superbowl Sunday, we got up at 6am (Allie had just gotten in from Taiwan at 2am) to watch the Superbowl at this place called Smokey's BBQ which was in the suburbs of Singapore (so random!). We ended up watching the game with an Auburn graduate who she had met at a bar the weekend before (also random!). We were really bummed that our dear Steelers lost but we forgot quickly since no one here watches football (it was on the 10th page of the Straits Times , the local newspaper, the next day in a really small article).

HIP HOP CLASS FAIL

Allie and I went to this hip hop class at O-School one night and everyone was SO good, it was embarrassing (for us). Some looked really shy and quiet but once the music was on, I've never seen such a talented group of people hit so hard! Here's a video of the routine they learned in just one class (less than 45 min)--Allie and I didn't go, since we couldn't even get the steps!

PAN PACIFIC GOING AWAY PARTY

Last Friday was Allie's last night, and the Pan Pacific was having a Chinese New Year Party! We are going to miss the staff of the Pan Pacific dearly...we were so spoiled by their amazing service (they had our names memorized by day 2). Most of the service here is unbeatable--there's even a reality show called "Can You Serve?" looking for the best people in hospitality! How crazy is that? I feel like it would be hard to find any eligible applicants in the US.

Some pictures of/with the Pan Pacific staff (and the amazing free breakfast every day):

The person I will miss the most at the Pan Pacific is Serene, our housekeeper, who would come almost every day (she would yell at us for putting up the no service sign) and change our towels every day too! I had to negotiate with her to help the environment and only change them 2 times a week, 3 max if she felt it was absolutely necessary. Serene would give me the dish on all the guests at the Pan Pacific and we used to chat almost every day! I got her a small gift on my last day, and she was so sweet she even got me a present too!

ALLIE's GOING AWAY PARTY

So after we hung out at the pool deck and I had a Tiger Beer (hence was feeling a little tipsy), a bunch of Allie's friends came over and then we headed to Long Beach for a late dinner. We had SO much food and delicious Chili crab, and then the girls headed out to Holland Village for a live band.

VALENTINE's DAY SURPRISE

Since Valentine's Day was coming up, I was a little bummed that Art and I wouldn't be able to spend it together, so he sent me some lovely flowers to the Pan Pacific. When the front desk rang our doorbell, I wasn't expecting them and thought that we were going to get kicked out a day early! Luckily, I got these nice roses instead :)