The next day (after the MRT tour around Sinapore) I met an american/brazilian/englishman (he has all three passports and has lived in each of those countries, and many more) and we decided that we both wanted to go downtown and drink a Singapore Sling at Raffles hotel. So we took the MRT down to Raffles Place stop and got out. Not knowing exactly where Raffles was, we stopped at the first bar we saw (which was basically the same place that I had walked by the day before), had a Sling and talked a bit about our trips to Singapore. Feeling refreshed and ambitious after the drink we decided to set out to find Raffles. We walked along the river in the opposite direction that I had been the day before and we found oursleves surrounded by an interesting mixture of colonial and new architechture and parkland. Thinking that we were near to our destination we asked several people for directions, but to our surprise neither the locals nor the tourists knew where Raffles hotel was. Being very hot in the tropical midday sun (Singapore is less than 1 degree north of the equator) we sought refuge in an underground mall built with much the same concept as the one in Montreal (only to protect people from the heat, rather than the cold). There we asked a mall information booth for directions and several more wrong turns later we were sitting in the courtyard of Raffles hotel sipping Singapore Slings and speaking of the glories of the Empire.
That night a group of around 15-20 NUS exchgange students (of which I was one) decided to go sample the local night life. Someone suggested "double O" on Mohamed Sultan road (the biggest bar street in Singapore). The club was really nice, it was large and had three bars as well as a big dance floor. Being that it was ladies night, the girls quickly got drunk for free while us guys slowly sipped down our expensive beers and cocktails. Eventually they started to play some good house music and I got up and danced. After a few hours and a few drinks I was ready to call it a night so I shared a cab and went home.
The next day was registration. Even though this was supposed to be done immediately upon arrival, because of my nervousness regarding the whole SARS thing I waited until I was somewhat sure that they wouldn't just kick me out before I would voulinarily have any contact with the NUS authorities.
In true Sinapore style, registration involved wating in line, filling out forms, waiting in a different line, filling out other forms, then waiting in line to get into a waiting room. Once there, there was some more waiting and we were finaly given our student cards and some more forms to be filled out and told of more forms and burocratic busy work that had to be done before we were fully registered.
Put off my the thought of doing more of that, I went with a group of students to the nearest market/shopping area and bought a new Nokia 2100 hand phone (or cell phone to all of you in North America (and yes I realise that is all of you)). Although setting up the phone did not involve much waiting, you will be relieved to know that it did involve plenty of form filling. If you are interested my number is (+65) for singapore, 90751463... unless it is important or you feel you can't go on without the sound of my voice, please don't call as even though it might me cheap for you, I pay 25 cents a minute for air time. On the other hand, please feel free to send me text messages. They are only 5 cents and almost as good as an msn chat.
With my new phone in my pocket returned to campus where I joined up with another group of students and then set off for little India. Little India should more properly be known as little Tamil-Nadu/Sri Lanka as nearly all the Indians there are Tamils. As such there is a huge variety of very good and very inexpensive (I got a great meal for about C$2) vegetarian food. Surprisingly, this is also where you find the second hand electronics shops. If you want a TV, this is the place to go. So we ate and then looked at some shops. To my utter dismay, in the first hand phone shop we went to I saw the exact same phone that I had just bought across town for S$198 selling for S$168... well now I know...
From there, through pure chance and the need to search out A/C we walked into the largest electronics mall in Singapore (which, since this is Asia does say alot). This place is six floors of wall to wall computers, cameras, sterieos, and components. None of the shops have posted prices, everything has to be bargained for, which can be fun.. and tiring.
When I got home that night, I was too tired to even think about going out again so I read a little and went to sleep.
The following day was a friday and a my new American friend (who I had met the day before on the shopping trips) Nick and I spent most of the day trying to drum up support for going to Zouk, reputedly the best club in Asia. We talked to Sweeds, Danes, Finns, and Brits... and then we eventually went with some Americans and Canadains and went to Liquid lounge... the second hottest club in Sinapore. It was a small club with no cover (yay) but $10 drinks (boo) and a dj from the UK spinning tech house. After dancing for a bit, Nick went up and talked to the people in the VIP area. Fifteen minutes later we were all invited up. The "VIP's" were mostly Sweedish and American investment bankers (one was from Short Hills, New Jersey hehe...) who were just looking to have a good time with the huge amount of money they were making. We chilled up there and drank on them for the rest of the evening before cabbing home with a promise that we would hang out again.
Woke up the next day with a minor hangover and a renewed desire to go to Zouk. I spent most of the day eating and lounging around the residence area with the other exchange students. That night, Nick, myself and some Norwegens went to Zouk. It did not dissapoint... once I wrote off the $28 cover charge I went exploring. Zouk is really three clubs connected by hallways. The space in the main club is really cool, it has a high cieling and white plaster doves haning from the rafters... if you want to know more, it has a website www.zouk.com.sg I think... After a good night of hanging out with the Norwegens I went home and slept well.
The following day, sunday, Nick and I went back downtown and went to the biggest market in Singapore. I bought some counterfiet diesel shoes for $38 and a satchel for $18. The market its self is an experience. It it a permanent outdoor market with stalls selling clothing, shoes, bags, and lighters, all for prices lower than I thought I would find in Singapore.
Well... I have a bus to catch... I am currently in Kuala Lumpur and have to go off to the beach now... but I still have a few more days of catch up before I can get to that.
If you think I am going into too much boreing detail or you just don't give a fuck about what I am doing please let me know.
Marc
That night a group of around 15-20 NUS exchgange students (of which I was one) decided to go sample the local night life. Someone suggested "double O" on Mohamed Sultan road (the biggest bar street in Singapore). The club was really nice, it was large and had three bars as well as a big dance floor. Being that it was ladies night, the girls quickly got drunk for free while us guys slowly sipped down our expensive beers and cocktails. Eventually they started to play some good house music and I got up and danced. After a few hours and a few drinks I was ready to call it a night so I shared a cab and went home.
The next day was registration. Even though this was supposed to be done immediately upon arrival, because of my nervousness regarding the whole SARS thing I waited until I was somewhat sure that they wouldn't just kick me out before I would voulinarily have any contact with the NUS authorities.
In true Sinapore style, registration involved wating in line, filling out forms, waiting in a different line, filling out other forms, then waiting in line to get into a waiting room. Once there, there was some more waiting and we were finaly given our student cards and some more forms to be filled out and told of more forms and burocratic busy work that had to be done before we were fully registered.
Put off my the thought of doing more of that, I went with a group of students to the nearest market/shopping area and bought a new Nokia 2100 hand phone (or cell phone to all of you in North America (and yes I realise that is all of you)). Although setting up the phone did not involve much waiting, you will be relieved to know that it did involve plenty of form filling. If you are interested my number is (+65) for singapore, 90751463... unless it is important or you feel you can't go on without the sound of my voice, please don't call as even though it might me cheap for you, I pay 25 cents a minute for air time. On the other hand, please feel free to send me text messages. They are only 5 cents and almost as good as an msn chat.
With my new phone in my pocket returned to campus where I joined up with another group of students and then set off for little India. Little India should more properly be known as little Tamil-Nadu/Sri Lanka as nearly all the Indians there are Tamils. As such there is a huge variety of very good and very inexpensive (I got a great meal for about C$2) vegetarian food. Surprisingly, this is also where you find the second hand electronics shops. If you want a TV, this is the place to go. So we ate and then looked at some shops. To my utter dismay, in the first hand phone shop we went to I saw the exact same phone that I had just bought across town for S$198 selling for S$168... well now I know...
From there, through pure chance and the need to search out A/C we walked into the largest electronics mall in Singapore (which, since this is Asia does say alot). This place is six floors of wall to wall computers, cameras, sterieos, and components. None of the shops have posted prices, everything has to be bargained for, which can be fun.. and tiring.
When I got home that night, I was too tired to even think about going out again so I read a little and went to sleep.
The following day was a friday and a my new American friend (who I had met the day before on the shopping trips) Nick and I spent most of the day trying to drum up support for going to Zouk, reputedly the best club in Asia. We talked to Sweeds, Danes, Finns, and Brits... and then we eventually went with some Americans and Canadains and went to Liquid lounge... the second hottest club in Sinapore. It was a small club with no cover (yay) but $10 drinks (boo) and a dj from the UK spinning tech house. After dancing for a bit, Nick went up and talked to the people in the VIP area. Fifteen minutes later we were all invited up. The "VIP's" were mostly Sweedish and American investment bankers (one was from Short Hills, New Jersey hehe...) who were just looking to have a good time with the huge amount of money they were making. We chilled up there and drank on them for the rest of the evening before cabbing home with a promise that we would hang out again.
Woke up the next day with a minor hangover and a renewed desire to go to Zouk. I spent most of the day eating and lounging around the residence area with the other exchange students. That night, Nick, myself and some Norwegens went to Zouk. It did not dissapoint... once I wrote off the $28 cover charge I went exploring. Zouk is really three clubs connected by hallways. The space in the main club is really cool, it has a high cieling and white plaster doves haning from the rafters... if you want to know more, it has a website www.zouk.com.sg I think... After a good night of hanging out with the Norwegens I went home and slept well.
The following day, sunday, Nick and I went back downtown and went to the biggest market in Singapore. I bought some counterfiet diesel shoes for $38 and a satchel for $18. The market its self is an experience. It it a permanent outdoor market with stalls selling clothing, shoes, bags, and lighters, all for prices lower than I thought I would find in Singapore.
Well... I have a bus to catch... I am currently in Kuala Lumpur and have to go off to the beach now... but I still have a few more days of catch up before I can get to that.
If you think I am going into too much boreing detail or you just don't give a fuck about what I am doing please let me know.
Marc
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