This is Singapore: Skyscrapers and Cityscapes

Crazy-looking Marina Bay Sands Casino. Just opened last month. Lots of it is still closed and under construction. But you can now come in and gamble....as long as you are not Singaporean. Yes, that's right, Singapore build a casino that they won't let their citizens into. Because gambling is bad for you. Singaporeans have to pay a $100 fee to get in. And that's before the gambling begins. (sometimes I feel like all of Singapore is one big social psych experiment)

Memorial from the Japanese War

The Esplanade. Theatre right on the bay. Lots of cool shows and performances. Very controversial design. At least when it was built. Now it is considered one of the more impressive architectures in SE Asia. It's nicknamed the durian, because it resembles the fruit.

City shot down by the Quays.

Central Business District

Across the water from the Esplanade

The Helix Bridge. Seriously cool. It lights up at night and changes colors on different days.

Walking along the Helix bridge. Notice all the green and red lights? Know what they are?

Here's an up close shot. Get it?

(Remember it's a helix. Aren't Singaporeans' clever? I love this).

The Singapore Flyer. One of the largest Ferris wheels in the world. Takes about 30 minutes just to go around once.

Twilight setting in...

Another shot of the Sands casino and the Helix bridge.

Can we say skyscrapers?

View of the Central Business District

More Helix!

I love this shot. It's so hard to get good pics of the building reflections, but I think this one turned out pretty decent.

The Flyer

Along the water

And of course, it wouldn't be Singapore without the Merlion. The Merlion is the symbol of Singapore (that's right, a lion mermaid. Don't tell me you've never heard of them). It is a rather clever combination of Singapore's names. Back in the day it was called "Temasek", meaning "sea town"..thus the tail, and it's current name, Singapore, has derived from the title "Singapura" or"Lion City" .

Cool, huh?

Dragon Boat Festival Day

June 16th was the Dragon Boat Festival. Years ago in China, a famous poet drowned himself in a lake as a political statement (seriously, he couldn't just write to his congressman? ...although I've also heard a version of the story in which the drowning wasn't so voluntary). All the poet's followers raced out to save him, paddling dragon boats. They also threw rice dumplings wrapped in leaves into the water to keep the fish from eating his body.

They didn't save him.

However, now the tradition in China (and Taiwan and the like) is to race dragon boats and eat the rice dumplings on June 16th.

In Singapore, we couldn't find any dragon boat racing (Although reportedly there may be some in July. Will keep ya posted). But there was definitely lots of rice dumplings. We had to wait in a long line to get them.




But it was totally worth it. They were sooo good!

Dragon boat day was also supposed to be my first day of work. I say supposed, because very little work got done. I got a tour of the psych department and of main campus, and got introduced to some profs and admins, and settled down in my new office for all of a couple of hours before Pony asked if I wanted to go to dinner with her friends from Hong Kong at 8. Sure, I said. A little while latter, she said, "Come on, lets go". But it is only 4:30pm. "Yes," she said, "But we can get some more dinners on the way."

I seriously don't understand how people here eat so much. They say that eating is the national pastime in Singapore. Which sounds facetious until you realize it is true. Since coming here, on several occasions, we have literally finished one meal and then walked to the next. And I thought the force feeding in Taiwan and China was bad. I don't understand how people here stay so skinny. I've asked and they say it is the weather and the walking and the smaller portion sizes. But I am in the same weather and have been walking just as much, and eating smaller portions than them and I sure as hell am not any skinnier.

So I ended up with 3 dinners at three different restaurants. Which(as much as I bitched and groaned about how I was going to be sick if we kept it up), honestly was pretty fantastic.

In our NSF orientation in DC, they told us all about the food culture. And they recommended three classic Singaporean dishes that we just had to try. I had all three in one day. =)

First was Laksa. Which is really Malaysian I think.



It's noodles and meat and veggies in a broth. But then they add lots of hot sauce and coconut milk. Really fairly amazing.

Next was Chicken Rice. Which is exactly what it sounds like:



Also good, but in a much more average way, compared to all the exotic stuff I've been trying.

Last, but in no way least, the one, the only, the infamous...Chilli Crab:




There may be words to describe it. But none that would do it justice. Just really really good.

We had our last dinner at an amazing super fancy restaurant right along the waterfront. We sat outside, and for once, the Singapore weather was perfect. No rain, no humidity, no heat. A perfect 75 degrees and a cool breeze off of the water, a clear night sky and a postcard view of the sparkling downtown skyline. Just the right mixture of romantic, exciting and relaxing. If I sound a little smitten, it's because I am. I have to admit, thus far, I was not particularly taken with Singapore. It's hot. It's humid. The traffic is awful. It's crowded. It's not as exotic or fascinatingly foreign as the other countries I've been to. Yet it's not quite as convenient as being at home. It's expensive. It's strict and confining. It is a country of consumerism. I have never seen so many malls in my life. I hate malls. ...But that night...it was also magic. It reminded me of hanging out in Circular Quay in Sydney, my favorite city in the world. Sitting outside the Opera house at the Opera bar and watching the world go by. ...and I'll admit it, I was a little bit in love.

After dinner, we took a long and relaxing stroll along the waterfront, before hopping a cab back to NTU.

I could get used to this.

NSF-EAPSI Orientation (Day 2)

Day 2 also started crazy early. Good thing we were all still jetlagging. The second day of orientation was organized by the government instead of the schools. It consisted of touring the facilities.... in Singapore there are all these (government run) museums and tours about Singapore's technology and how awesome it is. I guess, as scientists, they thought we'd like it. That, or they wanted to make sure that the brainwashing started as soon as we got here (I'll say more about the socio-political climate at some other point in time... it's fascinating).

First stop was the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Singapore City Gallery. It had tons of city models, and talked all about the "Master plan" for Singapore. It had displays about all the different neighborhood, and all the new developments.

Next stop was the Land Transport Authority's Transport Gallery, which gave us an organized tour about the history and details of transport in Singapore. Being the sophisticated American scientists that we are, we were particularly fascinated by the room of transport models.






They also took us into "The Challenge Theatre", which I was really hoping was going to be some kind of gladiator ring, but turns out it was a movie theatre like place with buttons on the arm rest where we could vote on decisions for the future of Singapore Transit. For instance, if most of us voted for more public transit, they showed a cartoon that explained how our decision made everything better and people happier, and if we chose private transit, they told us how we were dooming our society (and I'm only being slightly facetious)

After the LTA, we went to lunch with some government officials from "Contact Singapore" a branch of the government dedicated to P.R. relations and promoting Singapore to foreigners. Yeah. Anyway, the food was awesome.

My two favorite dishes were the coffee glazed pork:


(it really tasted like coffee...amazing once you get over the weirdness)

And fishhead curry.

BEFORE:

(check out the teeth)

And AFTER:


The fish was apparently some kind of grouper. Which I've probably eaten before and just never seen what it looked like. But it was kinda weird eating something that looked like it belonged in an aquarium. It was really pretty. Red with neon blue dots. Oh well, it tasted good.

After lunch it was off to the NEWater plant, where they showed us how Singapore can reuse and recycle waste water through some fancy new technology, and how it's the pride of Singapore (in spite of the fact that other Singaporeans have told me they distrust it). At the end of the tour, they made us all ambassadors of NEWater, and instructed us that it was our duty to go out and tell everyone how great it was. Yeah... So, have you heard of this thing, it's called NEWater..

After a long day of propaganda that made me feel like I was in The Giver, or a Brave New World, we got a couple hours off to wander around Chinatown.



At first, it seemed really weird to me to have a Chinatown in Asia. I mean, isn't this whole place basically Chinatown? Not that all of Asia is the same, but I mean something like over 70% of the Singapore population is ethically Chinese, and most people speak Mandarin...so..?



But after some contemplation I realized it's much more of an era thing than a cultural thing. Singapore is modern, more modern than most of Asia, if not the world. It is what China will probably be like in 20 years. Chinatown on the other hand, is what China was like 20 years ago. Before the skyscrapers and westernization. While the food, culture, language and people may be about the same as the rest of Singapore, Chinatown is a throwback to the way things used to be.



And, as in all Chinatowns in the world, there was lots of nasty looking stuff that was theoretically supposed to be ingestible:





Before you ask, no, I didn't eat any of this stuff. It was at a medicinal place, and I think it was pretty much for display only. They grind up this stuff and make it into pills and syrups and creams and tonics, etc.

But here is a sign I saw at one of the outdoor eateries that was a meal:


..So, just curious, when they say "Organ"....???

After Chinatown we finished up at the Night Safari. Which Singapore is famous for.



It was pretty cool actually. Although I think "Safari" is a bit of a stretch. Really-cool-night-tour-of-a-well-done-wildlife-park, yes. Safari, no. A tram took us around the park. It was cool, because a lot of the habitats were not fenced in, so you could see everything really up close in a pretty realistic environment. Plus, because it was night time, everything was really active (we saw like 3 different types of animals mating). Usually lions and leopards and such are asleep when I've seen them at zoos. It was really cool to see them up and about. After the tram, there were some areas we could walk around. Some animals were behind glass, but other areas we could walk through. My absolute favorite was the bat cave. They had these huge flying foxes hanging on trees, so close you could reach out and touch them (if you were stupid).

Sadly, none of my pictures turned out in the slightest, it was so dark. You'll just have to check it out yourselves someday.

NSF-EAPSI Orientation (Day 1)

For the last two days, I've been going through orientation for my program. And when they say "days", they mean it. The first day of orientation lasted nearly 13 hours. The second day, nearly 15. And this is before the work starts.

Day 1, we got up nice and early and was shuttled out at 7:30am to the Opening Ceremony across town. It was pretty nice. It was a "formal" event that consisted of a lot of big wigs and hot shots telling us all about Singapore and about NSF EAPSI (National Science Foundation East Asia Pacific Summer Institute), and of course, about how awesome we all were. My favorite part was when we all had to get up on stage and say our name and the school we represented. I said I was from UM, the guy right after me said he was from "THE Ohio State". Slight amused laughter from the Americans. What are the odds. I considered pretending to start a fight with him, but I figured too many people wouldn't get the joke. (UM and OSU has arguably the biggest college rivalry in the USA). I have to say, it is kind of nice coming from the school with the largest living alumni in the US. Although the Ohio State guy proceeded to tease, there was another fellow from UM (School of Public Health), plus a Singaporean Prof and graduate student who all went through U of M. So I'm pretty sure we could take him.

Afterwards, there was a reception (with more amazing food, and lots of photo ops.

Here's the mugshots of the EAPSI Offenders for 2010:

And, here is the subgroup that is being hosted by Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

And the group repping the National University of Singapore (NUS):

Incidentally, I just heard that apparently NUS has made an unbelievable jump in World University rankings in the last 10 years. So, if you haven't heard of the school, you probably will in the future. Both NUS and NTU are considered part of the top 100 schools in the world. (As are Berkeley and Michigan =) ).

As you can see, both groups are pretty male dominated, which on the one hand makes sense, because NSF EAPSI is a science & engineering program and men have traditionally lorded over these areas. But on the other hand, recent trends show that in general, more women than men travel abroad, especially for study abroad type programs. Also, more women than men are applying for graduate school. So shouldn't that cancel it out? I wonder what the demographics were of the people who applied? I know research shows that there is a bias towards men in the sciences, especially at the top tier...Oh look, how did I get up here? Let me step down from my soap box...

Back to orientation.

The rest of the day consisted of paperwork and more paperwork. Student IDs, work permits, rental agreements...you get the picture. It also included going to the Ministry of Manpower...a name that cracks me up. I know it's a British thing, and pretty common, but it's just too good. First thing that comes to mind is the Ministry of Magic from Harry Potter. Hilarious. Next thing that comes to mind is some Justice League type group (I mean can't you just imagine He-Man and the like meeting at the Minstry of Manpower?). Hilarious. And then there is the abbreviation. "Mom" (and yes, people call it that). Might as well call it "Big Brother". Which is more disturbing than hilarious. But then it also reminds me of the character "Mom" from Futurama. And we're back to hilarious.

After a long day of red tape and paper cuts, we got to chill out at the Asian Civilizations Museum, which was pretty cool. My favorite was the special exhibit "Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals"





It mostly consisted of jeweled things that can kill you. They were very pretty. But I couldn't help but find it somewhat messed up. It's like, "please admire my wealth and the beauty of materialism while I stab you to death". I think that may be the definition of gaudy.

Finally, we ended the day at a Japanese French Restaurant



Where we had some escargot:


On fire no less.



I've had them before, and they are just as good as I remember. Mostly just taste like butter and garlic.

Then for dinner, of course, I tried to find the most exotic thing on the menu, which in this case was...



Fresh Cuttle Fish and pasta, with ink sauce. Ink as in ink from the cuttlefish (a crazy squid-like creature, if you haven't seen one, google it. they are weird as hell). Can't say it was the best meal I'd ever had. The cuttlefish itself was awesome. Like squid but thicker, more tender, and without the rubbery thing. Totally recommend it. The ink...basically just tasted salty. I'm not big on salt, so I was not a fan. Plus it's black, which made it visually hard to forget that you were eating ink...which is a little gross. I'll stick to snails.

Also, a few people had birthdays coming up, so we got a birthday cake.



Which was much better than the ink.

I slept on the bus all the way home. Stupid jetlag.