today i went on the highly anticipated yummilicious food tour!
every group of about 6 exchange students was set up with a singaporean student who guided us through breakfast in chinatown, lunch in little india, and tea at the peranakan [malay-chinese] museum. the food was exciting and all (i tasted durian ice cream and can't say that i liked it...), but i personally thought learning about the culture in singapore was more exciting.
the area in chinatown near the hawker center where we at breakfast
the restaurant in little india where we ate lunch
the cute souvenirs i got from little india for zoey, michael, matthew, and emma!
desserts at the peranakan museum (yummy! it reminded me of 떡)
my group leader, fuad, enlightened us with details about singaporean life.military service here is compulsory for all men at the end of their high school graduation.
instead of going straight to college, they go through 2 years of military training. because of that, there is an age discrepancy between the male students and female students at the university level. so fuad, who is actually a year older than me, is 2 years below me in school.
in addition, singapore, unfortunately, does not have security or savings easily accessible to their citizens after retirement. because of this, at the hawker centers (outdoor cafeterias), you see lots of elderly people trying to make ends meet by selling tissue paper during meals. some people can also be seen digging through trashbins for recyclables that they can sell back to the government. apparently chinatown is where you'll see this most often because it's actually one of the poorer communities in the country.
another funny thing about singapore is that you can't openly protest without a permit. you first have to apply for the permit through the government, and only once the permit is approved can you go around with your signposts and rallying marches. unsurprisingly, permits can get rejected. i find this highly counterproductive.
i also finally got to learn about the peranakans or malay-chinese, here in singapore. the peranakan museum was actually really cool. everything created by the peranakans is so incredibly intricate and really, really pretty. i was going to forfeit looking for a peranakan tea set, but after seeing it in person and learning that they're really easy to find, i decided that i must buy one.
pictures from the peranakan museum
pagoda trays used during wedding ceremonies: a combination of malay & traditional chinese designs
the living room set up during the ... wedding festivities as well
traditional peranakan teaware
afterwards, at night, my friends and i went to the night safari at the singapore zoo. i wanted to take tons of pictures, but no flash photography is allowed so all of your pictures come out pitch black. there were lots of neat animals though like the giant flying squirrel (which actually flew, and hilariously enough, ran into a person, hehe) that can glide for up to 400 meters, the plam civets in which the pooped out kopi luwak comes from, and the adorable flying foxes (a type of bat) which has a wingspan of up to 1.7 meters.at the entrance of the night safari -- where flash is allowed & people were getting their feet cleaned by little fishies. i want to try this but it was too expensive at the zoo...
we must have been at the night safari for a good 3 hours and just barely made the last bus back to campus...
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