The Adventure that Never Ends

This week started off with a busy Monday, going from a quick trip to Haw Par Villa to a lazy afternoon in the Botanical Gardens. The picnic in the gardens, made me feel as though the whole group had just taken a journey into another world. The gardens show just how many different sides of Singapore there really is. This beautiful park is nestled inside of a bustling concrete jungle.

Every day I have done something new, and even more amazingly the others in the group have done numerous other activities. We have all taken advantage of what Singapore has to offer in some way or another. The variety of activities astounds me. At breakfast in the morning, eating prata in the bottom of our student hostel, I love to sit and listen to the things others have done during the previous day and their plans for the next. From concerts to gardens, Little India to the Port Authority the span of interests widen every day. Since our time in Singapore is dwindling down, it gets harder and harder to prioritize and decide on what to do. I have found myself most in awe when I roam through the different areas of Singapore with a small group of people. In Little India, Olivia and I, spent a day looking at the vibrant fabrics, smelling the fresh flowers and listening to the bustle of the afternoon streets. Plus, eating in a restaurant with friendly waiters, who get excited that we are interested not only in the food but in the culture as well. The evening was finished off by purchasing Indian pop music from a local shop. I couldn’t ask for a more fulfilling day. We went to the zoo and night safari, which was so much fun. With monkeys, birds and orangutans passing through the trees over head, it was an entirely new experience. Some even had up close and personal experiences with the lemurs, kangaross and monitor lizards. Sunday afternoon was spent watching the Dragon Boat races at the reservoir, sitting in the shade and cheering the teams on! After the races, Catherine and I went shopping and found ourselves taxiless during one of Singapore's famous downpours!

I continually find myself trying to fit more and more in, in fear that I will have missed some part of the city, or an event in one of the many theaters. My time in Singapore, especially within the last week has been a true adventure, and is coming to an end much too quickly. My hope is that the friendships made here in Singapore with our group and Singaporeans will last and that this experience will ignite the need for travel in others, as it has for me. So not to worry, the adventure will continue!

Until we meet again,

Carlee

Shopping in the rain.

A sunny day and dragon boat races.

Animals at the zoo. The peacock was bueatiful!

The view from the 40th story of the Port Authority, over looking one of Singapore's many harbors.