The road is life.

A week is a seemingly short amount of time in the span of a lifetime but quite a bit to attempt to cram into one blog entry- a day in the life type entry is more my style. Every day I encounter new people, ideas and practices that make me pause and reconsider what I think to be “the norm.” Even everyday activities like biking take on new meaning when done in Southeast Asia! On Saturday the SEAS group headed to Changi Chapel. Afterwards we biked around the Singaporean owned island, Pulau Ubin.

To get to Pulau we carefully bordered rickety, wooden boats that hiccuped as they sped towards the island. After the whole group was accounted for we haphazardly picked out bikes. At 2$SD a day the rental price seemed kind of absurd. The nearly three dozen of us split up into little biker gangs and set off to explore the island which has an assortment of different terrain including wetland, forest and reservoirs.

I rode around the island for a bit with a small group of people and we soon ran into Alexius and his girlfriend who are both NUS students. They led us up (and eventually down) a very steep hill. They showed us the somewhat sketchy way to a beautiful reservoir. We admired the view for a bit and I eventually left with another group of riders.

We headed for the marsh land. The path there was definitely more strenuous than we had anticipated. Quite a few times I was worried that the rocks and steep slopes would send me shooting off the hill into the overgrown jungle below. Once we reached the wetlands we had to park our bikes and proceed on foot. The scenery was beautiful and we even ran into a grazing wild pig. We took a break on the boardwalk over the water and goofed around. No strenuous exercise is complete without a refreshing, isotonic drink like 100 Plus! (I swear, the company didn't pay me to say that.)

Our time on the island was coming to a close so I headed back to the assigned meeting area but not before taking a side trip to a neat little “Secret Garden” with Lisa.

I always find difficult physical activity to be particularly rewarding but as I lay in my bed that night, I found myself in awe of where I am and all the wonderful adventures I’ve been on thus far. Not to mention the amazing group of people that go on said adventures with me!

People from home often ask me how I like Singapore. Though I tell them to ask me in a month, after everything has sunk in, I'd be lying if I said that my experiences here haven't already left a noticeable impression on me.

I was on a Bill Bryson kick before I came to Singapore so I’ll leave you with this fitting Bryson quote:

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”

The aforementioned 100 Plus break! (photo courtesy of Maggie)

Best to all of you!
-Alex