“We are going to Bali, we are going to Bali.. Oh my god, we are going to Bali!” Alina and I were jumping around the apartment the whole evening, packing our bags while singing Bollywood and Persian tunes.
Feelings: This is going to be the best trip of my life. I’m going to see beautiful temples, stay at a beautiful hotel and experience wonderful things.. and boy was I right.
Thanks to Sameer’s parents, we got to stay at Le Meridien for 5 nights. It was absolutely beautiful and was located by the beach right by one of the most beautiful temples in Bali called “Tanalot” (the one in the water that you see every time you google Bali on the internet). It reminded me of the hotel Khaleh, Yasmin, Argentinian (on the road again) lady and I stayed at in Maui. We’d be out for most of the day and come back and hit the pool practically every night. We’d have chicken fights (I was the undefeated champion of course) and went up and down the slide until our bums hurt. We’d lie on the benches and watch the stars, and sit on our balcony and sing songs. (One night Alina, Sameer and I just sat on the balcony and sang songs for hours (mostly bollywood because we’re huge fobs) it was a lot of fun.)
We didn’t want to do the typical touristy stuff. We didn’t want to sit in air conditioned buses with ill speaking tour guides. We wanted to see the “real” Bali and so we rented motor bikes and headed off. We drove like the locals, swerving in and out of traffic, fitting into the small spaces and honking uncontrollably. It was great fun. We drove uphill and we drove downhill. We drove in the heat, the rain and even under the stars.
The inner city roads were filled with cars, bikes, dogs, cows..you name it, I saw it. A family of 5 would fit onto one bike. Every time we’d reach a stop light the kids on the bikes would turn and wave, as would the children on the roads. I felt like a movie star. The streets were filled with temples, big ones and small ones. There were shops filled with beautiful wood carvings and stone carvings, mostly of Hindu Murtis. We’d pass beautiful rice fields and other Hindu figurines on our way.
Bali has two seasons. One dry and one wet. We arrived in the beginning of the wet season. We’d constantly get stuck in rain for this reason and would have to find refuge wherever we could. I didn’t mind it much because we’d always seem to discover new beautiful places that weren’t on the map. We were able to find beautiful “non touristy” streets and we even had the chance to share a wonderful meal with some locals. We couldn’t help but talk about what our lives would be like and what we’d be like had we been brought up in a place like Bali. I would probably be a totally different person.
I remember the ride up the mountain, heading to Besakih temple. God it was breathtaking. There were endless rice fields (I saw the Balinese in their cute pointy straw hats plating and extracting.. just like how you see them on the discovery channel). As we headed up, the scenery just got more and more beautiful.
We all met at the base of the mother temple. It was shocking because we all lost one another on our way. Parting ways at different times, yet we all seemed to meet at the exact same time at the exact same perfect place. We each wore surongs (it was mandatory) and headed inside the temple.
BEATY. PEACE. POWER. LOVE. Those were the words that came to mind while I was there. The pictures and the videos don’t do the temple justice. We learned while we were there, that it was not any ordinary day, but the day the Hindus celebrate the coming of the new moon. We were able to pray with them and we learned many of their rituals. I sat next to two beautiful little Balinese girls. They smiled, waved and tried to speak to me with whatever English they knew. They taught me how to pray, giggling at the little mistakes I would make. They were adorable, I’ll never forget them.
I walked about the temple and felt so at peace. It was just so incredible and powerful. The sounds, the smells just created this wonderful feeling inside me that brought me to tears while I prayed. I was able to see a beautiful sunset as I was leaving the temple, it was unreal. We drove back in the dark, air hitting our faces, stars above us.. I felt so alive! (I tried frog legs that night, and boy was it yummie!)
It was one of the best days of my life.
--
We took our bikes and headed for the volcanos. We passed the most beautiful rice fields on our way that day. We drove into Ubud and saw all the beautiful temples and wood and stone carvings (Ubud is known for their endless wood and stone carving shops)
We stopped for refreshments and met some locals. I began talking to the old lady shop keeper. The catch was that neither of us spoke the same language, she said things in her language and I said things in mine, but we still understood one another. She watched Bollywood and kept mentioning how much she loved Sharukh Khan, it was adorable!
By the time we got to the volcano, our bikes gave out. We saw a huge truck (the one’s that transport cows) and decided to ask for a ride. The driver laughed and agreed. So there we were, standing where the cows usually do with our helmets, holding on for dear life. It was like a scene out of a movie. I felt so cool. We walked, ate and chilled by the volcano. It was a rainy and dark drive back, we got into a little accident but we made it out alive. I love my friends.
The whole trip was just so amazing. I really felt like I was truly living my life. I faced many fears and it felt wonderful. There were many times I needed to pinch myself just to remind myself that I was really there, experiencing these things, seeing these things.
It’s not about the beaches like everyone thinks. It’s the endless rice fields, the ancient Hindu temples, the wood and stone carvings and the rich culture. The beautiful sunsets, the starlit skies, the volcanoes, the local children, the motor bikes rides and the company of good friends that made Bali so incredible. It was the best trip of my life.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wake up at 4 am and climb rocks in the dark..
We hoped to be in bed by 10 pm so to be live and fresh for our wake up alarm at 5:30 am but, that was not the case. It took longer than expected to pack our bags; positioning the heavy items (4 liters of water) in the middle and putting the lighter items (sleeping bag, clothes) on the top and bottom and leaving some extra room for the food we had yet to pack in the following morning. Florian (my German roommate) was a doll and helped me out a lot, making sure my straps were properly adjusted so to keep most of the bag’s weight on my hips. I got into bed at about 3:30, but got no sleep whatsoever because I was too busy freaking out about the trek I was going to be doing in the next few hours.
After two MRT rides and three bus rides we get into the heart of Malaysia. There were kilometers and kilometers of greenery, something my eyes aren’t use to seeing. We get off the bus and make our way to the base of Gunung Detuk. We haven’t even started the trek yet and I was already sweating profusely. My back was aching and my heart was racing..”How am I going to do this” I thought. Once we make it to the base, we are informed that there is another group on the top and that we will have to camp out at the outdoor Muslim Mosque by the base of the mountain for the night and do the trek in the morning. This was great news for me! No trekking in the heat, no backpacks up the mountain, and no tenting in the forest! WOOHOO! But little did I know, that morning trek meant 4 am… meaning dark..meaning me climbing a 800 meter, 65 degree steep mountain with lots of rocks..in darkness! What did I do when I figured that out? I ate every single one of my granola bars …(I really wished I brought the chocolate ones, the healthy nut ones I brought with me really didn’t have the same comforting affect.) We cooked our own food and spread out our sleeping bags early so to be able to wake up in time for our trek. I am about to get some good shut eye and I get shaken out of predream land by this sound “DEEEESHOOM DEEESHOOM DEEESHTANG” – (my interpretation of gunshots). What the??? Who’s shooting? What is going on?
“Oh.. hehehehe… it’s only the Malaysian Armylah.. they come here to practice for in case war..hehehe.. you no worrylah. They no shoot you.. they just shootlah..hehehe”, was the explanation I got from my group leader.
My thoughts:
Oh great.. I’m sleeping in an outdoor temple in the middle of a Malaysian jungle with Army people shooting away.. and oh hey! I get to wake up at 4 am and climb rocks in the dark.. how exciting…
KILL ME NOW!
After some more gun shots and random mosquito slapping, we were ready to climb the Gunung Datuk. It was dark, it was steep and all I had with me was a flashlight and bug spray. It was the most physically draining experience of my life. After 4.5 hours, I made it to the top and was in shock to see the group of people who took our spot at the peak. THEY WERE PERSIANS!! PERSIANS FRESH FROM IRAN!
“Khelo, Khow are you my efriend? You came to eclimb deh mountain?? Vaye, you are all so ebrave!”
God, I love my people! So we get to the peak and take a bunch of pictures and make our way back down. The climb down was way more difficult, I fell a couples times, scrapped up all my legs but surprisingly got no mosquito bites unlike everyone else in the group. (My garlic scrambled eggs I made before I left really did work.. p.s. my roommates hate when I cook bc I stink up the place for days.. but I always respond by saying “KHELO, Velcome to Persian/Indian cooking you carb eating Europeans..the smellier the yummier so eat up)
We get on the bus and make a final stop over at the border to eat some great Malay food at the local market. Stingray, a sugarcane drink, white baas fish, some fresh calamari and some crab. Wow, I can’t believe I hated sea food before, it’s great!
After two MRT rides and three bus rides we get into the heart of Malaysia. There were kilometers and kilometers of greenery, something my eyes aren’t use to seeing. We get off the bus and make our way to the base of Gunung Detuk. We haven’t even started the trek yet and I was already sweating profusely. My back was aching and my heart was racing..”How am I going to do this” I thought. Once we make it to the base, we are informed that there is another group on the top and that we will have to camp out at the outdoor Muslim Mosque by the base of the mountain for the night and do the trek in the morning. This was great news for me! No trekking in the heat, no backpacks up the mountain, and no tenting in the forest! WOOHOO! But little did I know, that morning trek meant 4 am… meaning dark..meaning me climbing a 800 meter, 65 degree steep mountain with lots of rocks..in darkness! What did I do when I figured that out? I ate every single one of my granola bars …(I really wished I brought the chocolate ones, the healthy nut ones I brought with me really didn’t have the same comforting affect.) We cooked our own food and spread out our sleeping bags early so to be able to wake up in time for our trek. I am about to get some good shut eye and I get shaken out of predream land by this sound “DEEEESHOOM DEEESHOOM DEEESHTANG” – (my interpretation of gunshots). What the??? Who’s shooting? What is going on?
“Oh.. hehehehe… it’s only the Malaysian Armylah.. they come here to practice for in case war..hehehe.. you no worrylah. They no shoot you.. they just shootlah..hehehe”, was the explanation I got from my group leader.
My thoughts:
Oh great.. I’m sleeping in an outdoor temple in the middle of a Malaysian jungle with Army people shooting away.. and oh hey! I get to wake up at 4 am and climb rocks in the dark.. how exciting…
KILL ME NOW!
After some more gun shots and random mosquito slapping, we were ready to climb the Gunung Datuk. It was dark, it was steep and all I had with me was a flashlight and bug spray. It was the most physically draining experience of my life. After 4.5 hours, I made it to the top and was in shock to see the group of people who took our spot at the peak. THEY WERE PERSIANS!! PERSIANS FRESH FROM IRAN!
“Khelo, Khow are you my efriend? You came to eclimb deh mountain?? Vaye, you are all so ebrave!”
God, I love my people! So we get to the peak and take a bunch of pictures and make our way back down. The climb down was way more difficult, I fell a couples times, scrapped up all my legs but surprisingly got no mosquito bites unlike everyone else in the group. (My garlic scrambled eggs I made before I left really did work.. p.s. my roommates hate when I cook bc I stink up the place for days.. but I always respond by saying “KHELO, Velcome to Persian/Indian cooking you carb eating Europeans..the smellier the yummier so eat up)
We get on the bus and make a final stop over at the border to eat some great Malay food at the local market. Stingray, a sugarcane drink, white baas fish, some fresh calamari and some crab. Wow, I can’t believe I hated sea food before, it’s great!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I love Singapore and Singapore loves me!
We did the night safari on Friday night. Paid 32 Singaporean dollars to see a laughing dear, a happy hyena, wolves and a fat rhino. The show was quite entertaining though. Some big Swedish man was called on stage to hold a snake and he was pissing himself. It was then that I realized that big men and courage don’t go hand in hand. So yeah, Alina, Sophie and I get excited and run around the zoo and loose our pack of 12 and end the safari with an overpriced salty fish and chips and a musical van ride home.
We come home at about 1ish, get in our pjs and start watching tv before bed. It was then that Chad comes up to Alina and I and conveniently mentions the fact that we only have about 12 to 13 Friday nights left in Singapore and convinces us to go out with him to Clarke Quay [which is a beautiful block filled with bars, clubs, a Persian restaurant that I intend to go to for Norouz, a harbour, water fountains rewind to the first time we go to Clarke Quay. Chad sees fountain, Chad sees me, Chad gets brilliant idea to put the two together. End result: my backside being wet for the rest of the night.]
So we’re just hanging out by the harbour and watch random people do crazy things in the distance, and by crazy I mean bungee jumping. It was then that Alina, Tom and Carly get the crazy idea to do it too. I obviously call them wacko and later volunteer myself as the camera woman. So they do their reverse bungee and come out exhilarated. Chad gets jealous at this point and decides he wants to do it too, but he had one condition…I’d have to do it with him.
HA! ME? BUNGEE JUMP? ARE YOU MAD? I’ve never even jumped off a chair and you’re asking me to seriously consider the idea of bungee jumping? So Alina and Chad spend a good amount of time convincing me saying things like “You live once. No regrets. Life is short. You’re in Singapore. Face you’re fears” and all that other buttery talk. So I take a quick stroll on my own to consider this.. yes I was considering.. and decided to go for it. It was going to be the new me, I thought. So I buy my ticket and head up those stairs in tears. They strap me down and I start shivering. I grabbed Chad’s hand and told him not to let go, not for one second and he abided graciously.
So we head up..higher and higher we go and with every meter up, I get calmer. I knew this was a defining time for me and I was ready. I asked Tom, the driver of our group, to do a proper count down and pull when he reached 1. He obviously didn’t listen and pulled the damn thing at 3, didn’t expect any better…and I was flying! Half way down the first drop, I let go of Chad’s hand and screamed I LOVE SINGAPORE and SINGAPORE LOVES ME! Yes, I’m a huge loser. So I’m flying baby, I’m doing my thang and damn did it feel good.
I get off that bad boy and feel alive, feel like a new Sarishta. We end the night by the harbour, each in our own worlds, enjoying each others company.
Saturday was our tourist day. Sameer, Alina and I went on a journey to see the ever so popular Merlion. The area was beautiful and alive.
Lights, live music, happy people and lovers and lots of cute Asian babies. We went on the roof of Esplanade and lied down on the prickly grass. We looked up at the starless sky and shouted out the different shapes we saw in the clouds. We sang usher tunes and talked about romance (seemed like the appropriate topic since we were surrounded by sappy happy couples who couldn’t let go of each other..BOOO!). We talked until the sky cleared. A beautiful moon and some pretty stars came out to play towards the end so that was definitely nice. We shared a lovely meal (butter chicken baby) and had quite the hilarious walk back to the MRT. Hilarious because, Alina and I decide life would be fun if it were a musical. “We decide to humiliate Sameer by only communicating in song. That too, ryhming songs. Sameer consistently tries to keep head down and ignore us. We humiliate him further by prancing along streets of Singapore singing his name. He hurriedly takes the MRT going in the opposite direction and we give him a singing farewell.”-Alina.
We come home at about 1ish, get in our pjs and start watching tv before bed. It was then that Chad comes up to Alina and I and conveniently mentions the fact that we only have about 12 to 13 Friday nights left in Singapore and convinces us to go out with him to Clarke Quay [which is a beautiful block filled with bars, clubs, a Persian restaurant that I intend to go to for Norouz, a harbour, water fountains rewind to the first time we go to Clarke Quay. Chad sees fountain, Chad sees me, Chad gets brilliant idea to put the two together. End result: my backside being wet for the rest of the night.]
So we’re just hanging out by the harbour and watch random people do crazy things in the distance, and by crazy I mean bungee jumping. It was then that Alina, Tom and Carly get the crazy idea to do it too. I obviously call them wacko and later volunteer myself as the camera woman. So they do their reverse bungee and come out exhilarated. Chad gets jealous at this point and decides he wants to do it too, but he had one condition…I’d have to do it with him.
HA! ME? BUNGEE JUMP? ARE YOU MAD? I’ve never even jumped off a chair and you’re asking me to seriously consider the idea of bungee jumping? So Alina and Chad spend a good amount of time convincing me saying things like “You live once. No regrets. Life is short. You’re in Singapore. Face you’re fears” and all that other buttery talk. So I take a quick stroll on my own to consider this.. yes I was considering.. and decided to go for it. It was going to be the new me, I thought. So I buy my ticket and head up those stairs in tears. They strap me down and I start shivering. I grabbed Chad’s hand and told him not to let go, not for one second and he abided graciously.
So we head up..higher and higher we go and with every meter up, I get calmer. I knew this was a defining time for me and I was ready. I asked Tom, the driver of our group, to do a proper count down and pull when he reached 1. He obviously didn’t listen and pulled the damn thing at 3, didn’t expect any better…and I was flying! Half way down the first drop, I let go of Chad’s hand and screamed I LOVE SINGAPORE and SINGAPORE LOVES ME! Yes, I’m a huge loser. So I’m flying baby, I’m doing my thang and damn did it feel good.
I get off that bad boy and feel alive, feel like a new Sarishta. We end the night by the harbour, each in our own worlds, enjoying each others company.
Saturday was our tourist day. Sameer, Alina and I went on a journey to see the ever so popular Merlion. The area was beautiful and alive.
Lights, live music, happy people and lovers and lots of cute Asian babies. We went on the roof of Esplanade and lied down on the prickly grass. We looked up at the starless sky and shouted out the different shapes we saw in the clouds. We sang usher tunes and talked about romance (seemed like the appropriate topic since we were surrounded by sappy happy couples who couldn’t let go of each other..BOOO!). We talked until the sky cleared. A beautiful moon and some pretty stars came out to play towards the end so that was definitely nice. We shared a lovely meal (butter chicken baby) and had quite the hilarious walk back to the MRT. Hilarious because, Alina and I decide life would be fun if it were a musical. “We decide to humiliate Sameer by only communicating in song. That too, ryhming songs. Sameer consistently tries to keep head down and ignore us. We humiliate him further by prancing along streets of Singapore singing his name. He hurriedly takes the MRT going in the opposite direction and we give him a singing farewell.”-Alina.
Rooftop Romance
Did you know people hang out on mall rooftops here? Hells yes I did it too! Florian and I were studying in the library earlier this week (Yes, we all have gotten our study eagles on already- the Singaporean are serious yo) and decided it was getting boring and headed out to his favourite mall for a break. I later found out why it was his favourite…there was a popping spot on the rooftop with mini lakes and fake grass and random swings and all. So we hung out there for awhile and while in conversation noticed a brown dude on our left sitting all alone with a bouquet of flowers and an SK jewelry bag. We both reacted in “awwws” and continued our conversation. 5 minutes went by.. guy was still there with no honey. 10 minutes goes by.. guy is still there with no honey. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, we are about to get up and leave and he’s still there, now very sad, alone with his bouquet of flowers, looking at his phone in diminishing hope. Poor man was stood up. I really wanted to give him a hug, but I was too hungry and decided against it.
You're beautiful Big Girl
SMU is incredible. I now see why they lable it one of the best universities in the world. It’s beautiful, high tech and has an incredible student life aspect. There are so many clubs and activities to be apart of. Alina and I have already started using the gym and damn is it nice *wink wink [winks referring to hot built Asian man we saw..yes they exist! We were beginning to loose hope, but now hope is renewed..now the question is.. do Asian men like big South Asian and Middle Eastern girls..I guess we’ll just have to find out rewind to the night we were at Clarke Quay and Asian man scream, “You’re beautiful big girl”.] As of now, our whole flat has signed up for the trekking club. Next weekend we are heading to Malaysia to climb a mountain, tent out and see a sun rise. Definitely not my cup of tea, but ever since I did that bungee jump I’ve been feeling a little more wild. God I love Singapore.
Aiyo, you stop fartinglah..Do the Kallang Waivelah..
Singlish. What an awesome dialect. For those of you who don’t know, it's an interlanguage native to Malaysia and Singapore. A language that has a mix of English, Malay, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, Begali and even Punjabi at times. All the locals here speak it and damn is it cool. Alina and I are taking a Poster Modern Theatre class and most all the plays are native Singaporean. This past Tuesday was our first class and we got to experience the language to the fullest while listening to some of our class mates recite some lines from an awesome Singaporean script. It was incredibly cool and totally fun to hear the Singlish accents. Prior to the oral part of class, our theatre group went out of class (still on campus), to read over a script. I took a break from reading, just to take in my surroundings. I was sitting in a circle with people of a totally different culture, reading through a wonderful play. I had just finished eating a wonderful South East Asian meal. On my right there was a beautiful art museum, white in colour, majestic, with incredible architecture. A beautiful warm breeze was what I felt and beautiful green trees and flowers I was surrounded with. “I am really here” I thought. “I’m so lucky.”
Alina jabs her foot into my foot and breaks her toe nail
Have you ever heard Chinese music? It sounds like Indian music, in that it’s super high pitched and it has some sort of techno taste, in that it repeats the same beat and words over and over again. The best of which was a song that went something like this, “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year..Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy New Year”. Now just repeat those words in your head in a high pitched Asian woman voice with triangles in the background and you’ll have a nearly perfect idea of what I’m talking about. I had a ball the first time I heard it- rewind to 4 days ago when I was in a change room trying on tight shiny purple capris just for kicks.. the Happy Merry New Year Christmas song comes on and I think to myself “Damn homie.. this song is poppin” so I start breaking it down in the change room and do the Michael Jackson as I come out, (all in my purple shiny pants of course). Alina breaks down laughing, I break down laughing and we both leave the store with purple pants in the bag. [Later that same day, Alina jabs her foot into my foot and breaks her toe nail]. Now little did I know that this would be the first of many times I hear such type of music. They plays it everywhere home slice- in the grocery stores, in cabs and even when you’re taking a pee. Now I described how it sounds earlier, so you can only imagine how pestering it can get after awhile. I am now Chinese Music annoyed.
Friday, January 9, 2009
I'm Alive
I was scared. I didn't think or believe I could do it... but I did! I Sarishta Katrak, the girl who has never jumped off a diving board in her life, went bungee jumping tonight! It was the most liberating experience of my life. I am a changed person. I defeated fear. You live once. I'm alive.
I'm alive
For the first time in my life
I just know that I'm alive
I wanna dance the night away
I'm alive
I'll always be there by your side
I just know that I'm alive
This is the feeling of my life
I'm alive
Goodnight x
I'm alive
For the first time in my life
I just know that I'm alive
I wanna dance the night away
I'm alive
I'll always be there by your side
I just know that I'm alive
This is the feeling of my life
I'm alive
Goodnight x
Friday, January 2, 2009
I like Crab
Joke of the day:
Uncle: “Eh, you know vhat my dream was when I go to this country?”
Son: “What dad”
Uncle: “To own 14-22”
Son: “What’s a 14-22 dad?”
Uncle: “A 14-22 baba, you university boy don’t know vhat a 14-22 is?”
Son: “Um, no what is it dad?”
Uncle: “Two 7-11’s of course”
Okay so lame to a notch, but I laughed like a mad woman when Geet told me and decided to share it with you all too.
So where did I leave off last? Right, a night yet to be uncovered. So Alina, Sameer and I decided we wanted to go see Marina Bay, a beautiful harbour filled with restaurants and fun activities. We get on the MRT and get off at Marina Bay station and see no harbour, no boat, no restaurant, and no people. We see a highway, mucho construction and random trucks lined up- damn we thought, our harbour front in Toronto is way nicer than this crap. We decide to take our map out and at this point and see that Marina Bay station is not located anywhere near the pretty Marina Bay area. *Note to self: Look at map before heading out – Don’t assume correlation between a Stations Name and Location. So we head back on the MRT and get off a Raffles Place, walk around a bit and see a crowd of people and food vendors. The road was blocked off and a bunch of little food vendors were lined up side by side, there was at least 30 of them. Before we know it, people run up to us with menus, each urging us to dine with them. So we decide to give business to the brown guy of course and order a couple sattay chicken sticks and boy were they good. We enjoyed a night of food and bonding. We each spoke of our childhood and adolescences and shared funny, embarrassing stories. We spoke of our future goals and ambitions and gave one another genuine advice.
Next day: New Years Eve!
So we start our night at the pool party our property manager was hosting. There was lots of food and drinks but stupid me ate a whole bowl of rice and egg (which I made myself and tasted super great) and didn’t have room to feast on anything else. Ok I lied, I had 3 sticks of sattay chicken.. it’s chicken okay, how can I say no to that? So we wait till Florian (German guy) finishes his mackingness on “new dream girl” [dream girl changes every 3 hours] and we head to the MRT in pack of 15 only to find another 100000000000 people heading the same way. We decided to go to Sentosa Island for New Years, the biggest, baddest beach party in Singapore. It was absolutely amazing. There were djs, live bands, foam, food and lots of crazy drunk Asians. The Indian men were the best though… hahahaha… oh man, Sagar has nothing on these Indians, I have videos to prove it. We decide to leave the island at around 4 am, as we were getting super tired and had a funny drunken American by the name of Tom on our hands. God, it was hilarious, I never met such a funny drunk in my whole life and yes we have videos of that too. So I get home first and head into the shower. Alina, Sameer, Florian and Mikko get stuck outside [note: our keys don’t work and so we find ourselves locked out many times] so I try desperately to open the door but fail miserably. Mikko says to get Chad (American) or Kasper (Finnish) to help me. Their home I asked? I doubt their home I say, if they were they’d hear the ruckus and come help me, but I go to their door just to make sure. Knock on Chad’s like a mad woman and no1 answers. I open Kasper’s door expecting to see nothing and boy nothing was nowhere close to what I saw. Yes, yes, my dear roommate Kasper had a lady friend over and boy did I feel embarrassed. So finally Kasper manages to get the door open and I become aware of the definition of the “shirt on door”. Shirt on door = hanky panky = don’t walk in Sarishta. Got it!
Jan 1 Night:
Brian takes Alina and I out for dinner and dessert. It was lovely, we had the yummiest crab oatmeal snacker in the world! Once Brian found out about my low risk lifestyle, both Alina and him tagged teamed my case and drilled me on how I should live life on the edge. “It’s like investments. The higher the risk, the higher the return.” Baby steps they say… we’ll start you off with roller coasters and maybe bungee jumping in Thailand. HAHA.. Me? Bungee jumping? I haven’t even jumped off a diving board yet!! So we decided we’d start off with jumping off a chair, who knows, maybe if this whole thing goes as planned, I’ll be able to do something reckless like snorkeling by the end of my trip.
Jan 2:
Orientation day. All us exchange students were packed in a lecture room for hours, listening to school and admin nonchalant. But Sameer and I kept it real of course by randomly screaming things like SAMOSA and BOOGERS and throwing things at the random Asian kids in front of us. What can I say? I’m a kid and I vant to have deh fun! We get a tour of the campus and damn is it high tech and sexy. Alina and I head to “Change Alley” once done to get our money exchanged at a prime rate. I do my best bargaining possible, but end up with the rate given on the board. I started with 600 dollars like a baller and eventually went down to bargaining for 20 cents and they still didn’t budge. At least I tried right? What kind of Half Indian would I be if I didn’t? We then headed to Little India, shared a chaat papri, got threaded and bought sexily priced home clothes. Came back, and spent the evening with Sameer, each on our computers doing nothingness. The boys came home from the club with mucho funny stories and we ended up hanging out till about 4 am.
Okay boy and girls, time for bed.. will be writing soon, love you all
Sa
Uncle: “Eh, you know vhat my dream was when I go to this country?”
Son: “What dad”
Uncle: “To own 14-22”
Son: “What’s a 14-22 dad?”
Uncle: “A 14-22 baba, you university boy don’t know vhat a 14-22 is?”
Son: “Um, no what is it dad?”
Uncle: “Two 7-11’s of course”
Okay so lame to a notch, but I laughed like a mad woman when Geet told me and decided to share it with you all too.
So where did I leave off last? Right, a night yet to be uncovered. So Alina, Sameer and I decided we wanted to go see Marina Bay, a beautiful harbour filled with restaurants and fun activities. We get on the MRT and get off at Marina Bay station and see no harbour, no boat, no restaurant, and no people. We see a highway, mucho construction and random trucks lined up- damn we thought, our harbour front in Toronto is way nicer than this crap. We decide to take our map out and at this point and see that Marina Bay station is not located anywhere near the pretty Marina Bay area. *Note to self: Look at map before heading out – Don’t assume correlation between a Stations Name and Location. So we head back on the MRT and get off a Raffles Place, walk around a bit and see a crowd of people and food vendors. The road was blocked off and a bunch of little food vendors were lined up side by side, there was at least 30 of them. Before we know it, people run up to us with menus, each urging us to dine with them. So we decide to give business to the brown guy of course and order a couple sattay chicken sticks and boy were they good. We enjoyed a night of food and bonding. We each spoke of our childhood and adolescences and shared funny, embarrassing stories. We spoke of our future goals and ambitions and gave one another genuine advice.
Next day: New Years Eve!
So we start our night at the pool party our property manager was hosting. There was lots of food and drinks but stupid me ate a whole bowl of rice and egg (which I made myself and tasted super great) and didn’t have room to feast on anything else. Ok I lied, I had 3 sticks of sattay chicken.. it’s chicken okay, how can I say no to that? So we wait till Florian (German guy) finishes his mackingness on “new dream girl” [dream girl changes every 3 hours] and we head to the MRT in pack of 15 only to find another 100000000000 people heading the same way. We decided to go to Sentosa Island for New Years, the biggest, baddest beach party in Singapore. It was absolutely amazing. There were djs, live bands, foam, food and lots of crazy drunk Asians. The Indian men were the best though… hahahaha… oh man, Sagar has nothing on these Indians, I have videos to prove it. We decide to leave the island at around 4 am, as we were getting super tired and had a funny drunken American by the name of Tom on our hands. God, it was hilarious, I never met such a funny drunk in my whole life and yes we have videos of that too. So I get home first and head into the shower. Alina, Sameer, Florian and Mikko get stuck outside [note: our keys don’t work and so we find ourselves locked out many times] so I try desperately to open the door but fail miserably. Mikko says to get Chad (American) or Kasper (Finnish) to help me. Their home I asked? I doubt their home I say, if they were they’d hear the ruckus and come help me, but I go to their door just to make sure. Knock on Chad’s like a mad woman and no1 answers. I open Kasper’s door expecting to see nothing and boy nothing was nowhere close to what I saw. Yes, yes, my dear roommate Kasper had a lady friend over and boy did I feel embarrassed. So finally Kasper manages to get the door open and I become aware of the definition of the “shirt on door”. Shirt on door = hanky panky = don’t walk in Sarishta. Got it!
The Roomates!
Jan 1 Night:
Brian takes Alina and I out for dinner and dessert. It was lovely, we had the yummiest crab oatmeal snacker in the world! Once Brian found out about my low risk lifestyle, both Alina and him tagged teamed my case and drilled me on how I should live life on the edge. “It’s like investments. The higher the risk, the higher the return.” Baby steps they say… we’ll start you off with roller coasters and maybe bungee jumping in Thailand. HAHA.. Me? Bungee jumping? I haven’t even jumped off a diving board yet!! So we decided we’d start off with jumping off a chair, who knows, maybe if this whole thing goes as planned, I’ll be able to do something reckless like snorkeling by the end of my trip.
Jan 2:
Orientation day. All us exchange students were packed in a lecture room for hours, listening to school and admin nonchalant. But Sameer and I kept it real of course by randomly screaming things like SAMOSA and BOOGERS and throwing things at the random Asian kids in front of us. What can I say? I’m a kid and I vant to have deh fun! We get a tour of the campus and damn is it high tech and sexy. Alina and I head to “Change Alley” once done to get our money exchanged at a prime rate. I do my best bargaining possible, but end up with the rate given on the board. I started with 600 dollars like a baller and eventually went down to bargaining for 20 cents and they still didn’t budge. At least I tried right? What kind of Half Indian would I be if I didn’t? We then headed to Little India, shared a chaat papri, got threaded and bought sexily priced home clothes. Came back, and spent the evening with Sameer, each on our computers doing nothingness. The boys came home from the club with mucho funny stories and we ended up hanging out till about 4 am.
Okay boy and girls, time for bed.. will be writing soon, love you all
Sa
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