Week One
January 6-13 January 6th It's move-in day! I was still jet-lagged from the plane ride and still need to adjust to the time so I woke up at 6:30 in the morning. I basically watched Netflix for a solid two hours and then Kelli and I had to do our Module Registration for NUS. The university has a weird and complex course registration that takes a really long process. We eventually finished requesting the classes we wanted and then started getting ready to leave our hotel. We checked out and left our luggage at the front desk to eat a late breakfast and explore the city a little more before heading to NUS. The email we received prior to traveling to NUS stated check-in started at 2 PM so we took a Grab to UTown where we were staying for the semester. When we got in a little after 2 so we expected to wait maybe 30 mins but that wasn't the case... We had to enter the queue with about 40 people ahead of us! 2 hours passed and in that time by Kelli and I finally got to check into our rooms and during that time we made some friends from California, Brittney, Loise and Kat! I quickly dropped off my things into my room and ran into my first suite mate Alec who studies at University of Texas. Then, I met up with Kelli and our other friend from BEST Anna Chen to go grocery shopping and to grab dinner to celebrate Anna's birthday! By the time we got back to campus I was so tired and full I just wanted to sleep but I knew if I didn't unpack now then I wouldn't do it for the next week. So once I got to my room I unpacked everything and got settled in and chatted with my suite-mate and settled into my room. January 7th Today we had our Exchange Student Orientation where faculty informed us of all the services and information we needed to start off the academic semester. They informed us about everything from course registration, disability services, security services, and so on. Although it was a really long orientation (2 and a half hours long) all the information given was crucial to how well our semester would go. Afterward, my friends and I went to grab lunch at the nearby canteen then made our way to Daiso to do some shopping for snacks and dorm supplies. We got back and went our separate ways only to meet back up for dinner two hours later haha! We had dinner at the UTown Canteen after we went to find the Fine Foods Canteen not too far away. January 8th Today was full of networking and socializing with others, and let me tell you... IT WAS DRAINING! This morning we had a Coffee Get Together for the exchange students to meet each other. It was held at 10 AM usually I can hold a conversation but it was just too early for me to socialize and network. After the Coffee Get Together my friends and I met with some people we met in the morning and got to know them more over lunch. We then went to our friend Katia's place to chill, share music taste and prepare for our ICA Off-site enrollment. Nothing much happened until evening. Kelli and I went to attend the TIMI Alumni 2020 Gathering in Singapore! It was held at the Godmama Resturant which is owned by TIM Alumna Christina Khoo. We met a great network of alumni who have accomplished so much after graduating from the University of Manoa. It was a real pleasure to meet such kind-hearted and supportive alumni during our time abroad. January 9th The night before, Kelli and I had created an itinerary for our Singapore tour for the next day. So, after we finished up collecting our student ID for us to access the gym, UTown pool, etc. and our ICA Student Passes to study abroad here in Singapore we met up to begin our tour of Singapore! We were a group of 7 and our first stop of Chinatown. But more specifically the one Michelin star restaurant, Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodles. It was so delicious! Afterward, we got juice and tried durian, it was honestly so bad haha. I've heard people saying it was creamy and sweet but it just tasted like garlic to me. Then again, we might have just gotten a bad batch. After having a horrifying durian experience we explored Chinatown by getting free samples and looking at all of the various stalls until we had to go to our next stop which was the Merlion. It was what you would think it would look like... a mermaid lion fountain hahaha all we did was took lots of photos in the blazing heat until we had enough of it. We finally made it to our final destination for our itinerary, Gardens by the Bay. We spent S$28 to go to two conservatories the Cloud Forest and the Flower Garden! They were both really beautiful and everyone had a great time walking around looking at all the flowers and sculptures. After the conservatories, we had a great time trying out the Singapore Mcdonalds food like the McFlurries and Spicy chicken Mcnuggets while we waited for the Supertree Observatory light show. January 10th As school was approaching my friends and I had no clue where our classes were so we set the day aside to find each of our classes and after 3-4 hours later we still didn't find everyone's classes so we all agreed to stop try and go to IKEA to do some shopping for those who need supplies for their dorms. Once we got back Kelli and I had to go straight to our "Respect and Consent Workshop". This workshop is being held to enforce the expectations of NUS on the students living on campus because last semester there was an incident that blew up and they now take respect and consent to a higher standard. January 11th A few of my friends and I went over to the Prince George Park Residence to grab lunch and have a personalized tour by our very own friends Clay, Cell and Anna! We had the chance to see what it was like living in PGPR and all of its facilities along with their canteens and food courts. Later during the day, I met with my friend Jordan who is a local Singaporean to have dinner and catch up. We went over to Vivocity which was right across Sentosa island where Universal Studios is. Once I got back to UTown we all met up again to plan for our Spring Recess and we decided to visit Taiwan because first, the flights were cheap and second Cell, our friend is actually from Taiwan and was willing to house us for the week and to show us around her home! January 12th Today was my rest day, all I did was I went to a church my discipleship leader connected me to and attended their service. Later my friends and I went to a Welcome Reception only to find out it was basically another orientation debriefing but the upside was there was a buffet after the reception. Since it was a Sunday night and had class the next day we all called it a night pretty early.' |