Flight from LAX and Singapore Day 1

"Today" has come to be a loosely defined term. On Sunday, I woke up at 6:30 am. (Not that 6:30 is insanely early, but I note the time for math purposes.) Sleep seemed unnecessary, and hindered by adrenaline anyways. I was too excited about the trip and paranoid that I would forget something important, and at the same time nervous that I was packing too much. 

We had been planning and packing for months, and the day had finally come! 

After meeting at La Sierra, we boarded a flight from LAX to Tokyo. We were flying Singapore Airlines, which is an amazing way to fly. They have countless movies, and TV shows and lots of food available for order (free of charge) whenever you are feeling hungry. At Tokyo, we exited the plane to go through security and customs, only to board the same plane again for our flight to Singapore. We were getting goofy-tired at this point, but the promise of Wifi and solid ground was enough to make our brief plane exit worthwhile. Nikki and I power-walked a lap around the terminal, then got back to the plane. We swapped seats around a little bit, and this time I sat in a row with Meggie. We had a seat between us, so we were able to spread out a little bit, and I slept almost the entire flight. Apparently they woke me up when they brought me my food, but I don't even remember being woken up. 

We got to Singapore at about 3:30 am, went through customs, and were once again reunited with our backpacks. Then we boarded a van and started out towards our hotel. We stopped briefly at Mustafa, which is a 24-hour store that combines all the best elements of Nordstrom, Big 5 Sporting Goods, and Wal-Mart in one store. I got a watch, because I didn't bring my phone on the trip. Our primary reason for going to the store was to change money, but I decided not to switch any of my money just yet. Singapore is pretty easy to get around with a credit card, and that often provides a better exchange rate anyway. Around 4:30 we got back on the road to the guesthouse, and arrived around 4:45. We are staying at the guesthouse of the Southeast Asian Union office of the Adventist church. It is the same place that we stayed last year. It is clean, conveniently located a couple of blocks from the Caldecott MRT (metro) station, very clean, and comes with a full kitchen and breakfast in each room. It was a little difficult to find some of the rooms, but eventually we all got settled and went to sleep around 5:30 am. As one of my good friends says, "Sleep is for the weak!" (Or was she saying, "Sleep is for the week"? I'm not sure...)

We got up again at 8:30 and were on the road by 9:15. We took two vans to the Malay Cultural Center and the Sultan Mosque. The Sultan Mosque was closed for renovations, so we went over to the Malay Cultural Center. We learned how to play traditional Malay games, then toured around the museum. We also walked around the nearby streets. It is a popular tourist area of old shophouses (restaurant or shop on the lower floor, with living space above). Each shophouse had beautiful shutters on the windows, and the walls were covered with elaborate modern art murals.

Our next stop was a Malay/Indian area where we walked around hawker stalls selling dresses, household goods, and food. We got bottled water and Teh Tarik (MY FAVORITE!) It is like a tea latte that, literally translated, means "pulled tea" because they pour it back and forth between pots in the process of making it. After that we went to a food stall that specialized in Indian-Malay food. We ate outside under an awning, which began to flap in the wind under the ever-blackening sky. It was going to rain. Luckily, the rain held off until we were done with lunch, and we were able to enjoy our curried vegetables and rice (and yes, even some delicious Chicken Curry broth...I'm an almost vegetarian) in peace. 

Next we went on a whirlwind van tour of the city. We saw a Buddhist temple with a giant reclining Buddha. We saw a ferris wheel, which I have come to call the Singapore Eye because it looks so much like the London eye, although I am not clear on its actual name. We went to a sprawling park and walked across a beautiful wooden bridge with a wave design that offers expansive views of the city. We also went to the Peranakan Museum and the Singapore National museum. 

It was getting close to 6 pm by the time we were done, and we were all fading fast. We had once again reached the stage of slap-happy exhaustion. We walked to the closest MRT station, Dhoby Gaut, and went to Chinatown. We met some of Dr. Perumal's friends (who met up with us in Penang last year) and they took us to Chinese food. We went to the second floor of a shop house, which had been converted into a dining room. We had a smorgasbord of small plates and ate with chopsticks. I surprised myself with my ability to use chopsticks, especially given my state of exhaustion, but I was very hungry. After dinner, we went downstairs to the food street and had Chendol and Ice Kachang. Both are shaved ice desserts with different flavors in different sections, including coconut, sweet corn kernels, molasses/caramel, red beans, and jelly. We tried to eat each flavor separately, but we quickly discovered that it was much better if the flavors were all mixed together into a slush. 

After dessert, we zig-zagged through some of the shops in Chinatown on our way towards the MRT station. We headed towards home. After a day out and about, added to the extreme mugginess and jet lag, many members of our group were falling asleep on the train. We made it back to the Caldecott station and walked back to the guesthouse. We were there by about 10 pm. It was one of those days where I felt too tired to get ready for bed. So naturally, Facebook was the remedy. After a while, I realized I needed sleep and I went to bed by 11 pm. 

I am still too jet lagged to do the math on how many hours I have been awake since I was in Los Angeles. It has been a blur. I still can't believe I am here, that I actually get to see all these places again! I can't wait!

Last year, I attended the trip as a student, and this year, I am working as the TA. This trip is part of the Honors Program at La Sierra University. We will spend the next three weeks exploring Singapore and locations in Malaysia including Johore Bahru, Malacca, Penang, Kuching, and Kuala Lumpur, to name a few. I am so excited for the next three weeks! 

Stay tuned for more posts!