Luka in Singapore Blog #3 Singapore, Bali

WELCOME BACK

to the Luka in Singapore blog! Once again, I have so many updates to share. There's never a dull moment while on exchange. I went to Bali, watched the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, and have some more observations about Singapore. I hope you enjoy!

Luka in Bali

Bali, Indonesia

NUS gave us a recess week in the middle of September to study for midterms, so naturally, we went to Bali for the whole week! It was quite the journey, filled with adventure, misfortune, and great company. To start off the trip, we saw the world's tallest indoor waterfall, which stretches over seven floors, in Singapore's Changi airport.

The Rain Vortex in Jewel at Changi Airport

Once we got to Bali, we stayed at a great hotel right on the beach with three pools and an all-you-can-eat breakfast that we absolutely made the most of every morning. For only $30 USD a night, it was great value. The hotel was so packed with Aussie tourists that at times I had to remind myself I was in Indonesia. Special shoutout to my Aunt and Uncle, Michelle and Anthony, who happened to be there at the same time as us! They helped organize everything from accommodation and a driver to an action-packed itinerary. It was lovely to see them.

One of many omelettes enjoyed each morning

Meet Wayan - Bali's Best Driver

While Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, Bali is a Hindu island, so we visited heaps of temples. During our first evening, we watched the sunset at Tanah Lot Temple where we pet a holy snake and received a blessing with raw rice grains put on our forehead and a flower in our ear.

Me, Jan, and Johannes with our driver Made after being blessed at Tanah Lot Temple

Next, we went white water rafting and were surrounded by a stunning jungle landscape. It was a fun and bumpy ride. We tourists were basically useless paddling down the rapids while our Balinese guide at the back did all the work navigating us through the rocks.

Taking a break from paddling for a quick waterfall shower

Then, we went to a different forest to go ATV driving. Anthony and Michelle had already warned me how difficult it was, and boy were they right. We drove through rocky and muddy terrain, under a waterfall, and through a water channel. I was holding on for dear life trying to keep control. Then, at the very last bend, I didn’t turn enough and crashed. My body flew forward but my left hand was gripping the handle, so all the force went to my wrist. I slowly drove back to the base but I knew my wrist was buggered. I bought some painkillers and carried on with the rest of the holiday (6 more days!) because I wanted to wait to see a doctor back in Singapore. It turned out to be worse than I thought: I had fractured my scaphoid with a recovery time of minimum 8 weeks. Devastating to miss out on playing in the Aussie Rules Asian Championships in Bangkok.

My scaphoid fracture

But the show must go on! The next morning we woke up at 1:15 a.m. to hike up Bali’s most famous volcano, Mt. Batur, and watch the sunrise from the peak. It ended up being the most unlucky day we could have chosen - it was cold, rainy, and cloudy the whole way up. The famous sunrise we saw was actually a grey sky gradually getting lighter. It was an awesome adventure nonetheless, and all the tourists on the peak cheered when the sun briefly emerged from behind a cloud. After a quick breakfast at the top, we practically skated down the mountain on the sandy volcanic rock with every step turning into a meter-long slide.

At the top of Mt. Batur

After such a chilly and exhausting journey, the perfect remedy was a relaxing bath in Bali’s natural hot springs with a view of the mountains.

Relaxing in the hot spring pools

At this point, we’d been up for hours and were feeling sleepy after the hot springs, so we visited the coffee plantation for an energy boost. There, they showed us the hilarious process used to brew their most famous coffee. This cat-like animal called the Luwak eats the coffee beans and ferments them in its stomach. Then when it poos it out, they clean, dry, roast, and grind the beans. The taste actually wasn't bad, but my favorite was the avocado coffee. After that, I was pumped to take on the rest of the day.

The Luwak (we drank its poo)

Taste-testing various tea and coffee flavors

To continue this massive day, we went to Bali's famous rice fields and another temple before stopping at the monkey forest in Ubud. The monkeys were everywhere! I posed for a photo with a monkey on my lap, but he got angry and started grabbing my hair when he realized I didn't have any food, so I had no choice but to retaliate...

For food, we either ate at the countless western-style restaurants or the traditional Indonesian Warungs. The Warungs had great, cheap food, but it came at a cost. I suffered from the famous "Bali Belly," otherwise known as food poisoning.

The meal that gave me food poisoning

Bintangs and Burgers at an Australian bar

We did so much on this trip. We body-surfed on the beach, went clubbing with other exchange students, snorkeled with turtles, did karaoke, watched the AFL grand final at an Australian bar, drank Bintang, got haircuts, snuck onto a rooftop pool, sang songs while sitting in the hectic Bali traffic, watched a Balinese fire dance, and more. It's an awesome place, and I highly recommend visiting (but you can skip driving ATVs!)

The Balinese Fire Dance. Their chanting was mesmerizing

Bali traffic was crazy. I'm grateful we had a good driver

Back to Singapore

After Bali, I slowly got back into the rhythym of campus life. I caught up on assignments, took exams, got a proper cast for my wrist, ate some nice Thai food, and started playing soccer and ping pong again. Here are some photos of campus and eating.

NUS Campus

University Town

Kent Ridge Hall Ping Pong

Another Hawker Centre

Eating Thai Mookata with the lads

Breakfast at Kent Ridge Hall

F1 Grand Prix

The next big highlight was going to watch the F1 race at Marina Bay. The city was packed with tourists, with hotel rooms in Marina Bay Sands getting up to $2000 a night. We got the cheapest tickets possible for $208 SGD ($145 USD) which gave walkabout access in Zone 4 (Zone 1 was the best). We got to the track in the early afternoon to explore the area before the race started at night. There was a great sense of energy and anticipation in the air, and I was really excited despite knowing pretty much nothing about F1 beforehand.

At the racetrack by Marina Bay

Our tickets included concerts by the Kid Laroi and Green Day which were fantastic. It started pouring rain during the Kid Laroi concert which just made it more fun.

The Kid Laroi

Green Day

A friend of ours had Zone 3 tickets, so we were able to follow him into Zone 3 surprisingly easily which made us wonder how far we could get. Turns out very far! With a bit of confidence, bluff, and a good attitude, we found ourselves sitting in the best seats in the house: in the grandstand right next to the starting line by the pole position driver. We got to watch the racers like Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc suit up on the track while their teams wheeled out and prepare their cars.

Amazing seats. Ferarri is getting ready right behind us

Vroom vroom

The race was epic. The track was still a bit wet from the rain so there were 5 drivers who crashed and didn't finish. The Mexican Sergio Perez from Red Bull won while his teammate and the top driver Max Verstappen failed to place on the podium. The Aussie Daniel Ricciardo started in 17th and ended in 5th which was awesome. They set off fireworks at the finish line, and after the race we got to walk on the track. It was a great evening and amazing value for our tickets!

Job Interviews

Recruiting season is in full swing, and I've been extremely busy with interviews the past few weeks. By Friday, I'll have done 13 interviews in the prior 3 weeks, with half of them being 3 hours long each. They're all for economic litigation consulting jobs based in DC where there's a 12 hour time difference, so I've had to schedule them to end around midnight or 1 a.m. It's exhausting but also exciting. By the next blog, I can confidently say I will have accepted a job offer for a full-time position after graduation!

My zoom interview outfit

Transportation in Singapore

Singapore's public transport is world-famous for its efficiency, accessibility, and ease of use. It's extremely popular: an average of 5.26 million bus or train rides were taken per day last year, down from 7.69 million in 2019. For perspective, Singapore's population is 5.7 million. Pretty much everyone I know, myself included, uses it on a regular basis. On campus, there's also a free student bus network that I use every day.

The public transport is great, but I do think it's slightly overrated. They have rail known as the mass rapid transit system (MRT) and buses. The pros: it's reliably on time, the MRT is very frequent (buses a bit less so), it's accessible from pretty much anywhere in the city, and it's clean. It's also ranked as one of the world's most affordable, but it often doesn't feel like it. There are two main cons that come to mind. First, it closes too early. The last train and bus are usually around midnight. This means that after a night out, you're often left stranded and waiting for a Grab to come and overcharge you. Second, something I find quite surprising and bothersome, is that it takes a long time to get places. For such a small island with such a developed transit system, you'd expect to be zipping around in no time. But in reality, there are so many stops that the average trip time, including the often necessary interchanges between bus and MRT, is over 45 minutes. So whenever I go downtown from campus, I need to reserve an additional 1.5 hours minimum just for transport.

The MRT

Singapore is designed to be anti-driving. To own a car, you need to bid for a quota-capped Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that costs up to $100,000 and expires every ten years. Car imports are also heavily taxed. The result: a standard Toyota Corolla with a COE costs $187,000. That's absurd! On top of that, they have an Electronic Road Pricing system where you pay a toll for passing through roads during certain hours. Now don't get me wrong, they have great reasons for all of this. It is way more environmentally sustainable to run a city on public transport than cars. It also heavily decreases congestion which places like New York and many cities in developing countries struggle with. It's cool learning about the different ways to run a city that other cities could use as a model. My urban economics class is definitely sharpening my eye for these types of observations. Learning from new places is one reason I love traveling!

Economic Update

And finally, the economic update. One interesting trend to watch is the battle between Singapore and Hong Kong to attract foreign talent. Singapore's government has made it clear that this is a priority, and they recently announced an overhaul of visa rules to give foreigners earning at least S$30,000 ($21,431 USD) a month easier migration and work access for themselves and their families. With strict Covid regulations and political uncertainty in Hong Kong, many expats are instead moving to Singapore. Looks like Singapore is winning the battle at the moment.

Singapore's F1 race with the exorbitant spending that came with it is symbolic of another trend: their post-covid resurgence. While the world is reasonably concerned about a recession, Singapore's economy is seeing positive signs in business and finance. The price that comes with it is a surging cost of living, especially in rent and property prices, and labor shortages for employers. The central bank will look to slow things down and prevent further inflation in the coming months.

Looking ahead

I have two exciting trips on the horizon. I'm going to Penang, Malaysia this weekend with Jan and Joris. The next weekend I'm flying to Bangkok with the Singapore Wombats for the AFL Asian Champs. I won't be able to play with my injury, but I'll be there to support the lads, run waters, and celebrate in the evenings. A couple of weeks after that, my Mum is coming to visit! I'm so looking forward to it.

Conclusion

Once again, thanks so much for reading! Have a great one and I'll see you next time.

All smiles in Luka Land!