Luka in Singapore Blog #4 Singapore, Malaysia (Penang/Johor Bahru), Thailand (Bangkok)

WELCOME BACK

to the Luka in Singapore blog! It has been an awesome few weeks filled with mini adventures and excursions, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Let’s get into it!

Luka at Marina Bay

Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo A big group of exchange students decided to visit the world's first nocturnal zoo which made for a fun evening. We watched a live animal show, took a guided tram through the wildlife reserve, then walked around ourselves. We saw lions, tigers, (no bears), rhinos, hippos, elephants, flamingos, bats, white raccoons, aardvarks, hyenas, binturongs, a fennec fox (super cute), and more. Even though most of the animals were nocturnal, they pretty much just lay around the whole time anyway, so I think it may have been better at daytime when we could actually see!

White Raccoon at the show

Malayan Tiger

Maned wolf

Penang, Malaysia The next trip was a weekend getaway to Penang with Jan and Joris. This was the perfect relaxing weekend after a busy and tiring few weeks. Our hotel was in a great location overlooking the water and Chinese family jetties and was only $7 USD a night each. We explored the famous street art in the main city George Town which was beautiful.

View from hotel room window

George Town street art

The next morning we rode the bus up along the coast to a dense forest hiking trail that ends at the beach. Unwisely, we carried some plastic bags with us, so as soon as we got on the trail, a group of monkeys descended and attacked out of nowhere. They lunged and snatched the plastic bags from us and took out all the snacks we had with us. It was totally scary but also really funny. They're very quick. We continued on our hike through the forest which was muddy and slippery from the rain overnight. After two hours of hiking, we emerged at the beach right as the sun came out. It was a lovely reward for a challenging hike.

The treacherous hike

The beach at the end of the hike

We hung out on the beach for a bit then saw storm clouds rolling in, so we figured it was time to head back. A man on a little motorboat boat saw us and drove over to offer a ride back to the trailhead with a few other tourists. We accepted and proceeded to have the craziest boat ride of our lives. The storm hit as soon as we got out on the water. We were rocked and sprayed while all of us passengers held on to the handles for dear life. The waves grew to essentially become ramps that we'd ride up, and we'd get some brief airtime before crashing down again and repeating this over and over. Then the water started to rise on either side of us until it seemed that the whole boat was about to submerge and sink. Somehow, we got to shore and thanked the driver before taking the bus back into the city.

The calm before the storm

After a warm shower, we ate an incredible dinner at a fancy Japanese restaurant. We were ravenous and probably ate enough for six between the three of us, but we still only had to pay 240 Ringgit which worked out to $17 USD each. I love Malaysian prices!

The next day, we went to a hipster Sunday market for brunch and to check out some cool local artists. We explored more of the streets of Penang including the traditional shophouses. In Penang there are no footpaths, so you just have to carefully walk on the road with all the car traffic. We went to a fun 3D illusions museum then to a sports bar to watch the Chelsea game. We visited Penang's vibrant Little India and ate delicious cheese Naan at this one restaurant that we went to four times over the course of the trip. 

3D Museum

Feasting in Penang's Little India

Luka and Jan eating Naan

On our last day, we took a train up the mountain to enjoy the view from Penang Hill and visit a temple. For lunch, I ate Penang Curry Mee. I got to use my Chinese a good amount on this trip because Penang is a Chinese-majority part of Malaysia. We headed back to the airport to conclude a great trip.

Penang Curry Mee

Food

It’s not Singapore without great food. Here are some culinary highlights from the past few weeks. One funny thing about Singapore is that they never give you a knife with your meal. It's only chopsticks or a spoon and fork. Even if it's something you need to cut, they expect you to use a spoon which is so ineffective sometimes, especially for me with a broken wrist. But hey, you gotta make sacrifices to be one of the top 10 safest countries in the world right.

Lunch with Winston

Korean BBQ

Anthony Bourdain certified Chicken Rice

The aformentioned Chicken Rice

Vegetarian Indian food at the student canteen

City Gallery My urban economics teacher recommended a trip to Singapore’s City Gallery at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to learn more about the city’s development and planning process. It was a fascinating history starting from the pre-colonial era, moving to the first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s transformative leadership, and ending with today’s urban policies and plans. It also has a huge model of the city center that architects use for planning which was really fun to examine.

Model of Singapore city centre

Cé La Vi Cé La Vi is the rooftop bar, restaurant, and club on top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. It’s the pinnacle of Singapore nightlife. It’s definitely pricey but well worth it for the view and experience. Johannes and I went to the club together and linked up with friends there. Everybody goes on Wednesday because it’s ladies' night so it’s free for women. We danced and drank and ran into heaps of people we know; it was a great time.

Cé La Vi is up there!

Luka and Johannes at Cé La Vi

Bangkok, Thailand The weekend after Penang was the AFL Asian Championships in Bangkok with the Singapore Wombats. Although I couldn't play because of my broken wrist, I went along for the fun and had a great time. I spent most of the trip hanging out with a couple of other exchange students who are studying at another Singapore university and also joined the team this semester. We arrived the day before the tournament so we had some time to explore the city. After the team meeting, we went for a fun ride in a Tuk Tuk to check out a couple of rooftop bars. We arrived at the building and were stopped at the door because we were wearing shorts (the dress code was long pants). We were pretty bummed and started heading back until an enthusiastic old Thai lady stopped us and showed us her pants rental stand. It seemed that this wasn't an uncommon problem! We thought the concept of renting pants was hilarious, so we got some and went up to the bar. We had a great view of the city and even recreated a picture from the Hangover where they go to this same rooftop bar.

Scene from the Hangover

Recreated photo (featuring rented pants)

Standstill traffic in Bangkok

The next day was the tournament. It was an awesome atmosphere, very similar to the USAFL Nationals I played in last year. We had two men's teams, in division 1 and division 3, and one women's team. I kept time for the coach and ran waters during the game. It was tough to be out of the action because I would have loved to be out there playing, but it was good fun either way. The men's div 3 guys lost every game and the men's div 1 team lost to Vietnam and Indonesia but beat Papua New Guinea. PNG would go on to be champions along with Pakistan in division 3. Despite our defeats, it was fantastic that these were the guys that won because every team besides PNG and Pakistan was almost exclusively made up of Aussie expats. PNG and Pakistan were all locals, and they played such a unique and exciting brand of footy that the Aussies couldn't keep up with. The sport is growing! I didn't mention the women's team yet because I wanted to save the best for last. The Singapore Wombettes dominated and took home the trophy! Champion effort from them and it gave all the blokes a reason to celebrate that night.

The Wombats in action

Club photo

The lads

The match footy

We partied hard that night in the VIP balcony we rented out at a big club in Bangkok. Hopped around to a few other clubs via Tuk Tuk then went to the famous traveler's hub Khaosan road. The next day we slept in and had a recovery session in the hotel pool. The other young guys and I went to Chatuchak Weekend Market which was huge and very lively. We wandered around and bought clothes and lunch. That evening the club went out again to a few bars. It was great hanging around with a big group of Aussies all weekend and socializing with people from different age groups and demographics than I usually do. Great trip.

Celebratory beers

Riding a Grab scooter back to the hotel

Pool session the next day

At Chatuchak Market

Diwali The day I got back from Bangkok, I was right back into the action in Singapore celebrating Diwali. Diwali is the Indian Festival of Lights and is a big deal in Singapore because of the large Indian population here. We went to Little India to have a delicious dinner and join the festivities. The streets were teeming with people, the lights were up, and everybody was happily celebrating which made for a really fun atmosphere. As we walked past a group of guys dancing, they waved us over so I joined in with my best dance moves. It was so much fun. I bought some tasty Indian sweets from a street stall to round off the night.

Little India

Dancing together

Job Acceptance After a total of 28 hours of interviews with eight different companies and countless more hours spent emailing, preparing, and coordinating times based on the 12-hour time difference, I have finally accepted a job that I’m really excited about! It was well worth the lengthy process to compare offers and choose the best fit for me. After graduation, I am going to be working full-time as an Analyst at Cornerstone Research in their DC office doing economic litigation consulting. The work is fascinating, the people seem great, and I will learn so much about law, economics, and a wide variety of industries. There are direct applications from my statistics and econometrics classes which I’m very excited about. I’m looking forward to getting started! (But only after a big, celebratory Summer break in 2023)

A definitely not staged photo of me interviewing

Johor Bahru My fourth and final weekend trip to Malaysia was to Johor Bahru, just across the bridge from Singapore. The exchange students from Kent Ridge Hall rented out a fancy Airbnb together for a night. We took the public bus across the border and got lunch at a street stall. Then, we wanted to go grocery shopping but realized we couldn't walk there and none of us had internet. We bumped into our waiter from lunch who offered us a ride, so the seven of us somehow squeezed into four seats. It was very tight but it was a hilarious ride. We bought groceries and drinks and headed back to the house. It's amazing how much more you can get in Malaysia for the same price as in Singapore. The house was absolutely gorgeous with three stories, a pool, a big kitchen, and even decorative towel swans on the beds.

Towel swans

Hanging by the pool

We cooked dinner then played games and had drinks. It was a very wholesome trip. We mostly just hung out at the house because there's not a lot to do in JB besides shop. In fact, as soon as you cross the border, the walkway leads you directly into a shopping mall without ever having to step foot on the street. That shows the appeal of JB to Singaporeans. Singapore Premier League Especially after learning more about it in my geography of soccer class, I’ve wanted to go to a Singapore Premier League match all semester. Turns out the season ended already, but luckily for me the Singapore Cup is still on with the same teams. My friend Jared from my hall soccer team plays for the Young Lions professional team (which is awesome), so he got me free tickets to watch their game against the Lion City Sailors. Lion City Sailors were huge favorites to win, but the home team stayed strong and fought out a thrilling 1-1 draw with an own goal, countless injuries and yellow cards, and a few brawls on the pitch. It was quality entertainment. We were three of only about three hundred fans in this tiny stadium in the city, but the atmosphere was still great.

Go Young Lions!

Economic Update To be honest, not much has happened in Singapore since the last economic update, so I’ve decided to transition this to an update on the Asia-Pacific region instead. Xi Jinping was elected by the Chinese Communist Party for a third term, breaking precedent and establishing his dominance as the leader of the world’s second biggest economy. In Malaysia, despite major flooding heading into monsoon season, the government has called for a snap election later this month which will see the world’s longest-serving coalition look to regain power after a surprise loss four years ago. Critics say the tightly-contested election is being rushed during the dangerous flooding to keep voter turnout low. North Korea violated UN sanctions by escalating launches of ballistic missiles and is facing harsh condemnation from the West who are also upset with China and Russia for failing to condemn it as well. 156 people were killed in a crowd crush in Seoul’s nightlife district for a Halloween celebration. Lastly, the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, survived an assassination attempt at his anti-government protest, signaling a dangerous political landscape ahead. Looking Ahead My Mum is visiting me in Singapore this weekend on her way to Australia! It's been so lovely seeing her and showing her around Singapore. I will share all about our adventures in the next blog. Then, I'm headed to Thailand again later this week, this time to Phuket, the Phi Phi Islands, and Krabi. I have final exams when I get back, then I leave Singapore for good. This semester has flown by. After exams, I'm flying to Hanoi and backpacking through Vietnam and Cambodia before heading to Sydney for Christmas. So much to look forward to! One great thing about this exchange is that everyone has been traveling to the same places, so there's always an informal information network going around about the best places to see and stay, things to do and not do, and visa and travel information.

Conclusion Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. All the best and I'll see you in the next one.

Ok Lah! A bit of Singlish for you