Paradise

I spent the past three days in Malaysia on a small island called Pulau Dayang. It was the most magical experience of my life. I can honestly say that Malaysia is my favorite place in the word right now. Words can’t completely describe how incredible these past few days have been so pictures and videos will have to suffice.

Our first glimpse of Dayang Island

Pictures from under the sea!

We climbed to the top of the island one afternoon

And again the next morning to see the sunrise!

Yoga on the beach

And games at night!

A (Temple) Walk to Remember

Today was our Temple Walk! We spent the day learning about the different religions that have played a role in the development of the Singapore culture. A few days ago, I mentioned visiting the Hindu temple for the goddess, Kali. We learned all about Hinduism and Kali’s temple in particular. Today, we took everyone else in the class to her temple and discussed what we had learned about her. We also got to learn about the two other major religions, Islam and Buddhism.

We learned about Islam first. The Mosque we visited was the largest in Singapore. Since it was built in an area that already had influence from other religions, the building reflects the architecture of many other cultures, such as the onion dome to mimic Indian architecture and the high ceilings to mirror gothic cathedrals. To be respectful, girls and guys had to wear clothing that covered their legs and shoulders. The girls could also wear headscarves as a sign of respect. I had never been in a mosque before and it was definitely an eye-opening experience.

Later in the day we went to the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore. The temple was also a monastery and the monks lived and worked in the temple. It’s heard to describe just how intricate and beautiful this temple was. We were able to listen to one of the prayer services and wander around the expansive property. One of the buildings was home to one of the largest statues of Buddha in Southeast Asia. It had to be at least 30 feet tall! Everyone remained in quiet reverence while we explored the different buildings and learned more about Buddhism.

 I was sad that we didn’t get to visit a Christian church. From what I can see, Christianity also had an influence in the culture of Singapore. I think our professors wanted us to explore the religions that we aren’t exposed to in the United States. Hopefully, I will have a chance to attend a Christian church service for Easter! 

A shrimp, a manta ray, a mer-lion

Today was incredible because we saw so many fish… both alive and dead. We started out the morning by taking the metro to Little India and walking around the fish market. We smelled the market before we saw it. The pungent odor of dead fish permeated the air as we walked down the aisles. I felt kind of bad for the people in our group who didn’t feel so well after exploring Singapore’s nightlife last night. If I had a rough time with the odor, I can’t imagine what they were experiencing! I thought the market was amazing! There were so many incredible sea critters to marvel at, even though they were all dead. After a while I didn’t even notice the smell because I was having such a good time!

After the market, we made our way to the Urban Redevelopment Authority building so that we could learn about how Singapore is run so smoothly. We walked through an interactive museum that focused mainly on the infrastructure and development of Singapore. A gigantic 3D map of the city rested on a large table in the center of the museum, complete with buildings, bridges and roads. It was fascinating to see how each plot of land is carefully planned out in order to conserve space. This city really is amazing!

Once we had completed our tour of the HRA building, we had the rest of the day off. Most people wanted to go take a nap, but I didn’t want to waste any time. Justin and I decided to go to the Singapore Aquarium! It is advertized as the largest aquarium in the world, but I don’t know how they are measuring that. It could be number of fish, number of exhibits, size, volume of tanks, or something else. Regardless, it was awesome!! Justin and I skipped lunch because we wanted to spend as long as possible in the aquarium. The line was quite long, but it was completely worth it. We saw so many marvelous species that I have never seen before! My favorites included the nautilus, giant manta ray, jellyfish, garden eels and spider crabs. Here are a few pictures in an attempt to show how incredible this aquarium is! 

Manta Ray!

Nautilus!

Spider Crabs!

Garden Eels!

By the time we finished walking through the aquarium, we were starving! We ate lunch (at 4 pm) and wandered around the island. The aquarium is on an island called Santosa, which is right off of the Singapore Island. Resort World Santosa is not only home to the aquarium, but also Universal Studios, zip-lining tours and a giant merlion. I’m not kidding. A Mer-Lion. Awesome! 

Lectures galore!

We continued our cultural exploration of Singapore by learning about the major religions that influence the philosophy of the Singaporeans. We split into three groups, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, and were required to learn about the customs, rituals, and overall worldviews of our chosen religion. Each group also needed to locate a temple so that they could take the whole class to it later in the course. I was in the Hindu group. We decided to take the metro to little India and explore a temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess, Kali. She is the goddess of destruction and time. She is depicted with blue skin, red eyes, a necklace of skulls, two dead heads for earrings, a skirt made of human hands, and her tongue sticking out. Super intense, but awesome! After doing some research on her I found out that there is more to her than the destructive side. She only kills demons and she  works to liberate her children. She fights evil forces to protect her children. Many families bring their small children to be blessed by Kali, even though her statues are terrifying to behold.

After visiting the temple, we ate lunch at a local Indian restaurant where it was custom to each with your hands! Obviously, we all had a blast and got so messy trying to eat rice and curry with our fingers! It was so much fun!

In the later afternoon, we attended a lecture at the National University of Singapore, which is within walking distance from our hotel. The lecture focused on environmental law and how Singapore solves its many environmental issues. Even though I usually find policy and law to be incredibly dull, I absolutely loved the lecture. I liked hearing the lecturer’s personal accounts of the problems and how the government worked to fix them. All in all, it was interesting, informative, and fun!

The next day (Friday) was our big lecture day. Normally we attended three different lectures from various organizations. First, we went to the Botanical Gardens to listen to the National Parks Service discuss their goals and actions. They have done a marvelous job at “greening” the city. Most of you know that I really hate cities. I’ve been to NYC once and I will hopefully never go back again. To me, cities feel grey, dirty, and crowded. Singapore is different. Thanks to NParks, the city actually does feel like a garden. I never feel claustrophobic by the number of people. I see green plants everywhere I look and it doesn’t seem like a big city. I have unexpectedly fallen in love with this city!

After lunch, we went to the HUB environment building to listen to a lecture about how the government is working to supply clean water to the populace. The final lecture was at the university again and we learned about the applications of satellite remote sensing in conservation efforts. The final lecture was not only for us, but also to the university students. Afterwards, we had a chance to converse with the students and discover what they think about their city. I even made a few new friends!

Vertical Limit

This morning we transitioned from learning about the history of Singapore, to learning about how it is confronting its problems today. Singapore is a very small island, but is currently home to 5.3 million people and the government is projecting the population to rise to 6.9 million. In order to fit so many people on an island, you have to plan how you use each plot of land very carefully. This is why there are so many skyscrapers in Singapore. They have to build vertically instead of horizontally in order to make everything fit.

Singapore used to look like a bleak, dirty city, but has transformed itself into and incredibly beautiful “city in a garden”. One of the steps that the developers used to “green” the city was to change the drainage canals from long strips of concrete to reestablished rivers. These rivers used to flow through Singapore, but were channeled to flow through a manmade canal instead. Now, engineers have reverted them back to the original landscape. We visited one such transformation. This park is absolutely beautiful with fish swimming in the river and the city skyline in the background.

 

One of the coolest parts of the part was the natural filtration system. Water flows through a network of plants and soil that help to filter the water. The water that flows out of the pipes is much clearer that the water that went into the water garden.

After lunch, we went on a driving tour through Singapore. It was just a quick overview but we had a chance to see Singapore as a whole. Our professors pointed out important buildings and gave us a little bit of insight into the planning that went into developing such a modern city in only a few years. One of the more interesting (if not morbid) parts of the tour was when we passed the graveyards. Everyone in the city is buried in one area on the island, but there are different cemeteries depending on religion. You can see thousands of gravesites spread out among the hills. Unfortunately, Singapore is running out of space and there isn’t enough room for many more people to be buried. The government has decided that people can only be buried for 10 years. After that the body is exhumed and cremated. Then, that plot of land is used to bury someone else. It is kind of sad, but I guess it’s necessary.

Later in the tour, we stopped at the northernmost point of the island and you could clearly see the country of Malaysia on the other side of the river. We will be going to Malaysia later in the trip, so stay tuned!

Sending my love from afar!

Today marked the first day of the longest travel experience of my life. We stayed up late Saturday night and had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to catch our flights. Our ride never showed up, so we had to find another way to get to the airport and we were pretty late by the time we got there. Most of us almost missed our flights, but fortunately, we were able to run through the entire airport and catch the flights with seconds to spare!

I flew from Panama City to Washington D.C. to Frankfurt, Germany to Singapore. The entire trip lasted 32 hours with the longest leg lasting 11 hours. I couldn’t sit down for that long and decided to do some push-ups and squats in the back of the plane. Definitely a Nick-ish thing to do! I left on Sunday morning and arrived in Singapore on Tuesday morning. Yikes! Justin (who was the only other person in both the Panama and Singapore classes) and I met up in the Singapore airport, exhausted but excited. Unfortunately, his travel experience was much worse than mine. He almost missed his plane twice and the airline had lost his bag in Panama! Hopefully they can forward it to Singapore!

Rickshaw Rally, anyone?!?!

There was no time to rest from our journey once we had reached the hotel. We had to quickly hop in another taxi and get to the National History Museum of Singapore where we would meet up with the rest of our class. It was wonderful to see all of our Marine Lab buddies again! We spent the morning in the National History Museum of Singapore, learning all about the history and culture of this incredible city-state. Singapore is a tiny island off the coast of Malaysia. One of the most amazing facts about Singapore is that it progressed from a 3^rd world country to a 1^st world country in 35 years! I loved walking around the museum and learning about the steps it took to accomplish such a task.

Carrie and I listening to Singapore music from the 50s

Million Dollar Duckie!

In the afternoon, we went to the Asian Civilizations museum to learn about the many different cultures that impacted Singapore. One of the exhibits was specifically dedicated to the river that separates Singapore and Malaysia. My favorite part was the ‘Million-dollar rubber duck’. A few years ago, everyone bought a rubber duck to decorate and number. Thousands of ducks were set loose at the start of the river. The owner of the first duck to cross the finish line won a million dollars! Other exhibits featured Hindu statues, Buddhist carvings, Chinese weapons, and other artifacts that were a wonder to behold. Before today, I knew next to nothing about Singapore but now I know a lot more about Singapore and its history!

The library!

After the museums, we were on our own so some of us made our way to Bugus Street, a large outdoor shopping experience with hundreds of small venders. From there, we explored the 13-story public library. They were featuring an exhibit about the various social campaigns that have taken hold in Singapore. My favorite was the campaign against guys with long hair because guys with longer hair were considered rebels and were more likely to get into drugs. Obviously, this campaign isn’t popular anymore, but it’s interesting to see what social issues Singapore has faced in the past.

Singapore!!!

I found this Chinese proverb posted on the wall while I was exploring the Asian civilizations museum. I am traveling pretty far away from my parents right now, but they know my whereabouts and I am sending my love from afar! <3