Of course I loved Singapore, and I do miss it. I miss the lifestyle I had there: learning new things, meeting different people, exploring new countries. I miss the amazing variety of food, and definitely my friends, hearing many different languages (!), the warm weather, the TRAVELING, but I don't think it has been long enough for me to feel like I want to go back if I could... or maybe I'm just meant to be in the US and not Asia-- crazy thought. I love the US and the opportunities we are creating for our future here.I feel like the whole semester has been a dream. I feel like I didn't totally take advantage of it; didn't do enough traveling; didn't talk to people enough; and studied too much. :) I'm sure I'd feel that way regardless of how I spent my time-- I mean it was only there 4 1/2 months! And now that I'm back I realize that it was a very individual experience and a very personal one. It's like almost impossible to explain "How was Singapore!?" when people ask, which is hard, but I sort of expected that would happen when I got back.
But I've skipped talking about a few things we did the last few weeks...
Aside from a few food adventures, I spent a decent amount of my time studying (I know!) for finals. I planned to study for my first two exams before Mom and Erin came, which sort of worked... Once they got here on Nov 20, it was all lost, and I didn't study till they left on the 24th. After that I have a big blank spot in my journal, but I do recall studying in my boiling hot room listening to Ne-yo "Miss Independent" nonstop, haha.
Phil, Ashima, and I took a trip to Sentosa one afternoon after an exam. Siloso beach definitely felt a little less than real, but it was fun and had a beautiful view. They had some nice resorts on Sentosa and some beach bars, which I could tell would be ridiculous during ZoukOut, an annual dance party held on the island. We missed it because of traveling, but it was Dec 13 this past year.
We all met Sheryl's dad at the Newton Hawker Centre and had an amazing array of food. It was such a nice time to hang out with everyone before we parted ways to travel and then head home. This is where I got those tiger prawns that were SOOO good, but also S$72, which is insane to me, but this hawker is sort of touristy, so maybe I can understand. I told myself I'd never regret spending money on food. ;)
A few days later we had a Thanksgiving celebration at Misha, David, and Adrien's apartment. It did not at all seem like Thanksgiving because of the heat (just like it didn't feel like Halloween), but it was nice to all get together, eat some "turkey" (actually a few yummy roasted chickens well-prepared by Jenny and Mina), veggies and potatoes, and share what we were thankful for. We explained the tradition to the UK students, too.
One of our favorite clubs Ministry of Sound (MOS) had closed earlier in the semester, and it was reopened just before we left. Now called Zirca, they had a big opening weekend celebration where they had some dancers that tried to create a Cirque du Soleil atmosphere. It was sort of lost on me, but the hip hop room, as always, was still a good time! Mina had some friends who were in the VIP room, so we hung out there for a while and then she, Ashima, Yong, and I danced in the hip hop room before heading out. Honestly, it didn't feel that much different than MOS, but MOS was always a good time, so Zirca probably will be in the future, too!
Katie and I took a trip to the Jurong Bird Park! It was pretty neat-- they had some really cool shows where they threw birds over your head and had them do tricks. On the train ride there I started to feel really light-headed and sick (I had a bit of a fever the day before), but Katie took care of me and we were able to enjoy the day walking around. They even had a bald eagle in one of the shows, which they explained was the national bird of the USA (we got a few looks, haha).
Hannah invited Jeff and me over for a Thanksgiving/end of semester gathering, which was so nice of her, and we ate some yummy homemade food including a fisherman's pie (with salmon, shrimp, squid, etc.) and this amazing mango dessert--Mmmm, Mmmm! We also got to meet her parents and friends, which was really fun. That was also the night that I totally failed using public transport and ended up wandering around Eastern Singapore trying to meet up with Ashima and others for dinner at the East Coast Seafood Centre, but I was able to get back just fine! No matter where you are, there's a bus stop that will take you to an MRT station, and from there, it's only an issue of time (it can take over an hour to get from one side of Singapore to the other by train).
Also in the last few days, Yong, John David, Katie and I went for lunch at the Botanic Gardens and then had tea and some amaaaaazing desserts at PS Cafe. It was starting to be real that we'd have to say goodbye, which was sad... We were all leaving at different time and that made having closure pretty tough.My friend Sean's parents were so kind to let me leave my bags at their place after I moved out of the dorms, so I dropped those off with them and we went to Breworks for some beers and dinner. Later that night was my last night with everyone before traveling and then heading home. We met at the bridge in Clarke Quay (of course), and said some of our final goodbyes. After having a few drinks and chatting with David, Mina, Aman, and others, I cabbed it back to the UNC apartment and slept for a few hours before heading to airport with Henrik-- we ended up on the same flight to Cambodia!
Then after getting back from traveling to Cambodia & Laos, I had one last day in Singapore! It was an unfortunately rainy, dreary day, but I HAD to go to the world-famous zoo-- I hadn't been there yet! It was still very enjoyable, and I wandered around on my own seeing a few shows and looking at some of the unique animals. The zoo is definitely unique. It's an open concept, so you don't really see the fences or moats that separate you from the animals. You are right up close with orangutans, lions, bats, kangaroos, and warthogs. 
Of course I enjoyed the "crops of Asia" exhibit, too, even though it is a ZOO (I love plants!). :) Then I stopped by Bugis market to pick up a few thing, including another pair of those great jelly shoes! I grabbed some beancurd dessert and some red bean & banana pastry puffs and headed back to Sean's parents for a yummy dinner and to repack my things before getting my early flight the next morning.I didn't finish up repacking and getting ready until a little after 3, and my plan was to get a cab at 3:30... So I laid down on the bed to "just rest my eyes for a few minutes," and passed out! Sean's dad thankfully woke me up at about 4:40 and helped me rush out in a complete panic. I got to the airport at 5:10 and they had already closed my check-in for my 6am flight! Luckily they let me through and I had no problems getting on the plane, but it definitely shocked me a bit.
Once I was on the plane I just kept thinking, "I can't believe I'm going home!!" I slept a lot of the first flight to Tokyo, watched The Notebook (which I hadn't seen before), and then watched a few movies and talked to the guy next to me (a Nuclear Engineering student at UW!) on the flight to Minneapolis. When I stepped off the plane in Minnesota (donning leggings and open toed shoes) I absolutely FROZE walking up the walkway to the airport. My skin and eyes were just killing because of the dry air, but I was greeted by pleasant Midwestern accents, which sounded just completely ridiculous to me, haha. It was weird that everything was in one language, too!After Mom and Dad picked me up in Madison, we headed home and got Culver's on the way, haha-- of course! Then I completely passed out and slept almost 20 hours. I've been blaming my laziness on jetlag, but I think that excuse only works for a few weeks, if that! So I've had to get back into the swing of things. For the first few days, I kept thinking I was seeing people I knew, but I just wasn't used to seeing so many white people! That was a pretty silly phenomenon. I was also still thinking that soup was just broth, coffee has sugar in it, etc., but I do appreciate the heavy, bland (in comparison) American food. I love my cheese. And now I walk into a room and think, "Wow, it's pretty cold in here... We should turn down the A/C to save energy," but have to remember that keeping it COLDer saves energy! Crazy to think , because this cold would be so appreciated in Singapore.
It's weird that I am now in the same time zone as most of the people I communicate with, so nothing really happens overnight like it was in Singapore. It's the end of the second week of school and I'm so overwhelmed! It's nice to feel productive, and it's sooo great to catch up with old friends. I'm looking forward to finishing my last, fantastic(ly busy!) semester. ON WISCONSIN!
Here are the photo albums from my last few weeks:
the beginning of the end... dun dun dunnnn - SG 30
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2483312&l=0c96c&id=8605287
hodgepodge of my last few days in s'pore - SG 31
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2490741&l=d1e31&id=8605287
a few more kewl aminewls from the zoo - SG 32
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2492651&l=710bb&id=8605287
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