Singapore: Day 2

On Sunday, I woke up very late.... I was completely knocked out. It seemed that most students had already gotten breakfast, so I posted on our Global Internships Facebook group and met up with two other UC Berkeley students for lunch at the National University Hospital. NUH is absolutely amazing; it is very large and seems like a separate world of its own. It has its own food centre, which is at the heart of the medical area, as well as restaurants and shops.

Food center, where we had lunch

After lunch, we went on a little adventure before our Meet and Greet session at 4:30 p.m. Singapore uses a MRT  system for public transportation; it is analogous to BART but 194850192950 times better and more efficient. There are a couple of lines (i.e. the circle line, north-east line) and the train comes every two minutes, which I find to be heavenly compared to the ~20 minute gaps between BART trains. The MRT is also relatively inexpensive, perhaps ~$2 per ride! However the downsides are the congestion (it is difficult to find a seat most times) and the strict rules. No food or drinks are allowed, and more humorously, no durian is allowed due to the stench.

The stations are impeccable.

What?No fine for carrying durians?

After a ~20 minute ride and a transfer later, we arrived in Little India! It reminded me of the Chinatown back at home with its produce stands.... but Indian. This was a cultural adventure for me, and I found myself gazing at the many cultural items sold (good thing one of my friends was Indian and explained them to me). The fruits sold were very exotic-- large mangoes, orange pomegranates, purple mangosteens, guava, and others that I could not even identify. I already bought dragon fruits and mangosteens, so I must go back soon to do fruit shopping!

As you can see, I was overly excited to be in Little India.

After a bit of shopping.... we decided to visit Chinatown, as it was only two stops away from Little India. We were expecting a Chinatown simiar to the ones in Oakland and San Francisco, but we were pleasantly surprised by the modernity of it. There was a large shopping mall right in front of the MRT station as well as other developed buildings. Also, this Chinatown was strangely clean, which definitely threw us off. We were short on time and had to return to PGPR at 4:30 PM, so we were only able to explore the mall for a bit.

Hello Chinatown!

Interior of the fancy mall.

Green tea muffin!

We barely made it back to PGPR in time for the Meet and Greet, but either way we made it after our long adventures! The Academic Internship Council (AIC) coordinator briefed us on our schedule and the program, and then brought us to dinner at the Lau Pa Sat hawker center. Hawker centers are very common in Singapore; they are basically inexpensive food centers with many food booths. Meals are usually about $3-$5 and very delicious!

Lau Pa Sat, a hawker center

The inside. Too many food booths, too many choices!

Ordered the chicken set meal. Mmmmm Indian food.

Too excited about our meal!

We split a momo chacha (shaved ice) for dessert.

Afterwards, we went to Mustafa, a huge 24-hour store that apparently sells everything and anything. My time in that area is probably the most uncomfortable experience I've ever had in my life. When we neared the store, we noticed hundreds of Indian males loitering around outside the store talking in groups. When we entered the store, it was the same... Indian males everywhere. Not a single female or Indian female was to be found! Of course, we felt extremely awkward being the only non-Indians and the girls felt additionally awkward for being the only females in the store. There were entire sections on female goods (jewelery, shoes, clothes, bras) but the strange thing was that the males were shopping for these items. A group of us left early because we had nothing to buy and felt uncomfortable. Later on, a tour guide warned us to not enter Mustafa on Sunday nights, so perhaps we will need to re-evaluate Mustafa on a night that is not Sunday!