Singapore: Day 6

On Thursday morning, we had our appointment with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to receive our student passes. I woke up at 6:15 AM in order to arrive at the ICA building by 8:30 AM. The ICA was very strict with what was acceptable, and many of us had to retake our photos because our hair was covering our eyebrows and forehead, our photo was older than 3 months, etc. And of course, being the usual klutz I am, I forgot to bring the immigration card I received when I went through customs at the Singapore airport. I quickly took the train back to PGPR and picked up the card, then took the train to the ICA building. By the time I arrived at the ICA, the rest of the group had finished and was preparing to leave. Some of them were heading to Bugis to do more shopping, and I met up with them an hour later, after I had finished the immigration process and received my student pass.

Bugis Plus Mall

Because we woke up so early, we were extremely tired and drained from the trip. We went to the local hawker station called Rochor Center for brunch. I ordered the Bak Kut Teh, which is a Chinese soup popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, Mainland China, and Taiwan. 

Bak Kut Teh

Soon after we finished our meal, we headed back to PGPR and died from exhaustion for a few hours. We met up again later in the evening for late-night shopping at Haji Lane. The girls visited the stores and looked at clothes, while the guys wandered off. We came back together again for dinner at the Singapore Zam Zam. One of us had found the place online and saw that it had very high reviews, and I believe it was rightfully so because the food was delicious. It was definitely one of my favorite meals in Singapore! Emily and I split a medium-sized chicken murtabek and ordered pulled tea, which is a hot Indian milk tea that is "pulled" during preparation.

Haji Lane at night

Chicken murtabek and pulled tea

Afterwards we returned to the Bugis area and the group separated-- some of us went to catch a movie while the others stayed around and shopped. By this point, I was beyond tired of shopping. There are so many malls in Singapore, and it is strange that they remain packed even on weekday nights! After we wandered for a bit inside the mall, we headed back to PGPR and rested.