Days 2 & 3: Eating My Way Through Singapore

I woke up on Saturday morning after 12 hours of wonderful sleep in a real bed.  We gathered together 14 of our friends who had already arrived to the Visitor's Lodge to go on a walking tour of three cultural centers of Singapore: Chinese, Arab and Indian.  Amy, my roommate for this country and one of my teammates for my project, had completely arranged the trip including calling all the cabs and designating where to meet.  We went in four different cabs to the Majestic Opera House.  Unfortunately, one of the cab drivers thought one of the groups meant the Majestic Hotel and dropped that group at the hotel.  Because we didn't have cell phones, we were separated from that group for most of the day.  After deciding that we couldn't find that group, 10 of us began to walk around Chinatown. There were fresh produce stands and many shops with trinkets and silks. There is a large Chinese population in Singapore and they contribute hugely to the culture and economy.  Below is a picture of what one of the streets in Chinatown looked like:

We stopped briefly at this temple to take in the beautiful architecture of this immense temple.  This is the gate of the buddha tooth relic temple:

 Our first real stop in Chinatown was at the Maxwell Food Centre.  Another hawker center where many in our group wanted to try a chicken rice stand (pictured below in blue) that is famous because Anthony Bourdain called it the best chicken rice stand in Singapore.

 After leaving Chinatown with full bellies, we walked through the city center in the scorching heat, crossing rivers and periodically stopping to guzzle water.  We finally arrived in the Muslim center of Singapore where we were first greeted by this beautiful mosque and the smell of amazing Mediterranean food.  We were not allowed to enter the mosque because we were wearing shorts and dresses.  Many Singaporeans are walking around in long pants, long sleeve shorts, and scarves.  I have no idea how they stand it.

After taking in the mosque, we turned to walk down Arab street pictured below.  We stopped in the first shop we saw and I purchased a large fan thinking it would serve me well over the next few weeks.  We meandered down this street taking in all the rug shops, silk shops, and restaurant aromas.

 Next, we crossed the river to wander through the largest flea market in Singapore where vendors were peddling second hand electronics, shoes, and assorted knick-knacks.  We were able to reunite with our four lost group members and proceeded onward towards Little India.

Little India was beautiful! From the colors to the smells, the only word to describe Little India is vibrant.  We went into the Hindu Temple pictured below.  Built in 1827, Sri Mariamman is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.  After removing our shoes to enter, we were greeted by smells of incense and intricate colorful paintings of gods and goddesses.  Mariamman is a rural south indian mother goddess who protects against diseases.  

We took the opportunity to rest our weary feet and enjoy some delicious indian food at The Banana Leaf Apolo.  Amy kindly informed us that this particular restaurant was famous for its fish head curry... so famous in fact that The Banana Leaf Apollo holds the world record for the most fish head curry served in a single meal, 1009.  We ate off banana leaves like the people in the picture below:

That night, after a brief recoup in the pool, we ventured out to Clarke Quay.  Clarke Quay is a newly designed "mall" of bars and nightclubs on the riverfront that spans over 5 blocks.  The entire area was packed with locals and ex-pats looking to enjoy a saturday night out on the town.  We went out in a big group of 20 or so and took over one of the nightclubs where the DJ rewarded us by playing Frank Sinatra's New York, New York.  Apparently there is a video of Jeff and I swing dancing that is dancing with the stars worthy.  Here's a picture of one small part of Clarke Quay:

 

Day 3 was spent preparing for our classes which began the next day.  We went on a guided tour of NUS, National University of Singapore.  NUS is one of four state financed universities in Singapore and is UVa's partner university in the region.  The campus is extensive, complicated, and impressive.

The business building (pictured below) is a state of the art facility that conducts executive education with partner universities like MIT and UCLA.  

After touring the campus, we were treated to an amazing welcome meal by the program director.  The meal was hosted in the Alumni House right next to the business school at a lovely poolside patio.  While we were told it was a BBQ, it actually turned out to be a traditional Chinese meal, a hot pot.  We were given a plethora of crisp veggies, exotic mushrooms, noodles, seafood, and meats.  Choosing from these items, we were able to cook our own meal in a pot with spicy broth over a gas stove at the table.  It was kind of like a Chinese fondue! The meal lasted for several hours and was truly one of my favorite meals ever.

Thank you for sticking with me,

Miss you all,

Maddy

Day1: Combating Jetlag

Greetings my wonderful friends and family!

As my lovely cousin Sam informed me, some of you may not know the full story of why I am here in Asia so I thought the first thing I could do would be to clear that up.  As many of you know, I have spent the last academic year at University of Virginia working on a Masters of Commerce with a concentration in Financial Services.

As part of my graduation requirements, we must study global business and this includes a study abroad component.  We were able to choose between travelling to China, Southeast Asia, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.  I chose Southeast Asia for three reasons:
1: because I felt that it would be amazing to experience cultures so different from anything I'd ever been exposed to
2: because I wanted to get a contrast between countries
3: because I had learned how important emerging markets are in the global business environment we now live in.

The Southeast Asia Trip travels to Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.  We study global business within the context of this region by taking classes at a partner university (in my case National University of Singapore) and by visiting companies that have operations here.

In addition to these group class experiences, each person has been working in a team on a capstone project.  My capstone project involves studying Procter and Gambles' strategy in Asia. More on this project will come as I make my discoveries abroad.

This is my team for my capstone project.  From left to right, Me, Laura, Lisa, and Amy.

So, It is the morning of my second day in Singapore and as my friends get ready, I am taking a moment to reflect on my plane ride and first day.  My plane ride was much better than expected for 20 hours of travelling.  I was able to sit next to one of my friends, Trevor.  This was wonderful because I rarely get to travel with people and having someone to talk to made the trip that much faster.  We flew to Singapore from New York with a stopover in Frankfurt.  We flew Singapore Airlines, one of the most well regarded airlines and youngest airlines in operation today.  It was interesting to have this experience before we reached Singapore because we will be studying a case on Singapore Airlines.  The service was impeccable but 20 hours on any flight is obviously grueling. 

After arriving in Singapore and making it through an efficiently run immigration and customs, we hopped in a cab and zipped across one side of the island to the other.  We passed the financial district, new casinos, and giant port area.  We traveled during  rush hour but, as our cab driver informed us, there is rarely much traffic because Singapore charges incremental car taxes and has an ERP system.  ERP stands for electronic road pricing and charges cars for passing through certain checkpoints depending on the time of day.  We drove from one side of the island to the other in nearly twenty minutes.  We checked into the National University of Singapore's Visitors Lodge before going out to explore the city.  Below is the Visitor's Lodge and the red arrow points to our room.

We walked a ton the first day because we wanted to stay in the sun, stay active, and soak in every second of Singapore culture.  I was amazed by how many American brands I recognized.  I saw Starbucks, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., 7 Eleven, Chili's, Subway to name just a few.  Yesterday was kind of a struggle because we got in at 6am and had to stay up all day but my favorite part of the day was our lunch.  We went to a hawker center.  A hawker center is what Singaporeans call an open-air food court where street food booths offer delectable but often times extremely strange treats.  We all tried the most interesting foods including a gelatin rice patty covered in roasted garlic and chili paste. Delicious!  It was also interesting because the booths are literally graded (A,B,C etc.) by some government authority for the quality of their cleanliness and safety.  Don't worry Dad, we only visited A and B booths.  Below you can see what they look like.

I must sign off now because everyone is getting ready to leave to explore the ethnic centers of the city...

More soon,

Much Love, 

Maddy

And so begins the journey...

Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog!
I am so excited as I put the finishing touches on my packing and travel plans.  I leave tonight for Singapore.
I will spend the first week there, then go on to Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. 
I cannot wait for all the learning and fun this trip promises.  I will try to blog everyday about my experiences.  I hope this helps all of you feel like you are really there with me.
I will be working on my capstone project while abroad.  The project is about P&G's strategy in Asia. Feel free to check out my website at www.mcintiresea2.com. 
Thanks for all the love and support,
Maddy