The Week That Was

This week has been pretty mental - the only excuse I have for the lack of posts on this blog. Monday began at 9.30 with 7 hours of classes that day! I was mentally exhausted by the end of it, reminded of all the work that had to be done this semester (in between going on holiday of course). It seems that the National Institute of Education loves its group work. Although I am the only person on exchange in most of my classes, people have been quite nice in including me into their groups. Tuesday was also a bit lackluster in terms of exciting events to report on. I went to class and also went for a swim later in the day. This shouldn't have been an odd experience but it was! Apparently after 5pm, they shut off either end of the pool for "beginners" to use. This means that if you're attempting to swim laps, you have to swim across the pool (the opposite direction to which you would normally swim). Apart from the Asians  and their inability to swim in a straight line, this also frustrated me as it meant that I couldn't do the set I had planned, particularly as this pool didn't have a pace clock either. Will have to try the other pool on campus - although it was entertaining to see the other "swimmers" try and speed up to look good!

Wednesday morning involved classes, cleaning and laundry - how exciting! (not) A group of us headed out to Clarke Quay that night ... supposedly for ladies night at the clubs. Although we didn't make it to the club, we ended up hanging out on this bridge with a load of other international people. I ended up meeting some really interesting people, particularly some cool South Korean girls! After getting a drink spilled on me, trying to make conversations with drunk morons and my feet dying from the heels, I gave up and headed home. It was fun but only for the first hour or two. I plan to actually go back to a club at some point - I've heard good things about Kyo. 

Before I had red alcohol spilt on my nice new WHITE top 

Because we didn't wear these heels for no reason... 

Following classes and errands on thursday, Saloni and I headed out to visit Little India. When I was reading about the best places to go in Singapore, I have to say that little India didn't appeal to me all that much. Since Sonali wanted to head there anyway, I tagged along and I felt that this was as the name suggested - a smaller, less crowded part of India transplanted into Singapore. The first thing you notice on exiting the Little India MRT is the smell - not pleasant that's for sure!

We visited the temple, but were both really uncomfortable First of all, it looked shady from the street - it didn't look how I imagined a temple to be and it was a bit weird that no one greeted us or made sure we were wearing appropriate attire or anything like that! Then Saloni went forward and I stood towards the back so as to not interrupt the people meditating. I take another step so I'm not standing right next to this guy's head (he's lying on this filthy floor) and he says I can't go too close! Excuse me? I'm wearing pants in 35 degrees so that I could visit this temple and be respectful at the same time, but I can't go closer than the above picture? Rude! The people there creeped us out anyway so we left pretty quickly. 

Mango Lassy - yum!

Friday was also a bit of a write off. I had to do boring errands like setting up a local bank account which seemed easy at first but has since been complicated by people's inability to check that they have everything they need from me before I leave the store. Can you tell that bureaucracy and paperwork has been frustrating me lately? Other activities that day included (more) cleaning as well as making a salad with dumplings for dinner - so good! 

Today has been a fantastic way to end the week - shopping trip! I went with a friend to Jem Mall at Jurong East and did some damage to my bank account. I actually found a couple of items and really enjoyed being able to buy from shops not available in Australia!

Gave into temptation and started the day with a chestnut macchiato - it was pretty good!

More yum North Indian food

Mum gave me one of these for Xmas - they are great at organising electronic items, especially if you're travelling!

Also gave into the temptation that is Sephora.. will be testing the volume spray and nail polish tonight

There's a mini haul and that (almost) ends the week that was. I'm posting this blog a little early as I'm headed out to a beach party tonight on Sentosa Island. I hope you enjoyed this massive post and I will try to be back soon with another one for your reading pleasure. Have a good week!