The Singaporean government tries to keep everyone in line by instituting strict laws and penalties- of course, Singapore is infamous for this and most foreigners know that you can't chew gum, do any drugs (automatic death penalty), jaywalk, etc. The aspect of this "rule of law culture" that I most get a kick out of are the government banners everywhere on the street showing a person breaking the law, with the slogan "Think you can do such-and-such? THINK AGAIN." Ha ha, I love those. I've seen those banners for jaywalking and weaving in and out of traffic. One of my friends told me she saw a similar banner showing a person trying to squat on a western-style toilet (Singapore has both western-style toilets and more traditional squat toilets, and I guess some people don't understand the concept of a sit-down toilet and try to climb up on the toilet and squat, thus, as you can guess, causing a huge mess).

I had a very eventful weekend. Signed up for a tour of China Town sponsored by the university on Saturday. The best part of the day was a visit to the Chinese Heritage Center. The center is a cleverly-designed museum that showcases life in China Town at the turn of the century. Half of the museum is a replica of the living quarters of the residents of China Town at that time- one can walk through and looking into cell-like rooms, kitchens, and workshops in order to understand what living conditions were like back then (extremely cramped and poor). In fact, I think it is one of the best cultural museums I've been to because of this aspect- aside from pictures, films, etc. it gave a real picture of what life was like for the Chinese immigrants.

Saturday evening I went to a beach party sponsored by the Graduate Students Society. The party was held on Sentosa Island- a small island directly to the south of the city. Sentosa is mostly a resort and man-made beaches, although it was still lovely, and good to know that there is a beach nearby where I can escape the urban jungle. Though I am hoping that Pulau Ubin (another nearby island) offers a more genuine (or perhaps I should say less resort-like) beach experience.

The party was definitely fun, although kind of like reverting to college madness. lots of European exchange students making themselves sick from the free flow of alcohol.