Chinese New Year passed by pretty quietly for me, as I stayed home for the rest of the weekend and did such mundane tasks as cleaning and laundry (I actually really really like taking a "day of rest" each week to putter around the house), and worked on my thesis some. Following dinner with my friend, my only reminder that it was a holiday was the occassional pop of firecrackers in the distance and the drumming sound of traditional dragon dances rising up from the street. I was going to go to a party on Sunday night where they had planned a dragon dance, but I felt that I had gone out too many nights in a row and needed a break. It was a good decision. Tomorrow starts the beginning of another week of my usual gym/bar study/class/thesis schedule, and I feel more rested and ready to get back to work now.

Happy Chinese New Year! I took part in welcoming in the Year of the Dog tonight with my friend Liz's family. This is the same friend with whom I enjoyed Christmas dinner- her family is so gracious and I do enjoy sharing the holiday meals with them! Her grandma prepared a traditional Chinese feast tonight- we had all kinds of things I can't quite name- a big, delicious salad with a shaved carrot base, with things like nuts, fruit compote, pomelo, and octopus mixed in, shark's fin soup (very controversial I know, but I figured I ought to at least try it while I was there), salad with abalone, pork and fish maw casserole, hand-made noodles with pork and vegetables, and a dessert made of yams and red beans. I was prepared ahead of time and brought two mandarin oranges, as is the custom for visitors during the new year. And Liz's parents gave me a red packet as I was leaving- a red envelope with money in it. It is typical to give money to visitors during the new year to help them welcome in a prosperous new year. In fact, the new year celebrations are really focused on the idea of having a prosperous, or wealthy, new year. It seems that Chinese culture emphasizes wealth as the key to being happy. Not what I would usually associate with "eastern" ideals- in the west we often think of the east as representing a simple, feng shui kind of life, but reality here in Singapore seems to be that happiness is wrapped up in commercialism and wealth. Or at least that's what people think. Although I have read in quite a few magazines lately that Singaporeans wish more than anything to spend more time with their families, and work less. People work really hard here- there is definitely a similar work ethic as the United States.

I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. It's been a long and exhausting week and I feel like I need a break! Put a lot of time into bar studying- Heather and I are listening to the lectures now- and had quite a few outings planned in the evenings, including a trip to Chinatown on Thursday for the festive season. One of Heather's friends from class took us on a tour of Chinatown, introducing us to many of the special holiday foods, and explaining the traditions of the holiday. The streets of Chinatown were full of venders selling all kinds of holiday treats- dried meat, candies, nuts, fruit- decorations- red and gold are the colors that everyone decorates with- and special gifts for loved ones. It was SO crowded in fact, that we inched along from vender to vender at a snail-like pace. Not something I feel that I especially need to experience again, but I'm glad I went!

For the next 3 days the entire city will be virtually shut down. Almost all employees have a 4-day weekend for the holiday, and indeed, some businesses are closed for the entire week. I was told not to expect to be able to go to the grocery store, any restaurants, or shops for the next several days. So I have stocked up for the long weekend and plan to hole away in my apartment tomorrow and get caught up on some sleep and other things that need to be done.

Hanging out with mom in Bangkok was lots of fun. I don't think mom was all that impressed with Bangkok- it is a big polluted city after all- but I think she will really like the north. It's more the quintessential Asian experience. Rice paddies and mist hanging in valleys lined with rolling hills and limestone cliffs, etc. We did have fun together though and I know she was really happy that we got to spend those few short days together. Luckily her tour leader was really nice and friendly and let me join in with all their activities. So I played tourist with her for 2 of the days- visiting a flower market and a couple of temples, and then going on a day trip to the floating market and a place called the Rose Garden (there were some flowers but mostly it was a place to learn about Thai culture- they have a little village set-up and put on a cultural show). On our time off I introduced mom to the heart of Bangkok- MBK, the shopping mall extravaganza. As such, she also got to experience the sky train and taxi service in Bangkok. She wasn't too keen on the sky train since it involved packing onto a train with just about every other person in Bangkok (after all, you have to experience the crowds for the true Asian experience), but the taxi was more her style. Air conditioned comfort for a mere 75 cents each. I told mom that Thailand is very inexpensive, but I don't think she realized just how inexpensive until she got there!

So what else did we do? I took mom out for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cabbages and Condoms. Despite the name, mom quite liked the restaurant and has enjoyed trying all kinds of new Thai food. And I made sure to order everything NOT SPICY because, for the novice, Thai spice can be really hard to take.

Other than that, we mostly just had lots of time to talk and hang out! It was really nice :-) Too bad the time flew by so quickly though.

A new travel first for me- I brought my laptop with me and am now sitting at my hostel checking email, etc.- and planning on actually doing some studying tonight as well. Because this trip only involves one stop- Bangkok- and I have been expecting some down time while mom has tour-related stuff that she needs to participate in, I thought I could safely bring my laptop and maybe even make up for some lost time at school. So far so good! I hope mom's hotel has wireless too, cuz the hostel has it and I have to say it is very convenient! I'm getting bitten by mosquitoes while I sit here though....

Spent pretty much the entire day at MBK (one of Bangkok's mega shopping malls) getting some errands done- haircut, eye exam and new glasses, etc. V. happy with having this day here in Bangkok before I meet up with mom tomorrow- funny to think that Bangkok, though a 2+ hour flight, is easily considered a short jaunt form Singapore for weekend shopping and errand-running trips. Prices are MUCH better here, and it is easy to find cheap plane tkts, so very worth it. I guess it's the equivalent of a weekend shopping trip to New York City, though much much much better-priced.

I hope mom likes it here! I think I've probably talked about how much I love Thailand so much that she has really high expectations!

Just had my first class of the new semester. I am taking Indonesian Law from a French Canadian man who used to teach at McGill (in Montreal) and has now been at NUS for 10 years, primarily because of his scholarship on Indonesia and the convenience of being based in Singapore rather than Canada. I think it will be a great class, and already we are planning a class trip to Jakarta during our Spring break. I'll use the trip to do some research on my thesis as well. I think the professor will be able to help me set up some meetings with various people to discuss security issues.

it's still raining. I wonder when it will stop? Rainy season comes with a vengeance here.

And it's a bit surreal to be here for another semester and see a whole new slew of exchange students wandering the halls, looking lost, as I am sure I looked back in August! I feel like a seasoned veteran here at NUS, and I even feel that I know Singapore quite well by now too. I'll have to find a few new places to explore this semester.

The big move to my new apartment in Holland Village is this Saturday. I have loved living at Karen's place for the last several weeks, and being right at Orchard Rd, but I am also looking forward to moving to my new place and settling in for the next six months. I will really really miss the gym at Karen's condo though! It is so nice and convenient to have it right there. I'm going to join a gym as soon as I get back from my trip to Bangkok to see mom though.

The monsoon comes to Singapore in December and January, and during that time I've learned that you can expect a good rainstorm every afternoon, if not for the entire day. I think we're going on about 72 hours of constant rain right now. I love it though! The main reason I love it is that it gives me a small comfort that Singapore has at least two seasons- the hot and the monsoon. Well, it's still pretty humid and warm even when it rains, but at least it's not nearly as hot as usual! Plus, rain makes it a wee bit more winter-like. And Singapore is equipped for the monsoon, unlike many other cities in Southeast Asia. There must be a good drainage system here because I don't see water sitting around on the roads. If this were Chiangmai, for example, the water in the streets would be a good foot or two deep by now. Instead, I can go out with my umbrella and merrily walk through the empty streets and come home only with a slightly wet hem.

I've been a lazy bum for the last couple of weeks, doing pretty much nothing AT ALL, so I haven't had reason to write. I did, however, have a quite enjoyable New Year's Eve with friends here. One of the girls from school hosted a murder mystery dinner party, with a 1920's theme, so I thought you might enjoy some of the pictures:





That was my best effort at trying to look appropriate for the era... and these are all friends from school. They were all in Constitutional Law with me last semester.

Other than that, it is the monsoon here in Singapore now, which means it RAINS HARD every afternoon. It's also a bit cooler than usual, which is very pleasant. Not that I've been getting outside much to enjoy the weather. I'm staying in the shopping center of Singapore right now, and I have to say that after a couple of afternoons/evenings spent wandering around the shops and such, I got bored with it. And I didn't spend much money at all, mostly because the after-Christmas sales here are rather pathetic. Singapore's idea of a great sale is 10-20% off, and that just doesn't cut it for someone who is used to post-holiday sales of 50% or more!