Just got back from the Damien Rice concert- I LOVE his music! The concert was interesting though- he was definitely high on *something* and I get the impression that it was a thrown-together sort of thing where he was going to Singapore and decided that he might as well do a show while there. So it was just him- no band. And it wasn't really planned out at all. Which was cool in some ways because it was very low-key and in some ways like hanging out in his studio listening to him mess around instead of a formal concert. He took several requests and joked around trying to play songs that normally required a piano, etc. A lot of improv. And, actually, he totally forgot the words to several songs. For a minute I was like, "uh? ok?" but he played it off well and it just turned out really funny. Like when he played "I remember," which begins "I remember it well..." and then he just kept playing but not singing, and a couple of seconds later he had to laugh and comment on the irony of the song because he actually couldn't remember the second line. It was also a really small venue- only 600 people- which of course, was about as good as you can get for a concert. So it was fun and great to hear him live, though I would really like to hear him with the full band sometime in the future.

So that was the excitement of the week. Otherwise I have been cranking out Chapter 2 of my thesis. I decided tonight though that I am too bogged down in it right now and am going to take a couple days break to work on bar outlines instead, and then come back to the thesis- I've been at it everyday now for a week and it has just become too much! Sad that bar studying is my "break" from thesis writing however. Pitiful, really. Well, tomorrow I am going to a fashion show for Singapore Fashion Week and also out to dinner- don't know where quite yet.

I've taken some photos around Singapore lately, so I'm going to post some of them:

First, here are some photos of the Botanic Gardens. Last weekend I went for a really long walk with a friend around the gardens- they're actually walking distance from my apartment and a great place to escape from urban atmosphere of Singapore. That last one almost had me fooled that it might be fall here! No such luck....






These next two pics are both from outside the Asian Civilizations Museum. There's me in front of the Raffles Statue and a view of Boat Quay from across the river.





And lastly, here's my part of town. I live just down the street from this quaint little area known as "Holland Village"- yes, there is a windmill and it is peopled by many a Dutch person. It's kind of a trendy coffee shop and restaurant neighborhood, and gets A LOT busier at night. Oh, and that's my apartment building. Thrilling, I know.

Singapore just opened its new budget airline terminal. I am very interested to see the new terminal, but also wary that my much-beloved times at Changi Airport are about to come to an end. I bet I can't get my favorite sushi and lowfat gelato at the new terminal :-( Though the shopping is supposed to be comparable... but I just doubt it will be as comfy and homey as the other terminals! Hmm, I am sure this new budget terminal will be good for Singapore though- because I know KL has opened a budget terminal as well and is attempting to compete with Singapore. And Bangkok is also building a whole new airport! It's about time actually, because their airport is crap. Well, I am happy to see so many signals of development in the region.

The buildings at the university here are connected by long, long covered passageways. In fact, it's a bit crazy but you could probably walk from building to building without being uncovered for 20 minutes straight. Hmm, I should take some pictures at school- I only ever take pictures when we're out on the town! You have no idea what the "normal" life is here, really, do you? I guess that's because it's not all that interesting! And I tend to prefer to keep you entertained when reading this blog :-) Alas, there will be nothing entertaining to write for a bit. This weekend I am focusing on finishing another chapter of my thesis- it is my March goal and I have made Monday my official deadline. I might take a break sometime to wander out to the Botanic Gardens though. They are relatively near my house and it would make a lovely walk.

Be prepared for some crazy photos!! I went to the Indian Festival of Colors- "Holi"- today, and it was madness! Which corresponds with great fun of course. Holi is the Spring festival that is celebrated all over India (and in Singapore of course because of the large Indian population here). Holi welcomes in the coming bright colors of Spring and also seeks the blessings of the Gods for good harvests and fertile land. Holi is celebrated with many many colors- covering ourselves and others with those colours actually. At the entrance of the festival we were handed a bag of a brightly-coloured chalk like substance.... this became very important as the evening progressed! First we ran around a field with a ton of people throwing buckets full of dye at each other (the little kids had a fun time specially targeting Sabra and I- I think we looked especially ridiculous because the dye showed up so vibrantly on our pale skin). After we were fully doused in dye, wet to the core, and our clothes had turned from white to a muddy mixture of every color of the rainbow, we proceeded to smearing the chalk substance all over each other- hair, face, arms, etc. All these cute old ladies kept coming up to us and streaking our foreheads and cheeks with chalk, and random men would run up and dump chalk over our heads. And then small kids would run up to us and douse us with the liquid dye again, and it would start all over again with the chalk, and the dye, and the chalk, etc. It was totally fun! Of course, now my entire body is dyed blue and I can't seem to get the color out of my skin. It has soaked in so deep. I have a feeling I am going to be walking around looking like a smurf for the next week.... sheesh, I even got dye in my eyes and they started to turn purple! (no worries, no last effects).

Here I am before and after- what a disaster!





check out my hair:



During, with two friends- Martin and Sabra. Martin is especially unrecognizable! Ha ha.






And, just a reminder, here is Sabra and I "before"- well, almost. We'd already been "blessed" by a couple of the local grannies:



And here is Martin and I on the metro home- yes, we had to take the metro looking like this! People were doing double-takes left and right (but Singaporeans would never actually "say" something- i.e. "why the hell do you look so disgusting?"). And just one last reminder, all of our clothes were WHITE to begin with! And so was my skin... I am so blue now! (still, after scrubbing and scrubbing- and my hair is still streaked with bright colors! ahhhhh.)

Earlier this week I was having one of those days where I just felt a bit down and blah (very concise and descriptive term, I know), so I decided that what I needed to feel better was a long walk. Was I ever right!! I need to remember how much I love going for long walks and make sure to incorporate it into my lifestyle. It was HOT outside (as usual), but once I was outside the heat seemed so much better than the stifling oppression of my apartment. Not knowing where exactly I ought to go, I decided to head in the direction of Orchard Rd (town) and see how long it would take me to get there. It wasn't nearly as far as I thought- only 1 hour! And the walk was marvelous- the great thing about Singapore is that even though it is a big city, it is very green. I was walking along one of the major roads that traverses the island, yet all around me were trees and jungle and I could even hear the crickets and tree frogs chirping away in the trees. In a strange way, this particular road reminded me a lot of Portland- the drive between the tunnels into town and Beaverton. Of course, the vegetation here is much more tropical, but it has that same density. Maybe I will start going on walks more often and exploring different areas in Singapore. There's still a lot I haven't seen.

There is something inherently wrong about a dorky-looking Singaporean college student (button up collar shirt tucked into tight jeans, hair that is too long in a mullet-type way, and glasses) prancing into a computer lab and drawling, "Wassup Bro?!" and then proceeding to launch into an incomprehensible Singlish conversation. Ah, the ironies of living in a country that walks the fine line between the East and West.

It is getting HOT again. Well, not that it hasn't always been hot (and humid), but the rainy season did bring a slight decrease in temperatures. I have mixed feelings about the heat. It is nice when I am outside and I feel like I am in the middle of a gorgeous, sunny summer, but then it gets soooo tiring with it being hot all the time. And night is the worst. I wish I had an air conditioner!

This weekend is a big cram paper-writing weekend. I have a paper due for my Indonesian law class on Monday, which is good, because it will be incorporated into my thesis and having this deadline gives me the push I need at the moment to make some progress on my thesis. I am also very happy that I have found a couple of NPR stations through iTunes and now I can listen to NPR all day while I study- I soooo missed it!

My most recent observation on Singapore is that the government here is extremely talented at legislating how people should live while simultaneously appearing democratic and rather laid-back. It's a very paternalistic approach to things. And indeed, it makes me question many of my ideas of governance. Singapore is the strict law sort of society that everyone always thinks it is, but these laws also don't infringe upon everyday life all that much. Of course, then there are the little hassles that I don't have to deal with because I am a foreigner, but would annoy me so much if I was a local- like buying a house. You have to deal with racial quotas and all kinds of things when you want to buy a home here. On the other hand, the government also subsidizes homes here in order to make it possible for as many Singapore residents as possible to be home owners (it is believed that a person who is a home owner will feel more stake/loyalty in their country).

The government has announced that new elections are going to happen soon, and this means that there has been quite a bit of re-aligning of voting districts and announcements that the ruling PAP government is going to refurbish certain apartment blocks, etc- it's all a very elaborate plan to keep the PAP in power. And I have no doubt that the PAP will succeed. The political structure here is such that it is very difficult for opposition parties to get a foothold. Hence the reason there are normally only a token couple non-PAP members in parliament. The interesting aspect of this is that strong PAP dominance has allowed the government to be extremely efficient. Parliament passes bills with minimal debate, and can respond rapidly to almost any situation. On the whole, Singaporeans are proud of their government and the efficiency of its response to international and domestic concerns.

Had a belated bday dinner with Singapore friends last night. Some pics.

Arriving at Changi Airport in Singapore always makes me so happy. It is actually one of my favorite places in Singapore. Never thought I would say that about an airport. It's the only airport I have ever been to where I don't mind going early and I tend to linger longer than necessary upon arrival. It has a very homey feeling. Maybe that's what it is- the airport is far more inviting and comfortable than my own home, and with all these trips in and out of the country, is almost as familiar to me as my own home! I especially loved Changi during the holiday season because there was always lovely music softly floating through the air and Christmas decorations all around. Upon stepping into the airport I would think, "ahhhh, Christmas" whereas everywhere else in Singapore the holiday sentiment completely passed me by, as I cannot associate Christmas with tropical heat waves and palm trees. But airports- they practically shout, "come to me! It is time for some holiday travel!"

And Changi really is a fabulous airport. Like everything else in Singapore, it is pristine and orderly. The departure lounge is filled with soft and cushy chairs. There are good restaurants and shops, and the duty free shopping is the cheapest I have yet seen (we priced the alcohol today in Singapore and Bangkok to confirm this fact). There are little alcoves where you can settle onto a comfy couch and watch the news, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, or movies. Free internet portals are all around. And at immigration the lines are short and they give out free candy. What can beat that?!

A day spent at Changi inevitably leads to a pleasant day. I know, this seems quite a paradox, but I swear it's true!

So the airport portion of my day was good. The actual airplane flight, however, was another matter. A couple of guys two rows in front of us decided that, as soon as we took off, they needed to eat something that absolutely wreaked of garlic. It was so pungent that at first I couldn't quite pinpoint the fumes that were floating in our direction, making us positively ill for a good portion of the trip. We asked the flight attendants to have them put the food away, and they did politely request such action be taken, as did we ourselves pointedly ask the men, but they kept pulling their food out and trying to sneakily eat it. As if the very fact of having the food unwrapped was not a dead giveaway for the fact that they were eating. Ugh, food that has such a strong odor should be banned from airplanes!

I hate to make stereotypes, but sometimes living overseas forces one to come to certain generalizations. Of course, there are many exceptions to the rule, but my experience has been that Chinese people (this flight was all Chinese), and to a certain degree Singaporean Chinese (though much less so), are some of the pushiest and least respectful people I have ever met. I was pondering this thought today as I was forced to confront this fact when the crowds of people on our flight shoved their way to the front of the check-in counter (trying to check in in groups of 20 rather than wait their turn) and then rushed onto the plane long before their seat number was called (a pet peeve of mine). Liz (who is Singapore Chinese and not like this at all) and I think that it is probably related to a communist mentality of push-your-way-forward-to-get-your-daily-rice-or-you-won't-get-any. The problem is that in most places it just seems rude and totally unnecessary. In fact, people are ALWAYS trying to cut in line out here. My friend Heather, who is quite bold about confronting people, is really good at turning the evil eye upon any cutter and forcing them to the back of the line.

Another thing that this made me think of today is the oft-invoked idea of "Asian values" (usually used as an explanation for why Asian society should be able to develop and govern in its own way, as apart from the West). Now, I definitely believe in a certain degree of cultural relativism and maybe that there are some small similarities between Asian cultures, but the longer I live out here the less I believe that this blanket concept of "Asian values" has any real weight behind it. There is no true uniformity amongst Asian cultures that can be used to define one set of Asian values. For instance, I see the Chinese and Japanese as being soooo different. Of course, both have the concept of saving face (indeed, this is very important in both societies), but the Japanese seem so much more refrained and respectful, while the Chinese are very aggressive and pushy in most things. Back the example of lines- the Chinese like to shove their way to the front, whereas the Japanese are uniform and meticulous about standing in line. All you have to do is go to a train station in Tokyo to see the difference! One factor that has often been classified as an "Asian value", that I now flatly disagree with, is that Asians are all more communal and believe in family values more than the West. First, I think that in Singapore at least, the society is anything but communal. In fact, it seems to me that most Singaporeans care little for their communities, but really only for themselves and their families. Singaporeans are very unlikely to be highly involved in their communities, nor do individuals or businesses donate to local needs. Family is important, but it seems that it is mostly in a monetary and material sense. I honestly don't think that Singaporean families are any closer than the average American, Canadian, or European family. Parents do financially support their children for longer, but this is primarily because it is a national standard to do so. And kids just don't move out of home until much older. But in Singapore you also always see really old people working. For example, in the food centers it is normal for those who bus the tables to be in their 70's and 80's. Now, this may be that the older Chinese people are hyper aware of not wanting to be a "burden" on their families, but it is also evidence to me that Asian families don't necessarily always take care of their older relatives in the way that is always portrayed to the West.

Well, these are just some thoughts that came from conversations during the last couple of days. Stereotypes broken and stereotypes formed. This is all part of living overseas- experiencing different ways of living, witnessing things that may seem very bizarre or rude or what have you, and figuring out a way to process it and fit it into one's own particular world view- or not.

And just to make this somewhat relevant to the last couple of days spent in Bangkok- here are a couple of pics. Liz, Heather, and I- though we didn't actually manage to get any pics of the three of us together.