Where I live

I took this picture a couple of days ago. Its where I live. Its a huge residence housing about 3,000 students. Highly sophisticated infrastructure makes living here very comfortable and smooth. Although locks on everyfloor, which can be unlocked only with the key to your floor, make this place a bit like a prison, it's bearable if you keep in mind that they are managing 3,000 residents!

You can also see the port.
Pictures taken on the rooftop:)

Good night!

Melaka Jan 18-20

1st weekend at NUS I talk to my French bud Thomas and we agree on going to Melaka. After some last minute considerations and decisions we are heading to the bus stations by taxi. We barely make it to the 5pm bus and I, Thomas, Karim, and UIUC students Heidi and Michelle, along with their roommate guy from Mexico named Andres, head to Melaka. Thomas had some problems at the border so the whole bus waited while the problem was resolved. Driver scolded us that next time he will wait for 15 minutes and then leave whoever is not able to make it through the border passport check.

Leaving Singapore may appear as insignificant change of surroundings but after a couple of days in Malaysia (or the little that I saw of it) it is clear that Singapore, unlike surrounding countries, is very organized, clean and stands out of the pack.

In Melaka we stay in the hostel called Shirah's Guest House. Bargained to get a room with A/C and for 50 ringgit (about $15US) we got a room for 4 guys:) comes out to less than $4US a person. Surprisingly the beds were comfy and clean and they even gave us towels. I believe this was my first stay in a real hostel and I am not disappointed.
So Melaka... historically a trade city that was visited by almost every cargo ship traveling from China to India or further West. Due to this there are no clean beaches in Melaka, however being a crossroads town brought a lot of rich culture and a blend of various styles of architecture... Chinese, Malay, Indian, Dutch and British symbols are all present in the old buildings. One of the highlights is Christ's Church built in 1753. Oh by the way the taxi driver that took us from bus stations (the famous Melaka Sentral) to the town, was very knowledgeable and interesting guy. Told us not only the dates of when various buildings were built around town but also pointed out where's the best place to see the sunset... funny thing is he somehow mixed up the times and told us that the sun will set between 5:10 and 5:15PM, although the actual time next day was a bit after 7Pm. It's all good though. It was fun riding with the guy. He also told us how Melaka as a state is also trying to have the lowest number of accidents and lowest crime rates in Malaysia, thus no scooter rentals for tourists... bummer:(

Christ's Church:

Facing left from the Christ's Church is a bridge. Pass the bridge and you are facing Melaka's China Town, or the main street that is known as Jonker Walk:

To be brief, Melaka was fun. Especially the dinner. There's couple more pics online right here -------->

Till next, entry!

Arrival to Singapore

I begin my blog exactly 1 week after my arrival to Singapore. 1 week is a short period of time but I already had a chance to experience some of what Singapore has to offer. In fact, I already took a weekend-trip to Malaysia (next blog entry). So arriving to Singapore was an exhausting experience. I and a group 21 students left Zagreb after our GEDI trip in Croatia. Jumping of the plane in Frankfurt required to quickly say goodbye to the rest of the group as their flight to Chicago was already boarding and they needed to be transported from one aircraft to the next via airport shuttle. Quick hugs and a few sad faces ran through my eyes and I was on another shuttle closing the trip to Croatia and beginning a new adventure: Singapore! After flying from Frankfurt to London, then Dubai, after some 20 hours I arrive in Singapore. Sounds easy but in the process I almost missed one of my flights due to the incompetence of Lufthansa's staff at Frankfurt airport. They were not able to route my 2 bags directly to Singapore, so they made me pick up my luggage in London, which in the end I did not do, or else I would have missed a flight to Dubai and thus Singapore. The result of all this? - I had to report lost luggage at Singapore airport and spend the first night in the dorm without towels or clean clothes:) Luckily Singapore is warm and I survived until the next evening when airport called and said that their guy will deliver my luggage in a few minutes.

My awesome welcoming buddy Ran met me at the airport and for the next couple of days hung out with me to help me register, obtain my student pass and temp resident card. I am really happy that I opted out for the Welcoming Buddy program that was made available through office of Student Affairs. So to end this entry, I would like to tell you why i am writing all this. I would like this blog to be my public-diary. I never had success in writing a real diary so maybe modern technology will at least help me to have a public diary. On this blog I will attempt to track my experience in Singapore and share my impressions, ideas, travels, and picture with you.

Till next entry!:) p.s. this is a cool picture I took in Dubai. I only stayed there for a few hours, but the luxury and material richness $$$$$$ of the country was clearly visible.