Nature and the City

The last week has been quite eventful. After a lazy Saturday I spent Sunday at the Botanic Gardens. As it had rained in the morning and it was still cloudy in the afternoon there weren't many people, which was great. Wandering through the gardens was really relaxing and refreshing. My favourite part was the "evolution garden" were I could see what nature might have looked like millions of years ago.

Since I've  had a wonderful time at the Botanic Gardens this weekend was again about nature. With another German intern I went to MacRitchie Nature Reserve. As it was already late when I went there with Sairozi, this time we started at noon. During our 4 hour hike we saw lots of monkeys and lizards and enjoyed the beautiful environment. Another highlight was the tree top walk and a tower in the middle of the jungle from where the view was just breathtaking.

And it seems like I still can't get enough of parks and nature reserves. This Wednesday is a public holiday and it's one of only 5 days a year when the Istana Park is open to the public and of course I don't want to miss this chance :-) It's amazing how green Singapore is. Even though the city is super modern with heaps of skyscrapers it only takes a 5 minute walk to reach the nearest park.

Sightseeing Extreme

On Saturday evening Sairozi arrived back in Singapore and since he was only going to stay here for 4 days, we had to squeeze as many activities into those four days as possible. It started on Sunday morning when we went to Sentosa. Going there is really simple. We only had to take the MRT to Harbour Front Station and from there take the tram (3.5 SGD) to the island. Sentosa is located just  south of Singapore and it felt like Disneyland. The Universal Studios Singapore and many other sights can be visited there, but we decided to spend the day at the beach. First we went to Palawan beach, which was really beautiful and not too crowded. There is a small island at Palawan which is the southernmost point of mainland Asia, so we definitely had to check it out.

Palawan Beach

At the beach

On the way to the southernmost point of mainland Asia

After relaxing at Palawan beach we moved to Siloso beach which was only a 10 minute walk away. It seemed like a party beach with music and more people. Personally I preferred Palawan though. We also went swimming, but I'm not so sure about the water quality. The island is right next to Singapore's huge harbour and even though Singapore is super clean, I can't tell the same about the ships from it's neighbouring country Indonesia. But maybe I'm just spoiled after spending too much time in Thailand's crystal clear Andaman Sea.

Siloso Beach

On the way back from Sentosa we had a little photo session at the Merlion, Singapore's tourist symbol. It's half lion and half mermaid and there are statues of the Merlion all over Singapore. I've read that the one in Sentosa is the biggest one and you can even go on top of it.

The Merlion at Sentosa

Spending time at the beach left us really hungry, so I suggested to have dinner at a hawker center at Esplanade. The food was affordable and we had an amazing view over Marina Bay. Sleepy but happy we returned home, cause the next day I had to go back to work.

Scenic dinner at Esplanade

On Monday I was able to leave a little earlier than usually so Sairozi and I had enough time to go to the MacRitchie Nature Reserve. Luckliy it's located right next to my workplace at Marymount MRT so we could walk there. The lake there looked just amazing and we saw lot's of monkeys while we walked through the jungle. It didn't feel like we were still in Singapore. After a 45 minute walk we reached the canopy walk, but since it's closed on mondays and after 5pm we didn't get to do it.... maybe next time!

MacRitchie Nature Reserve

On Tuesday our sightseeing tour brouht us to Lau Pa Sat, a famous hawker center close to Raffles Place MRT. Unfortunately I forgot which MRT station we had to get off and it took us more than 30 minutes to find the place. But the food was definitely worth it. I had the most delicious Indonesia Gado-Gado ever!

Tired and hungry at Lau Pa Sat

Afterwards we walked to Gardens by the Bay, which is right behind Marina Bay Sand (Bayfront MRT station). This was one of my personal highlights! These crazy Singaporeans built heaps of mega-trees there and when we walked past them we felt like in the movie "Avatar". It was super romantic and just incredible! I wished I had one of those fancy cameras to take better pictures of it, but even with our low-cost cam one can imagine how great it looked.

Lots of Food and Japanese Racing Queens

 This week has been tiring but exciting. I'm slowly getting used to all the new things at work and after 2 weeks I'm finally able to remember some of my collegue's names. This is partly due to the fact that the previous intern had her last week and I was invited to a couple of super delicious farewell dinners. On Wednesday we had Chinese food. About 8 different dishes were ordered and placed in the middle of the table for everyone to take. This way I couldn't just try one new dish but many different ones... and they all were great! The next day our boss invited us for a Korean BBQ which was really good as well.

The calories were burnt on Friday when the interns got to support our sales team at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2013. One would have thought that the main attraction were the tuned cars but no matter where I looked people where taking pictures of a bunch of "less is more"-dressed Japanese models. I couldn't see any different to many Chinese or Singaporean models but I was told that the Japanese girls are even cuter than other Asians. Since we didn't have any half-naked models at our booth we tried to get attention by handing out balloons to families which was heaps of fun. But the most fun part was dressing up as our mascot "uncle Bob". The costume was super hot and I could barely see anything but people loved him and I had my (or uncle Bob's) 30 minutes of fame. We could even get some attention from the guys usually busy with taking pictures of those Japanese models. I was approximately photographed 200 times during those 30 minutes, while I was slowly melting underneath that costume. But it was super fun and I would definitaly do it again!

The First Week

My first week in SIngapore has been really exciting. Monday was my first day at work and we got a small introduction from the HR department. So far everyone seems nice and my colleagues are very friendly. We already got a lot of work to do so I don't think that my internship will get boring.

I also went to the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) to get my Training Employment Pass (TEP). The process was pretty easy. On Monday I made an online appointment for the following day. All the documents I needed to bring were my passport, the in-pricinple-approval letter (filled out and signed), a photo with a white background, my credit card and the letter I got when I made the online appointment. It took about 1 hour till everything was completed and I was told that I could pick up my TEP in 4 days. So I went back there on Saturday and within 5 minutes I got my brand new TEP card.

Luckily this week wasn't just about work and administration. Almost every evening I went out with the other interns to have dinner together. We usually have hawker food which is cheap and delicious. My favourite dish - Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles -  only costs about 3-4 SGD (2-2,30 Euros). On Friday we went to the monthly Helipad party at the Swiss Hotel. The lift took us to the 70th floor from were we had to take the stairs up to the helipad on top of the hotel. The view was just breathtaking (I'll post pictures later)! On Saturday I went sightseeing with two other new interns. We went to Chinatown, Little India and Orchard Rd before our feet told us to take the MRT to Paya Lebar, where many of the interns live. The day ended there with a nice BBQ and heaps of chocolate biscuits :-)

Indian Temple close to Bugis

Marina Bay

At the Swiss Hotel Helipad Party

View from the Helipad

Singapore Accommodation Hunt

On Thursday Sairozi and I left beautiful Phuket for Singapore. I had arranged our accommodation in advance as the hostel we stayed at offer promotion deals if you book early enough. The place is called footprints hostel and is conveniently located in Little India. The staff is friendly, breakfast is included and the showers are great. Just the rooms are  little small but since we're just staying there for sleeping that's ok. Staying in a hostel for a couple of nights is alright, but for a duration of 3 months I do prefer not sharing a room with 7 (snorring) guys. That's why I spent my day checking out rooms.

I had been looking for places on the internet and the most useful page I found was www.easyroommate.com.sg. There also is a facebook group called FindYourRoomInSG where people post their available rooms. Even though I found many interesting offers, the rent was super high. Prices start at about 700SD and can be as much as 1500SD for a single room! As I didn't want to spend more than 800SD that limited the choice. Luckily already the first viewing for a room I had this morning was great and the flatmates seemed really friendly as well. After checking out a second place I decided in favour of room no. 1 and tomorrow I'll move to my new home for the next 3 months :D

The first 2 days of my stay in Singapore have been pretty successful (apart from a fight between me, my chopsticks and the noodle soup... Anna - noodle soup 0:1) and I hope it continues this way. Monday will be the first day of my internship and I'm really excited about it... hopefully everything will go well!

A Day at the Beach... Pictures

Back to Paradise

We arrived at the bus terminal 2 in Phuket at around 7am. From there we took the pink bus to terminal 1 where the local buses to Patong depart. 40 Baht and a 45 minute drive (including a 5 minute stop where our driver left the bus to buy some grilled chicken) later we were at Patong beach. This is the most crowded and busy beach in Phuket with the infamous Bangla Road and its crazy nightlife. We chose a hostel at the far end of Patong at the road to Karon beach. It's called Areeya Guesthouse and small rooms currently cost 500 Baht/night (12,5 Euro) and big rooms 800 Baht (20 Euro). March is the end of the high season and prices for accommodation are slowly getting cheaper. In December/January the same rooms that cost 650 Baht (16 Euro) during the low season from April/May to September can cost 1000 Baht (25 Euro) or more! If one is staying longer it's possible to get a discount. The price of our big room was reduced to 600 Baht/night (15 Euro) when we booked and paid for 14 days in advance. So far we can really recommend this place. We have lots of space, a TV, aircon, hot water, wifi and a small kitchen with a fridge.

As Patong beach is really crowded Sairozi and I prefer to go swimming at Karon beach. It's only a 10 minute motorcycle ride from our hostel and one of the largest beaches in Phuket. Another 10 minutes from Karon is Kata beach and even further down the road is the beautful Nai Harn beach. From there it's only 5 minutes to Promthep Cape, where one has an amazing view, especially at sunset. Exploring these beaches has been our favourite activity since we came to Phuket and so far we don't seem to get tired of it :)

Patong Beach

Karon Beach

Nai Harn Beach

Promthep Cape

Apart from swimming and hanging out at the beach we haven't been up to much so far. Especially since I caught a little cold (with 35 degrees outside temperature!). At least that's a reason for me to stay in the room and keep working on one last paper for university that I had planned to have finished by the end of February. Well, tomorrow... maybe... ;)