Day 1 of Searching for Sao Feng's Den...Unsuccessful.

Hello Again! Here are, as promised, the pictures from my lovely Cathay Pacific transcontinental flight. #1 shows my BED. #2 is the champagne and cookies I had to celebrate the fact that I had a BED. #3 is the view of my personal TV (which folded out so I could watch IN BED) and my footrest (part of my BED) which was covered with travel guides. Oy vey, did I buy I lot of travel guides! I have six here. That's perhaps too many.

Now, on to business. I am EXHAUSTED after a full day in the Singapore heat, but I shall try to recount things for you as well as possible. I left the wonderful Sasha's house this morning and checked into the Dostel (hostel+dorm, for those of you just joining us). There were a ton of people checking in at that time, including some young ladies I chatted with about...travel! They want to see a lot of SE Asia while they're here. I said, "what a coincidence! So do I!" and an instant bond was formed. Hopefully I've found some travel buddies.

Upon getting my room assignment I realized several unpleasant things: 1) I was on the 3rd floor of a three story walkup, and 2)there is only air conditioning in the bedroom of my apartment. So, it's generally hotter than I suspected it might be. However, this was not a huge issue, since I had the amazing Sasha to help my carry my bags upstairs! Once she dropped them (and me) off, we bid our goodbyes. I promised I would see her soon.

My room immediately presented some logistical issues. The closet was rather small, and there was NO BOOKSHELF! While I pondered this impossibility,  (why would a dorm for students fail to have a bookshelf? Or any shelf at all?) two of my roommates arrived. The apartment has two bedrooms with two twin beds apiece, with one common shower and kitchenette. I stress the -ette; there's a microwave and a teakettle. Apparently since food is abundant and cheap, everyone eats out. All the time. I am still trying to decide how I feel about that. On the one hand, I don't want to be Frugal Fanny who sits alone in her dorm eating ramen while everyone else goes out, but I do want to save money (and eat much healthier than the food stalls will allow!) For now, I think I will eat breakfast and lunch in, and dinner out. For now. Everything here is sort of a "for now" proposition, at least...for now :)

I took one look at my tall, blonde, gorgeous Swedish roommates and knew instantly that I could never, ever use the Beauty and the Beast bedsheets I had in my suitcase (sorry Mom!). The girls, Maria and Delara, said they were going to Ikea and did I want to go to? And get the chance to go to Ikea with REAL SWEDES? Of course!

As we walked to Ikea, a horrifying thought struck me: what if they don't like Abba? I mean, the #1 most played song on my itunes is "Our Last Summer". #3 on my top 5 movies is "Mamma Mia!" Abba may or may not be playing on my laptop right now as I write this post! (at a very low volume) How do I approach this with the girls? I mean, it's like when someone from a foreign country visits the US wearing a Yankees cap. I (and the rest of the sensible world) say, dude, give a crap about baseball and stop being a poser! There are WAY AWESOMER teams out there, but you wouldn't know that because you just jumped on the popular bandwagon, didn't you? I am honestly concerned about this. What if they find out? What will they think of me? Is there a sensitive way to broach the subject? Hard to say. Better turn that volume down a little more...

I spent a lot of today on the bus and MRT (their version of the subway). I have to hand it to myself, I did awesome on public transportation. Chalk it up to having no car for three years, but I am way more adept than the average American in successfully using public transit. Yay me!

I love riding buses. You get to see a cross-section of the people of the area as well as a mini sightseeing tour. It's very cool. In DC, the buses were often populated by the mentally ill/homeless, but in Singapore everyone uses the buses. They are efficient, cheap, and always on time. ARE YOU LISTENING DC BUSES? ON TIME?!? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? (sorry guys. If you've ever attempted to ride a DC bus you know that was totally justified.) Everything in Singapore is totally on time. It's cool but a little stressful. I will be super-nervous for the first few days, worried that I will be late to everything. (Or worse, that if I am late I can't blame it on the crappy public transport system!)

Singapore really is a paradise. It's warm, humid, and GREEN. I didn't think about it being tropical before I came here, but it is. Before arriving, the one movie about Singapore I'd seen was "Pirates of  the Carribean III: World's End". One thing Pirates got wrong (I can't believe I'm saying this) is that there is no part of the island that's gloomy and foggy and un-green. In the movie, Singapore looked like London, but with some small navicable canals (like London and Venice's lovechild). I can tell you with authority that there is nothing here that looks like London at all. Sorry "Pirates". And, real pirates? I know you're out there. I will find you. Do not grow complacent. I am coming for you.

But, back to Ikea. My glam roommates wanted me to eat Swedish food, which is apparently authentic when eaten at the Ikea cafeteria. They were hysterical over having homestyle food. I don't see myself going gaga over a BigMac, but I'm sure I'll eat my words. And then a BigMac. Or two. Anyway, I learned that 1)Swedish girls had not seen 500 Days of Summer, my only Ikea reference, and 2) the names of furniture are not just Swedish madeup words, but actual words! Like the quilts are all "Mysa ____" The Mysa is a verb that means "to cuddle". So the blanket is a "cuddling ____". The knives are "cutting" things, etc. So there you go. An Ikea mystery, at long last put to rest.

I simply cannot stay awake any longer, although I fear I have not covered anything of import. As a consolation, here are some pictures of my room: #1 is my desk (note the lovely orchids from the equally lovely Sasha-yes, we have orchids in January!) #2 is a closeup of my "boston terrier puppies" calendar from my darling Tom, who wanted me to think of Boston while I was in Singapore. Actually, all these pictures are courtesy of Tom, who bought me a camera for Christmas. It's PINK! I wish I could take a picture of the camera to show you, but for obvious reasons that's impossible. Isn't he grand, my Tom? #3 is my bed and tiny closet. You might ask, Laura, you were not okay with Beauty and the Beast sheets but you have stuffed animals on your bed? Aren't the animals more detrimental to your street cred? And...yes. You're likely right. Look, I'm trying to be a grown-up, honestly I am, but it's in fits and spurts. I keep doing it wrong.

So that's it. Tomorrow I will take pictures of the outside of the building and tell you about school, etc. Thanks for reading!