Day 99: Busy Busy

Gosh, it's been two weeks since my last post. I couldn't help it; I was busy working on lab reports and homework. I haven't been able to get out much as a result. But I was able to try some new foods. I had fried chicken that was pressure cooked so that even the bones were edible. That was quite interesting. I had some kind of fish called a garoupa, which may just be Singapore's spelling of grouper. And today I tried fried giant squid.

I HAD planned on taking a trip to Vietnam, but I threw that out the window when I didn't do as well on a quiz as I would have liked. With exams starting in a little over a week, I decided to make use of the dead week to get extra help and study. Unfortunately, this means I wasted a fairly significant chunk of money... I feel a little guilty about that, but I consider it a small price to pay compared to what would happen if I screws up on my finals. I mean, final exams here make up more than half your total grade.

It probably worked out for the best, anyway. My monthly gift arrived, and the last thing I want is to be keeled over with pain while in an unfamiliar place. Well, maybe I'll try to slip in one more trip to Malaysia before I head home.

Day 86: Birds of a Feather

My Saturday plans were once again ruined by rain. To be specific, it was the worst thunderstorm I've seen since coming here. Lots of rain, lots of lightning, and the hallways which have openings to outside got all wet. Fortunately, Sunday was nice and sunny, so I visited the Jurong Bird Park. They've got thousands of different birds there, from penguins to parrots to pigeons, and some of the exhibits even let you feed the birds for a small fee.

There are also a couple of bird shows, and I watched two of them. I wanted to attend the lunch with parrots, but it completely full... People probably reserve it long in advance. But the other shows were good. I drained the video camera's batteries dry filming all the exhibits, so I was trying badly to conserve power and only got a few of the shows' highlights. One of them featured parrots and hornbills soaring through the sky, a cockatoo that took (and returned) money from a volunteer, and a talkative yellow-naped Amazon that can sing songs in three languages. The other show focused on birds of prey and featured hawks, owls, and a bunch of vultures.

Both me and the camera were dead by the end of the day -- there was less than a minute left of battery power by the time I went home, and I started with a full charge. So there is a LOT of footage to look at!