Day one of orientation

First day of orientation.

We came into contact with the MBA students for the first time and the campus in operation for the first time.

Observations:

• rather deferential staff attitude
• extremely dressy women versus extremely casually dressed men.  seemingly high proportion of women in high heels (how???)
• boisterous all around / frat-like atmosphere coming into the first orientation
• racially diverse backgrounds
• French accents
• seemingly overly high attention to campus clubs
• a campus with incredibly high resources of both funding and space 
• a campus that seemed more like a high end convention center than a school

This was a shock coming from ACCD where the atmosphere is nearly universally grim, and we fight each other even in our own departments for primer/epoxy/bondo-blasted room space, if not even competing with classmates over how much room we take on a single table; our classmates are nearly all to a rule either white or Asian  (see pic) with few black/brown students around; we are all so strung out no one ever has the time to join a club much less make one.  It seems like the dream of another time and another place, or what college looks like in a movie.

We spent most of the time outside of the short orientation session collecting the tons of reading assignments for each class.

So happy that the school printed them out for us already (instead of us having to pay for every sheet of copy)

Tons of reading assignments to do.

A well appointed campus that has already seen expansion, we're right next to the MRT stop.

Day 2 at the pool

A day staying local.  We spent it at the pool enjoying our condominium's amenities. So luxurious! I could get used to this type of lifestyle.  There's a sauna and showers in tower A that are accessible to all.

Picked up another new member - Cerra.

Some troubles with our front door's alarm going off and staying on continuously while we were gone.  Nice way to introduce ourselves to our disgruntled neighbors.

Finally figured out where the pots and pans were hidden.

The washer/dryer are one of the smallest capacity that I've ever seen. We marveled at its tiny cuteness, but soon discovered that in its smallness it is also one of the slowest operating loads.  It can take over 140 minutes to get a load to be fully dry with the dryer alone.

I was totally bushed from hanging out.  Apparently I snore really loudly -- I didn't know this!  How are we going to deal with the room share? Maybe I'll end up outside? I guess it's adult onset???

Happy New Year! Day 1 of the trip

Woke up in the morning freezing. AC is a confusion to manage. What's the temperature in C converted to F?

Found a local canteen packed with all kinds of delicious food. Most meals for under $4!  Struck by how cheap the food is and how many people of different age groups were all here.  The most popular spot seems to be the middle eastern stall.  We ate at the noodle stall on the other side.

Shopped the small attached market Fairprice.

Some shenanigans with communication without a cell phone service and figuring out how to open the doors for Alaina.

Trying to decide what cell service provider to go with netted some confusion.  Get in contact with KC and Kenneth; kenneth will meet us later.

Got on the bus and had some confusion over how to pay and what to pay with, and how to tell when we were at he right bus stop.

super strong air con on the bus.

beautiful sights and a green area of the botanic garden that i'm sure to want to come back to.

Amazed at the spectacle of malls and malls and malls each bigger than the last. The trees are gigantic.

Hitachi is sponsoring a good porion of the deco.

Wandering the Isetan attached to the Orchard MTR, then to the Far East Plaza. Where's Kenneth?

The MCDonalds had a sad Barbie kids menu toy.

The mall cell phone shops are all sort of shady and confusing and we wander shop to shop with no good answers.

We run into Kenneth outside the adult store. lol

Kenneth steers us over to the M1 shop where we find a great deal and an extremely attentive staff. Such a relief

We wander over to the Ion mall's food court. Food Opera.

Wander to the MTR and figure out how to buy a MTR pass.  It's our lucky day!  The woman takes one look at me and offers me the My Melody pass. It's the first day this design is available. Yes!  $12 total with $7 value and $5 going towards activating the card.

Wander to see the bayfront. it's incredible.

Sit down at an Irish pub on barrels.  Alcohol is so incredibly expensive all are over 2 digits.

Head back on the MTR and some confusion over what direction we are headed on google maps, but it ends well.

So many places have a ton of business and all restaurants seem to be doing well.

We can't find what tower we live in.  A, then B, then C.

So thankful for cold soy millk and a cheese bun!