Hey everyone, this is a late post.  Sorry!  Didn’t have free time until today to write about my summer…  But here goes.

                The beginning of my summer has been a tumultuous ride, to say the least.  I’ll spare everyone much of the details, but I originally had planned to visit Japan and Singapore for 2 ½ weeks.  However, I did not found out I had an expired passport until the day of my travel, which eventually cost me $1k+ consisting of fees and a new airplane ticket.  Yes, it was a very stupid mistake, and I am daily cursing myself for it.  But thanks to an emergency fund from dad, I was able to make the arrangements and travel.  Thank god for parents. With that out of the way, I was able to join KX, who was already in Japan for two days.  

We spent a good week in Japan, exploring Tokyo and eating an endless amount of noodles, tempura, and sushi.  Tokyo is a very beautiful city, with a distinct Asian culture that was very different from what I was used to in China.  The Japanese were very

economical.  The very nice Sakura Hotel were we stayed at was an example of such great utilization of space.  Within a space of about 2 apartment rooms, there is enough space to fit 4-5 rooms of 8 people each, a kitchen area, 2 toilets, and 3 shower areas.  The toilets themselves have faucets on top that drips into the tank, removing the need for a separate faucet.

Apart from Tokyo, we traveled to places such as Yokohama, Hakone, and Kamakura.  Each place was quite interesting, with its own places of interest and fun things to do.  Yokohoma has one of the highest buildings in Japan, called the Yokohoma Landmark Tower.  Hakone contains a national park that would allow us a glimpse of Mount Fuji, however, the day we went it rained L.  But we had a chance to visit the hot springs.  Kamakura was a beautiful little district about an hour’s train ride from Tokyo.  The town center right outside the train station was bustling, but once we got away from the center, it became a mountainous region filled with small houses and winding streets.  It really felt like I got away from the city.

Afterwards, it was off to Singapore.  As I said goodbye to Japan, I realized that this flight will be the only one where neither of the To/From Countries are China or the US.  It was a good 6 to 7 hrs flight.  Changi airport was surprisingly refreshing.  Unlike JFK or LaGuardia airport, whose shitty terminals I had grown accustomed to for so many years, Changi was huge and modern.  Big spaces, colorful decorations, FREE internet, and foot message machines available to use for free convinced me that Singapore was damn rich.  As nice as I felt inside the airport, once I left it and felt the hot blast of Singapore air that I realized: This is no longer Chicago, Tokyo, or New York.  We are in the tropics.

Throughout my stay at Singapore, I lived with KX’s family.  He had a family of three, in addition to his mother.  Their family is very pious, as I remembered distinctly waking up at around 5 in the morning, hearing the sound of a gong in the main living room.  It was KX’s mom praying.  As I am not a religious person, I didn’t quite understand the need to wake up so early to pray.  But I admired the persistence of KX’s mother, who prayed each day and night.  I felt

The cuisine in Singapore was great.  There were lots of things to choose from to eat.  Throughout my stay, I had chicken rice, char kuey teow, fish ball noodle, teh tarik, rojak, nasi lemak, among various other cuisines.  Here a (rough) itinerary of what I did for the 7 days I spent in Singapore:

Day 1: Downtown, Orchid Gardens, Chinatown
                Day 2: Sentosa
                Day 3: Palau Ubin
                Day 4: Visited a Buddhist temple with KX’s mom, then visited the Singapore National Museum
                Day 5: Visited the Paranaken Museum and other museums
                Day 6: Food Tour: Visited Various Hawker Centers, had lunch at Little India
                Day 7: Shopping on Orchid Road

                I realized by the end of day 3 that there wasn’t any more “big attractions” for tourists.  As a result, I decided to visit as much museums as possible.  Granted, of course, that I did not have a chance to see the nightlife, which both Ariel and Benedict were quite shocked when I told them.  “Eh!  What has KX done to you at Singapore!  ”, was Ben’s cry of pity.  Next time, Ben.

                All good things must come to an end.  The week passed by quickly, and in a blink of an eye I was packing my stuff and ready to fly back to the US.  I was almost broke, having spent a large portion of my money in Japan.  However, I did gleefully purchase a large assortment of Prima Taste sauce packets, which I brought back and cooked in the Evanston Apartment.  To explain that would be another story.