Weekend Update

Saturday - February 26th
I started off Saturday by attending an information session for a race I will be attending next weekend. I’m on a team with 3 other international students. The race looks like lots of fun.
The rough details are:
1. Complete 4 puzzles.
2. Jump off a bridge into the Kalang River
3. Swim around a buoy and then back to the riverbank.
4. Split up, two people go biking, two people go kayaking.
5. Meet up, and switch
6. Meet up again, and proceed to Fort Canning Park for a mystery task.
7. Run
8. Arrive at the G-Force tower for a mystery task.
9. Run
10. Arrive at climbing wall
a. One member of the team climbs over a short wall and then abseils down the other side.
11. Complete race.

After the information session, I met up with two of the other Canadian interns – Shawn and Raj. We went to a travel agent exhibition in Singapore’s biggest shopping mall. We were told that there would be good discounts. Unfortunately, we arrived 1 day early. On the up side, we got to see the Fountain of Wealth – the world’s largest fountain.

Post, mission to the mall, we had some dinner and arrived back at home in time for a spectacular thunder shower – the first real rain since I’ve been in Singapore. My hall was hit by lightening, temporarily knocking out the power to all of our electrical outlets. Luckily, this was the only problem.

Later in the evening, Shawn and I went out with his German room-mate Dan to celebrate Dan’s soon departure for Germany. We went to the Swiss Hotel – The Stamford – for the beautiful scenery of New Asia, the bar on the 70th floor. We arrived just before 9:00pm and avoided the $20 cover charge. Unfortunately, the happy hour price for beer was $7.50 a bottle, and doubled to it’s ordinary price of $15.00 after 9. That said, it was a good evening and I enjoyed my first real “club” experience in Singapore.

Sunday – February 27th
Sunday morning, I got up at 9:00am and, along with Cristel, Raj and Shawn, headed out on a trip to one of Singapore’s outlying islands – St. John island. We took a bus, the MRT, another bus (this one to Sentosa island) and then finally a ferry. However, it was worth and the two and a half hours it took.

St. John’s island is quite small and has a rather unpleasant history, being used as a quarantine centre for Chinese immigrants with cholera, the world’s largest quarantine centre for leprosy, a deportation holding centre, and a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts. The infrastructure left behind is many a few small building all surrounded by high fences with large quantities of barbed wire. Not an inviting scene. However, the island is also furnished with a nice swimming lagoon and sitting areas that overlook the ocean.

St. John’s island is also an area for marine biology research. There are two private facilities and a government centre. The government centre, much like the former quarantine area, is outlined with barbed wire and high fences. They don’t want any visitors. However, the two private facilities were quite receptive. We met a security guard at one of the places. He informed us the facility was closed for the weekend but referred us to his counterpart across the way. At the other facility we encountered Yaz Ong. He’s the security guard for the facility, but extremely friendly. We asked if we could look around. He put his lunch aside and began leading us on a tour. He took us through a few of the bio labs, to look at the water pumping facility, and to the area where the have some marine samples. He then took us on a trip around the facility in a golf cart and informed us if we were to return on a weekday we could go visit the dolphin training facility. He even said he would talk to his boss to see if we could join a scuba diving trip for samples. We were amazed by his openness and eagerness to help. We left with a few post-cards, and Yaz’s contact number – in case we could return on a weekday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!

Today is my sister's birthday!
Much like my mom's birthday, I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. However, I have found that there are celebrations that go on worldwide. Obviously, there will be much happiness in Canada and Singapore, but check this out:

Abu Simbel Festival
(Twice every year, in February and October)

Ramses II, in a fit of precision and despotic architectural egotism, carefully angled his temple at Abu Simbel so that the inner sanctum would light up twice a year: once on the anniversary of his rise to the throne, and once on his birthday. The combination of human endeavour and natural phenomena provides what must be one of the most spectacular sights in the world.

Crowds pack in to the temple before sunrise and watch the shafts of light slowly creeping through the stone. Eventually, statues of Ramses, Ra and Amun are illuminated in the inner sanctum (the statute of Ptah - the god of darkness - remains in the shadows). When they have recovered their breath, spectators can join celebrations outside, including a fair and music demonstrations. However, nothing can really impress you immediately after witnessing such a sight.

The Abu Simbel temple was built by Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) to demonstrate his political clout and divine backing to the ancient Nubians. On each side of the temple, which was carved into a sandstone cliff overlooking the Second Cataract of the Nile, sit a pair of colossal statues of him, more than 65 feet tall. Though the statues have been damaged in earthquakes since their construction, they remain an awe-inspiring, tremendous sight. The temple is aligned to face the east, and above the entrance sits a niche with a representation of Re-Horakhty, an aspect of the sun-god.

In the early 1960s the entire temple was moved to higher ground, a task requiring considerable international engineering resources, when the Aswan Dam caused the Nasser lake to rise and inundate the area. For this reason, the sun now strikes a day later than Ramses had originally planned, though the event itself is no less stunning.

Happy Birthday Allison!

love you

Mike

Weekend Update - Plus

This weekend was rather slow. Kind of a nice change of pace from how busy Penang was.

On Friday I went and saw Singapore's famous Chingay parade. It is the national parade and features huge floats that promote everything from Coca Cola to multi-cultural tolerance and diversity. It was a great night with lots of colors and exciting costumes. Unfortunately, we were standing a ways away so it was a little difficult to see. The best part was at the end when two giant dragon floats came through. One was made entirely of Chinese lanterns, the other a 4 story high pole with people all the way up, holding the body of the dragon.

Saturday, I went out with a Canadian friend, Shawn, and saw the Lamborghini dealership. Being a car lover, this was awesome. We saw 5 different Lamborghinis. All of them were sold. I also got to see four different Lotus' and three Ferraris. We talked with one of the salesman who is a driver with Lotus and does the promotional driving for the Lotus and Lamborghini. I want his job. He told us that the Lamborghini cost $1.3 Million (Murcielago convertible with paddle shifters). Later on, we stopped by the Raffles Hotel and I saw a Maybach. Very impressive! It was a good day for car sight seeing.

Sunday was a fairly quiet day. I did nothing in the morning, then went to the pool around 2pm. I swam a little then met up with a fellow from France who asked if I wanted to play squash. We went and played squash for about 2 hours. The courts were sheltered and had fans but there was no air conditioning and they were open to the air. It was so hot and humid. We were all completely soaked with sweat by the end of the match.

Monday, which is technically not the weekend but I'll include in anyhow, I went to work. However, after work we had a company dinner. Everybody went to a nice restaurant at that overlooks the Singapore river. After consulting with the waiter and then somebody from the kitchen, I learned that I could eat 8 of the 10 courses that would be served. I was ecstatic.

Unfortunately, the first course had peanuts. It's also a special course where everybody around the table (there were about 9 people to a table) picks up the food with their chopsticks and drops it back on the plate. It's a thing of good luck and everybody makes a lot of noise while the “salad” (a mix of vegetables, noodles, salmon, and peanuts) gets mixed up. It was great to see, and I got to watch everybody since I was not participating. Later on the meal there were lucky draws. A total of 66 prizes were given out, enough for about 1 in every 3 people. The top prizes were: 1) S$888 HongBao (Red packet filled with money (8 is good luck)) 2) A S$600 travel voucher 3) A 20GB iPod. The cheapest prize was a $50 gift certificate.

Food that we had (that I can remember)
1) Salmon Salad - with noodles, vegetables and peanuts (I abstained).
2) Shark Fin Soup - very good, has pieces of seafood in it.
3) Braised Abalone and Sea cucumber - Very slimy, but good.
4) Sea Oysters with black stringy stuff- Average at best.
5) Roast Chicken with Spicy Sesame Sauce - Chilies are served with every meal.
6) Some Kind of Fish - in Superior Sauce - Very Bland, good thing it was the superior sauce.
7) Steamed Rice with Seafood on a Lotus Leaf - Not bad.
8) Garlic Prawns - So good.
9) White Fungis with Red Date and Lotus Seed - very sweet broth and the white fungus had an interesting texture. Nothing like mushrooms.
10) Sweet Glutinous Rice Cake - I was told I shouldn't eat this, but it looked good.

Chinese New Year Holiday - Pictures Fixed

February 9th – 14th, 2005
I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible as I can go on for days and days, but that would be boring for everybody except my mom. ?

Penang
Penang is a province of Malaysia, and the part that I went to is an island off the West coast. The island actually had a feel very similar to Vancouver Island. It is located within sight of the mainland and has a nice mix of small villages, a medium size city, and lush green growth throughout the centre of the island.

Georgetown
Georgetown is the island’s biggest and hosts the majority of the islands almost 1 million people. I spent the last 2 nights of my trip here. It’s a splendid mix of the old and the new.



Batu Ferenghi
Batu Ferenghi is the popular beach spot to the North of Georgetown. There is a long strip of beach and it is popular with tourists. I saw a remarkable number of septuagenarians spending their vacations in this area. I spent the first 3 nights of my trip here.



Day 1 – Wednesday, February 9th
I crossed the border in Johor Bahru, which took a lot longer than expected. There was a high volume of travelers because it was Chinese New Year’s day. I then awaited at the airport and took my Air Asia flight to Penang. The flight was 1 hour long and the wheels of the plane left the ground within 4 second of the departure time (I counted it down on my watch).
I arrived in Penang and shared a taxi with a nice pair from India. It was about 8pm and the island was already dark. I arrived at the Baba guesthouse, signed in, and got settled into my room. The room was hardly pretty. It’s very basic with a bed, desk and dresser. I will say that things were very clean, but it was a big step down from the Rainforest hostel in KL.

The Baba Guest House



Day 2 – Thursday, February 10th
I awoke early and decided to go checkout the island. I was informed that transportation might not be working that regularly due to the Chinese New Year holiday. So, instead, I rented a small little motorcycle that was more of a result of the breeding of a Toyota Tercel and a scooter – hardly a motorcycle but hardly a scooter.
I took off on my trusty stead and decided to explore the island. I took off on the back roads. I had no intention on heading to the city. In Asia, motorcycles don’t drive in lanes. The painted lines along the pavement are, generally, the path that motorcycles follow, with cars passing them on either side. At every stoplight all the motorcycles go through the middle and lead off at the light. It’s quite different and a little unsettling when a car comes by and is in ‘your’ lane.
My route took me along the West side of the island. The scenery was incredible. The road winded its way along large hills and amongst the lush rainforest. Eventually, I found the tropical fruit farm and stopped in. Although I was hesitant I paid for the tour of the farm. It was well worth it. I tried about 10 or 15 different types of fresh tropical fruit straight from the tree, or bush. I had my own guide who informed me of interesting facts about each of the fruits he would pass to me. Did you know that only one pineapple and only one bunch of bananas come from each tree, then you need to replant? My favorite fruit was this mix between an apple and a coconut. I forget the name, but it was delicious.
After the fruit farm, I went into a few different villages along the coast. These were small villages and they hadn’t seen a tourist in a long time. Here is where I first saw the effect of the tsunami. I followed a small road and came across houses that were close by the water. There was a huge build up of debris and many of the homes looked as though they were ready to collapse at any time. However, I didn’t see any people suffering. Instead, everybody seemed to be living life as normal as possible and going about their daily routine. I’m really glad that I took the tour down the less popular side of the island.

My Hog:


Remote Fishing Village:


Open Road:


Penang in a Nutshell – Restaurant and Scenery:


Monkeys in a Cage on the Side of the Road:
I found this to be very sad and I hate to see wild animals confined to such a small space.


Bridge Over Dry Creek:
I was told that before the tsunami this creek used to be flowing with water.


Day 3 – Friday, February 11th
This was my beach day. I had brought a book with me and I spent the good majority of the day out in the sun, sitting on the beach and reading. I went to the Shangri la’s beach resort and staked claim to one of the beach chairs. I figured they owed me for trying to kill me with the peanut. I must say very relaxing. Much better than snow.

Sunset on the Water:


Dusk at Batu Ferenghi Beach


Debris Along the Beach:
Although Penang has beautiful beaches, there are many areas where the natural beauty is contrasted by the debris and garbage of humans.



Day 4 – Saturday, February 12th
This was my day to head into Georgetown to experience some of the island’s renowned culture. Georgetown is a lovely city with many old buildings but also the modern bustle and busyness of most cities twice its size.
The first place I went was to the hostel that I had booked. I splurged and spend about $80 to stay in an 1800s mansion. The mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, was recently restored and won a UNESCO Conservation Award in 2000. I must say, it was worth the additional expense. As a guest, I was free to explore and take pictures at my pleasure. I checked in and joined a tour to learn more about the mansion. Each of the rooms were meticulously detailed and decorated by an artist using antique furniture that would suit the period. My favorite feature about the mansion is that it is designed to fit with Feng Shui. It is perfectly aligned between the highest point on the island and the sea, it has a central courtyard with the very centre at the point of the greatest chi, there are 8 pillars that surround the courtyard and have gold buried beneath them, and water is an intricate part of the house. There are 3 courtyards in total and they are open to the sky. It is designed such that when it rains, water flows through the house and forms smalls pools in the courtyards. If you want more details on the mansion, let me know.
Following my time in my mansion I headed out to check out the sights of Georgetown. I walked around, found a place to eat and then came across this square where a performance was taking place. It was a celebration for Chinese New Year and it was very interesting. It was somehow a mix between a rave, karaoke, and traditional Chinese dance. I think it was one of those things you need to see to believe. At the performance I ran into a nice Irish couple that I rode the bus into Georgetown with. They told me about Ireland and strongly suggested that I visit there.

Following the performance in the square I stopped in at a small pub, had a pint of beer and watched some football on TV. I have to admit this was quite fun and I could see how one could get into European football.

Chong Tse Fatt Mansion:


Rooms and a Courtyard:


Me in the Mansion:


Flowers at the Centre Point of the Mansion:



Day 5 – Sunday, February 13th
I was up bright and early on Sunday. I had breakfast at the mansion then checked into a cheap hotel across the street ($20/night). I then went for a walk and found the Koo Kongsi clan house. This is a hoose that was build for family to come and worship in and have a place to stay at. The building is amazing and every inch is covered with elaborate carvings, and gold. In one of the rooms they had a whole wall with golden plaques painted with each clan member and their designations. For the modern clan members, it showed their degrees, their important positions etc. The clanhouse was quite impressive, but I couldn’t imagine living there.

After leaving the clan house, I ran into a British tourist who was looking for the post office. I walked with her for a bit and had some fresh fruit for lunch. We then parted ways and I headed to the huge Buddhist temple.

Kek Lok Si is an amazing temple and I was so glad I went to visit it. It is built into the hillside and covers an amazing amount of territory with many different buildings. There are three different highlights to the temple. The first is the Pagoda. It is about six stories tall and overlooks the entire temple complex and the city of Georgetown. The view stretches all the way out to the water. Across the complex, and even higher still, sits a giant Buddhist statue. The temple was selling tiles to create a 200 foot tall roof to cover the statue that peacefully overlooks the city. I bought one to commemorate my mom’s birthday. Finally, in the middle of the two high points sits the main prayer hall. A massive cavernous building filled with Buddhist statues and idols. Everywhere you go there is beautiful landscaping and incense burning.

Following the temple visit, I went to the Penang Hill railway station. A great deal, for only $1 you save yourself the 3KM hike up the hill. Unfortunately, it was too good a deal, I would have had to wait 2 hours if I wanted to go up. The walking path was about a $20 cab ride away, so I decided to pack things in and head back to the hostel for the night.

I went out for a walk in the evening and came upon the Thai Buddhist complex, which has a giant reclining Buddha (rumored to be the 3rd largest in the world). I must say, it was very impressive. Most interesting was that behind the Buddha there were hundred of urns in little spaces in the wall. Each had a picture of the deceased and a brief write-up. The bright colors of the Buddha gave a strange effect; it had a very happy feel for what was essentially a graveyard.

Koo Kongsi Clan House:


Kek Lok Si Temple:




A Mix of the Old and the New:



Day 6 – February 14th
I got up early and went out for a short walk. I decided to visit Fort Cornwallis, Penang’s oldest Fort. The most interesting sight here was the fertility cannon. On the top of the fort wall sits a cannon where infertile females come and place flowers. Miraculously, they are then able to bear children. I saw nothing more than a giant phallic symbol, but if it works . . .

After that, I was headed to the airport where I sat and waited for seven hours, due to a four and a half hour delay. When I hit my pillow in Singapore it was about 3:30AM and I definitely was not eager for work in a few short hours.

Ok, so that was hardly brief.

Kindness Experienced

Throughout my month here I have been the beneficiary of various kindness from all sorts of people. Whether it be international students befriending me or locals giving me directions, the vast majority of people have been kind and considerate. During my trip to Penang this trend continued. However, I have to make mention of two wonderful experiences.

My first experience was while staying at an old mansion in the city of Georgetown. I was asking one of the hotel/hostel employees if there was a restaurant near by that would be safe to eat at. Although his english was rough at best, he directed me to a small restaurant. I asked him about the good sights to see in Georgetown and he answered me with a question. He asked me if I was staying alone or if I had family or a significant other with me. Upon hearing I was alone, he began probing how long I was staying for. I thought this was a little strange and I had the feeling he was trying to determine if I was a customer that was worth a lot of money and his time. I couldn’t be more wrong. What he was offering was to come by on his days off and show me the various sights of Penang. He offered to come by in his car, or on his motorcycle, and take me to all the places and give provide a local’s perspective. I was blown away. Unfortunately, I was flying out the day before he had any time off, but I was none the less impressed with his willingness to make sure I had a good time in Penang.

My second experience occurred on my trip home from the island. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed four and half hours at the airport. This meant that my arrival time went from around 8:30 to 1:00am. Unfortunately, the consequences were beyond just time. At 1am there is no public transportation running. As a result, I was forced to take a cab across the border from Johor Bahru (the Malaysian city just across from Singapore) and then another cab to my residence. The cost escalated from a reasonable $10 to an astounding $150.

Luckily, I was the beneficiary of some very kind people. I was sitting next to Anita, a mother of two small children, on the plane. When I asked her about the cab that would take me into Singapore she mentioned that she was flying with her brother and a friend so they would have to take two cabs and there would be room for me. I eagerly accepted her offer. The total for the two cabs came to about RM450, around $120. I paid RM100 and felt lucky to safe the other RM125. However, this only got me into central Singapore. Once we arrived in Singapore, Anita brother insisted on driving me to my residence in NTU, about half an hour away. They invited me into their home while they put the kids to bed and dropped off their bags and offered me food and water. I was then whisked home in a car. I was so thankful for this and I arrived at my residence at around 3AM. When I was about to leave I offered to pay some more money for the cab because I felt they were very kind and I was getting off easy. Instead, he insisted on giving me RM50 back and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was astounded how these people made a long and arduous journey so much better. Thank you!

Chinese New Year Pictures

Where does one go to celebrate Chinese New Year's eve?
Chinatown of course.


Surrounding the centre square, and throughout all the side streets, were small shops selling everything from hand carvings to coconuts. The night markets were full of throngs of people - each buying small treasures to share with family and friends.





There was a stage setup with celebrations, performances and the final midnight countdown. The lion dance is very important and brings good luck and prosperity for the new year.




One of the best parts of the evening was seeing ChinaTown decorated with dragons and roosters (it's the year of the rooster). All of the storefronts were lit up eagerly awaiting the masses.




Pre-midnight we also wondered around and visited a Hindu temple and a Buddhist temple.

Hindu Temple


Buddhist Temple

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

February 14th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
I realized that for many people this is a special day of the year – Valentine’s Day. However, I must tell anybody who doesn’t already know, it’s a really special day – my Mom’s birthday. This means that it’s an extra special day for me too!
Mom, I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday and know that I’m thinking of you.

Love you,

Mike

2005-06 tuition costs to remain stable - Government of Alberta

2005-06 tuition costs to remain stable

- Government of Alberta

The Alberta Government has announced they will be funding next year's tuition increase, essentially creating a tuition freeze for all Alberta post-secondary students.
This is great news and I send out a big congratulations to everybody at the Students' Union who worked so hard to try and convince the government that this is the correct path to take. Way to go!

I'm off to Penang, later.

Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Today was Chinese New Year. To celebrate, I went out with another Canadian and 2 Germans. We went downtown to China Town and perused the night markets, had some food, and watched the celebrations. Part of our tour was a visit to the Hindu and Buddhist temples in the area. All in all, it was a great cultural evening and wonderful way to celebrat the ringing in of the new year.

Weekend Trip to Kuala Lumpur

Sunday, February 6, 2005
Weekend Trip to Kuala Lumpur
This past weekend was a busy, tiring, and rewarding weekend. I took off with 6 other exchange students (Pascal from France, Heli and Minna from Finand, Cecil from the U.S., and Tatjana from Germany) and went to KL. We left Friday evening at 8pm and took a bus from Singapore to Johor Bahru (the Malaysian city immediately across the water from Singapore) and then through to KL. With the stop at the border (where you go through the two separate checkpoints) we finally arrived in KL at around 6 in the morning.

My first impression of KL was that the city is hot and humid. Despite being early in the morning with no sunlight, the heat was immediately apparent and probably magnified by the long trip in an air-conditioned bus. The humidity, however, was there to stay. What I also noticed was the air pollution. In all fairness to KL, we were dropped from the bus across from the bus station in the middle of China town and there was lot of dust and exhaust from waiting cabs and buses moving in and out.

Kuala Lumpur, at a base level, is very different from Singapore. The cleanthiness, and especially in the bus station part of China town, is not nearly the same. I was told by a cab driver that it is common practice to just throw garbage anywhere, out the window, on the street etc. He seemed to give me the impression that this practice is infinitely superior to Singapore’s anal requirement of using garbage cans.

Once we got our belonging together we scoped out the and found ourselves a nice place to sit down and eat. Being nervous about nuts, I opted to wait out the food and eat later on.

First item of the day was to get tickets to the twin towers. We arrived around 7am and waited around until 8:30, got tickets, then went up the to the bridge of the twin towers. Despite being only half way up the towers, the view was impressive and gave us a good feel for the architecture of the buildings and the layout of the city.

Next, we got some more food at an immaculately clean food court and headed out on walking adventure to find the municipal bus that would take us to the Batu caves – huge caves on the outskirts of the city that have been converted into a Hindu temple.

Finding the correct bus was quite an adventure. We quickly found that navigating KL is very easy. After asking several people for directions to different places, we always got the same answer. To get anywhere in KL simply go straight, take a left, then take a right. After that, take a right then take a left. Voila, you will be anywhere you need to be. Unfortunately, this didn’t work quite as smoothly in practice, but we eventually found the correct bus after stopping at no more than 3 bus stations.

The Batu caves were an amazing experience. Never in one place, have I seen the raw beauty of nature blended so finely with the purest spiritual and the ugliest exploitive elements of mankind. The caves themselves are awe inspiring and breathtaking in their sheer size and magnitude. Throughout the vast caverns people have erected various idols and the Hindu Gods bring a magical element to the amazing backdrop. However, the caves are filled with stinking garbage and littered with graffiti on anything below 8 feet high. It disgusts me that such a sacred place would be subject to the ugliness of mankind. That said, the caves were extremely unique and I would recommend seeing them.

After our trip to the caves, we opted for a quicker return trip via taxi. We were whisked away to our little comfort zone in the city – the Rainforest Hostel. This hostel was great. The entire place was furnished with carved woods, hard wood floors, and small crafts. It was also a quiet haven amongst the rush and bustle of the city. Most importantly, it had air conditioning.

After showering and changing we headed out for an evening trip to see the KL tower, a similar structure to the Calgary tower, but about twice as tall. For dinner, the majority of the group had Indian food, while I settled for the local Pizza Hut. I felt foolish eating pizza while everybody else was trying generous helpings of curries, rice, chicken, and breads. I was more than little embarrassed bringing in a the Pizza Hut box and sitting with my friends in the restaurant.

The KL tower itself provided a 360 degree view of the city and gave us a nice night shot of the city and its millions of lights. As nice as the view was, I think many of us were ready to head back to the hostel and get a good nights rest. Let me tell you, after sleeping in a room without air condition, having a hard uncomfortable bed, and a cool breeze was close to heavenly.

The next morning we were up early, ate breakfast at the hostel, and went to visit the National Mosque. Here, the best part of the trip was a friendly Islamic lady who explained the fundamentals of the religion, answered all of our questions (and we had many) and dispelled many of the myths surrounding Islam. The best part was her friendly smile and her calm nature.

Post Mosque, we made a quick to the mall for any last minute shopping and got on the bus to head home. Wow, this was quite a long post. If you’ve read this far (and everything above) then buy yourself a lollipop and pretend it’s from me.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year to everybody (Today, Tuesday, is CNY)!

Dear NTU Drumming Team;

I am not exaggerating when I say that I might possibly be your biggest fan. Since arriving in Singapore, I have yet to miss a single practice. Your ability to practice everyday for hours at a time is not only a testament to your endurance also but also to your dedication; it brings tears to my eyes.

I could be mistaken, but I do believe that you have had great success in your recruiting campaign. When I first arrived, you were but a loud noise in the background. Now, however, it seems as though the cacophony of many new drummers fills the air. I am amazed at how you all seem to keep own beat and are not deterred by the other drummers. Perhaps even more drummers could join if you were to arrange practice from noon until 6.

Now, what I’m really writing about is a great opportunity for you. I am willing to dedicate my time to arranging and planning road trips for the ENTIRE drumming team. Although this may mean weeks or months away from NTU, I’m sure the experience will be rewarding and people will be touched by your performance.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Michael Horler