Singapore--A Fine City

        Well we did it! Another country. I can already Asia is going to go so FAST. We were in Singapore for a little less than 36 hours. We jammed packed this day and a half with many adventures. Singapore is a very small island that is very densely populated. It takes less than an hour to get from one side of the island to the other. One thing it is quite famous for is the ridiculous amounts of fines they give. If you throw out your gum and it does not land in the trashcan-- $250 fine. The list goes on and on. Semester at Sea was quite worried that some students were going to get in trouble, but there is no trouble to report.
        When the ship was cleared a group of 5 of us got off the ship and headed through immigrations. Right through customs is a huge mall, much bigger than anything I have ever seen.  We made our way to the metro station within the mall and picked a random place on the map. There public transportation system was the most efficient I have seen in the world. It was also VERY clean because there is no eating or drinking on the train. We got off in Bugis and headed outside. This area of the city was home to the outdoor market.  I bought a few souvenirs and we mainly just walked around and soaked up the culture. We ate an amazing meal at Fatty’s where we had sweet and sour chicken, BBQ pork, volcanic chicken and chili crab. It was all delicious! We sat there for over 2 hours just eating and talking. After that we headed to our hotel for the night. Here we met up with a larger group of friends and we started to get ready for the night. In the hotel I was able to Skype and catch up with my family, it was so nice! We went out that night to celebrate Halloween. Not many people in Singapore celebrate this holiday, but we were able to find plenty of things to do! We made a late night McDonalds run before catching a cab back to the hotel.
        After we all got up and showered, we split ways again. 2 friends and I headed to the botanical gardens. They were so amazing. They had orchards like I have never seen. We spent a great deal of the day there just walking around and taking pictures. After that we grabbed some lunch at a Thai restaurant and began making our way back to the ship. We stopped and bought postcards and stamps and then had to run back through security. This was the closest I have ever cut it to on-ship time. For every 15 minutes late you are getting back on the ship, you have to get off the ship 3 hours later in the next port. Our group got in line at 4:25, but it took 30 minutes to get through bag check. We made it though!!
        Singapore has much of the same feeling as Chicago. It is very westernized, you see all the same restaurants and shops as you would back in the states. This port was very short, but also very exciting. Tomorrow morning we will be in Vietnam!! This is one of the ports I ma most excited for. I will update again soon! Love always!