Sunday, October 26, 2008
Deepavali!
Today, 27 October 2008, is Deepavali~! Deepavali is also known as the festival of lights or Diwali in Hindi. Lighting of lamps is traditional in signifying the triump of good over evil. Legend has it that this day many many years ago, Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura.In Singapore, the Indians celebrate Deepavali by going to temples etc. Take a walk down Little India and you will find it decorated with colourful lights and massive peacocks (artificial ones, of course). The street will be crowded with many Indians celebrating and just having fun.
Here's wishing all my Indian friends (Kanages, Arunima) HAPPY DEEPAVALI~!
Posted by Mel at 6:08 PM
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Geography
Yoza readers~!On 21 October we had a lesson on geography of Southeast Asia. Well, actually a very brief lesson. We always spend at least half the period doing housekeeping.
Can you believe that the ancient people believed the map of Asia was in the shape of Pegasus? (Yay Greek mythology~! nvm) Ya so the heart of Pegasus has the most important cities. Can you see the monsters and sunken ships in the map? Because the people (Europeans, mainly) were ignorant about the seas and hadn't explored them much, so they believed that the seas were filled with monsters and such that swallowed up ships. Therefore, they did not dare to explore and navigate by seas until some person, I forgot who, set out to sea and did not die in sea. Okay history lesson over, here is the current map for South East Asia:
There are officially 11 countries in Southeast Asia. Out of these eleven, ten countries have joined ASEAN, which stands for Association of South East Asian Nations. 
(http://www.retire-asia.com/asean.png)Yeps as you can see, the country who hasn't joined ASEAN yet is East Timor:
A lot of people mistake the number of countries in Southeast Asia to be 10, maybe because thjey mistake it to be the number of countries in ASEAN. Hmm based on my fuzzy memory (from p5 or P6) ASEAN is a association which negotiates country borders and argh, i really can't remember. Okay maybe when we get to learn more about it, i shall write another post.
(
Posted by Mel at 9:33 PM
events coming up
Okay events coming up~!28 Oct--grading of RSP blogfolios!
1 Nov--RSP Seminar at Peranakan Museum
14, 15 Nov--RSP Camp at Victoria School
Posted by Mel at 6:24 AM
Southeast Asian Enclaves in Singapore--Field Study on 23 August
RSP BLOG 25/10/08Okay as I promised that I would write up an official report in my last post, I am doing so now. Yes I know it has been sooo long since we went to that SEAsian enclaves in Singapore thingy, but then…argh okay no more excuses, on to it! I’m sorry I did not bring my camera and Icouldn’t take pictures from my handphone, so most photos are from the internet, (source stated) or my friends’ blogs (source stated too). Thanks!
Ahem…On the 23rd August, RGS RSP students went for a field study of the Southeast Asian enclaves in Singapore. We went to namely four den places: the Sasanaramsi Burmese Buddhist Temple Singapore, Golden Mile Complex, Peninsula Plaza, and Lucky Plaza.
Sasanaramsi Burmese Buddhist Temple Singapore (14, Tai Gin Road, next to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall):
Before we could enter the main temple building, we had to take off our shoes. Maybe the monks wanted to keep the place clean. There were two tall statues of wondrous beasts guarding the temple steps; however I cannot remember exactly what they are. The outside of the building was elaborately carved and decorated. 
The first thing you will notice when you enter the main hall is the beautiful marble Buddha. It is about 3m tall and weighs ten tons. Apparently a Burmese named U Kyaw Gaung went to Mandalay and found a hill that was totally made of white marble. So he bought it for Rs. 1, 200 (question: maybe we should learn about the currencies of the SEAsian countries, then I could know whether it was cheap or expensive) and asked the Mandalay craftsmen to carve out a huge but exquisite marble statue of Buddha. Okay how U Kyaw Gaung transported that marble statue to Singapore is a tale to tell, but I shall tell it later. Proceeding up to the second level, which is mainly for meditation, we stopped at the wall of the door. There was a panel of carved teak wood. I learnt that Burma is famous for its white marble, teak wood and jade.
Above that panel was a large mural about the history of this Burmese temple. Okay on with my story. So after the Burmese craftsmen completed the statue, they had to transport it right? Ha, you’d be surprised. They used rollers (smooth logs), horses, elephants, barges, ships and planes. What a variety! Yups and across the walls there were murals of famous Buddhist stories. Being a Buddhist myself, I am quite familiar with these stories. I am glad that I have a religion that is quite prominent in Southeast Asia.
Golden Mile Complex (Beach Road): This is the Thai enclave in Singapore. At the ground level outside the building, there are mainly travel agencies. and money transfer agencies.
Golden Mile Complex (Beach Road): This is the Thai enclave in Singapore. At the ground level outside the building, there are mainly travel agencies. and money transfer agencies.
Some of the sign names are written in Thai language. According to a book, there are 76 letter shapes in the Thai language. Yes, 50 more than the English alphabet! Hmm upon entering the Golden Mile Complex, there is this smell hitting your nostrils. I did not figure out what that overwhelming stink was, then our guide told us that it was salted fish and bamboo. Oh my goodness, I have never smelled such a gagging stench before! Well, I bore with it. One interesting thing I found out about the place was that one quarter of the shops were Thai pubs and clubs. It was lucky we went so early in the morning, as our guide informed us that the Thai foreign workers who went to the pubs and clubs at night after work were quite violent when they had too much to drink. So the place was sparse. I went to the supermarket selling Thai products and I noticed that it sold many Thai liquors. Oh one funny incident was that I saw these huge glass jars filled with reddish-amber liquid with little things floating at the top and bottom of the liquid. I asked the shopkeeper what it was, thinking that it was medicated liquids, but she said it was alcohol! I was so shocked, then my teammates began sniggering. Thai people, I had thought, were mostly devout Buddhists, and the five things that they cannot do include sexual misconduct and consuming intoxicating drinks and drugs. Golden Mile Complex has so many pubs and clubs and liquor, so hmm, isn’t this a bit of an irony? (question: why is there a case of religion slipping off the Thai people that go to GMC?) Umm, I thought that out of the four places we visited, Golden Mile Complex was the creepiest. It was a relief to get out.
Peninsular Plaza (near Coleman Street, North Bridge Road): This is the Burmese / Myanmese enclave. There is a very slight smell of salted fish here. Over here there are shops that sell hardware like cameras, and also sell Myanmar goods. I visited a shop which sold Buddhist items like teak wood products, paintings and tapestry. The silver there was of very high quality and well-carved. Pity I did not get any photos.
Peninsular Plaza (near Coleman Street, North Bridge Road): This is the Burmese / Myanmese enclave. There is a very slight smell of salted fish here. Over here there are shops that sell hardware like cameras, and also sell Myanmar goods. I visited a shop which sold Buddhist items like teak wood products, paintings and tapestry. The silver there was of very high quality and well-carved. Pity I did not get any photos.
Yes I discovered that the Myanmese like to eat betel.
There are betel nuts and betel leaves sold in every shop. Well the most popular snack was betel leaves. It is actually areca nuts wrapped in betel leaves, with some white cementy substance I believed to be lime(water?), mixed with other spices, which I forgot. It is rather spicy, and my friend Evangeline tried it. I also interviewed a Myanmese turned Singaporean Mr. Edmund Tan, who sells seafood. He showed us a magnificently huge prawn, and explained that Myanmar was famous for its coasts and seafood.
Lucky Plaza (Orchard Road area): This is supposed to be a Filipino enclave, but I guess by the time we arrived (noon) it was crowded with many Singaporeans and I could not really differentiate the Filipinos from the Singaporeans. It was also hard for me to find a pure Filipino culture shop, but there were some shops which provided Filipino newspaper services. However, come on a Sunday afternoon and take a stroll outside Lucky Plaza. You will find Filipino maids and their boyfriends (?) illegally picnicking on the cement sidewalk. I find it amusing that the Filipinos put on make-up, actually spread their blankets on the pavement and eat their food there. Oh well, I guess it is how the Filipino workers relax after the long week.
Lucky Plaza (Orchard Road area): This is supposed to be a Filipino enclave, but I guess by the time we arrived (noon) it was crowded with many Singaporeans and I could not really differentiate the Filipinos from the Singaporeans. It was also hard for me to find a pure Filipino culture shop, but there were some shops which provided Filipino newspaper services. However, come on a Sunday afternoon and take a stroll outside Lucky Plaza. You will find Filipino maids and their boyfriends (?) illegally picnicking on the cement sidewalk. I find it amusing that the Filipinos put on make-up, actually spread their blankets on the pavement and eat their food there. Oh well, I guess it is how the Filipino workers relax after the long week.
Posted by Mel at 5:59 AM
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My feelings about the SEAsian Enclaves in Singapore in brief
Hmm okay this is a RSP blog right...so I'm supposed to talk about the things that happen in South East Asia. okay yeah i admit i kinda haven't talked about that subject for ages.Okay on 23 August 2008 (Yes i know so very long ago...hey that rhymes!) we went on a field trip to the Southeast Asian enclaves in Singapore. Basically they are several shopping malls lah.
1. We went to the Sasanaramsi Burmese Buddhist Temple Singapore. It's really cool, there was a humungous marble Buddha (ten tons) and neon lights surrounding the head. I'm a Buddhist, and i observed and learnt this interesting fact: Didya know that the Buddha's fingers and toes are all of the same length?? Different from ours. Ms Lee said it was because the Buddha treats everybody equal and without discrimination.
2. The Thai enclave is the Golden Mile Complex. I guess because we went so early (9-10am) it was rather empty. But then, i guess it was lucky we went so early because that place was filled with Thai pubs, clubs and such. Hmm one person told me that when the Thai people got drunk, they were very violent. So phew. However, i admit i didn't really like that place because it stank to high heaven of salted fish (?) and well, it was very creepy. I wouldn't have gone there alone at all.
3. The Myanmese enclave is the Peninsular Plaza. It was more cheerful than the Golden Mile complex. We met this fantastically nice guy called Mr Edmund Tan, who imports seafood from the famous coasts of Myanmar.
4. A lot of Filipinos hang out in Lucky Plaza, which is near our school. It was crowded at noontime, with many Filipinos and Singaporeans mingling. yeah walking outside Lucky Plaza, on the sidewalk i could see many Filipino maids picnicking.
All in all the trip was quite fun but uneventful, because it was early in the morning and the places weren't really populated. Due to the lack of photos, i will post an official report when i get my hands on them.
3.
Posted by Mel at 4:19 AM
After EYAs...FINALLY!
Hmm, my first post in two weeks since the EYAs.i did okay for the exams, i guess.
My results--
Math: 4.0
History: 4.0
Geography: 4.0
Chemistry: 4.0
Malay: 4.0
English: 3.6
E Literature: 3.2
Chinese: 3.2
Yay as you saw Malay was 4.0! i think i did really well for Malay, congratz to me~ :D
Okay, now that EYAs are over i have a lot of free time!
Oh yeahz we're getting our mini-laptop soon. So HOORAY!
Haha i'm off to SwensenS to celebrate.
Sticky Chewy Chocolate Sundae wait for meee~!
(Now wasn't that lame.)
Posted by Mel at 4:10 AM
Thursday, October 2, 2008
EYAs
Noooo the EYAs are coming!!!Argh i have to mug hard.
Okay. May be offline for a week.
Good Luck for the exams~!