Cultural differences

There is no traditional "Singaporean" culture - instead it is a fushion of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian cultures. Last night I got a taste of what everyday life is like for local Singaporeans. All the students in Hall 3 are local Singaporeans except Leah and me. We got invited to a Hall 3 "Midnight Fiesta" when we crashed a cheerleading practice last week, and decided it would be a good idea to get to know the kids who live in our building. However, after our epic night out on Wednesday, we decided to ditch the "Fiesta" and stay in and recuperate. But we just can't seem to pass up an opportunity for a good time, so we decided to go last minute and check out the scene.

We recognized one girl, Charlotte, whom we met earlier that day at an NTU field hockey game. She came up to us and told us we could hang out with her. The buses took us to Chinatown and we walked through the markets and ended up at an eatery called Frog Porridge. Leah and I were pretty skeptical and skipped out on ordering food and got Tiger beers instead. We sat down at this massive table with a group of about 20 kids. The conversation was awesome. They were asking us about popular sports and music in the US and we were asking them about popular sports and music here. Comparing the two cultures was so interesting. Even though the differences between Americans and Chinese are endless, we were able to connect and laugh about things that exceed cultural barriers.

Trying Chinese jelly candy from the Chinatown market

Fish head porridge... I think I'll pass.

Our next stop was Geylang. We were told not to talk or look at strangers because Geylang is the area where the Chinese prostitutes hang out. They took us to a restaurant called 126, which Charlotte informed us what a local dimsum favorite. They had no silverware. The menu was 8 pages and all hand-written in Chinese. Leah and I were clueless. Luckily, Charlotte and her boyfriend Jerald helped us out and told us the best menu items. The food was cheap and we ordered a cup of Honey Tea, pork dimsum and white rice. Charlotte taught me how to order in Chinese so naturally I caused a huge scene when the waitress came over. It took me about five minutes to order and I pronounced everything wrong but I was proud of myself for trying.

Jerald and Charlotte, our saviors

Eating dimsum with chopsticks! Sooo Chinese.

The food arrived quickly and it was absolutely delicious! I have been pretty daring when it comes to trying traditional Chinese food and last night I was eating things I never thought I'd eat. It was an awesome experience and we plan on hanging out with our local friends again.