So.........it's been awhile since I have updated this site. I have been procrastinating with an update of my weekend (January 18 - 21) in Indonesia and life in Singapore since then. Since I am not really paying too much attention in class at the moment (who has class on a Saturday, anyway?!?!), I figured that a brief update about my life here is in order.

Since my Intensive Class (which finishes on Monday, February 4) had 2 classes on a Saturday (last week and this week), the weekend of Jan. 18 - 21 was the last weekend I would have until after my intensive class was finished in order to get out of Singapore. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to get out and see a bit more of this incredible area. Together with a big group of about 15 people, we headed to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore to catch the 2 hour ferry to Pulau Bintan, Indonesia. After a great ferry ride during which we witnessed a beautiful sunset on the water, we arrived in Bintan and dealt with the formalities of getting visas on arrival. After checking out a few places to stay int he main town and being thoroughly disappointed with everything we laid our eyes on, the group opted to take the 1 hour taxi ride to the eastern part of the island to spend the night at the beach (thus allowing us to wake up on the beach the next morning!).

We were taken through the darkness of the island along the coast to a great little homestay - basically, a few huts on the beach run by a family with huts on the same piece of property. Since it was already fairly late at night by the time we arrived, the owners of the property offered to make us a simple meal of Nasi Goren (fried rice with vegetables and egg) and they went to the nearest store to pick up us a whole lot of beer as per our request. Completely starving and thirsty after our "journey", the food and beer could not have been any better! Indeed, we all stuffed our faces and drank our share. After plowing through dinner, we made a bonfire on the beach, drank our beers and liquor purchased at duty free on the way in and just enjoyed being on the beach and listening to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore.

Waking up the next morning to the hot sun and the beach only steps away was most appreciated (and confirmed that our decision the night before was a good one!). We basically spent the day walking along the beach, reading, and playing an impromptu game of volleyball (coupled with many beer breaks to quench our hard-earned thirst!). We were greeted by the hosts with an incredible Indonesian curry lunch (followed by the same for dinner) - this was truly the best food I had eaten in my time in Asia so far. I had a great time just talking to the local hosts, learning about their life on the island, and filling them in on life back home. They didn't mind either that I was willing to share with them my bottle of Bailey's purchased as duty free - it was quite a bit with them and made for great conversation over full glasses of that great liquid!

The next day (Sunday), we had a great breakfast in the morning and headed back to the main town. Myself and 2 buddies took a great tour of the local islands and mangrove swamps, taking in all of the stilt houses along the way that are just incredible to see (especially during low tide). My buddy Dave decided to head back to Singapore that night, but Chris and I opted to stay in Bintan for the night and head back to Singapore early the next morning - why not spend another night getting to know the place - after all, there was plenty of chicken satay and Tiger Beer at the local "market"! After checking into a place to stay (which seemed nice at first, although we were greeted by an entire colony of large roaches when we returned to our room to crash for the night!), we headed to the market, ate a ridiculous amount of chicken satay (chicken skewers with amazing peanut sauce), rice and beer, and watched soccer on the big screen in the middle of the courtyard. We made friends with a whole group of locals, and I entertained them with my novice skateboarding skills as the sun set over the harbour - it was quite the spectacle - the white blond guy skateboarding was definitely the center of attention as most of the town gathered by the water for a Sunday evening chill!

We awoke early on Monday morning (after a horrendous sleep worrying about the roach infestation in our room!) and headed to the ferry. I had to enjoy one final Nasi Goren meal before I left (this one was even better than I had received at the homestay!) and then passed out for the entire ferry ride back to Singapore (having barely closed my eyes all night with the feeling of roaches climbing all over me -- obviously all in my head, but still not a pleasant night!).

Arrived back in Singapore int he afternoon on Monday just in time to be in class for 6:30 (definitely quite a change from the beach life of the weekend!).

I have spent the past couple of weeks getting things in order in Singapore (trying to get paper outlines out of the way, keeping up with readings etc.), as I am heading out this Wednesday (Feb. 6) to hit up Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam for the next month.

Stay tuned for my adventures in the next month - I will do my best to keep my journeys up to date on this site!

Much love,

Ev1