Before this we met to discuss projects and I decided to focus on the military here and how it works, for they have a required national service for all 18-year old men. It's difficult to pick one thing because this government and society is so fascinating and different than our own. I think I will be looking into the public opinion on national service and how the government prepares the youth for their service at early ages. Also I will look into the use of land for military bases and how those areas become reserves for wildlife and vegetation, whether on purpose or incidental. There are many facets to it, and if I can find enough information I may narrow it down to one or a couple of these...we shall see. I am starting to get excited about it, actually!
We went for lunch to the Western Plaza mall and had some vietnamese, which was delicious, as well as these awesome fruit shakes. I got a mango flavored one but it was really made with mango and it tasted amazing...exactly like the fruit. For the afternoon we went to the water treatment plant visitor's center, which was very pretty and shiny and definitely built and engineered to give off a certain message. The plant is called NEWater, and it recycles and processes waste water back into pure, drinkable water. The center was very nice and impressive, and it was interesting to see how the process worked. Singapore has had concern in the past about running out of water, and they have a contract until 2011 with Malaysia to pump water from that country into Singapore. Since the contract was made, Singapore has engineered the NEWater methods, which seem to be very efficient and increase the water supply tremendously. They have also created catchment reservoirs for the large amounts of rainfall, and they have a desalinisation plant. Water is very important to them, as is every resource they must find a way to concentrate on a tiny island and supply to everyone (all 4 million people!)
We travelled from the NEWater place to Orchard Road, which was very very very busy and crowded. It is basically the shopping central with all the biggest name brand stores and high-end fashions...and prices. They also had countles normal malls and cheaper malls, all at least 6 or 7 storeys tall and very extensive. It was a shopper's heaven. We had dinner first, and a few of us got sushi, which was delicious, of course. I found a really neat watch stand in one of the normal-er malls and got a cheap watch for myself. There was also this Spanish store called Mango that had several sections to it, similar to Forever 21 except better quality. I found the coolest dress there. It was an interesting experience to try on clothes, because all the sizes are much much smaller. I had to get a medium, whereas in the US a small would sometimes be too big for me. Every experience here is new and different, even such things as trying on clothes and going shopping or riding the buses anywhere around the city. We also got ice cream at one of the many carts on Orchard street. It came in blocks and the guy cut a slab off of an icecream block and then put it between two wafers or wrapped it up in a slice of colored bread, whichever you preferred. It was absolutely delicious, and only 1 singapore dollar, which is basically 60 cents. Now that is marvelous...
A general observation - The food is amazing everywhere you go, but I'm already feeling vegetable and fruit withdraw! I got some plums today and can't wait to eat them tomorrow. Unless you seek out a grocery store and buy separate things, it's hard to find fruit and veggies.
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| Singapore Photos Day Four |
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