Day Three: First Day of Classes, Assorted Pictures, A "Formal" Dinner

<- Pictures of PGP (dorms) from different angles. See what I mean by their use of vertical space?

This post will mostly consist of assorted pictures of the dorms and campus.

This was the first day of classes, and thankfully they went well. We will have a rotation of three teachers for the Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand history course, and our first teacher is a professor named Dr. Quek. She is hilarious, kind, and a great teacher. The first day she let us ask any and all questions we had about Singapore, and since we are a diverse group, all kinds of questions came up, and we all learned a lot.

^ The Central Library is behind and to the right of us (not our right). See those pillars?

^ This is looking from the walkway right outside the Central Library toward our classroom hallway.

We mostly eat lunch in the Canteen (this is their word for cafeteria) because it is very close to our classroom and pretty cheap. One day I got a sizable chicken curry noodle bowl for only 1 Singaporean dollar! The food is not always as good as at other locations, but it is still a great deal for what you pay.

^ Not every building is super-modern. I think this might be a residence hall on campus.

^ Here is the bus stop across from the library. See all the trees in the median and everywhere?

After class, instead of the Canteen (which had not greatly impressed me the day before when I ate there during our tour), I went to a courtyard outside the post office on campus with Rena, Dave, and Keesler and ate there. I got chicken nuggets from a place called Cheers, but Rena got peanut butter Kaya toast from this shop called Ya Kun Kaya. Let me explain.

Kaya is a "coconut egg jam," and this shop spreads it on toast. It sounds simple, but it is DELICIOUS.

We sat and ate and talked for a long time, taking it easy. Later, I blogged in the dorm room.

At 6:30 we all met up at the bus stop to go to a "formal dinner" (see my slightly-too-formal outfit above) with our teachers and two of the "vice-deans" of the university. We went to a very swanky Indonesian restaurant in one of the largest malls in Singapore. I sat next to Dr. Quek, and she was a lot of fun to talk to during dinner. She helped us figure out which pieces where less spicy (because all the food was very spicy) and made the slow waiters bring us lots of water. It was great to try new dishes, even if the spice was difficult to handle.