Where to start

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I haven't written in a while; I am sorry. It's been hard keeping up with everything that has been happening the last few days. There have been tours, and tons of free time to explore. Some of my favorite times have been visiting the park, eating dinner in Little India and most recently EVERYTHING surrounding New Years.

First I'll talk about the other night. It was after we went on our first tour. We ended the day at a delicious buffet where I ate all sorts of Japanese food. I know I know, I'm not in Japan still it was delicious (and a group dinner so payed for). After everyone was done eating some people decided to go straight back and others wanted to shop. I joined a group that just wanted to wander around some more. We wandered out of the mall we were in (incidentally the same mall we lost Kate in) and went towards the biggest landmark around. This was the Singapore Flyer. It is a really excessively tall farris wheel. I think someone even mentioned that it was or is one of the tallest in the world. I would love to ride it, but I think it costs a ton. Also, I think you have to do dinner on it or something. There was an example car near the base of it that had a formal dinner set up inside. After passing this we walked along a river and followed it towards the skyscraper part of the city.

I am in love with this city at night!!! If I had to leave tomorrow I'd be able to say that my trip was wonderful. It helps too that I really enjoy the people on the trip. The group who went out walking with me are all hilarious and really chill. We walked past some people making preparations for Chinese new year. The preparations are going on EVERYWHERE and I am so sad I will be back home when the festivities begin. Still, other preparations we saw/heard that night were for typical New Years. We got to hear sound checks and practice run throughs that included the final countdown to midnight. (I'm glad we heard that because I didn't get to hear it the night of...I'll explain below). While walking we came upon a bridge called the Helix. It looked really cool at night and was super twisted. It gave the prettiest views to take pics of. We crossed it and then we walked along the waters edge until we saw what I will declare was in the top 5 strange/cool/funniest things on the trip. There was a floating Louis Vuitton store. Yep, floating! Well sort of... It was only accessable by a bridge and honestly I got the vibe that there was a bouncer.

While waiting for a few people to come out of the LV store (I mean come on we had to look) a seriously cool water show started. A bunch of Jets, lasers from near by buildings, projectors and mist makers were used to display a movie called life a story told by water and light. It was AWESOME! By the time it ended we all really wanted to go back, but here is when the real adventure began. So, we split up because most people wanted to take the closest subway/train back, but Kate and I wanted to walk back across the bridge. The two of us were a little clueless about how late it really was. We didn't walk for a long time but got some really pretty picutes.

I am going to stop the story for a sec to explain how angry I am right now. For some horrible reason my camera just quit working. It has decided that it doesn't want to hold a charge. To be fair its my mom's so I am even angrier. I can not believe the bad luck I have with technology... but anyway back to the adventure.

So, we walk into the station, swipe in and walk to the escalator. Just before we step on an announcement sounds and says "The final train for the night has just departed thank you." You can imagine the looks on both of our faces. We decided to walk until we came across a taxi. We walked the entire way home. All frustration and pain aside it was actually a really fun/funny experience. I am also glad we did because knowing how to get home became important New Years Eve.

NOW... if you are still with me let me say good luck with the next part. New Years was long to live and its going to be long to describe!

In true American student fashion we all decided to get alcohol to pregame. There was a debate over what we should get, but I settled on a bottle of champaign and some hard cider. We got all dressed up, but we were, until the last minute, unsure about where we wanted to go. Some REALLY wanted to go clubing, others wanted to see the fireworks over the water. I will admit I was torn. I am definitly more of a club lover, but when would I ever get the chance to see the fireworks like that again. Lucky for me, everyone decided to go to watch the fireworks then head over to clubs. Unfortunetly, we headed out a little late because by the time we got there most of us got stuck inside the building during the fireworks. Some however did make it outside. About what I thought was 5 minutes before midnight we tried to find the group that got outside and gave up our awesome inside view (I do not use awesome as a joke...we eneded up with a crappy inside view). Just as we found our escape we heard someone yell "2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" I was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to laugh. We had spent so much time trying to find the perfect spot for new years we missed it!!!

That sad fact aside the fireworks were gorgeous and I can admit I teared up. I mean life is amazing, and sometimes we just realize it suddenly. I was overwhelmed. After the fireworks we tried to find the others in our group but most of us realized that wasn't going to happen. SO, we decided to head for the club district. To speed this part of the journey up we got lost several times. Some how we found everyone in our group, then got lost in different groups, then found eachother again. At one point I had to use the bathroom and saw some porta potties. So I ran over to them and tried to use them but I got yelled at by three men in a language I didn't understand then tried to open three that didn't open then just ducked into one I saw someone come out of. It was a complicated experience. Today I realized there were men's and womens seperate ones. I also realized that since the colors for go and stop are backwards I had been trying to enter occupied ones. (* what I mean by the colors being switched is that green means busy not open and red means go not no)

After actually using the bathroom I ran to find my group thinking they may have left. Most of them did, luckily some noticed I was gone. Unfortunetly the only way for me to reach them was to jump a fense in my dress. It was hard and just as I made it a guy came running up to me yelling and wearing a bat (I think he was the Police lol). We escaped into the crowed. At this point we got split up again and I was sobering up. This was a problem because my feet were starting to hurt. We stoped at a food court and got some tiger beers. Tired a few people decided after their drinks they were heading back. Three of us, Kate, Erik, and myself decided to find the clubs.

We attempted to get a cab for a while but that was a bust...They would pull up ask where we were going then drive away. Soooo, we walked. Managed to wander through Chinatown, then out the otherside. At this point I think we heard some music, saw a roof top party and decided that was our party. In retrospect we were very cocky, very confident, and very stupid. We walked into the front of the building got in the elevator walked out and strait to the bar. We partied here for a while. It was tons of fun. Kate and I each got a Singapore Sling. I did a dance off, and we made a lot of European buisnessmen friends. Now I bet you are wondering if we ever went clubbing. Eventually, we left the roof top but this time we just wanted home. However, we managed to wander right into the club district at exactly 4 am. Wouldn't you know that is when the clubs close...lol Still it was a great night and we eventually got a cab back.

In a bit, a few of us are going to the beach. We all would just like to sleep and take advantage of the sun by tanning.

LOTs of LOVE

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