I Want More of Singapore

Slacking with the efficiency of writing these blog posts, but after a crazy couple weeks of settling into summer school (oh, I'm teaching MATHS by the way - but more about that later), it is finally time to tell about my amazing trip to Singapore.

After being torn, I had decided to spend the second half of my ten day break travelling Singapore. I had already been once before with the ex last summer but this time I wanted to venture a little bit on my own; Grace and her family would also be there so it offered the perfect opportunity to have some fun with her and not get too bored of my own company roaming around the city alone. 

The hostel I stayed at was called "Quarters Hostel" located in the heart of the central business district. For such a reasonably cheap hostel, it really did provide an amazing location and was super easy to get to from the airport and close enough to all the major attractions the city had to offer. What I was blown away by the hostel more than any other one I had stayed in before was their genuine friendliness. One of the workers, Zech, was incredibly friendly and made me feel so welcome without being over the top or making me feel like their fried lines was forced or fake. The room was windowless and small, but going by how often I would spend in the room, it really didn't phase me. Judging by the hostel being less than a year old, it had really seemed to established itself and one of the best in the city. Ok, enough of my hostelworld.com-esque review here...

Hostel Selfie

The first day was actually pretty boring. Unfortunately, the weather didn't treat me too well, and without an umbrella or rain jacket, I didn't really venture outside very much. I ended up finding cover from the rain in this really swanky mall which I felt so out of place in...walking around it dressed in "Primarni" and looking like a drowned rat wasn't really the clientele they usually had there. It was just swarmed with boutiques from the top designers...forget your TopMan and H&Ms, if you weren't living the high life, I wouldn't even go in there haha.

That evening Grace had arrived and that meant that Universal was upon us. I met her and her family at the park in the morning and the day was spent catching up and getting on as many rides as we could. Again the biggest attraction was closed (it was the same back in June) so that was a bit of a disappointment but nonetheless, a great day was had!

That night, I decided I wanted to explore parts of Singapore I had yet to go to. For dinner, we all went to Little India and stumbled upon this amazing little food court sampling dishes from India, Pakistan and Singapore's neighbors. Upon entering, I was swooned by this Pakistani guy who offered me free food and convinced me to eat at his place and he had "the best Indian food in Singapore". When ordering food, I got talking to this guy who was almost in awe of the fact that I was British and I was eating HERE (which is suprising because I thought there were a ton of Brits in Singapore...) but we got talking and he was telling me that he was doing a project on Queen Victoria to which the food stall owner chipped in and said that his great grandfather was bestowed a colonial building in his hometown in northern Pakistan by Queen Victoria back in the early 1920s. It was just a fascinating conversation accompanying by AMAZING indian food. (Apart from Archna's cooking) It made me realize how much I miss Indian food - Thailand just doesn't seem to be in that Bandwagon as much as the UK is, unfortunately.

Grace and I at Universal Studios!

After hanging out with Grace's family, I decided to be a little spontaneous and heading out to the check out the "gay scene" in the city. It was a lot more low-key than Bangkok (which was to be expected) and the drinks were about 5x more expensive (again, something I expected). After REALLY enjoying my S$18 Long Island Iced Tea (which hit me way too hard), I decided to head back to the hostel and pursue more of it the next night.

Gardens by the Bay (and Marina Bay Sands in the background)

After checking out the gardens by the bay the next morning, and getting lost around the malls of Singapore, I again met up with Grace and her parents took us up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel (you know...the one with the giant boat on the top of it?). The views were spectacular and just made me fall in love with Singapore even more. Later on that night, I went back to the gay district with a full stomach and my "good tolerance" in tow. I met these group of guys and decided to hang out with them for the night. They were all around my age, all good looking, and considering how conversative Singapore is, it was really admiring how open and comfortable they all were with each other (it just made me wish I had a friend circle like that). We decided to hit up a bar which was open for just that weekend as it had been shut down the year before. Despite the $30 cover leaving a sour taste in my mouth, the free Malibu and Coke I got with that certainly bought the sweetness back. Accompanied by hot guys...EVERYWHERE. It was like every gay guy between the age of 20-30 from Singapore had entered this club. Although the scene was somewhat secretive, it was great nonetheless and nice to "let my hair down". 

The longer I was spending in Singapore, the more and more I was falling in love with the city. I had been once before but it really cemented to me how much I had been missing the westernized feeling and culture that Singapore and other western cities had. More recently, I've been having a growing passion of wanting to teach there, but never thought "teaching English" would offer much opportunities as English is their first language. But the more I spoke with some locals, and the more research I've been doing, it does actually seem like a possibility! Maybe Singapore could be my next destination to teach..!

Light Show by the Marina.

Coming back to Korat this time was the first time I felt some sort of "holiday blues". The start of summer school had quickly come around and for the next 5 weeks, I will be teaching Maths to years 4-6; VERY different to what I have done before but I'm excited for the opportunity and more experience to put under my belt. 

We were told before the summer semester started that it would be more laid back than regular school. Although after two weeks of teaching, I've actually felt it's been way more intense; planning lessons, writing exams, and teaching younger kids have all been quite a challenge. I'm glad that Harriet coming to Bangkok this week will provide some much needed R&R. Until then, I'll be mourning not being in Singapore anymore...take me back?!

The Elephant Temple

Today marks the final day of the semester at Assumption. Back in October, I would have deemed this as my last day here. It's crazy to think how quick my time here has gone already. I am glad to be staying not just to continue teaching at Assumption, but to be able to have the opportunity to explore this beautiful country and learn about its culture more! The last two weekends have marked the FIRST time I have visited Temples in Thailand; After visiting two in Bangkok, I went to visit one closer to my home last weekend.

With the arrival of Grace's parents, we all decided to spend our Sunday 'temple hopping', although this just turned into visiting one temple. But what a temple it was! Wat Ban Rai is located in the district of Dan Khun Thot, around 40 miles west of Korat. The most eye catching attraction, known as the 'Elephant Temple' (due to the ginormous elephant head that sits on top of it), dominated the landscape, which was filled with vast arid land and multiple houses on stilts.

The entrance to the temple, guarded by very creepy Dragon/Snake hybrids.

Upon research, I found out that the elephant sculpture is that of Airavata, a mythological creature that carries the Hindu god Indra. I had seen pictures on the internet before coming as a previous trip to it was cancelled, but upon arrival, I realised that the pictures did not do it justice. It was spectacular. Although not the actual temple, the Elephant building which was in the middle of a lake and was only completed in 2011. Instead of what I would traditionally imagine to be inside a temple, I was greeted to a really cool museum which was filled with beautiful pastel artwork, mosaic sculptures and information of the Buddhist culture and quotes.

#HipsterShot

We all eventually made our way up to the top of the temple, and was able to see right across the entire landscape. As well as acting as a viewing point, there was also a giant golden Monk (who I'd later find out to be Luang Phor Khoon Parisuttho (Luang Pho Koon), one of Thailand's most famous Monks) where you would pray and ask for your wishes to come true. I was told that this Monk is highly respected around Nakhonratchasima and that many people come to visit the statue as well as the Monk himself.

Golden Statue of Luang Pho Koon

The next stop was for us to see Luang Pho Koon in the flesh. We made our way over to the traditional Wat Ban Rai temple, and we directed to the centre of the room, where well over a hundred people were waiting to see this Monk. When I was knelt there praying, I just figured it was an ordinary Monk that people had come to pay their respects to. I didn't quite realise the status of him. Well into his 90s now, over his time as a monk, he has raised over 2 million baht to support the construction of the Elephant temple as well as raising millions of Baht to help build schools, hospitals and other temples throughout Thailand. It is quoted that his determination behind building the temple was that he would do it "for the people who give me food and water everyday."
When he was younger, he would individually bless all people that would come and see him, but now in his frail state, he sits behind a glass wall with the assistance of doctors and people will walk past the glass and present offerings, pray, and (because we all know how much Thai's love to do it) take photos/selfies. It was quite weird to see him as something for show; I saw it as somewhat dehumanising but at the sametime, being part of the stampede of people that went towards to the glass wall just to catch a glimpse of him, I came to realise what a big deal he was and how respected he is not just within the community of the Nakhonratchasima province, but throughout Thailand.

View from the top of the Elephant temple

And thus, another beautiful attraction I can tick off my list. I really must utilise my time off more and really see what Thailand has to offer. (There's me saying that when I'm going to SINGAPORE next week...haha)