All posts by Rebecca Michelle

Educator, traveler, reader, blogger. Loves learning, black coffee, and friendly people.
Singapore

To the treetops!

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There’s a lot of green Singapore, the self-styled City in a Garden, but it’s a city all the same. After three weeks in wintery upstate New York and one week sweating in the city, a group of us decided to go for a hike to actually forget that we were in a city (and to reacclimatize to tropical heat).

We chose the Treetop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir for this morning’s hike, which was swelteringly hot and really beautiful.

No city here, right?!

We exchanged road overpasses for a suspension bridge over a rainforest.

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View from the bridge, with the reservoir and Singapore Island Country Club’s golf course in the distance:

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City? What city?

A couple cool shots looking down off the bridge:

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In addition to flora, we also saw quite a bit of fauna! Most of the monkeys scampered off through the trees as soon as they saw cameras, and one bounded straight towards my friend as she tried to get a picture with it. Another headed for a fellow hiker’s bag until other hikers’ yelling warned it off. This one, however, remained still enough and close enough for a quick photo:

We also met a lizard, a much easier photo subject:

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All in all, it was a very serene way to spend a morning, and we even managed to beat the tropical downpour by about 20 minutes. I was also pleased to see the trails populated with families. In a city that is so connected to technology, so much so that it’s rare to see someone walking down a street without his or her face in a phone, it’s really important to get outside and spend a little time in the real world.

Happy trails!

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Singapore

Arab Street

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I am ashamed to admit that it took me until Thursday to make it to Arab Street. Mitch says we talked about going a few times, but never got around to it. The one excuse I can think of is that it used to be a pain to get there, but now that the Downtown line runs through Little India, almost everything is easier and definitely faster! Singapore is building more lines, too, which is very exciting even though I won’t be here to see it.

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This isn’t the greatest picture, but I like the street sign in the corner. I was (clearly) focusing on the mosque but I’d reframe the picture in the future to place the street sign more prominently. I didn’t even notice it until I was editing!

Anyway, this was our first week back at school and it went really well. I did better than I expected with regards to jet lag, and the kids were great. They were mentally checked out at the beginning of the week but have come around a lot. I was really glad to reunite with my friends, too. There’s a lot to talk about after 3 weeks away!

Jamie, Lindsey, and I headed to Arab Street for dinner Thursday night and it was just wonderful. The Lebanese restaurant that Jamie chose was excellent and we went to a popping Mexican place for margaritas afterwards. I will be definitely be back to Arab Street because there are loads of adorable little cafes pretty much everywhere. There were a couple cool boutiques, too, that I will have to check out. Trying to reinvent my wardrobe.

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The alley-facing wall of the Mexican place was covered in amazing murals. A lot of the alley walls were, actually, but it was dark so this was the only one that came out even a little bit.

I hadn’t planned on being so fascinated, so I only had my phone with me but the pictures are okay. It was a lot like Chinatown, but with shops selling Turkish lanterns and hookah instead of chopsticks and chicken rice.

I will absolutely be back soon!

On My Mind

A Long Way Home

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Friday marks the end of my school break. I’ll begin my 30ish-hour journey back to Singapore tomorrow evening, land early Sunday afternoon, get my life in order, and head back to work first thing Monday morning. Some of my friends are already back in Singapore, but I really don’t do well with downtime. I’m already getting close to a point of emotional turmoil  so the quicker I get back into my routine, the happier I will be (and the sooner I’ll be rid of the inevitable jet lag).

I’m sure I don’t have to say that it has been wonderful being back in the US for the holidays. Mitch and I made a lot of decisions during the 4 days we spent together in New York City, and the subsequent week or so we spent together in Rochester. I feel much better about the choices we’ve made and about our future, than I did before we sat down in person and talked. Since Mitch and I have so many important discussions over the phone, I often forget the instantaneous communication of body language. In truth, body language makes tough conversations a lot easier. Silence takes on a new meaning. Togetherness matters a lot more when it’s not taken for granted.

While I was home, Mum and I took a quick trip to Montreal to see my grandparents.Seeing one’s grandparents really shouldn’t have to be a special, planned occasion. I’ll see them again over the summer when I’m back in the States, but that’s a long way away. It’s unfortunate that we had to drive for 5 hours (and then back) to make Bubbie and Zaidy dinner, but that pizza with a puff pastry crust was delicious. In some ways, we’re lucky that it’s only a 5-hour drive because it’s easy to do in a day. It’s a distance that I’ve been used to for the last 23 years, but I’ve never grown to like it. More convenient than the distance between Singapore and Rochester, though!

No matter how often I fly back and forth, or how many people I say goodbye to on either end, I’m never completely ready to leave. It was easy to leave Singapore for a 3-week break because everyone was leaving and we’d all be back soon. It wasn’t easy to leave Malaysia last June because it meant saying goodbye to my friends, possibly forever, and it wasn’t easy to leave Rochester in July. I usually find myself somewhat anxious and certainly rather despondent. It makes me reluctant to act and leads me to avoid productivity. For example, I should be collecting various clothing items and putting them in my suitcase, but I’m writing this blog entry instead. I want to get back to my home, friends, and even my job, but I don’t want to leave the family and friends I have here.

It’s a conundrum. Welcome to the fragility of life abroad.