All posts by Rebecca Michelle

Educator, traveler, reader, blogger. Loves learning, black coffee, and friendly people.
On My Mind

One Day More

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And no, I’m not counting down to Star Wars. The much-anticipated film opened in Singapore yesterday with a special premier the day before, so it’s already old news.

ONE DAY MORE UNTIL I AM BACK IN THE US FOR BREAK!

I’m leaving Singapore tonight at 11:20pm (our time) and I will land in New York City’s JFK Airport at 11:15am on Saturday (Eastern Standard Time), which is shortly after midnight Sunday morning Singapore time. Time zones are so convoluted. The fact that a 25-hour travel journey allows me to relive 13 hours of my life essentially means I’ll spend those 25 hours in an actual time warp. Bring it on.

After four days in NYC, I’ll fly up to Rochester where I’ll be until after the new year. All in all, I’ll be in the States for three weeks and I can’t wait. As much as I love Singapore and love traveling and love my friends here, there’s no place like home.

Singapore

Adventure Friday

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My friend Jamie and I have used the last few Friday evenings as a chance to explore Singapore. We usually start with a quick meal at the hawker center near her apartment and spend the next few hours wandering through a mall, a shopping district, a neighborhood, or simply running errands that we didn’t get to during the week.

This past Friday took us to Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay. While I don’t have many pictures, the several posted below hopefully give you a taste of the extravagance of this free (!!!!) and dreamlike Christmas land in the middle of the tropics.

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It’s interesting that the theme colors aren’t red and green. These are the same colors that Singapore uses to celebrate Deepavali. Maybe they recycle?
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If Aladdin had a Christmas palace, I think this would be it.
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Supertrees in the background!
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I love the outline of the palm treets
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One of the biggest draws to any evening at Gardens by the Bay is a song-and-light show called Garden Rhapsody in which the supertrees essentially put on a light show set to music. For purposes of Christmas Wonderland, the music was Christmas-themed!

I’ve been to Gardens by the Bay a few times now (you can read previous posts here and here) and I enjoy them more each time. In a city that is so industrialized and often seems like a carbon copy of itself, an oasis like this is both necessary and extraordinary.

On My Mind

One of Those Evenings

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Sometimes,

when it’s evening here and morning in the US,

when the gang at home is getting ready for work,

when I can’t find anything free to watch online,

those are the times I most miss home.

At the moment, I don’t feel like reading, I can’t get any TV episodes to load, and I’ve just been messaging a friend from college about her wedding this summer. At the moment the thought running through my mind is, “What the heck am I doing with my life?” (Small potatoes, I know. Yes, I’ve heard the news about California. Yes, I talked about it with my very concerned and frustrated students today.)

But in the spirit of honesty, I wanted to share that life overseas isn’t always temples, beaches, beautiful places, and tasty food. Sometimes, it’s really hard to be away. I’m not homesick, I’m just alone with my thoughts. There is a difference.

I begin to question my choices when I feel sort of blue like this. My life would be in totally different place if I were back in the US. It would be in a totally different place if my boyfriend were here. (Yes, I am insecure watching friends’ relationships move forward and mine remain 9,534 miles out of reach. Yes, I feel like I’m getting old.) There’s a void, a feeling of emptiness that rises every now and again; it’s a feeling I really don’t like.

So I’m going to stop talking about it. Instead, now that I’ve fulfilled my promise to myself to be an honest blogger, I’ll make myself a warm beverage, return to my book, and take comfort in knowing that I’ll feel better in the morning.