The beginning of an end

Hello everyone,
My final exams at SMU are around the corner. The first, and the worst, is already on Wednesday. I can’t say that I have been stressing about it too much. Actually, the fact of me being totally calm and relax about the finals is pretty weird. Of course I am spending hours in the library reading about hedge funds and interest rates, but I still find a lot of time to enjoy myself at some parties. I guess we, exchange students, have no choice. All of us are leaving right after the finals to do some traveling around South-East Asia, so now are the last moments to throw some “good-bye parties”. It is pretty funny, because in “My Events” on Facebook there are at least 4 invitations for “last party of the exchange”. All of them are in the week of finals. I guess you must be wondering why no one takes the exams seriously over here.
Well, I would not say no one does. The library is open 24/7 right now and it’s constantly full of the Asian students who basically moved in here. People eat, sleep and do all the basic activities in the library. That is one extreme. The second one is the exchange students who are partying all the time. The exams at SMU are, on average, worth only 30% of the grade. In that case, we do not see the reason to kill ourselves for extra 0.01 of the grade. Furthermore, most of the exchanges do not really care about the grade. For them it is only the matter of pass and fail. And from what we have heard it is extremely unlikely for a person to fail. It seems that the person may fail a subject only if he or she forgets to show up at the exam. It definitely sounds pretty good, especially if one takes into account that it is not so unusual to have a passing rate of 50% at UvT. Unfortunately my grades do count, but I have heard that the grades are being up-scaled so most of the students who are going for an exchange end up raising their average. So yes, another reason why tonight I am attending a Belgium Party instead of pulling an all-nighter in the library ;)

My exchange is coming to an end. It is over in exactly 10 days, therefore most likely this is my last post on this blog. I do hope you guys enjoyed reading it and if you have any questions about going for an exchange program or living in South-East Asia or traveling around here – feel free to ask. You can find me on fb or just send me an e-mail (j.o.stachowska@uvt.nl). I will do my best to help you.

See you around in Tilburg in a couple of months!

time, don't fly away!!

Hello,
I am only 3 weeks away from the final exams at SMU. 2 weeks of studying, 1 week of exams and then… well earned vacation :) I am not going back to Europe until a couple days before Christmas, so I have around 20 days to do my last traveling around South East Asia. It was a very hard choice, but finally I made up my mind: Cambodia and Laos: here I come.
I already bought the tickets for Bangkok. I want to stay there a couple of days and from there, together with my good friends, Suzanne from Canada and Katrien from Belgium, we were supposed to take buses all the way to Cambodia. It seems that the plans need to be changed a bit. The monsoon season behaves very widely this year: the earthquakes and volcano eruptions in Jakarta, floods in Thailand, typhoons are happening all the time. I have no idea how the plans will look like in a couple of weeks, but I can say one thing for sure: the rain will not stop me from my last travels:)
I guess I still owe you a story describing how I survived the Full Moon Party. I have to admit that I was a little bit scared of attending it after I have heard all the stories describing what might happen during the party. I guess the stories weren’t unjustified, but I am convinced that a person who has a bit of common sense is pretty safe. By common sense I mean staying away from drugs (I’ve heard that people bought a very cheap weed and then got reported to the police by the seller for having drugs on them. Weed in Thailand is definitely not a good idea – the prisons are not too foreign friendly and the fines are pretty high), excessive amount of alcohol (that, on the other hand, was not easy – the booz was sold only in the buckets. I’ve never seen anything like that!), not passing out on the beach (that unfortunately was much more common than I expected) and having someone you know around you. I had no problem whatsoever with the last one since so many of the exchange students from SMU were there.
Let me do some advertising over here: if you ever have a chance to go to Full Moon party – do it! It was the best party I have been to in Asia. The dancing on the beach with other 5000 people around you, with the full moon shining above your head, waiting for the sunrise at 7 am is definitely magical and unforgettable.
I definitely have much more stories to tell about the Full Moon but I am afraid that my school blog is not the best place to share them ;)
I attach some of the pictures of the Thai beaches. Unfortunately I have none from the Full Moon – taking any valuables was unadvisable, so none of us had a camera at the party.
Thinking about the end of the exchange makes me pretty depressed. I do miss Europe and all my friends, but this semester has been magical. People who are considering whether to go for an exchange: DO IT!! People considering where to go for an exchange: choose Singapore and you will not regret it!

Full Moon Party

I came back from my recess break in Vietnam 2 weeks ago and I am already leaving for my next trip. This time the destination is Thailand. I did not plan to do any traveling more during the school year, because the school work is getting very hectic and the presentations and quizzes seem to have no end, but… all my friends have been talking about it for the last month. Therefore, I decided that I simply cannot miss out on a party of a month (?!).
The story behind the full moon party is pretty straight forward. As a legend describes, there was a group of students who decided to play some music and do some dancing on the beach in Thailand as a good-bye party. The party grew big and became so famous and now it takes place every full moon (that means every 4 weeks). Thailand would not be the most touristic country of Asia if it did not expand the idea of the beach party to: half moon parties, black moon parties, and so on. However, in my opinion, full moon is THE party to go.
I bought my plane tickets to Phuket a couple weeks ago. I was really excited about it, so I decided to read about the party in the Lonely Planet travel guide. And that was the moment when I got scared: most of the stories descried in the guide talk about how dangerous this party is: thieves, drugs, violence… To make myself feel better I asked people who already have been at the party about their experience. And all I have heard was: the party is AMAZING. So I am leaving for full moon tonight, taking all the precautions there are (not carrying much cash with me, staying in a big group of people I already know), putting some fluorescent paint all over myself, and definitely getting ready to enjoy the party on the dream beach of Thailand.
You are probably wondering how is it possible to do so much of traveling during the school year. I have to say: it definitely is not easy. After I came back from Vietnam I basically moved in to the library. I stopped seeing my roommate – I don’t remember the last time we talked! I leave our place at 8 am to go to classes – she is still sleeping. I come back around 11 pm – she is already sleeping! It does make me feel like a sleepless robot. I guess some sacrifices have to be made and, honestly, as long as I am not falling asleep while standing – being a bit tired is a fair trade-off for the amazing time I have while traveling around South East Asia.
Best wishes from Thailand!
Joanna

vietnam - pictures

RESTAURANT MENU, MEKONG DELTA

SILK FACTORY, MEKONG DELTA

MEKONG DELTA

HALONG BAY

SA PA

Recess holiday

On the beginning I need to mention that this note will be a short one. I have just come back from my 10 days vacation in Vietnam. In Singapore week 8 of school is a recess week. During that time all the students should catch up with their homework, papers, essays, prepare for upcoming tests. However, I don't know a single exchange student who stayed in Singapore during the recess break. The most popular destinations were: Bali, Java, Philippines, Cambodia, Phuket (Thailand). One of the professors said that all the full time students at SMU will try to have at least one day break during the recess, while all the exchange will try to spend at least one day of the recess studying. Unfortunately, I did not have any time for studying ;)
So... Vietnam. What a place... We started in the North – the plane landed in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It is a huge city with lots and lots of scooters and motor bikes. It takes a lot of courage to cross the street. From there Luise (German girl), Monika and I (both Polish) went to Sa Pa. It is a city known for the most beautiful rice fields. The pictures will follow in a few days (most likely after Wednesday when my Portfolio Management test is) so you can see yourself. Pure nature, people dressing up in national Vietnamese costumes, everything unchanged since centuries. After Sa Pa we went to Halong Bay. There we spent one night on the sheep cruising around all the 2000 tiny islands. The views are amazing, but the place is way too touristy: on every corner there were people trying to sell you crap ("hello miss, only $1, buy from meeeee").Next, we planned to take the train to the center of the country, Hue, but the flood changed our plans. There were no buses and no trains going south so we had to buy the plane tickets all the way down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Last minute ticket was a big shock for my budget. Anyhoo, we escaped the flood and were able to continue the travel. I thought it would be impossible, but there is even more motorbikes in Saigon than in Hanoi. The good thing: people speak English over there. In the South we visited Mekong Delta (yes, I did swim in Mekong :)) and Dalat. The latter was amazing. In is a small city in the mountains, but we got a private tours on the motor bikes, so we got to see coffee and curry plantations, waterfalls, and the factory of silk. So, I am finally back to Singapore, and since I had no time to study during the recess I definitely have some catching up to do :SWill post some amazingly beautiful pictures soon!
Take care,
Joanna

What to do in Singapore

In the last post I have promised to write about the attractions of Singapore. Singaporeans themselves are known for saying that their country is famous only for shopping and eating. To some extent I agree: huge shopping malls are in every metro station and on every street. The most famous shopping place is Orchard Road - full of fancy shmancy luxurious clothing brands and everything one can imagine under one condition: it has to be freaking expensive.
When it comes to food – it is amazing. One can find food courts from every country (as long as Asian food is great, I do not recommend spaghetti with Asian spices or Mexican kitchen that tastes just weird. Yes: rice is a safe bet. And using the chop sticks is quite easy to learn). The good thing is that it’s very cheap. The proper meal costs around 2 Euro, so there is no point in cooking. One is much better off just going out.
However, Singapore offers many more attractions that make the life of an exchange student amazing. Here is my must-do list:
1. Sentosa – an island on the south of Singapore, only 30 minutes by the metro from the city center. Sand, sea, palm trees, beach volleyball courts. Everything a person needs to forget about school and homework.
2. Botanic garden – a reminder that Singapore lies only 167 km from the Equator - rain forest trees, lakes and orchard gardens. The only minus is that it seems fake. The Singaporeans were planning to convert the whole island into the urban area, but at some point they decided that some parks would be nice, so they ended up planting the trees back. Therefore the area seems to be a bit unnatural (we managed to find FAKE rocks).
3. Flier – an equivalent of the London Eye. Highly recommended – all the skyscrapers are lighted up during the night so the view is amazing.
4. Casino – located on the top floor of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. As long as Singaporeans are obligated to pay the fee of 50 Euro just to enter the casino, the entrance is free for internationals (the money of foreigners is very welcome in Singapore). Not too long ago one of the casino players lost S$26million during one night.
5. Great parties – just as Tilburg people party on Tuesdays in LG, Singapore goes out on Ladies’ Night on Wednesday. In most of the club the entrance for girls is free with a complementary free flow of drinks. Great parties guaranteed.
6. SMU student clubs – come up with some crazy hobby or idea and most likely there is a group of students in SMU already doing it. Wakeboarding? No problem! Sailing? Scuba diving? Paintball? – you name it. I tried wakeboarding a couple weeks ago and – gonna boast around a bit – I was pretty good:)
7. Arab Street – a perfect place if you are sick of rice and all the Asian food. Kebab and mint shisha are the best in the Arab area. It was especially interesting to go there after the sunset during Ramadan. The night markets were very fun to walk through.
8. Marina Bay Sands – Infinity Pool on the roof of the skyscraper.
9. One-time events – the monthly calendar of Singapore is filled with very interesting events such as: F1 Night Race, Youth Olympic Games, concerts, festivals.
The only problem with Singapore is that you HAVE TO go to school and you HAVE TO do your homework. So far the trade- off between school and everything else was definitely in favor of the latter. Unfortunately the deadlines for papers and presentations are coming up so I will have to start hanging out in the library a little bit more.
Greetings from extremely sunny and worm Singapore!
Joanna

Singapore is a great starting point for traveling. It has very good connections to all of the North-East Asian countries. The cheapest and fastest way is to fly with the low cost airlines such as: Air Asia, Tiger Airways or Jet Star. The prices stated at the websites are from 20 Euro, but even after adding all the taxes and credit card fees the prices are reasonably low. Therefore it is very tempting to travel around.
My first major travel was to Kuala Lumpur. We decided to take a bus since the capital of Malaysia is only 5 hours away from Singapore, and the price for a return ticket was only 25 Euros. The double-decker bus was a great choice – big, comfortable sits with a massage options were better than the business class in an airplane.
What to see in KL? One definitely cannot miss the Petronas Twin Towers (remember to be there no later than 7 AM because the number of entrance tickets issued daily is very limited), Batu Caves (huge caves with a temple inside which is just an hour away from the city), the Bird Park (where the birds are flying freely around you. At some point the parrot sat on my arm!). The only thing I would not recommend is the elephant sanctuary – very expensive and very touristic. Overall, KL is a big city that seems to be very Western. The main things that distinguished KL from Singapore are: trash on the streets, crazy traffic rules, and the restaurants that had frogs in the aquariums waiting to be cooked.
The next trip was to Jakarta. The flight took only 80 minutes and it was enough to fly over an equator from the north part of the Earth to the south. After paying the entrance visa fee we left the airport in order to find some kind of hostel (we didn’t book any beforehand because the cheapest one we found in the Internet was 18 Euro, while the one we stayed at cost around 1.50 Euro!). The hostel did not look very tempting, but since it was suggested in Lonely Planet – we gave it a chance.
Jakarta is a crazy city – 20 million people, dirt, poverty, lots of trash on the streets, no rules, crazy traffic (I called my friend to have a dinner with him in 30 minutes but due to the traffic it took us over 3 hours to meet up!). What is more, even though Jakarta is a capital, the people are still not used to the white faces. They would not leave us alone: taking pictures, yelling after us, touching, trying to have conversations while the only English sentence they knew was “Hello Mister”. I have to admit that Jakarta was the first culture shock I have ever had.
For the last day of our travel around Java we decided to take a ferry to Thousand Islands. During the 3 hours travel we met a person who offered us a room in his house. We were so lucky! The guy was very nice (the only English speaking person in the whole island!), took us snorkeling around the islands, and invited us to the BBQ with the locals (it was amazing to listen to this people talking, singing, playing guitar). I feel like I have learned a lot during the travel. I met up with many locals, got to know their culture and different habits.
These were the main trips I had so far. I am leaving for the next one to Hong Kong in a few days and there is a reces week in the end of September during which we are planning to go to Vietnam. I am looking forward to it :) This is not to say that there is nothing to do in Singapore – on the contrary – there is so many possibilities that it is impossible to be bored. I will describe all the Singaporean leisure activities in the next post. Until then - take care.
Joanna