The Other Side

Alas, I have finally done something I can blog about. This past week has been so crammed with school work that I haven't done much touring for the past couple of days, and I was worried that Arielle was going to go crazy from my lack of posting. Fortunately, we don't have class on Fridays, so tonight is basically a Friday night for me. My friend and I decided to go on an adventure earlier in East Coast Park, which is on the opposite side of Singapore from our school. The park is 11 kilometers long, and it was really a neat place, with bike trails that run along the beach, and hawker stands with guys that grill satay right in front of you. It was just great to be surrounded by nature again. We spend so much time in the busy city atmosphere, and I'd completely forgotten that we hadn't had fresh air in a while. 

But after walking there and biking around we were exhausted, and decided to take a taxi back to the MRT (or subway) station. Apparently the station we thought we wanted was difficult to drive to from there, with a lot of one-way streets involved, so our driver told us the better station to ask for next time so our ride won't be so long (and costly). Then he didn't charge us the full price because we didn't know any better. I was so appreciative of his kindness, and surprised, because one thing I've noticed while I've been here is that customer service doesn't seem to be as important as it is to many businesses in the United States. But this guy was so nice, and just by saving us a few dollars, he really made my evening.

Tomorrow we'll be heading to the Ministry of Home Affairs for a presentation, and while I'm not entirely sure what that will entail, it should be very interesting.