If i grew up here in Singapore, then I wouldn’t really care that the sun rises at around 7:00 am and sets at around 7:30 pm. And I will totally be totally shocked when someone tells me that in their country, also a tropical one which is called the Philippines, the sun rises and sets two hours earlier.
Oh, everything is really just a matter of perspective.
I am happy.
Some things that I did last week.
10) Borrowed a total of 10 books from the Central Library. And photocopied a few chapters from another 10 books. Dang, I am such a bookworm.
9) Tried hanging out in Supersnacks here in PGPR twice. I like it, except that it tends to be overpopulated sometimes. Not the residents fault though, it’s the only open stall at night.
Reduced expenses alloted to buying stuff from Nanyang Supermarket. I no longer buy the bottled Starbucks Frap on the regular and other unnecessary things like chips and pens. Should save money so I can spend a lot in Sentosa.
7) Downloaded O2Jam in my laptop. Lalala. But damn, I can’t access it here since I’m in Singapore. I wonder why I was able to access the Malaysian version of O2Jam when I was still in the Philippines.
6) Went to Clarke Quay last night. I miss clubbing, but I miss alcohol more. Spent around 40 bucks for the whole night. I just won’t convert it to Philippine peso so I won’t feel guilty.
5) Smoked some sticks again. I miss smoking. It’s so expensive to get it here so I am now obliged to just smoke occasionally. Thanks, Jason for your Dunhill Flow (although I prefer Frost more LOL).
4) Did some stupid stuff to my laundry. I hate the broken washer which is responsible for it.
3) Cyberstalked my classmates.Thanks, Google.
2) Made some more friends.
1) Enjoyed Singapore again. ^-^
Warning: lengthy and incoherent post. This is not fun, really. This is all about geeky stuff. Read at our own risk.
The biggest dilemma that I am currently facing here in NUS is the question of why I am even here to begin with. For many international students here it has never been a problem, since most of them come from grants / programs which overtly tells them what their goals really are. For instance, there are grants which just aim to let them ethnographically experience Singapore and just require their students to pass subjects, while some are more constrained to academic grants wherein students really come here to study. On my unscientific observation, I think the first option has been very common to exchange students, whereas the second one is more usual to be given to undergrads.
In my case, I know for a fact that nobody forces me to study hard here. I still do not know if my grades in all my modules will be credited to my units in UP, ergo I am still not sure whether or not my performance here in NUS will alter my average in UP (or if they could even affect my academic honors standing). Also, my study award does not explicitly “force” us to really study hard, since it is not just an academic award— I even think that it’s more for the experience. And although UP reminded me to perform here in NUS as I do there, it is still not an order. Yes, I am totally free to tell myself what I should do here in NUS. That’s why I can’t help but ask these questions to myself: Why do I prioritize my academics here in NUS so much even though I do not really have to? Am I misprioritizing things by deciding to believe that I am here primarily to study?
Some people think that I am overfocusing on acads here. They continually mock my love for the library and my favorite pasttime of spending my free time and weekends there. Some think that I do things that I need not do at all, such as reading the assigned texts which for them are “not for us, but for the real undergrads”. And some even think that it is highly- exaggerated of me to think of my thesis that I left unfinished yet in UP.
I still do not know the answer if they are right or wrong. All I know is that I am currently making the most of my stay here. I have always complained of the UP Library which lacks many books related to my thesis. I have always wanted to read the readings assigned to me here. I chose my modules not because I ran out of options but because I am really interested in them. And I have always wanted to meet the linguists whose texts I have just read about or heard in discussions in UP.
And also, I am still the same person who was always drunk when I was in the Philippines. I am the same person who spent almost all weekends with friends or debating just before I went here. And I am the same person who have always wanted to experience first world education.
Inasmuch as I want to do everything here in Singapore, of course I will be limited by constraints like time and money. And so I think that I should do the things that can only be done in Singapore. Like visiting Lucky Plaza. Or going to the temples of Singaporean ethnicities. Or going to Vivo City. Or spending weekends in parks and zoos. Or going to Sentosa. Or visit other countries. And I will do all these things. But if it were just about going to bars every night, or going to all international parties everytime, I think that I already had enough both in the Philippines and here. Come on, repetitive activities tend to be boring. I’d rather maximize the privilege of using the library and talking to brilliant professors and classmates. And I’d rather enjoy the discussions in classes that are not yet offered in UP which I have always wanted to have (esp Language and the Internet). This kind of opportunity doesn’t come everyday, unlike bars which do not almost close at all.
I can always go back to Singapore as a tourist— but as an NUS student? That is a totally different story.
I have so many things to write about here, but I still have texts to read for my EL3880B Class tomorrow. I still have to write a post about my birthday celebration last Sunday here in Singapore, my love for the NUS Central Library, and some reflections on the modules that I am currently taking. But well, I should read read read first before blogging. That’s a promise that I made to myself when I got here in Singapore. Oh well, four 3000-level modules are really challenging.
So here’s a very short post:
Thank you so much, Prof Ooi. I’m really becoming a fan of yours each day.
I can definitely say that I am learning a lot here in NUS.
So this is what they call “academic inspiration”. Something that I’ve just experienced here in Singapore. It even bolsters my desire to be part of the academe and linguistic research. I shall exert even more effort in studies when I come back to the Philippines— so I can get high grades and hopefully, a post- grad scholarship here in NUS.
Some may say I’m quixotic, ambitious, or very idealistic. But I say that I am just too academically inspired.
Okay, I’m back to my EL3880B Readings for tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Because the UP Debate Society never runs out of amazing treats for everyone…
SALE! SALE! SALE!
Manila Underground Graphics merchandise- –tees, tote bags, pencil
cases, etc.
(Including the popular CHORVA tote bag!)
January 18-January 25, A.S. Walk
Visit the Manila Underground multiply site for samples.
mugraphics.multiply .com
Brought to you by the U.P. Debate Society
www.updebatesociety .org
Today’s my first day of class here in NUS. Because much of the international students arrived here last week (I arrived here last Tuesday), we all had around 1 week of free time to bum around our residences, the NUS campus, and Singapore in general. Some international students already made it to go to some nearby places such as Chinatown or Little India, while some were more adventurous enough to already explore Sentosa and even the nearby countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand. While me? Still confined in the sunny NUS Campus because I still don’t have the guts to go out, or everytime that I try to go out, rain suddenly pours which just leaves me retracting back to my room.
Finally, I have the final list of my modules here in NUS. I already had 4 enlisted modules while I was still in the Philippines, but I had to drop some of them because of some schedule constraints. Good thing I managed to fix my schedule fair enough so I only have one class a day, and I have enough time to prepare for final examinations come April- May. Here in NUS, they value the final exam so much, they weigh 40% in all my classes, so I really have to prepare for those exams.
Here’s my schedule for this semester:
| Class Timetable for Year 2007/2008 Semester 2 | ||
| Time | Class | Location |
| Tuesday | ||
 |
||
| 1400 – 1700 | EL3216-E(1) [0] | AS5/0203 |
| Wednesday | ||
|
||
| 1300 – 1600 | EL3880B-E(1) [0] | AS1/0304 |
| Thursday | ||
|
||
| 0900 – 1200 | EL3251-E(1) [0] | AS6/0214 |
| Friday | ||
|
||
| 1400 – 1700 | EL3252-E(1) [0] | AS4/0206 |
|
||
EL3216: Language and the Internet (A/P Vincent Ooi)
EL3880B: Cinematic Discourse and Language (A/P Ismail Talib)
EL3251: Language, Society, and Identity (Dr. Joseph Park)
EL3252: Language Planning and Policy (A/P Lionel Wee)
I just learned that the numerical assignments of modules here reflect the level of difficulty of such courses. Undergrad modules fall in 1000 level, 2000 level, 3000 level, and 4000 level, the level of difficulty is directly proportional to the numerical assignments of modules. I have four 3000 level modules, so I’m really wondering if I can really survive my courses. I don’t have a choice but to pass, I don’t want to disappoint my home University. I am here to study more than anything else. I think I need to be competitive (in a nice way), but not kiasu (the Singlish term for competitiveness which has somewhat reaped a not-so-positive connotation).
I miss 3rd World Perks. Here, Copyright Laws are really implemented. Books and readings cannot just be photocopied very blatantly as we do in the Philippines. I think I have to buy David Crystal’s Language and the Internet book. I have a xeroxed version of it at home but of course, I can’t bring it here to Singapore. Lol. I think I really took those simple albeit important things for granted, and I really miss those perks now. 
I just miss the Philippines in general, but I’m not really homesick yet.
On a side note, I’ve talked to my host (like a foster father) here in Singapore yesterday. He sounds cool; he’s a professor of Business here, and he’s really a very busy person. He’s been to Manila and had some projects with AIM, so I think there goes the “emotional link” between us. We’re already friends in Facebook though. I told you, he was… cool.
I am meeting someone to buy her Cybercrime and Society Course Pack. I’m not enlisted in that class, but I really think that I need those things for my thesis when I come back to UP. It’s for 4 dollars only, so I think it’s not that bad at all. Spending money with academic stuff is way more reasonable than spending it in very expensive beer here.
Four hours to go before EL3216. I really look forward to this class. This is very much related to my thesis. I hope I can find it easy to adjust from the UP standard of education to the 1st World education here in NUS. Wish me luck!
There goes another incoherent post.
(Crossposted from my Livejournal Account)
This is my third day in Singapore but I haven’t updated any of my blogs yet. At this time, I cannot use the excuses that I have used in the past for not blogging, such as busy acads, hectic org scheds, or even messy internet connection, for the very reason that i’m a bum with a very good internet connection here. I have everything needed to blog around me, it’s just that I was so lazy doing nothing except for eating chocolates from the mart downstairs.
I’m currently staying in my room here in Prince George’s Park Residences
, which is located at one of the corners of NUS (literally, it’s far from the colleges/ offices). I got here alone from the Singapore Changi Airport, so I really feel proud that I was able to reach NUS alone without getting lost, at best, or at worst, mugged by the marginal criminals here. I haven’t paid the SGD 1200 + bill yet here in PGPR, because I still have to collect the first disbursement of my allowance from the AUN- NUS Study Awards people. So far, I’m enjoying my room here in PGPR. The room’s just about the size of my room in my house, but this is actually better. Lol. I really love how the room looks so geeky— there’s a special desk for acads, a bookshelf above, and a gigantic corkboard to the front of my bed, that it becomes the first thing that I see whedn I wake up. Lol. And yes, I’ve developed this weird “fetish” of the PGPR Buildings and windows. Pictures are on my Multiply Site, for more. But for the sake of nicer layouts, here are some of the pictures that I’ve taken in PGPR.
The first one’s the view of other blocks from my window which I really love. The second’s the pic of the corridor of my cluster leading to the Cluster Gate (the doors shown are the rooms of two of my clustermates). The third is the picture of the homey curtains and cute windows beside my desk.
I’ve also got some very essential things here in Singapore that made me impressed. I did not subscribe to Globe Roaming because it’s expensive and I’m broke to reply to people’s messages, and also, because I had to get a sim card to get in touch with people here in Singapore. I bought a Singtel sim card, and my number is 90828437. Go and text me. Lol. I also had to buy the NETS Cashcard which will be used for all the Cashless transactions here in NUS. I think it functions like a debit card, it’s just that you have to top it up in stores like 7/11. And yay to the Starbucks bottled Frap that I saw in Nanyang Supermarket (the mart here in PGPR) which costs just SGD2.30 (roughly around 70 PhP). And perhaps the item which I have long wanted to have is my NUS ID! People call it here as the Matriculation Card. The good thing is that I do not have to return it after my sem here, so I will have a very nice souvenir.
I’m still impressed with how things work here in NUS. For example, the key system in PGPR is very well- thought of. They give us a transponder, which looks like a button appended to a real key. The real key is used for the lock in the cabinets (where students place their valuables like money, documents, etc) and the transponder does everything— from opening the lock of your room to opening the cluster gate lock to limited lift access (you cannot go to other residential floors because the transponder commands the lift to just take you to your floor). The enrollment is also nice, it just took me around 20 minutes. I have to drop and add modules tomorrow, since EL 2151 (Social Variations of English) and EL 3251 (Language, Society, and Identity) clash in lecture time. But I don’t worry that much since everything will be done online, and I hope it’s better than our CRS.
As of now, I have 2 friends from my Cluster (Cembo and Ting Ling, from Malaysia and China, respectively), one friend from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Ria, a Pinay who’s taking Econ here) and possibly, I can gain two Pinoy friends later. We saw each other in Nanyang Supermarket, but we didn’t talk. Hours after, he commented on my WordPress blog. Wow. I hope we’ll meet again, he just lives here in PGPR too. I am also waiting for the arrival of Ma’am Lorie (I forgot when), so that we can finally meet again. She said that she’ll introduce me to the Filipino Society (PISO) here in NUS, so I’m very excited.
Tomorrow I’ll be meeting my co- AUN-NUS Study Award recipients, and I was told that I’m not the only Filipino who received the award! Yay! I want to meet that Pinoy asap and make friends with him! Lol.
Okay, this has been a very long post. Should stop now or else my kwentos might not end.
Last note: I miss speaking in Tagalog. I type it in Y!M when I’m chatting with friends, but I just realized the value of it when everyone around me only understands me when I speak English.
I miss the Philippines, but I’m very happy here!
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