Zoo, Night Safari & Bird's Park

Singapore's Zoo and Night Safari are considered top attractions in Singapore. Once we spent there literally whole day. We started with breakfast with oragnutans at 9 (not sure if it's worth it, at least not for the orangutans - we didn't get to play with them, just posed for the pictures, but the breakfast was good - decent western style food). Then we walked around zoo for 8 hours and after having a delicious dinner at Bongo Buger Bar we did Night Safari. 
On another day we visited Bird's Park - much smaller than the zoo - 3 hours were enough to see everything.  It was great to see all these weird birds and find out totally random things. Did you know that pelicans can have as much as 13 liters in theirs peaks?! Insane! We also got to teach a parrot how to say 'hello' (great teaching skills Nadine!).

Breakfast with orangutans

My new friend

Delicious bongo lamb burger -
I could come back there just for it!

Zebra chairs

Flamingos

Helloooooo!

xoxo

Ewa

Eating out in Singapore

Another highlight (at least according to Lonely Planet) of Singapore - food. I don't really get it though - food is good, but not great. Here are some pictures from different dinners - trying to take a break from campus food without going bankrupt!

Chilli crab - the most famous Singaporean dish

Ready to get dirty while eating a crab

'Raj' restaurant in Little India. Soooo good!

Mariette, I had to add this picture <3

Mexican in Dempsey Hill

Food court in Holland Village

Omnomnom. Japanese at Esplanade

Well, not dinner, but breakfast. 
Being able to eat oatmeal here makes me so happy!

Melaka

On our way to KL we made a stop in Melaka - beautiful colonial city on the south-western coast of Malaysia. In scorching heat we explored its museums (never saw so many museums in one place, there were literally all streets of only museums!) and delicious food. The highlight of our day was Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum. Three connected houses showcase Perankan life and culture as a friendly and funny guide introduce you to it. As for the food - Indian again! I love Malaysia for its amazing Indian food - I will definitely miss it when my semester abroad comes to an end.

In front of the Baboon House,
great restaurant/art gallery

Almost like Thailand

Trying to stay fit

Flora de la Mar Maritime Museum 

Gecko from South America in Sounteast Asia

St. Paul Hill

In front of Christ Church on Dutch Square

Amazing Indian Food - Pak Putra Pandoori & Naan
Restaurant.It took as some time to find
this place, definitely worth it!

Beautiful sunset

Funky paintings on buildings by the river

xoxo

Ewa

One Day in Kuala Lumpur

I only spent one day in KL, but I can tell that I fell in love with this city! Good vibe, delicious Indian food, amazing Islamic Arts Museum - there's definitely more to KL than just Petronas Towers! 

Nevetheless we started sightseeing with Petronas (of course!). During the day they look just like any other skyscraper, but at nightime - really impressive. They basically shine, i've never seen a builiding so bright! We walked around downtown and after a brunch we took LRT (subway in KL, interesting system for a single ride - tokens) and got to The Islamic Arts Museum. There is a reason why it is so high on Trip Advisor's To-Do in KL list. The entrance with student card is only about 2.50 SGD - great experience for such a small price. Later we visited the National Mosque - pay attantion to the opening hours for non-Muslim tourists to avoid unnecassary waiting. After sushi dinner we spent a little time in a Berjaya Times Square Mall. FYI it has 10 levels of retail stores, but even more impressive - there is a theme park inside! Rollercoaster in a mall? Only in KL! In the evening we hit the SkyBar at Traders Hotel - great view of the KL skyline at night. Perfect end of an amzing day: concert of Backstreet Boys in front of Petronas Towers - all these amazing childhool memories coming back (still can't get 'I want it that way' out of my head!)

Good morning KL

Petronas Towers in the background

Kuala Lumpur Tower

Fountain in front of one of many shopping malls

Petronas again

So worth seeing! Especially the architecture part
is really good

One of many great models of mosques

In the National Mosque of Malaysia
- wearing appropriate clothing

Both girls and guys had to wear violet robes

Main Prayer Hall

Taking break from great Indian food you can get
in Malaysia. (You can't have Indian for breakfast,
lunch and dinner). Sushi gluttony!
Singaporean accent - Tiger beer

In front of Petronas

Petronas at night. View from SkyBar

Backstreet Boys!

xoxo

Ewa

Mosaic Music Festival: The Beatroots

Mosaic Music Festival is an annual music festival in Singapore. A 10-day feast for all music lovers! The range is quite impressive - you can find there almost everything from indie and folk to hip hop. The concerts take place in a couple of venus, however I only got to go to the ones at Esplanade Music Station - free of charge concerts of more local bands. There were also international artists performing (for instance Julia Stone), but these concerts were ticketed.

I made it to two concerts: The Beatroots on Tuesday and Arajua Saturday. As for the latter one - too heavy and emotional for a Saturday night, still good soundtrack music. As for the Beatroots - sooo good! The lead singer has an AMAZING voice and great energy. If you like 'Of Monster and Man' - you will love them! They are pretty new in the business, so go check them out! Trust me, it's worth it!

https://www.facebook.com/thebandbeatroots?fref=ts

The Beatroots 

Nadina's hidden talent

I missed playing piano!

xoxo
Ewa

Wonder Full: Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

Wonder Full is a "spectacular light and water show just by the famous Marina Bay Sands". To my mind it's not the show itself that makes it spectacular, but the Singapore skyline and.. bubbles! Actually bubbles were the best part of the show, for about 5 minutes we were basically surronded with them! As for the show at some point it got a little boring, still it was a great free (!) entertainment!

The beginning of the show

Nice light effects

Singapore skyline

With lovely Nadina

Bubbles!

More bubbles!

Bubble attack

Blizzard in Singapore

xoxo

Ewa

NUS: Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library

There always comes a time when one just HAS to go to the library. There is a whole lot of downsides to that, but.. every cloud has a silver lining - we have a really nice business library! (I would still prefer not to spend time there, at all)

Almost like CIA

No more loans for 4 weeks, just 2 hours
or overnight (if you borrow the book after 8pm!)

One of the rooms in the library.
Love this comfy chairs!

Veeraj is pretending he is studying hard

Well, he is not pretending anymore...

Another room in the library,
it only gets full in the midterms/finals time

Local girls working on a group project in a discussion room

xoxo

Ewa