January 25th: Thaipusam

On Sunday, January 25th I was able to observe the Hindu festival of Thaipusam which is now only celebrated in a few places in the world, the largest celebration occurring in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Fair warning this festival is one of physical burden and thus some images are graphic. I learned about this festival only days before its occurrence and went with an open mind. What I saw when I arrived to the procession was eyeopening. The following are a few pictures from the festival, I have done a bit of research on the festival however I am by no means an expert. 

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mainly by the Tamil community during the full moon either in January or February each year. The festival is for people to pray to God and receive his grace either paying tribute to thank Him after something good has happened or paying tribute in hopes that they, or their family, can achieve something in the coming year. 

Devotees carry a Kavadi which is a form of physical burden that shows their devotion to Lord Murugan, the Hindu god of War.  Kavadis differ greatly and range from large, elaborate towers weighing up to 70 kilograms to jugs of milk carried atop one's head. Other Kavadis include hooks in the back being pulled by someone, lemons and/ or mini milk jugs attached via hooks, and chariots pulled behind devotees. This man is not only carrying a large tower but he is also pulling a chariot behind him and has little jugs of milk attached to his legs.

This is another form of Kavadi which is more graphic. Each Kavadi is a physical burden and thus elicits pain from the devotee by piercing the skin in several places. One thing that amazed me is that you do not see blood anywhere. Each devotee's skin is pierced in several places however it is said that Lord Murugan protects the body and thus devotees never bleed which also re-energizes their faith. 

The devotees prepare for Thaipusam 48 days in advance through a special regime: vegetarian diet, no alcohol or drugs, abstinence from all sexual desires, showering in cold water, sleeping on the floor and also constant praying. The procession is from one temple to another, about 7 miles although it typically takes several hours to complete the journey due to the massive burden they are carrying.

The devotees walk barefoot as a sign of respect although
this, to me seems like another exercise in devotion as they
walk for endless hours barefoot on the burning hot pavement. 

The procession all leads up to the devotee pouring
the milk he carries (here in a small jug in his hand)
over Lord Murugan's Vel (Spear). I did not witness
this part of the festival as I did not want to intrude.

Most devotees have a spear through their mouth as another act of devotion

Here you can see a few people carrying silver jugs of milk on their head. 

There is such an amazing variety of cultures and religions here in Singapore that I never imagined. I am so lucky to be able to witness such different cultural traditions. I was constantly in awe of the devotion these people have. This was a day I will never forget. 

Day-trips around Singapore: Pulau Ubin

There are so many little islands surrounding Singapore, it's incredible. These pictures are from my first big day trip to the prettiest little island named Pulau Ubin. It's a fairly small island known for the Chek Jawa wetlands and for their biking trails. We took a boat over to the island and the ferry cost less than $2! 

It was a bit of a rocky ride as these boats seem like they serve dual purpose (fishing and ferrying) but it was beautiful none the less!

When we got to the island we decided to sit down and enjoy fresh coconut juice to cool off a bit. I cannot even describe the incredible flavor. Plus the coconut juice softens up the inside of the coconut so that you can scoop out some coconut to eat after finishing the juice.

After lunch we rented bikes and set off to explore the island! I absolutely love biking so I was ecstatic to find out that this is how most people on the island get around. It was neat riding through the rainforest, there were even a few stretches that smelled of fresh coconut and rain!

There were a few places where we parked the bikes and took hikes around. This was the boardwalk through the Chek Jawa Wetlands! I'm still constantly in awe by the tropical plants and the massive size of their leaves. 

Here's the lot of us that explored Pulau Ubin together! 

There are only a few reasons that I can think of to climb 8 flights of stairs in 90 degree weather, but this view is most definitely one of those reasons. You have to understand that from the ground looking up at this incredibly tall lookout point, we had no idea what the view would be like and if it would be worth it. But of course our curiousness wouldn't allow a few stairs to scare us away. 

Near the end of our bike ride, as we turned a corner we saw at least 8 monkeys all playing on the road in front of us! They were so used to humans coming through they didn't even mind as we snapped pictures of them, their main concern was tracking down food and stuffing any and everything into their mouths. 

January 6th: Arrival

I've been in Singapore now for almost a week and wow, it feels like I've already done so much in this little amount of time. I've unfortunately already "fallen behind" on keeping a blog but I'm going to try to post at least a few pictures of my adventures here twice a month. These first few photos are from the first day I was in Singapore. I arrived in the middle of the night and so I stayed at the hotel attached to the airport, it was by far the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at. After arriving at school and unpacking I explored campus a bit. One of my favorite things about Singapore right now is the amazing architecture. Walking around campus it was so neat to see the traditional Chinese heritage center on one street and just a few blocks down the road to see the Hive (build to look like a bee's hive). 

My first glimpse of Singapore: seen through my
hotel window. That was the moment I knew I was
in Paradise.

My first meal in Singapore: the typical Singaporean breakfast!
2 Soft boiled eggs, toast with Kaya (a coconut, egg spread
which I am now obsessed with) and Kopi (coffee with
sweetened, condensed milk). 

A few photos from around NTU (Nanyang Technological University)

A very popular hangout spot for exchange students! 

The Art and Design building is incredible.
I'll post another picture of it but this is the
neat statue of a dandelion they have in
front of it that lights up at night!

The Hive with 8 floors (5 of which are "basement" levels, if you
ever think European floors are confusing try Singaporean buildings
where there are sometimes 5 above ground basements and level 1 is actually
the 5th floor). 

The neat Chinese Heritage center right down the
street from my dorm! 

Home sweet home for the next 4 months! The weirdest
thing I've found about the dorms is that right outside my door
is the outside, there is no indoor hallway or anything... and the fact
that instead of spiders they have little lizards everywhere!