Happy 50th Birthday, Singapore!

Today marks Singapore's 50th National Day - the country's Golden Jubilee. There's a lot to reflect on as Singapore celebrates this important milestone. Singapore went from third-world country status to becoming one of the four Asian Tigers in the short span of a few decades. This nation has seen war, poverty, riots, unspeakable loss... and then incredible success.

One of the gifts you get from celebrating with someone, whether it be a birthday, a holiday, an anniversary, is self-reflection. You sit around the table as a friend or family member blows out the candles on a birthday cake, and as the smoke clears and the lights are turned back on, you can't help but get lost for a moment - where was I one year ago? Facebook's new "On this Day" feature lets us reflect every morning on where we were a year ago, two years ago, three, four, five... Those reflections can be joyful, and they can be bittersweet.

Singaporeans have a lot to celebrate today, and they've planned incredible events to do so. As I reflect on all the accomplishments that Singapore has seen in the last 50 years, I, too, am lost in that moment of reflection. I realize this is also a milestone for me, too - I've been here for a total of three years and am ready to begin my fourth. 

I was awakened this morning to a heart-stopping blast from the island-wide siren to mark the beginning of the National Day celebrations. As I let my heart resume its natural beat, I found myself laughing as I remembered my first experience with Singapore's fighter jets flying over the Central Business District to rehearse for an upcoming National Day celebration just three years ago. I had only been in the country for a matter of days, and I may or may not have ducked to the ground in fear as the planes roared overhead. When Singapore celebrates, they seriously celebrate.

And I have a lot to celebrate, too. I've grown and matured in ways I never could have done if I hadn't stepped out of my comfort zone and taken a little stroll to the other side of the planet. I've gained confidence and experience as a professor, and I've reached goals and milestones as I left young adulthood behind for... adulthood. And I've gotten to know myself better. There have been times of great conviviality with new friends on this equatorial island, and there've been times of great solitude and even loneliness, as well. I've learned what I can do. I've learned how much I can accomplish and how much I can handle. I plan courses, book flights and hotels, make transoceanic journeys six times a year. I shop, I cook, I take buses, trains and taxis. I get lost, and I find my way back again. 

Those who say "life begins at the end of your comfort zone" are absolutely correct. I left my comfort zone three years ago, and have never been happier for it. When I return to Buffalo for good, I won't be "going back" because I'll not be returning as the same person. I'll never leave this part of my life behind me, because it's a part of who I am now. My time in Singapore has changed me, for the better. For the older, for the more experienced, for the more worldly. 

I celebrate with Singapore today, too. I celebrate an amazing country that's given me a place to reach for new goals, new opportunities, new experiences, perhaps even a new life. I celebrate growth and I celebrate success. I celebrate the future, and looking forward. Majulah means "onward" - and onward we shall go.

A phenomenal surprise

It's amazing to think that I've been here three years, and I'm going on my fourth. Which means, poignantly, my very first students I ever taught in Singapore are graduating in a few weeks. And just like them, I feel like I'm graduating too. I've gone through the "freshman" stage of newbie-expat confusion, got to the sophomore time of a bit of gained knowledge to base the new lessons on, and finally, became an upper-classman, someone who can actually give advice to someone else who's new in the country. Someone who weaves in and out of crowds, jumps on and off public transport, and has her favorite "hang out" spots - if not like a local, then at least like someone who's been here for a while. And I feel the confidence of an upperclassman. That feeling like I've taken on the world and have something to show for it.

...But I'm planning to hang around a bit longer. So think of me as a "super-upper-classman."

With all I've seen and done in Singapore, there's still a few goals I haven't reached. One of those was unexpectedly met by a past student.

Out of the blue, I got an email from a student - the kind of email that my fellow professors and I would consider a "keeper" - a message you print out and file away for a frustrating day down the road when you need a reminder that you've done stuff that's mattered. Within this touching email was a gift of thanks. Working as an usher, he had a single ticket for Singin' in the Rain at Marina Bay Sands Theater, and he wanted me to see it.

He did not know that seeing a stageplay at Marina Bay Sands had been on my Singapore Bucket List since 2012. But I did, and I told him so. I was delighted and touched that he would think of me.


On Sunday evening I took two trains down to the Bayfront. Marina Bay Sands, as you might recall from earlier posts, is an integrated resort-casino-theater and shopping mall. It's beautiful just to walk around window-shopping in, but I hurried past store windows to get to the box office. I told them that a ticket was being held for me, they told me to come back in 45 minutes... so what's a girl to do? I went to the nearest cafe and got a flat white and a cupcake.

Back to the box office I went and was given my ticket and was taken to my seat. I had a fantastic view of the stage in row R, seat 3. The theater was uniquely utilitarian in a beautiful way; it wasn't until recently that I realized how turn-of-the-century Buffalo's theaters are. Shea's reflects the gilded age; Kleinhans is as "modern" as a Buffalo theater gets, in my experience, with its beautiful wood interior. Marina Bay Sands Theater was comfortable and spacious, with deeply padded chairs and a perfect view of the stage. 

While Marina Bay Sands may have lived in the present, the play transported me to the Golden Age of Hollywood; the Roaring Twenties were alive on stage, and I felt a pang of regret that I wouldn't be teaching Survey of Mass Communication again this semester (where I play clips from The Jazz Singer and other early forays into cinema). The titular scene of the play finds the audience laughing in delight as Don Lockwood cavorts through puddles (real puddles! on a stage where water is pelting down in a realistic thunderstorm!), splashing the three front rows, who are armed with ponchos.


I left that evening feeling light. I took the train back to Orchard Road and walked the fifteen minutes through a steamy equatorial night to my apartment with showtunes on my mind and a sense of comfort in my heart for this island city. What a glorious feeling, indeed.

Catching up... and catching my breath.

I know it's been a while since I posted, but never fear, all is well with me. The truth of it all is that I'm very busy this semester with 220 rockin' students and a brand new course to teach. During Chinese New Year break, I was thrilled to be invited to visit my "Japanese Mom and Dad" again!

And here is a new way to share my latest adventure: A Google Story! Just click the photo below and it will take you to a link of a story hosted on Google+ (you don't have to be a member to view it). Follow the arrow, and you'll see an animated version of a blog post that will show you all we did and saw - because we did see and do some amazing things!

Stay tuned for a post on a rare experience: an invitation to lunch at a 6-star hotel for Singapore's Restaurant Week!

Life in a tropical rainforest climate

My phone actually adds more detail than one can see with the naked eye.

This is just a short post to show (as best as I can) what a true tropical rainforest rain is like. If you're from the northeast U.S., like me, the clearest comparison is this: The difference between rain in my experience anywhere else and rain in Singapore is the difference between a light flurry of snow compared with white-out conditions. 

When it really rains in Singapore, it's, as the more countrified folks of my grandfather's generation would say, "a real humdinger of a storm." The thunder is explosively loud, and the rain runs down the window like a hose was left on pointing toward the

Thar she blows!

building. 

Living in Fusionopolis in a tower facing the southern most point of the island means that I can watch a storm coming in. Then, slowly and gradually, the storm cloud eats the harbor and consumes the buildings and trees closest to me, until finally, I can see very little out my window at all. 

It's rather peaceful when this happens; much like one would imagine it to be like if one were living in an aquarium. The insulated stillness (and the fact that all construction work grinds to a standstill) lends to a pleasant environment awash in white noise. 

The times I've been caught outside in it have been far less peaceful. An umbrella or a raincoat won't help you. I've gotten soaked standing under covered walkways - I've even gotten rained on standing ten yards from an open-air window. 

It is rain like I've never known.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem I wrote in homage to the thunder one day as I waited out a particularly window-rattling storm between classes. A visit from a thunder-god was the only explanation for the noise that came that day in addition to the torrential rain:

When Thor arrived in Singapore,

He threw his hammer on the floor

And shook the heavens door to door

And brought about the rain.

He rattled windows, shook the trees

He made the folks go wobble-kneed

For from the heavens he had freed 

His power to the land.

When Thor took leave from Singapore 

He took his hammer up once more.

Despite the rain, we still adore

That wild Asgardian.

~ A between-classes poem ~ (c) 2014 Amanda Lohiser

Autumn videos from home

Autumn is my favorite season in Western New York, and I miss it sorely while I'm here in Singapore. I miss the changing of the seasons as a whole, to be honest, and the shortening days, the turning leaves, the gradual crispness that comes to the air and the descent into the cold, dark, cozy winter is a journey that I enjoy every year.

Knowing this, my mom sends me an annual Autumn video. She's awfully creative and a really good storyteller, and I thought I'd share her handiwork with you. Whether you're a Singaporean who is curious about what Autumn is all about, or an American expat who would like a little reminder of home, these videos are for you. 

We start with this year's "Autumn Colors in the Country;" set to The Violet Hour by the Civil Wars, this video evokes the haunting, ancient rhythm of the winding down of the year, the twilight that ushers in the night of winter.

We continue on to "Autumn Days;" set to the O'Neill Brothers' rendition of the old Quaker hymn Simple Gifts, this video shares the simple gifts we see as we take in one autumn day from dawn to dusk to moonlit night.

Finally, we end with "An Autumn Drive", set to Rod Stewart's rendition of Blue Skies. This video invites you along on a convertible drive - with the seat warmers on, because it's chilly! - past the neighboring houses and farms to enjoy the rustic beauty and whimsy of this time of year.

I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I do!


DISCLAIMER: The music you hear in these videos are songs that my mom purchased. She means no copyright infringement in placing them as the soundtrack to her autumn pictures and I mean no copyright infringement by sharing her home videos on my personal blog. If you like the songs you heard in these video clips, please follow the link on each song title and download the songs from Amazon for as little as $0.99! If you feel I am violating a copyright that you hold, please send me a private email message and I will remove the video immediately. Thanks!

Just when I thought Singapore Airlines couldn't get any more wonderful...

I know it's been a little while since my last post; in truth, this semester has been pretty crazy (in a good way). I'm teaching four classes with a total of 220 students (I did the math on the number of assessments I'd grade by the end of the semester and came up with 2,648. Some things you're better off not knowing!). I'm enjoying every crazy minute, but it leaves little time for other things.

I have been meaning to write about this story for a while, though, so I will tell you about an amazing experience I had flying home for the 8 day break between the end of the summer session and the beginning of the fall.

As you know from previous posts, I always fly Singapore Airlines, because even in Economy, the flight experience is second to none. Good meals, complementary beverages ("More wine?" "Why, don't mind if I do!") and tons of movies and TV shows to choose from. If I sound like I'm writing an advertisement, ask anyone who's ever heard me talk about SIA - I always sound this way.

Anyway, I had just started my journey and flew from Singapore to Hong Kong. I got off the plane for the mandatory customs check, and was getting back on the plane when something bizarre happened. I handed my boarding pass to the gate attendant, who glanced at a screen, and tore my ticket in half. I felt my eyes widen and I was just drawing a breath to ask what had just happened to me, when she handed me a different ticket and said, "Have a nice flight!"

"Thank you...?"

I took the ticket and started walking down the boarding gate when I stopped dead in my tracks (nearly causing a passenger-and-luggage pileup behind me). On the ticket was printed "Dr. Amanda Lohiser" - but it was a different color.

It was blue. Blue, I was to discover, was the color of joy.

The Golden Blue Ticket

Blue meant Business. I walked to the seat number that had been assigned to me, and it was, sure enough, in Business class. The chair was wide and plush. And there was a place to put my feet up! A little ledge that held my feet. At this point, I was holding on to my ticket with a death grip, waiting at any moment to be told there had been a mistake, but when I hesitantly called a flight attendant over to ask if this was, indeed, my seat, she smiled and said, "Yes! I guess you're lucky!"

OMG. 'Lucky?' Blessed, more like. This was a gift, you see, a gift from the Travel Gods that every frequent flyer dreams of but never hopes to achieve. I had been upgraded.

So, maybe I am crying a little bit.

I tried taking pictures, but to be honest, it was dark in the cabin and I didn't want to be completely obnoxious by turning on lights and standing in the aisle to take a million pictures (there was, also, a mien of "calm and cool" that I was trying really hard to maintain, despite the fact that I thought I might weep with joy at any minute).

So what's so great about Business?

I have to say first and foremost was the fact that sitting in the seat meant I could put my feet up. As someone with severe vascular problems in my legs, long flights are pretty painful (and yes, I've tried the stockings, and no, they don't work for me). Usually about halfway through the flight, I have to ask for some ice in a bag and try to somewhat curl my legs up in a way that they're elevated a little - pretty impossible to do in Economy. But in business? I stretched right out. I had zero pain that flight. That itself was without question, the best part.

I'm sorry the pic doesn't do it justice.

The second best part happened when a flight attendant walked by and asked "Would you like us to convert your seat into a bed?"

At first I smiled because I honestly thought she was joking - like she was going to whip out a wand, Hogwarts-style, and POOF, transfigure my seat into a bed.

And then I realized that that's basically exactly what happened, only without a wand. When she was done shifting and flipping and tugging straps and fixing blankets, she stepped away, and there was a cot. An honest-to-goodness, lay-down-and-curl-up cot with plush pillows and a soft, fluffy comforter. My tummy full of good food (more on that in a sec) I lay down, and for the first time in my life as a passenger on an airplane, I slept. I didn't just sleep, I passed out for 6 hours. That was the second-best part. No pain, and I arrived at my destination actually feeling rested and ready to jump into my day.

Oh, and did I mention the food yet?

This is the part I have some pics of. I had salad, I had fruit. I had veal and pasta, I had chocolate mousse. I had French wine and I had a cheese plate (a cheese plate!) and I had a 10-year-aged tawny port that did actually did bring tears to my eyes. It was absolutely lovely.

The entire experience was the best 14 hours I've ever spent on a plane, and I am grateful I got to have the experience. It came at the right time, as I had been feeling a bit blue about being away from home - don't get me wrong, I felt lucky to be going home for a few days, but in the back of my mind remained the greedy reality that I'd be picking back up and leaving again - missing home, missing my family, missing my friends. And then I got this 14-hour gift. This reprieve full of comfort and luxury. It was a blessing.

Now, here's the thing. It's not as if traveling economy in Singapore Airlines is like a horribly disappointing experience after this. The food is still very tasty; although admittedly not the variety that you're getting in business, it's still really good, and runs (flies?) circles around the "food" I've gotten in Economy on other long-haul flights (*cough*airline-that-breaks-guitars*cough*) and you're still getting the same movies and TV and comforts like a complementary blanket and pillow. In fact, when I describe my experience flying Economy on SIA, people in the States assume I'm flying Business ("But you said 'complementary wine!' You said 'ice cream!' You said '200 movies!'" "Yes, yes I did...") As I said, the biggest joy for me was the fact that I could stretch my legs out, and the fact that I could sleep.

And did I mention there was a cheese plate and a tawny port?

All in all, a fabulous experience, and I thank the Travel Gods (and Singapore Airlines) for the gift!

Henna!

My current henna artwork. Mine for two weeks!

Something that's become a favorite tradition of mine in Singapore is "getting henna done." Henna is a plant-based dye that is used to draw intricate designs on skin. The dye actually permeates below the surface layer of the skin, so the design stays on your skin for nearly two weeks. (For reference, if you were to draw on your skin with a pen, the ink stain would sit on the top-most layer of your skin, so it would wear/wash off within about a day. A henna tattoo goes into a layer below that, and a needle-and-ink tattoo places ink into your skin yet another layer down, so that is what makes it more permanent, although even that form of skin tattooing still fades over time).

You can watch this video to see the quick, talented artist at work.

L to R: Me, Nesh, Meera, Janice, Vaynii

In any case, henna art is a way that women of any culture (but predominantly Muslim and Hindu cultures) celebrate holidays, weddings, birthdays and life in general. This is typically a tradition enjoyed by women together, and I feel lucky to have found a "henna buddy" here in Singapore, my past student Vaynii. About a year and a half ago, Vaynii invited me to her birthday party, where I had henna done for the first time (and also wore a traditional Punjabi suit, as the theme was "Bollywood" and I was encouraged to go shopping in Little India with another past student, Zena, to get myself something fun and new to wear!). I found the process of getting the henna painted on absolutely mesmerizing, and the process of letting it dry absolutely painstaking ("Is it dry yet? Can I wash it off and see the design?" "NO! LET IT DRY!").

Nesh admonishing me to LET IT DRY.

After the paste is COMPLETELY dry (it sets in about 10-20 minutes, and is dry to the point that it falls off within 2-3 hours), the design is light at first, and then darkens over the next 12 hours into a beautiful adornment.

Selamat Hari Raya!

Vaynii surprised me on Sunday with an invitation to a festival for the Muslim holiday Hari Raya. We went to a festival market where there were all manner of beautiful clothes, carpets, household decorations, shoes, jewelry, odd assortments of computer gadgets and more for sale in tents lining the streets. And interspersed among the sales tables were henna artists. I had this design painted on for $5. It is five dollars well spent for days of joy and a reminder to celebrate every minute of this wonderful life experience I've been blessed to have in Singapore!

"Henna buddies!"