Hi guys! This week, I gained my first experience working in an office. From navigating the maze of malls by Orchard Parksuites to planning my big upcoming adventures, it has been a roller coaster of a week, settling into life in Singapore. Every day, there is something new to uncover and explore, even if it is just a new model or client inquiry at work. In fact, I just finished my first work week, and it’s been fantastic. I have made so many friends with my department. Being in the tax department, I initially thought the days would be pretty mundane . The reality was that my team was super energetic and funny. Even when they speak words I do not understand, the laughter itself is contagious and always seems to lift the mood in the room. Hey, it is not easy to say you love working with taxes. However, from my experience, my team’s happiness and giggles are enough to put a smile on my face each morning. The only sad part is that regular employees at CLA Global only have to work in person 50% of the time, which means half the time (especially on Fridays and Mondays), I do not see as many people. However, I always like to look at the positive side of things, and having a quieter atmosphere in the office these days is lovely. I will get to work remotely 50% of the time once I am a month into my internship. For now, though, I will continue to come to work every day, ready to learn new things and build new professional relationships with my colleagues.

To touch on the topic of our hotel, our building is super fancy. The layout of the walls and floors are super interesting, especially with all the marble. It is like being in a fancy palace or mansion. I would also like to talk about the efficiency in Singapore. Not only is the city immaculate but there always seem to be small tweaks I have noticed to help cut down on energy waste or be more efficient. For example, the small yogurt I bought on Sunday from the convenience store had a foldable spoon inside the container so that you could eat the yogurt with a normal-sized spoon, not a small one. Also, at Changi Airport and many subway stations, there are robots that automatically clean the floors. In addition, I have included a photo of what I believe to be the nicest subway station I have ever seen! Talk about spick-and-span!

Company Bonding!

Besides getting to know my colleagues quite well, I have enjoyed the social aspect of being a part of CLA. At the end of each week (typically on Thursday), the company holds fun social events, with my first week being an EPIC darts tournament and the second upcoming week being a fancy dinner. For our Darts tournament, the other two interns in my department (who studied at Singapore Polytech) and I were a team, while most other teams were four people. Our team should have taken advantage of the opportunity to practice more during lunch and work breaks because we were rocky from the get go. Although we gained some momentum, we could not make it to the finals, but it was a lot of fun watching everyone else play. I love that we have a darts machine right in our office so that we can enjoy playing whenever we need a break from our work. In addition to a darts machine, we also have a karaoke. Although I rarely sing, I may use the booth at some point. Who knows. I could learn the lyrics of some new pop hits in the Asia Pacific region?! To further describe my amazing office, we also have a hot beverage dispenser, and snack jars. So far, the oatmeal chocolate cookies are my favorite, with the strawberry wafers coming in at a close second.

A Minor Setback

It was a most unfortunate coincidence that I got sick within my first few days in Singapore. Starting from a slightly sore throat on Monday evening, my condition continued to decline into Tuesday, when I did not feel 100%. Luckily, it was nothing serious, and I never had to miss work. However, I am sad it drained my energy. I lost my voice a bit on Wednesday, so over the last few days, I did my best to feel better, including hydrating, sleeping, and not speaking as frequently. For example, I opted for more Microsoft Teams chat conversations with my co-workers over actual conversations. The good news was that my first week was light with work, so this was not too much of an issue. Once the weekend came, I was relieved to sleep past 7:30 am and recover further. As I head into the second week in Singapore, I have gotten better and hopefully will feel 100% soon. Yes, I should have gone to the doctor just to be safe, but ultimately, I did not go since it was a bunch of extra steps, and I was already happy resting and taking things slow. I still enjoyed some fantastic foods that were not soup; they all were incredible.

The Food

Not much more needs to be said to describe the food in Singapore. When I travel to a new place, I always wonder: Is the food affordable and is it good quality? In Singapore, the answer to both questions is a definite YES. While there are numerous restaurants and locations where you would expect to pay more for a better dining experience, Singapore is known to have countless affordable options. When I say countless, I mean it: from our accommodation, you could easily walk in any direction and be greeted by numerous food stands and stores. From our initial orientation, the Singapore GAV staff informed us of differant food centers, including Hawker centers, which I touched upon last week. I have visited multiple places, especially the shopping centers near my work. One of my favorite meals was when my team and I went into this somewhat fancy restaurant, and we ordered a bunch of small bowls of rice, vegetables, beans, and pork soup. Some of my colleagues also ordered other dishes. Although that may seem like a lot, the dishes were small (I could carry one with my fingers stretched out on the palm of my hand. Here comes the funny part, though.

Although I have often used chopsticks and am familiar with them, I still have a learning curve whenever I use them. With all my colleagues looking over my shoulder, it can be hard to be on point with using chopsticks good. After many laughs, they offered to get a fork for me. Before I could reply, “Thanks,” they called the waiter over so I could get a fork. Speaking of chopsticks, I initially struggled to eat ramen soup on Friday evening, so the hawker center store owner offered me a fork. So kind, these Singaporeans! Although I cannot remember every dish I had, I have included a few of my favorites from this week below. I could make a Foodie Favorites Gallery for each week in Singapore. Now, that might be a pro-gamer move.
Regarding lunchtime, I have learned that most Singaporeans go out to eat around the same time; it is not as staggered as in the US. This can be explained by all the empty desks that greet us when our department returns from lunch and from the massive crowds at the food courts and Hawker Centers during the lunch hour. At CLA Global, we have tended to leave the office around 11:30 am-12 pm and stay out for lunch for around 90 minutes before returning to work. In short, my whole department goes out to eat simultaneously, and so far, we have always eaten at a different center. I am glad to be a part of a fantastic, supportive, and welcoming team. The only slight hiccup in some of my food plans is my reliance on plan B, the credit card. For some background, Bucknell provides us with a stipend allowance for food and other expenses. However, we still have not received our allowance, which is difficult to budget. I have already spent 10 dollars in fees so far using ATMS, and I may pay more before our stipend. Luckily, we should get it next week; hearing the news was uplifting for many Bucknellians!

City Bus/ Walking Tour

On Saturday afternoon, we went on a guided tour of some notable areas in Singapore, including Chinatown, Kampong Glam, and Little India. Our tour guide did an excellent job describing the culture and ethnic roots that encompass those areas of Singapore. For example, the commercial areas of townhome buildings were repurposed for just commercial use. The shops and restaurants were also outstanding. Although I already forgot many of the details of the tours, I remember many of the food options were familiar to us, including Philadelphia cheesesteaks, pasta dishes, pizza and more. There were many Turkish restaurants too!. I plan to return to these areas several times during my time here. One of my favorite areas was this partly indoor pedestrian street in Chinatown, which had many fun games. One of the games they had was Gonggi, which was from Squid Game Season 2 in the Six Legged Pentathlon game. It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, I was not the best at it. All the while, I was surprised to find out you can play those games for free. No payment was required, which is super cool. What better way to get the community involved than by bringing some cool games to play for no cost? Also, we visited a hawker center on the tour, which I ate at on my first day at CLA. We got some free food courtesy from our tour guide (thanks so much!), and it was great. Although I forgot the name of the food, it looked like melted rice with meat on top. The taste was fascinating and complicated, but it was pretty good. Lastly, pictured below is me in front of one of the major temples we visited. It a huge part of Chinatown and definitely one of my favorite photos of the tour.

Sunday Exploration

After an early night’s rest on Saturday, I set off on Sunday to explore Singapore, partly through Apple maps and partly on my own. The first area I visited, which I was excited to go to, was, you guessed it, The Royal Botanic Gardens of Singapore! This is a running theme for my blogs, and I love it! I ended up walking all the way there and enjoying the scenery. Once I got there, I randomly started looking around. I took countless photos. The Gardens has a lot of paths that go in many directions with lots of plants and rich history. Part of the Garden is paid access, but a good portion you can explore for free. I will for sure, return here for a run at some point! Also, there is a train station at the Royal Botanic Gardens which makes it easy to get back home. Although I had to swap lines getting home, the trip was very seamless and quick. Already I am getting increasingly more comfortable with the public transport in Singapore. One unique thing about it is that the fare is based on your travel distance, not a set price. This makes it advantageous for shorter trips, but luckily the fare is does not climb too high for longer trips which I like. Later in the day, I traveled to the Gardens by Marina Bay, where, after my fantastic photo shoot, I strolled past this small dam to the eastern suburbs. Also, I found a great spot there to fly kites, an activity I have not done since I was a kid.

After walking for another 3 miles, I finally reached this large mall at Mariana Bay Parade. However, wait! About halfway there, I spotted something that I did not expect to stumble upon on my own. It was, in fact, a Macaque. It took me a bit by surprise, but I kept my distance as I watched it casually walk across the path to another tree. I was only going to stop to take some photos, but be warned, if you see any Macaques in Singapore or another country, keep your distance and do not feed them. I then continued my journey to dinner, where I found a fantastic Indian restaurant with countless good options. I forgot its name, but I ordered five things: my main dish, an appetizer, apple juice, a plate of rice, and a chocolate lava cake with dessert ice cream!

Kudos to you for reading my blog this week. While I am still trying to piece together my upcoming plans, including my international trips, I am very excited about where these next seven weeks will take me. As someone who never used to travel before, I have really been enjoying it and would say it’s worth every penny, even if it’s just once in a blue moon. There seems always to be something new and extraordinary waiting to be discovered. Until next time.

-Colin