finally my first post!!!

alright! here it is my first real entry to this blog-- its taken much trial and tribulation but i have finally set up some primitave links, shrunk enough photos and mustered the will power to get this thing rolling!

i took the above picture from my room here at prince george's park residence (or PGP as we call it-- creative, i know).. there are 3000 rooms here- crazy, eh? we have a grocery, several canteens (aka cafeterias) a gym, ball courts etc... its like a retirement community for the young! the only bad part: it is on one coast of the island - this means you always have to take a bus or cab into the city (bit of a drag)... other interesting campus info: its the hugest campus i've been on in my life- there are shuttles that run 4 different routes all day and evening every 5 minutes are so-- crazay! (the bonus is that i can leave for school less than 10 minutes before class!)

by now most of you know that i skipped out of singapore 3 days after i arrived to head to darwin, australia -- it was last minute, but worked out great because i only ended up missing one class and was able to go for a week -- the bad part was missing meeting people and orientation stuff, so when i came back i felt disoriented all over again, but i'm starting to feel more settled... the link to my pics has some of my selections from that trip.... darwin itself was a pretty sleepy place, and we couldnt swim on the beaches because it was box jelly fish season (=injury/death) so we walked around a lot, sat by the water, toured some of the city's 'sites' -- including sitting in on a supreme court of the northen territory sentencing (ians idea!) -- it was geeky but cool-- they all wore those ridiculous wigs-- it was all we could do to keep from laughing!! -- even chicks wear them!!! why is our profession so insane???

towards the end of our stay we went on a tour to kakadu national park- about 200km from darwin -- 9 of us went, 8 of us crammed in the back of this small 4wd... uncomfortable to say the least -- but we had a great group of peeps- a number of them were ppl who had real jobs and then decided to up and go for a year of travelling, which i thought was pretty cool... we saw some pretty neat things despite the uncomfortable accomodations (read: room with 18 bunks and possible bed bugs).. we went on a crocodile boat tour- where they lure crocs out by dangling meat in the air (ridic), we saw some rock art, climed some big ass rock mounds, swam in some gorg water falls (which we realized later potentially had freshwater crocs- sorry mom!) ... someone on a different tour (but at a waterfall with us) was actually bitten by a snake - the guides were like dont worry its not poisonous-- but we found out later that what they meant was that the bite wouldnt kill the guy-- it was poisonous! he went to the hospital! (insert ian shaking his head incredously that we didnt sign any waivers-- what a man of the law)

other highlights: intense raining (took almost a week for my shoes to dry!) and eating kangaroo (surprisingly good- think steak but less fatty), insane bites on our legs (see pictures)

as for singapore!!! i havent done too much here yet -- been out along the esplanade, ate crabs on the cost, went to the symphony last night (actually quite enjoyable)... wednesday is ladies night here and that means free cover and free (real) drinks all night long--- fantastic!! (usually clubs are pretty expensive here about 25 sing or 18 cnd for cover including one drink) -- so think bargain! ... today i'm heading to the colonial area of town and then to the cable cars for some scenic singapore with a girl i met in australia who just happened to come here next! i promise to post some pictures of this place --- as soon as i take them!

other news: i finally got my first cell phone (an abs necessity here! -- its totally exciting and i got a very chiq little bag for it in the market where i bought it -- its second hand and quite hobo like, but i bargained for it and i like it)

this place is also a consumer's dream: money is falling out of my hands like water-- many of you who know me know that this is not unusal, but at least i'm getting (a little) more for my dollar here!

ok, that's it!! the end of post one! i'd love to hear from all of you about whats up-- and thanks for reading!!!