Wednesday, September 27, 2006
its a big world out there....
Hey guys,
Sorry again for the late post, this has been another busy week. Work starting to pile up, readings are getting thicker, in general, bad week. Would have posted earlier over the weekends if I didn't have to attend to a stupid thing that came up. But either way its not going to bother me... Oh yah a good friend from Singapore is here so that cheers me up a little too.
Anyway, there are no pictures this week cause I have been so busy and have not been out much. But I am beginning to get alot of thoughts. Hmm... its kind of messy but I'll just try to talk it out.
I think one of the cons of being in a great place like this, (and by this I mean U Penn, not Philadelphia cause supposedly its one of the worst cities in US) is you start to realise how small and insignificant you are. Singapore? Most people might not even know where it is, and there are still a group of people who thinks that its a province of China. Well, I'm not complaining about Singapore really, I'm sure people will be impressed by SIngapore once they get to know it better. But the point is, no matter how well we are doing, we are almost insignificant in this big world. The best students from Singapore come to study in U Penn, but there just a handful in the tens of thousands of Penn students, and don't even mention the other 7 ivy league schools, as well as the various top schools in Europe. Well, I don't really know what this means to me or my time here, but it is a thought that keeps coming up.
On the bright side, the people here are really smart. So it kind of rubs off on you and make you want to improve yourself alot more. Anyway, I will keep this post short cause I my eyes are closing on me. In case any one is wondering, I guess I am just a little tired this week. Hopefully the weekend trip to Boston will revitalise me! :) I'll be sure to bring back lots of photos...
Cheers,
Danny
Sorry again for the late post, this has been another busy week. Work starting to pile up, readings are getting thicker, in general, bad week. Would have posted earlier over the weekends if I didn't have to attend to a stupid thing that came up. But either way its not going to bother me... Oh yah a good friend from Singapore is here so that cheers me up a little too.
Anyway, there are no pictures this week cause I have been so busy and have not been out much. But I am beginning to get alot of thoughts. Hmm... its kind of messy but I'll just try to talk it out.
I think one of the cons of being in a great place like this, (and by this I mean U Penn, not Philadelphia cause supposedly its one of the worst cities in US) is you start to realise how small and insignificant you are. Singapore? Most people might not even know where it is, and there are still a group of people who thinks that its a province of China. Well, I'm not complaining about Singapore really, I'm sure people will be impressed by SIngapore once they get to know it better. But the point is, no matter how well we are doing, we are almost insignificant in this big world. The best students from Singapore come to study in U Penn, but there just a handful in the tens of thousands of Penn students, and don't even mention the other 7 ivy league schools, as well as the various top schools in Europe. Well, I don't really know what this means to me or my time here, but it is a thought that keeps coming up.
On the bright side, the people here are really smart. So it kind of rubs off on you and make you want to improve yourself alot more. Anyway, I will keep this post short cause I my eyes are closing on me. In case any one is wondering, I guess I am just a little tired this week. Hopefully the weekend trip to Boston will revitalise me! :) I'll be sure to bring back lots of photos...
Cheers,
Danny
Monday, September 18, 2006
Center City
Hi Guys,
Well sorry this post came late... was too busy over the weekend. Anyway, here are some updates...
I visited Center City over the weekend... well... in Singapore terms, its like I'm going from Ang Mo Kio to Bishan only... haha, but its quite a different place from University City. Firstly, its across the Schuylkill river. (don't bother trying to pronounce it) Its the downtown of Philadelphia, so its a little like Orchard and Shenton Way of Singapore. There you can find many boutiques selling branded goods, restaurants, condominimiums and offices, much like Singapore.
The most important part about Center City I guess is probably its historic value. It was here that America was founded! To cut the long story short, Benjamin Franklin fought against colonial rule and eventually established the United States of America. Actually I didn't have time to walk through all the historical sights cause its a weekend and most tourists places are crowded, but I think I will definitely visit it again. Among the places I went to is the visitor's center, the grave of Benjamin Franklin, and a park called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was established to honour the soldiers who fought for America's liberation. The place was simple, yet solemn and grand and reflected the great traditions of this country.
Anyway, besides the historical districts, Center City is full of life and there are many nice architectures and cute little shops around corners. As usual... here they are... :)
Oh yeah before I sign off, work is great and things are getting better. Its time to really seat down and plan my time ahead. Oh and went for a few parties, one was a fraternity party at a frat house which was quite cool. The other was at a club downtown which was totally diff... 21 and above only so there are less students... Its great to know more people around here... :)
My room with my new poster bought from a sidewalk fleamarket! Yeah I know its cliche, but what the hell, its the cheapest!
On campus living anyone? This is one of their highrise blocks located right in the middle of the campus! 25 storeys high with a study room on top that has great view. Its open to all Penn students by the way!
View from one side of the study room.
This installation kind of marks the start of one end of Locust Walk, the main path that cuts through the school and where everyone walks through to classes. It's also where all their activities are held, think of a 1 km long central library forum only open air and lined with trees and historical buildings.
CCA Fair on a Saturday morning...
Our classrooms! Historical buildings with modern facilities...
One of many things build by the University and its alumni here in Uni City.
The historical sites...
There's no stray dogs and cats, but lots of squirrels!
City Hall in Center City
The streets of Center City...
Oh yeah and one more thing..... just thrown in to reward you for reading thus far... haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, speaking at Stanford's graduation ceremony. Be inspired!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love!
Hey Pple,
Haven been able to post in the last 2 days as I was overwhelmed by school work and other things at home. But its finally almost all done now... so will try to catch up.
The university life is really vibrant here... they got all sorts of activities, cultural, sports, student communities, and of course... the various fraternities. There's lots of things happening on the cultural front, performances, concerts. On the sports front, they have a huge stadium which houses their college football team. The student union here is amazing, though I still have not seen the whole structure, but they publish a daily (yes daily) free newspaper for the students with lots of juicy information about the school, community and beyond. I still have not really figured out what the fraternities do, apparently they are like interest groups and they all have a house, basically for their really wild drunk parties I guess. Haha...
Oh yeah last Friday, we went for this party organised by the Asian Student Union! Its very cool to see so many asians at a party in a foreign country, especially since there are so few of us. Got to know some more new people so its great.....
Oh and over the weekend me and my roommate went downtown to watch a soccer game, MAN UTD!!! haha... Apparently they don't watch soccer around here so we got to take a trolley to go to this Irish Pub. We had lunch there too and my god the amount of fries they give... I think the fries can make up a meal by itself!(and this coming from a fries lover) Then we headed to Ikea in a very out of town area but we did some good shopping and set up the rest of our apartment. Now it looks really cosy... hehe.
Had my first day of work today, and my boss absolutely rocks! Will not talk much about work here but right now everything seems to be going great, let's hope it stays this way. As for school, its just tiring and lots of work. In between I have to juggle other things like writing reports, shopping for groceries, laundry, cleaning my apartment and other things... hopefully things get better as time goes by.
Alright, not sure if I missed anything but if I did will try to add them in the next time round... some more pictures... enjoy.
A local diner. There are many other similar places too selling pizza, chinese food, mexican, greek, and others...
The picture says it all...
The local supermarket where we do our groceries.
The Penn bookstore...
Flea market outside the bookstore selling huge used posters and other things...
The football team training inside the penn stadium.
Haven been able to post in the last 2 days as I was overwhelmed by school work and other things at home. But its finally almost all done now... so will try to catch up.
The university life is really vibrant here... they got all sorts of activities, cultural, sports, student communities, and of course... the various fraternities. There's lots of things happening on the cultural front, performances, concerts. On the sports front, they have a huge stadium which houses their college football team. The student union here is amazing, though I still have not seen the whole structure, but they publish a daily (yes daily) free newspaper for the students with lots of juicy information about the school, community and beyond. I still have not really figured out what the fraternities do, apparently they are like interest groups and they all have a house, basically for their really wild drunk parties I guess. Haha...
Oh yeah last Friday, we went for this party organised by the Asian Student Union! Its very cool to see so many asians at a party in a foreign country, especially since there are so few of us. Got to know some more new people so its great.....
Oh and over the weekend me and my roommate went downtown to watch a soccer game, MAN UTD!!! haha... Apparently they don't watch soccer around here so we got to take a trolley to go to this Irish Pub. We had lunch there too and my god the amount of fries they give... I think the fries can make up a meal by itself!(and this coming from a fries lover) Then we headed to Ikea in a very out of town area but we did some good shopping and set up the rest of our apartment. Now it looks really cosy... hehe.
Had my first day of work today, and my boss absolutely rocks! Will not talk much about work here but right now everything seems to be going great, let's hope it stays this way. As for school, its just tiring and lots of work. In between I have to juggle other things like writing reports, shopping for groceries, laundry, cleaning my apartment and other things... hopefully things get better as time goes by.
Alright, not sure if I missed anything but if I did will try to add them in the next time round... some more pictures... enjoy.
A local diner. There are many other similar places too selling pizza, chinese food, mexican, greek, and others...
The picture says it all...
The local supermarket where we do our groceries.
The Penn bookstore...
Flea market outside the bookstore selling huge used posters and other things...
The football team training inside the penn stadium.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
My thoughts on arriving...
Hey guys,
On arrival... the feeling was actually surreal. Taking the subway, walking on the streets, it almost feels like I am stepping into a movie. There is an air of freedom as I look around me. So many people of different races and skin colour, speaking different languages, white americans, african americans, chinese, koreans, indians, japanese, hispanics, europeans... This is America! I can't wait to see the rest of it.
Anyway, the place I am staying at is called University City. It is 1 of 3 cities in Philadelphia(or so I was told). Well needless to say, University City seems like it was built for the Universities. I think there are a few universities around here, like Drexel, and of course, the famous University of Pennsylvania. Its full of students, and the environment I can only describe it as vibrant, yet scholarly. People here take their school work very seriously, of course its not surprising since this is the top 7 university in US now (last year it was 4th). But what's different from NUS is I guess people really enjoy studying here. Their faces says it all!
Besides the amazing school buildings, the rest of the area surrounding the main university buildings are also great. Its hard for me to describe, maybe the closest will be to imagine NUS, with all the roads within NUS pedestrianised, and the whole campus surrounded by Holland Village like buildings and places. There's no big shopping malls in University City, but there are alot of small shops with lots of character around. There is just so much to see and do!
Oh and what's surprising is that everyone walks around here. This may be due to the good weather, and also the transportation system kind of sucks. Oh and also the city is laid out in such a way that its great for walking. Its basically a grid, with the vertical streets from right to left numbered (for example, 1st street, 2nd street...) and the horizontal streets from top to bottom named (market street, ludlow, walnut, chestnut, and where I am staying, Pine Street). Oh yeah speaking of where I am staying, its this street just beside the university buildings. Its 2 rows of 3 storey houses facing each other across the road and its owned by a housing unit of U Penn. So as you can imagine, everyone staying in these houses are students. The other day I just met my neighbours, a very pretty brunette european girl, a black french lady called Rachel (she's doing law), and there is this hot blonde living on the 2nd storey though me and my roommate have not had the chance to talk to her yet. Haha. We are living on the ground floor by the way.
Ok I think this post is getting too long. Will get into more details if I can in a later post. Right now, got to go back to studying! The notes are also amazing, amazingly thick! haha... later
D
My place from the outside.
Locust walk, the main pathway that cuts through the center of the campus and where everyone walks to classes. Its highlighted as the blue line in the map.
On arrival... the feeling was actually surreal. Taking the subway, walking on the streets, it almost feels like I am stepping into a movie. There is an air of freedom as I look around me. So many people of different races and skin colour, speaking different languages, white americans, african americans, chinese, koreans, indians, japanese, hispanics, europeans... This is America! I can't wait to see the rest of it.
Anyway, the place I am staying at is called University City. It is 1 of 3 cities in Philadelphia(or so I was told). Well needless to say, University City seems like it was built for the Universities. I think there are a few universities around here, like Drexel, and of course, the famous University of Pennsylvania. Its full of students, and the environment I can only describe it as vibrant, yet scholarly. People here take their school work very seriously, of course its not surprising since this is the top 7 university in US now (last year it was 4th). But what's different from NUS is I guess people really enjoy studying here. Their faces says it all!
Besides the amazing school buildings, the rest of the area surrounding the main university buildings are also great. Its hard for me to describe, maybe the closest will be to imagine NUS, with all the roads within NUS pedestrianised, and the whole campus surrounded by Holland Village like buildings and places. There's no big shopping malls in University City, but there are alot of small shops with lots of character around. There is just so much to see and do!
Oh and what's surprising is that everyone walks around here. This may be due to the good weather, and also the transportation system kind of sucks. Oh and also the city is laid out in such a way that its great for walking. Its basically a grid, with the vertical streets from right to left numbered (for example, 1st street, 2nd street...) and the horizontal streets from top to bottom named (market street, ludlow, walnut, chestnut, and where I am staying, Pine Street). Oh yeah speaking of where I am staying, its this street just beside the university buildings. Its 2 rows of 3 storey houses facing each other across the road and its owned by a housing unit of U Penn. So as you can imagine, everyone staying in these houses are students. The other day I just met my neighbours, a very pretty brunette european girl, a black french lady called Rachel (she's doing law), and there is this hot blonde living on the 2nd storey though me and my roommate have not had the chance to talk to her yet. Haha. We are living on the ground floor by the way.
Ok I think this post is getting too long. Will get into more details if I can in a later post. Right now, got to go back to studying! The notes are also amazing, amazingly thick! haha... later
D
My place from the outside.
Locust walk, the main pathway that cuts through the center of the campus and where everyone walks to classes. Its highlighted as the blue line in the map.
Greetings from Penn!
Hey Guys,
Ok firstly, I have to admit I am sceptical about blogging and sharing everything you feel on the internet for everyone to see! But I guess its the only viable and practical way for me to let everyone know how I am doing. :) So yeah, this blog is dedicated to everyone who wishes to keep in touch and want to know what's going in my life. Life's crazy over here cause I will be juggling work, study, and play! But nonetheless I will still try to update this blog as frequently as possible so please be patient with me. Lastly, to all you people who care enough to read this blog, thanks for your support and encouragement and feel free to leave comments on my posts yah? Take care!
D
p.s. Oh yeah and here are some pictures... :)
Detroit International Airport (My first port of call to the United States.)
The view from above.
My room & the street where my studio apt is located. Pine Street, University City.
Ok firstly, I have to admit I am sceptical about blogging and sharing everything you feel on the internet for everyone to see! But I guess its the only viable and practical way for me to let everyone know how I am doing. :) So yeah, this blog is dedicated to everyone who wishes to keep in touch and want to know what's going in my life. Life's crazy over here cause I will be juggling work, study, and play! But nonetheless I will still try to update this blog as frequently as possible so please be patient with me. Lastly, to all you people who care enough to read this blog, thanks for your support and encouragement and feel free to leave comments on my posts yah? Take care!
D
p.s. Oh yeah and here are some pictures... :)
Detroit International Airport (My first port of call to the United States.)
The view from above.
My room & the street where my studio apt is located. Pine Street, University City.
