toadlane - February 2013

Editor’s thoughts toadlane is more than a magazine. I would like to bring more utility to this communication channel that has been under used for the past year. I am loving the contents that I have received for this current issue and looking forward to more creative inputs from our co-operative!

- Jeff Wang

toadlane

“In developing a strong co-operative community, WCRI encourages members to participate in a variety of communication processes. An internal newspaper, toadlane, was established to provide a forum for members to share information about the events and issues that are of interest and/or importance to them.

The name of the newspaper comes from the name of the street on which the Weavers’ Arms Pub was located in Rochdale, England – Toad Lane. In 1844, the “Principles of Co-operation” were drafted in the Weavers’ Arms Pub by a group of weavers who began the first co-operative.” [toadlane policy Introduction]

If you would like to contribute to our toadlane magazine, please contact toadlane editor through toadlane@wcri.coop 24

Winter 2013 Feb. Issue W2012 toadlane - 1.indd Spread 1 of 12 - Pages(24, 1)

1 Written, edited, and produced by members of WCRI 14/02/2013 8:34:39 PM

An introduction from “

Inter Co-operative Council (ICC) was developed to bring the Co-op’s volunteer leaders together in formal and informal settings to encourage and support member participation, to enhance member communication processes, and to build linkages between and within the voluntary participation structure.

- ICC Mandate 2012

”

running through my head every single time I begin to meditate. It can take me a very long time, but with practice, you can overcome your mind and improve concentration skills and mental focus. These skills are essential in life, especially since we are in a society that is constantly being bombarded with media, the internet and all kinds of things that take up so much of our time and energy; it is difficult to maintain your focus and your attention. For us, one of the things we have to actively focus our attention and concentration is on the professor who is lecturing in class, or on the notes that we will be tested on for the midterm and exam. These skills that you can develop and improve through meditation can translate into use in your everyday life.

Why does Ikdip meditate?

Our community in North Division has much to offer in terms of people, opportunities and ideas. Beyond the four walls of your room are people who share similar ideas as you which open new doors of opportunities to engage in various activities and realize your potential to make this residence term one to remember. I am here to connect you to the right people with the appropriate experience.

Hello WCRI!

My name is Robin and I am the Clayfield CEG for this term. This is my 8th term living at WCRI! I’m currently in my 3B term studying Psychology (Sci) at UW. WCRI is a very special place where community happens, so I hope to see more members getting involved to serve this community! Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

One of the major reasons why I meditate is because I have the chance to ask myself questions about my existence. I ask myself, “Who am I? Why am I here? What is my goal?

What am I working for? What motivates me to live on, everyday? What defines me?” I can go on, but you get the idea. I know we are all busy with our lives and so occupied with getting things done that we often forget what the end goal is, or what we want to achieve by living in this world and in this society.

Your expectations are driven by what you are thinking about-what’s possible in this world, what is possible for you. “So learn to control your focus and your mind, because that is what controls your life”-Darren Hardy. How do you learn-Why not meditate?

Hello everybody. I am Josephine Chan, your Kershaw CEG for Winter 2013. This is my 11th term living in WCRI and possibly my last term here. I have started volunteering only a couple of terms ago and now I enjoy getting involved in each and every event around here. Chocolate!!! And I wish to see a lot of you out for the events this term. :) 2

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14/02/2013 8:34:40 PM

Why should I meditate?

It has been 5 terms so far at WCRI but it seems longer than that. I didn’t start volunteering at WCRI until my third term living here so, for any of you that are wondering about whether it is too late to get involved, it never is! My name is Nancy as the Carver CEG, I encourage you to start getting coming out to events because there is never a better moment than now to get out there and start trying new things. Come to help out at any clubs or events and meet some really awesome people.

Ikdip Brar MSc. Student, BSc. ibrar@uwaterloo.ca

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The greatest challenge for me is to have to battle my mind and the current thoughts and ideas that are

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Meditation for me has a religious aspect and a ‘self-awareness’ aspect. It is difficult have the ‘free time’ to meditate. These days, and especially for students, it’s difficult to find ‘free time’. So that is why you schedule the time to meditate. Seek the possibility!

There are several ways to meditate.

If you search this on Google, it can give you numerous results. I will tell you how I meditate. It may or may not work for you, but there is no harm to give it a try. I initially began meditation as a religious practice. NOTE: meditation can be done as a religious practice, but you do not have to be religious to meditate.

How to meditate?

I sit cross-legged either on the floor or on my bed, with nothing around me that I my distract me. Then I would make sure I have a straight back and good posture. I would try to relax before I begin - taking a deep breath in and out. Then, I begin to meditate – repeating God’s name either out loud or in my mind. But this is not the only way to meditate. Often I meditate by focusing in on my breathing. I breathe deep because I am convinced that it helps the muscles in my lungs to strengthen and my lung capacity to become larger, so that I may live longer. Now that may not be true, but this is belief is what motivates and influences me to meditate in this way. I am doing it for my own health and well-being!

Hi South! I am in my fourth year of Biochemistry at University of Waterloo. My work as the CEG involves providing resources to the South division, and maintaining the overall quality of life for all the members.

I am very approachable, so feel free to send me an email, or knock on my door if you have any questions or concerns. Looking forward to a wonderful term.

Everyday, you are constantly surrounded by sensations, people, work, media and everything else that keeps you so busy that you barely have the time to just STOP for a moment! It is difficult to control our minds in this busy society.

For students like us, our mind is so occupied with when our assignments are due, when our test is, when the next house party is, what to eat for lunch or dinner. You are thinking about what is in front of your eyes and what you hear. Your energy and attention are processing these things that it makes it difficult to control your mind. This energy that we accumulate throughout our day has to go somewhere. So where does it go? It may be converted into stress – being overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings; or it may

I started off with taking small stepsdoing 2 minutes of meditation in the morning. Now, I have scheduled in half hours in the mornings and evenings to meditate. NOTE: there is no set time or amount of meditation that is required for you to do. You meditate how much you want, how much you need to relax and ‘release your energy’ you have been accumulating in your mind and body.

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If you want a dictionary definition, then it means to dwell on or contemplate on any thing in thought’.

My definition of meditation is ‘providing time for self to be thoughtless, to relax, to breath, and to realize my own existence’.

turn into anger or ignorance, and sometimes without realizing it! You all can admit that there have been times when you felt guilty or upset after you yelled at your friends or your parents, not knowing that the energy you accumulated you transformed it into negativity. Where your focus or attention goes is where your energy goes.

So how else can you release this ‘energy’. I release it through meditation. I proactively schedule in the time to meditate and focus my attention on being thoughtless.

he requisitie of spiritual or religious devotion are the disconception what most people have about this healthy exercise. But what is meditation, anyway?

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When he entered the store he had in his mind this well-defined notion of an object called an ice-cream that he wanted. On entering, he finds out that the description of the object he had in his mind wasn’t after all sufficiently specific; asking merely for an ice-cream is not informative enough, one has to say what flavour he wants, and there are several dozens of them. While earlier he wouldn’t have cared about the flavour because of his ignorance, now the onus is on him to choose what is best for him. Even after making the choice he would be unsure about its aptness (and hence, not fully satisfied) because of his lack of knowledge on the many options he had to reject.

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There are many more examples where the availability of a myriad of options actually complicates the customer’s decision making process and lengthens it. Imagine someone (perhaps a country bumpkin) going to an ice cream parlour with the simple objective of buying “an icecream”, not familiar yet individually with the variety of desserts that are members of that vast family.

At the shop he is bedazzled by the most gorgeous display of delicacies (each looking equally delicious and each well within his budget).

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Funnily enough, in spite of the fact that the availability of a higher number of options complicates the

whole process instead of simplifying it and most often does not guarantee a perfect match, we tend to prefer places that offer more options. We would rather be baffled by a complex set of choices and end up making an unintelligent selection in the end, than to go somewhere that has fewer options and where the selection process would be easier, and perhaps more satisfying.

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What does one do then? The more analytic among us actually go on to solve the optimization problem and come up with a definite answer. The rest, me included, would simply make an arbitrary or semi-arbitrary choice which would be very likely not optimal.

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Our Vision

WCRI is a student run and owned housing co-operative committed to providing exceptional accommodation and related services to students and to developing a socially, environmentally, and financially responsible community that embodies and is governed by co-operative values.

Our Values Exceptional Service: WCRI values providing its stakeholders with positive experiences and affordable, high quality housing.

Social, Environmental, and Financial Responsibility: WCRI values stewardship of its community, resources, and planet.

Our Five Year Strategic Goals By the end of 2012, we will have enhanced potential and current member experience with WCRI website as demonstrated by reduced number of clicks to desired information.

I

remember the first time I ordered a sandwich at an eatery in North America. I had walked on to the counter to ask for a grilled chicken sandwich, not expecting anything more to say. Subsequently, I was stumped by an array of questions.

I was asked to specify the type of

bread, the type of cheese, whether I want to have it toasted or not, and to choose the kind of toppings I would like.

Unprepared, and also only partially enlightened about the options before me (this applied especially for the types of bread and cheese), I took a significant amount of time to make a decision. Since then, of course, I have grown wiser and am much quicker in making such

choices. Note, however, that my knowledge on the variety of bread and cheese remains sufficiently inadequate, only now I know that I don’t really care if the latter is Mozzarella or Cheddar. I have realized that optimizing a sandwich can be rather taxing for one’s brain when on an empty stomach, and therefore mostly make prompt random choices (barring a few exceptions).

ARoast Beef SubwayTM Sandwich 20

W2012 toadlane - 1.indd Spread 5 of 12 - Pages(20, 5)

Board of Directors Hi, We are 10 members of this organization that was democratically elected by you at the Annual General Meeting to be your Board of Directors! We are here to represent WCRI’s entire membership and to provide good governance and leadership for our organization. One of our main focuses this year is membership linkage – which means we are putting in extra efforts this year to connect with you! Feel free to drop any comments/feedbacks to board@wcri.coop

By the end of 2016, we will have improved physical assets as demonstrated by at least one new building with amenities relevant to the needs and wants of post-secondary students in the Waterloo area.

By the end of 2017, we will have members who are proud to tell others that they are members of WCRI as demonstrated by the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing resulting in an increased number of applications.

We will have engaged and satisfied our staff team as evident by the outcomes from the annual HR survey.

We (The Board) will be more accountable for our decisions to the membership and staff as demonstrated by a greater degree of transparency and a consistent application of policies. This will be evident by the HR engagement surveys and membership satisfaction surveys.

5

14/02/2013 8:34:42 PM

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For the sake of the argument, I’ll put myself in a professor’s shoes, and I’ll try to develop some ideas that could provide solutions. Some of these ideas are inspired by Dr. Cynthia Furse’s “flipped classroom”. Other ideas come from things that my teachers have tried, what worked and what didn’t.

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- Assignments are to be done in groups of 2; groups are randomly assigned unless by special request.

The goal of this is to foster teamwork, collaboration and networking.

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- My entire course will be made available online in the format of 10 minute video lectures. These videos are to be similar in style to the “RSA shorts”: concise, intimate, and beautifully illustrated.

- There will be a student forum, possibly built using the Piazza platform. Students will receive “karma” points for helping others on this forum. At the end of the term, students with the highest karma gets a virtual “achievement”. They don’t get any real reward because karma is supposed to be an intrinsic reward (similar to Reddit).

- There will be a small quiz at the end of every lecture worth 2% each.

These are designed to motivate students to come to class. However, they can skip 2 quizzes without penalty.

- In each quiz, there will be a bonus section where the student is encouraged to write down anything related to the quiz topic: jokes, trivia, personal thoughts, constructive criticisms, etc. Witty or thoughtful responses will receive a small bonus mark. The person with the most such responses gets a virtual “achievement” at the end of the term. The goal of this is to gather feedback about the course in a non-intimidating way.

of the term. The goal of this is to gather feedback about the course in a non-intimidating way.

- Students will have free access to the professor’s daily schedule. I will try to allocate 1 hour of facetime on non-lecture weekdays where they can come to my office for one-on-one tutoring. However, each student only gets a maximum of 3 sessions to prevent abuse.

- Students will have free access to the professor’s daily schedule. I will try to allocate 1 hour of facetime on non-lecture weekdays where they can come to my office for one-on-one tutoring. However, each student only gets a maximum of 3 sessions to prevent abuse to the topic to help motivate learner interest (taking another page out of Walter Lewin’s book).

- In each quiz, there will be a bonus section where the student is encouraged to write down anything related to the quiz topic: jokes, trivia, personal thoughts, constructive criticisms, etc. Witty or thoughtful responses will receive a small bonus mark. The person with the most such responses gets a virtual “achievement” at the end

By Eugene Daysleeper South Div - A2 ngalex1@gmail.com

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- During class time, I will answer any questions regarding concepts,

assignments and quizzes. In reality, most questions will probably be about the quiz contents. Any extra time would be used to show cool demos related to the topic to help motivate learner interest (taking a page out of Walter Lewin’s book).

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I

believe that the current university educational system is a little outdated and ineffective for learning.

Specifically, there are three major areas for improvement: 1. In my experience, most professors view undergraduate teaching

18

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as an obligation; after all, they were not hired based on their teaching abilities.

erate learning, we must think of a way to replace textbooks with videos.

2. Gradually, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;printing pressâ&#x20AC;? is being ousted by such things as Youtube and Vimeo. This makes a lot of sense because surely we humans have evolved to be more effective visual learners than book readers, given that the printing press didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist until the renaissance. So I believe that to accel-

3. Although a university class can hold hundreds of students, it is in fact very difficult for the students to meet new people and to practice communication and collaboration -- skills which are so essential to success in the workplace. What can teachers do to help?

7

14/02/2013 8:34:43 PM

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Our over consumption of drivel also extends to nutrition, where we believe that what is marketed as “organic”, “fatfree”, or “sugar-less” is good for you. Big food and agriculture companies are in the business of making the most money using the cheapest ingredients and will go to any length do so, often giving misleading information. One of most deceitful “nutritious” drink I can think of is “organic” orange juices made with “real” Florida oranges.

Aside from the point that citrus fruits in ancestral times were not as sweet as our genetically modified oranges, our ancestors never ingested carbohydrates without large quantities of fiber.

Eating an orange or apple is not physiologically the same thing as drinking orange or apple juice. In addition, bodybuilders and athletes often ingest brand name protein powders, weight gainers, vitamin, or food supplements with no inclina-

tion that the information given to us is bogus and our government does not go to any length to regulate this industry. We are all suckers if we believe this. If you do believe in the benefits of protein powder please think about the sponsors who support such studies (and remember it’s a by-product from cheese making so it’s mostly marketing spin) or go to a bulk barn where you can find whey powder for much cheaper than any brand.

So to my main point, we are conditioned to think that we need that “new” diet book or fitness product to solve our problems, when in fact simplicity and removing chickens**t ideas, although hard to achieve, is the best policy. As Steve Jobs, whom I dislike, but cannot argue his point that “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” We know a lot more of what we cannot do or what is wrong than what we can do or what is right. In other words, one small observation can disprove a statement, whereas a millions cannot confirm the statement with 100% certainty, disconfirmation is more rigorous than confirmation.

The one thing I recommend the reader to avoid is a charlatan that makes you buy that mystery substance that will make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger (in his prime), when in actuality you’ll probably look like the “before” photo in infomercials for diet products. Or the charlatan will make you purchase cosmetic surgery

that will have the fashion police beckon for you to be in the next Vogue magazine when in actuality you’ll probably end up looking like Michael Jackson.

The best way to spot a charlatan is they are often people who tell you what to do, instead of what not to do and typically say, “Trust me, I have your interests at heart.” My general rule of thumb to navigate these kinds of people is realizing the fact that what is called healthy is actually unhealthy, social networks are typically antisocial, and our so called knowledge based economy is devoid of any real knowledge (just look at the economy and obesity statistics). For diet and health advice, avoid refined carbohydrates like the plague and avoid low-intensity exercises like walking on treadmills, if you want to look and feel great.

Oh, you can definitely trust me on this.

Complex health supplements and diet only get you so far

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with trial and error and allows them to destroy themselves .

Generally, doctors do not know all the side effects of any given drug, and typically prescribe them based on marketing information from Big Pharma, since they do not have the time to sift through literature and must see as many patients as possible from a financial standpoint.

Also consider the fact that the Greek term, pharmakon, is ambiguous and can either mean cure or poison. Now I am not saying that we should not use drugs as they are effective in limited cases; we should use them when we are seriously or terminally ill, or when the risk, which is often unknown due to unforeseen side effects, is worth it.

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Theseus slaying Procrustes: a non-Procrestean solution of eliminating the cause of harm

Procrustean Beds in Nutrition and Health By Robert Liang, South Division rliang66@gmail.com

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rocrustes, in Greek mythology, was the owner of a small estate in Corydalus in Attica and had a peculiar sense of hospitality: he abducted travelers, provided them with a generous dinner, and then invited them to spend the night in a special bed. He wanted the bed to fit the traveler to perfection. Those who were too tall had their legs chopped off, whereas those who were too short were stretched. In an ironic twist of fate, Procrustes was killed by his own device. One of the travelers happened to be Theseus, who slew the Minotaur. After the customary dinner, Theseus had Procrustes lie in his own bed and to make him fit in the bed to customary perfection, he decapitated him. We live in a world full of Procrustean beds in which we as humans, facing limits of knowledge and things we do not and probably cannot observe, re16

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solve the tension by squeezing life into commodified ideas and narratives, which on occasion has dire consequences.

In this piece, I’ll be focusing on Procrustean beds that are pervasive in the areas of health and nutrition (I will be focusing on other areas of life in later articles) where we are offered solutions to becoming healthy from pundits with endless narratives or diet or exercise books like “The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift like a Man and Look Like a Goddess” or “The 150 Healthiest Foods on the Planet”.

What is particularly concerning is that people often believe in the notion of using a certain substance to alleviate any health-related and nutritional deficiencies in their bodies, when it is more effective to remove products that were not available in our ancestral habitat as we as humans have not changed physiologically from our ancestors.

Later, Theseus slew the minotaur.

One example of our drug fetish are people’s overreliance on painkillers, which encourages to avoid address the possible causes of the headache, such as sleep deprivation, nerve tension in the neck, or chronic stress –

Fahsionably Cozy 9

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Budapest, Hungary

By Boglarka Soos Hiking enthusiast, yogi, and lover of fine foods

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udapest is a vibrant and picturesque city. Formed through the union of historic Buda and the more urban Pest, this city offers a dichotomy that makes it one of Europe’s touristic hotspots.

Lying at the heart of Europe, Hungary has a tumultuous history that involves Ottoman occupation, integration with the Habsburgs of Austria, and Soviet domination. Through it all, the Magyars have remained a proud people with a strong sense of self.

On my most recent visit, I witnessed this personally at a touching ceremony which commemorated the brave women and men who rose up against the oppression of the Soviet regime during the Revolution of 1956. This uprising gained international atten-

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bsoos@uwaterloo.ca

tion and the Hungarian Freedom Fighter was declared Time’s “Man of the Year” for 1956. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Hungary has flourished and has become a popular tourist destination.

architecture, we stumbled across a small fountain through which red wine flowed freely. I must admit that the wine tasted cheap and sour – but it was free wine – a rather unexpected and most welcome surprise.

After graduating from high school, I travelled around Hungary with a close friend of mine. The two of us were stationed at Martonvasar, a charming little town located 30km outside of Budapest, whose claim to fame is the scenic Brunszvik Castle. This castle was once frequented by Beethoven himself who would travel here to visit his “Immortal Beloved”. Today the castle grounds are open to the public and provide an oasis away from the summer heat.

Another memorable visit was to Hero’s Square, an elegant complex where statues of the leading historic and political figures of Hungary are displayed. Here, a special homage is paid to the seven Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarian people to the land they have come to regard as their home since the 9th century. Adjacent to the square are the mineral waters of the opulent Szechenyi thermal baths.

As a warning up to the readers, I should mention that Speedos are still the swim wear of choice among men –

During one of our day trips to Budapest, my friend, Alycia, and I explored the palace complex of the Hungarian kings on Castle Hill. Although the Fisherman’s Bastion offered breath-taking panoramic views of the city, the highlight of the day had to be our trip down to the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is a series of underground tunnels, built by the castle inhabitants during the Middle Ages.

Alongside the magnificent art and

Snow day Feb 8th, 2013

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weather in Singapore. If it’s not hot and humid then it’s raining and humid or it’s freezing (the A/C is blasting 24/7 when you’re indoors).

Monsoon season is rainy season which is when Singapore gets the most precipitation. Monsoon season lasts from October to March. It will consistently rain 3 times a day during monsoon season, once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Singapore is 1 degree away from the equator so if you go in the spring/summer/fall, bring sunblock if you don’t want to get sunburnt.

Transportation

The variety of public transportation is better than in Toronto and Waterloo. There are double decker buses, taxis and MRT (similar to the subway in Toronto). It’s

hard to rent a car or motorbike there and traffic drives on the opposite side when compared to Canadian driving. Public transportation is fast and easy. Some locals would be able to direct you if you’re lost but it’s mostly the foreigners (people who weren’t born and raised in Singapore) who would be able to help you the most with directions.

Why is this so? It’s because Singapore wasn’t built straight but rather curvy and roads can double back on itself. Most locals know how to get there themselves but wouldn’t be able to direct you there. It would be wise to have a detailed map of Singapore when you’re travelling around.

So how long do you need to explore this island nation? Typically the locals recommend 4 days however if you want to see and do

everything then a week would provide more than enough time to leisurely see Singapore.

By Teann Ho Former-WCRI member, Accountant, World traveler teann.ho@gmail.com

but don’t let that scare you away!

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Notable excursions outside the city include Lake Balaton and Lake Velence. These shallow lakes warm up quickly in the summer heat and are the ideal for fun days in the sun!

Destinations: (L to R) 1. Budapest Labyrinth 2. Fisherman’s Bastion 3. Magyar Chieftans 4. Lake Balaton 5. Hero’s Square 6. Szechenyi Baths

The Hungarian Parliament Building (bottom) is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe’s oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. - Google

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sense. The Night Safari is where you can see nocturnal animals in the evening.

Attractions

The districts that offer the most culture include Chinatown, Little India, Bugis, and Joo Chiat. Chinatown, Little India and Bugis have their own MRT stations and they’re within walking distance of each other. You can easily walk between Little India and Bugis. Chinatown is 12

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trict features the Cavenagh Bridge, Asian Civilization Museum, Victoria Theatre, The Arts House, Singapore Cricket Club, Old Supreme Court, New Supreme Court, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Chijmes (convent turned bars and restaurants), and the Armenian church.

different cuisines. The dishes that Singapore is well known for include laksa, fish head curry, prata, murtabak, stingray, chili crab, black pepper crab, crab bee hoon, rojak, satay, popiah, the list goes on. Singaporeans are foodies. The internet is littered with blogs about what and where to eat. There are online debates of which place has the best chili crab, laksa, murtabak, rojak, etc. If you talk to a group of local Singaporeans about the best place to eat, you can get a variety of differing opinions. For example char kway teow, which is a type of fried noodle dish. My favourite place that made it used to be located in Lau Pa Sat (a hawker center located in the Central Business District, Raffles Place mrt). However the quality there went down and I now recommend Zion Road River-

The shopping district is known as Orchard. Orchard Road is literally a line of malls on either side of the road and the malls carry designer stores like Prada, Miu Miu, Chanel, and Gucci. H&M recently opened it’s first store there in the year 2012. Takashimaya has a large outlet mall there. Likewise, Tang’s (famous local department store, similar to The Bay in Canada) has its flagship store on Orchard Road.

The Singapore Zoo and Night Safari are well worth a trip if you have the time. You can see pandas, mousedeer, manatees and other exotic animals at the Zoo in a really humane way. The Singapore Zoo doesn’t have cages in the conventional

the Infinity Pool is located. Unfortunately you now have to be a hotel guest in order to have access to the Infinity Pool. You can get free access to Skypark on Wednesday night if you go to KuDeTa (it’s a famous club in South East Asia).

Food

Due to its multiculturalism, Singapore boasts a variety of cuisines including its own local cuisine. Hawker centers are the places to go since aside from the affordable food, you can order a variety of

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eading week is coming up and for those of you who want to go somewhere or want to plan your grad trip, here’s a city nation to consider. Singapore is a diverse, multicultural city in Asia in which English is one of its main languages. You can go there, only knowing English, and be able to travel around just fine. While you’re there, you may encounter Singlish, which comprises of the local languages (Malay, Tamil, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Teochew).

renown for the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Sri Mariamman Temple, Masjid Jamae Chulia, Thian Hock Keng Temple, the Chinatown Heritage Building and the City Gallery where you can see a scale model of Singapore. You can also wander around the souvenir stalls and eat chicken rice at Maxwell Food Center (Anthony Bourdain went there). Meanwhile Bugis aka Kampong Glam has the Golden Dome Mosque (aka Masjid Sultan) and the Malay Heritage Center. You can also easily get shisha and middle eastern food there. Arab Street and Haji Lane are also famous streets for shopping and food. On the other hand, Little India is famous for its myriad of temples. The Tan House is a great example of Singaporean architecture which combines Chinese, Malay, Indian and Colonial architecture. Mustapha’s which is close to Farrer Park MRT is WalMart on steroids, the saying is “if you can’t find it at Mustapha’s, you won’t find it in Singapore!”. If you want history, the historic dis-

The rule of thumb is that if there`s a queue (and the longer the better) then you should eat there!

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Singapore R

Well known hotels in Singapore include MBS (Marina Bay Sands), Fullerton Hotel and Raffles Hotel. Raffles Hotel allegedly developed the Singapore Sling at its famous Long Bar. I’ve been to the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling (which was slightly overpriced) and if you don’t order the standard Singapore Sling but a variation called the Singapore Tropical Sling it will be made to order rather than premixed. Fullerton Hotel is right by the Merlion Park which features the mascot of Singapore, affectionately known as the Merlion. From Fullerton Hotel, You can see MBS across the body of water. MBS is a mega hotel which features a casino that’s open 24/7, a cinema, a shopping mall with designer stores, a skating rink, a food court, and an outdoor botanical gardens. Skypark which is the boat on top of MBS is where

side Hawker Center (a hawker center located in between Tiong Bahru and Clarke Quay, you have to bus or taxi to get there). However the first time I tried fried kway teow at Zion Road Hawker Center, I didn’t like it but the second time I went, a few months later, it was better quality.

Clubs

Singapore has a vibrant night life. The party district is known as Clarke Quay and it’s where many clubs are located such as Helipad, Attica, and Zouk. Another party district is located between the central business district

Currency: $1 CDN ≈ $1.25 Sing (CBD)w, MBS and Bugis. Clubs located there include KuDeTa, Pangaea, Avalon, Butter Factory, Mink, and New Asia Bar. St. James Power Station hosts several nightclubs including Bellini Room, Powerhouse and The Boiler Room. It`s a renovated power station turned into a night hot spot. Wednesday Night is Ladies night so ladies don’t have to pay the cover charge at many night clubs. Some night clubs also offer free entry on Thursdays. If you’re lucky enough to know people then you could get on the guest lists and get free entry on weekends and Friday nights. Also if you’re lucky, the last Thursday of the month is when there’s rooftop party at New Asia Bar in which you can party on the roof of a hotel!

Weather There’s

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