Eavesdropping

Unintentionally eavesdropping at foreign exchange students’ conversations makes me smile because they constantly remind me to make the best of every situation.  I mean, they are here as students but for the most part, I think they are travelling.  And since a number of them (at least the ones whose conversations I understand anyway) come from the west, they usually make Singapore as a homebase for their travels to the region.

A lot of them take the bus from U-town until the Central Library or Business.  And in that few minutes of bus trip, I usually pick up conversations that go something like these:

A: Hey, how are you doing?

B: Good, how are you?

A: Good.  I just came from Bali over the weekend. 

B: How was it?

A: It was awesome. The beach was really nice.  We also went to these rice terraces and like biked for the entire day.

A: So did you just come back today?

B: No, I came back yesterday.

A: Where did you go?

B: I went to KL and Malacca.

A: How long were you there?

B: I left Friday so I was there for around 5 days.

A: How did you find it?

B: Oh, it was great.  We basically ate a lot. I have a friend who was from there and he would bring us to a stall and say this is my favourite, and to another stall and say this is another favourite, and another favourite, and another.  I like the food there and it is really cheap.

A: How long was the travel?

B: I flew to KL but from KL to Malacca, it’s about 1.5 hour drive.  My friend has a car so we drove.

A: Did you like the place?

B: Well the locals love it because it’s relaxing.  But for a tourist, there is really nothing much to see.  By 8pm, the shops are already closed and there is no more food.

A: So what’s your travel plans this week?

B: My friends are planning to go to Cambodia for the weekend but Im still thinking if I should go or not.

A: I went there two weeks ago and I learned that this season is very hot. They usually go up to 40C but the good thing is there is no humidity there. Unlike here, it’s hot but also very humid.  I still cant get used to the heat. Im sweating like sh*t!

Aah...the joys of traveling and adjusting to a new place.