Singapore/ NUS 101- the pre-departure crucials

Well ahoy ahoy everyone from the ever-bustling Singapore!

Yes, you are reading the first virgin-guaranteed blog post of a never-have-I-ever-done-blogging-before exchanger from Finland to Singapore this Spring 2014! Welcome to my ramblings about the ups and downs in the land of Merlion:)

In this first post, I'll just cover some official registration stuffs and housing choices. In the following posts, you'll gradually see my exposure of Singaporean quirkiness in terms of food, mentality and all my eye-opening experiences with other exchangers from all over the world^^

First, let's go through some of the "red tapes" paperwork that you need to deal with:) Guess what, it is incredibly smooth with Singapore, even for a third-world Vietnamese citizen like myself, whose passport usually causes a suspicious look on border control guys:P

Practically speaking, Student's Pass, after the University has accepted your exchange application and has arranged everything for your In-Principal Approval (IPA) Letter, you will just follow their instructions, apply and pay everything online (freaking cheap, we are talking about 90 SGD for BOTH Visa & Student's Pass- soooo in love with Singapore about this matter!) to the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) website. And hell yeah, 3 days only, you'll get your In-Principal Approval Letter.

Afterwards, if you need a visa to enter Singapore, the University will send a PDF version of this Letter to your e-mail, and you'll use it to enter Singapore. In my case ( n in the cases of all Finns), this is not necessary, so all you've gotta do is to fill the Immigration Card on the plane to Singapore, give it to the checkpoint person, and then give the Departure Card to the ICA people arranged by the University on campus to convert it to the Student's Pass later. Just remember to print ALL necessary documents, online payment receipts, etc indicated in the Registration Guide and the university e-mails, and take photos BEFOREHAND, just to save yourself some troubles with finding the printing and photo places in the huge campus of NUS in the first few days:)Anyway, you don't have to even freak out if you happen to forget any documents or your photos, on the registration date, NUS & the Immigration Authority will have everything there for you: forms, photo-taking corner (cost something like 5 SGD I think), printout machine, etc.

Second, yes, the housing, the ONE crucial matter of your next four-and-a-half-month, and you don't wanna screw it:) In NUS, exchange students are more guaranteed to get on-campus housing, as compared to NTU or SMU (yeah, this guy doesn't even have a housing campus concept>_<). After you have received the PDF acceptance letter from NUS confirming that you have been allocated an on-campus housing, you'll need to apply to their stipulated system within certain time frame with three preferences.

TIP: Check out the campus map to locate the available housing options, so that you can make a prudent choice about your desired locations (near classes,good facilities,etc). Also, check out the NUS Housing page http://nus.edu.sg/ohs/future-residents/graduates/utown/rooms.php (for instance, this is exactly how my room looks like in UTown Residence, in a 4-room apartment!) and look at all the accommodation condition, prices, etc. Generally, the Halls of Residence (like Sheares, Raffles, King Edward, etc) mainly has local/degree students with lots of their own activities & a COMPULSORY meal plan; PGPR (Prince George Park's Residence) has a lot of Chinese/Vietnamese students and in fact is in a pretty run-down condition with hot & no-wind-at-all rooms, whereas UTown is the newest with the most exchangers on campus. So yeah, depending on whatever suits you,just apply for it^^

And here's the vital part: ALWAYS choose UTown Residence/Tembusu College/RC4 or any complex that is IN UTOWN (aircon or non-aircon, it doesn't matter really that much, you'll get used to the weather in no time) if you are to enjoy the en suite lifestyle and mingle with other exchangers! Rumor has it that as NUS wants to impress the world about how cool a university it is, it will put as many exchangers as possible into the most fabulous on-campus student's residence - the UTown Residence:) Mostly in these two buildings, there are either exchangers or graduate students, so you basically live in a super duper international neighborhood with people from all corners of the world! and there are so-called Resident Assistants (RAs) in these two buildings who organize very interesting activities FOR FREE or at a very negligible price for exclusively UTown residents. Some highlights include the Tea Art Appreciation session at the famous tea house in Singapore (visited by Queen Elizabeth II!), museum exhibition, Dining in the Dark, Professional Camera Workshop, Fruite tasting sessions, etc. Just make sure you check the bulletin board and your NUS e-mail regularly, you'll seriously be bombed with many invitations from time to time!

My room in UTown Residence costs something like 350 euros/month, much much more expensive than what I paid for in Helsinki, bur considering that I could live on campus in a furnished apartment, with weekly cleaning& toiletry service (living room, kitchen & bathroom), water/electricity/fast Internet included, within walking distance to food courts, gym, swimming pool, classes and with this is very very affordable!


Here are some photographic proofs for you!

Utown Residence building view from the NUS Infinity Pool

My lovely bedroom! I shared the apartment with 3 other wonderful roommates from Sweden, India and Tunisia!

NUS Utown Green and panoramic view

I've heard from the International Office Representative that from next year onwards (2014/2015), the housing-on-campus situation is unfortunately more constrained for most students and particularly for exchange students. The reason is that NUS will close down some of their dilapidated housing residences for renovation, and thus the housing supply will plummet:( Therefore, anyone who is going to NUS for exchange next year, be prepared for off-campus housing and get to know as many NUS exchangers from Aalto as possible to arrange the Plan B housing option soon enough!

After a 10-day pampering myself with my family treats in Vietnam, I officially set off to little Singapore on 07.01. Three weeks have passed since I officially set foot on this little yet remarkable island to start my fabulous journey with National University of Singapore.The weather has been exceptionally nice, ranging from 21-30 degrees Celcius only! Yeah, but this is only a weird exception to the weather here, all the locals are like"WTF" when we ask them about the weather here! I'm still waiting for the moment when this UTown Green turns Yellow, as many people have talked about:))

That's all for now, in the upcoming blogs, I'll have some comprehensive discussions about Singaporean culture, food, NUS courses and on-campus lifestyle, as well as some remarkable traveling experience!

See you soon^^