Homestay a.k.a THE BEST DAY EVER!

Saturday was home stay day for all of the SEAS Participants! We were divided into groups and paired with a Singaporean who took us a long for a day of activities. Lucky for me, I got the best group and best host, so the day was AMAZING!

We were going to go to the beach, but the weather was kind of gross in the morning, so Joe, our host, took us prawn fishing instead! That was the best decision of the day. While the beach would have been fun if the weather was nice, prawn fishing was a really unique and fun experience that is hard to get in Texas.

First we went to a neighborhood community area for breakfast. We all got prata which is basically a pancake like thing that you can order plain or cooked with various fillings/toppings, such as eggs, cheese, and strawberries. I ordered one plain and one with banana's and they came with some curry sauce. They were DELICIOUS! It was by far the best breakfast I have had so far.

Next we drove to the Marina Country Club to catch some prawns. The country club was off in a rural area of Singapore. I know what you are thinking... Singapore has rural areas? I didn't realize it either! But that is what was so unique about the experience; we were driving through and area that is not accessible to tourists.

The prawn catching was so fun and interesting! Lisa, Pooja, Heather and I were not the most talented prawn catchers, but we all caught at least a couple. Joe on the other hand would catch one within 10 minutes of starting his turn with the rods. We used worms and chicken heart as bait, which was absolutely disgusting; I just washed my hands about 7 times throughout the experience.

Chicken Heart (gross)

 I caught the first prawn of the day, which was exciting!

 I also caught a giant prawn after that!

After our prawn catching time was up, it was time to prepare them to be food. We washed them and put them on skewers while they were still alive. Eek! Someone said cool blooded animals can't feel pain, hopefully that is true?

Next we coated them in salt....

... cooked them over a fire....

....peeled them...

.... and ate them! They were pretty tasty actually. It was the first time I have eaten something that I killed.

After a snack of prawns, we were pretty hungry, so Joe took us to a local place in a neighborhood near his house to have his favorite food, pig intestines. They were actually not bad; they tasted just like meat, only much chewier.

The whole group enjoying Pig Intestines (except for Pooja the vegetarian)

Then he took us back to his house so that we could shower and relax before going out for dinner. He lives in a private home, which is very unusual for Singapore. The house was GORGEOUS and much different from American homes. There were 3 outdoor sitting areas and the gardens were full of beautiful fruits and flowers. All of the wall of the living room were glass panels that could be (and were) pushed away so that the room was nearly outside.

He showed us all of his UNC stuff and was really excited about it, which was awesome. He had studied at UNC during the fall semester of 2011 and it was so nice to see that he loved it so much. He even said that he wished he had gone to school overseas after experiencing UNC. His favorite things about UNC were the people and the school spirit; he was a cheerleader at UNC and really enjoyed getting to cheer at the football games and all of the friends he made on his cheer squad. After showering, meeting his family, and hanging out for a bit, we went of to Timbre, a restaurant/bar with live music at night!

I wore my NUS shirt, and he wore his UNC shirt, so that made for an irresistible photo op!

 We got drinks, roasted duck pizza, and calamari at Timbre, and chatted while enjoying the great cover band. It was a great end to an awesome day! The next day we learned what the other groups had been up to. They got to do some pretty cool stuff, but our group was hands down the best!

Heather and Joe

Lisa, Pooja and I

The Girls!