Workshop Venue
The workshop will be hosted on the campus of Yale-NUS College in Singapore. We will be meeting in the High Performance Computing Conference Room on the first floor of the Library. Note that the “first floor” is not the lowest floor that your approach from the main entrance of the College (since the campus was built on a slope); Chelsea will direct you on the first day as campus can be a bit of a maze. The library also has ample quiet working space for individual work. Campus is accessible for those who use wheelchairs etc., but if you have concerns, please chat with Chelsea.
Yale-NUS College is adjacent to the University Town complex of the National University of Singapore. UTown includes several dining halls, restaurants, a convenience store, and a Starbucks.
Hotel
Everyone is staying at the The Park Avenue Rochester, which is a short ~10min cab ride from Yale-NUS and conveniently near dining (both at a nearby mall and in Holland Village). One can walk from this hotel to campus in 30-40 minutes, but given the Singapore heat and occasional downpours, walking is not recommended. Chelsea is looking into hiring a shuttle bus to get you to/from campus; at least in the mornings since folks might want to do sightseeing or head to dinner in the evenings.
Getting Around/To Singapore
Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) is the international airport. It’s approximately 30 minutes away from Yale-NUS College/the hotel by car. Taxis to/from the airport run between $25-45 SGD.
Make sure you fill out the Singapore Arrival Card before you land in Singapore! You can fill it in at the airport, but the wifi situation there is not great. Masking is no longer required in airplanes/the airport.
By Car: The most convenient way to get to/from campus is via car. There are several cab companies (ComfortDelGro, SMRT, and others), as well as Grab, Gojek, and TADA (the local equivalents of Lyft/Uber). These all have smartphone apps that you can download; note that ComfortDelGro’s app is called CDG Zig. Masking is not required in taxis/private-hire cars in Singapore, but is very common and considered polite.
An important note about these apps is that in more public areas (near campus, around malls, near tourist sites, etc.) there are designated pickup points, and they will not pick you up at an arbitrary location. So make sure your phone’s location service is placing you at the correct pickup location when you hail the ride!
By Public Transportation: Singapore’s subway, the MRT, runs throughout the island, including between the airport and across the street from the hotel (go to Buona Vista station, use Exit C, and walk South). However, the nearest MRT stations to campus (Dover and Clementi) are approximately a 20 minute walk from Yale-NUS. Where the MRT doesn’t get close enough, there are plenty of buses. In addition to using an EZ-link card to load money for fares, you can use any foreign-issued contactless Visa or Mastercard to pay for public transit (though your bank’s foreign transaction fees apply). Masking is still required on public transportation!
Dining
Near Yale-NUS, there are a number of dining halls and restaurants in the UTown complex, all within a 5 minute walk.
Singapore is particularly famous for its hawker centers – buildings that house all varieties of southeast asian street food. Some of the hawker center stalls are famous for making a single dish, have Michelin stars, and have been using traditional recipes for generations (though the hawker centers/Singapore itself aren’t that old). “Chope” (reserve) a table with a tissue pack or umbrella, and then leave to order what you want and have it delivered to your table number. Hawker center food is quite cheap, at only a few SGD per dish. Most hawker centers do not sell alcohol and are not open particularly late. The aunties and uncles who most commonly run hawker stalls may not speak English very well, which can be challenging for people with dietary restrictions. Bring cash since many stalls do not take credit cards.
Restaurants, bars, and finer dining options that are relatively near campus (<20 minutes away) are in the neighbourhoods known as Holland Village (a more “local” feeling neighbourhood with many restaurants and bars), Dempsey Hill (renovated British military barracks; mainly nicer restaurants), Tiong Bahru (architecturally unique trendy neighbourhood), Orchard Road (famous for its high-end shopping), Kampong Glam (artier and more middle-eastern in flavour), Tajong Pagar (restaurants in old shop houses, Chinatown, and The Buddha Tooth Relic temple), and the Downtown Core (nearby museums, riverwalks, the bar that originated the Singapore Sling, and views across to Marina Bay Sands from the iconic Merlion statue).
Weather
Singapore’s weather is tropical. Average day time highs are about 32C (90F) and night time lows are about 27C (80F) year-round, and rarely deviate more than 2-3C (~5F) away from that. The humidity is similarly stable and somewhere between 70-90%. Most days you can expect one short-lived but strong downpour of rain. February is typically the “dry season” where we might actually go a week without rain, but it’s been wetter than usual this year. Indoor spaces are usually very well cooled.
Health & Safety
Singapore is a very modern English-speaking city-state that is exceedingly safe and easy to visit for foreigners. Masking is no longer required in Singapore, but is still quite common in public spaces. COVID-19 test kits are commonly available at drugstores etc. There is dengue fever in Singapore, so if you decide to visit some of the more jungly parts of the island, please do wear mosquito repellent. Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the Yale-NUS or NUS campus. If you have any concerns regarding heath, disability, safety, LGBTQ issues, etc., please do not hesitate to reach out the workshop organizers!