GRIP, Internships Abroad Unexpected Adventures - Where GRIP May Lead

Business in Singapore

While my time in Singapore was filled with extraordinary new opportunities, I also took advantage of my location as an island surrounded by many other countries throughout my GRIP placement. Consequently, with some proactive planning, I was able to stretch my funds to accommodate travel to a new country almost every weekend through my internship.

My first destination outside of Singapore was Hoi An, Vietnam. I traveled to Hoi An with another Penn student, Vanessa, and we explored the beautiful village right next to a river and a few miles from a sky-blue ocean. On the river each night, there is a Night Market where hundreds of shops and stands operate, selling all sorts of incredible commodities. Along the river were dozens of boats with lanterns of various colors, contributing to the communal ambiance.

Our next destination was Phuket, Thailand. This was a bigger trip where five of the Penn people in our program (including me) stayed with our friend Yash who lives in Singapore but often travels to Thailand when he is home. Phuket was a very relaxing experience; we went to a beach club where we saw incredible fire performers and even made some new friends who were visiting from India.

Our third destination was Melaka, Malaysia, which we visited as an entire program. In Melaka, we went to a Night Market which reminded me of Hoi An. We also explored the city during the day and went on a tour where we learned a tremendous amount about the history of Melaka. We were able to tour a traditional Malaysian house that the King and Queen of Malaysia had even visited.

My fourth and fifth destinations were particularly special to me for several reasons. These were the first destinations I had ever solo-traveled and were two places I had wanted to see for a long time.

My fourth destination was Siem Reap, Cambodia. Cambodia was a place I had long wanted to visit because of my desire to explore the thousands of temples at Angkor Wat, which is what I had planned to do for the entirety of my full day in Cambodia. When I arrived at the airport, I took a tuk-tuk (a carriage attached to a motorbike) to my hotel. My tuk-tuk driver and I actually became good friends and offered to show me around all of Angkor Wat the following day. Angkor Wat was the most incredible place I have ever seen. I could not nearly do it justice with my writing, and for anyone who wants to take a trip out East, I highly recommend stopping in Siem Reap.

My final destination was Bali, Indonesia. Of my many adventures in Bali, my favorite was arriving at 9 pm at my hotel, eating a quick dinner, napping for three hours, and then waking up at 1:30 am to drive to the starting point of my hike up Mount Batur, an active volcano. Climbing Mount Batur in the dark was perhaps the most incredible experience of my life thus far. With my tour guide, I reached the top of the mountain by about 5:30 am, where I was greeted with coffee. My tour guide then made me hard-boiled eggs using the volcano’s steam. I bought a bracelet at the top with beads made of volcanic ash from the last eruption and continue wearing it daily. It was a breathtaking experience, and I cannot begin to express my appreciation to GRIP for making this possible.

While there are hundreds of other stories I could tell from my summer abroad, I hope this provides an insight into all that is possible when traveling to new places and being open-minded to new experiences.