One of the bad habits that I've developed from travelling to so many countries over the past several years is adapting and mimicking my accent to match that of the locals of the country in which I am living in. The most amusing one of all is Singlish – Singaporean English, that is. It is grammatically wrong, has the intonation in the strangest places in a sentence, and almost always ends with a distinctive exclamation. The three most common are leh, lah, ah, and what.

I distinctively remember suddenly pausing while talking to a friend just to discover myself speaking in a completely strange accent. A typical Singlish conversation typically sounds like this:

"What happen yesterday?"

"I go shopping at Raffles lah."

"There's something there for everyone, leh."

"The price too high for me. No nice dresses there, what."

"You should go to Serangoon lah. Good price there ah."

Another bad habit that I have when I am in Singapore is eating every dish offered during the Mega Food Festival. During this time, chains of numerous eateries spring up, offering free and / or discounted food from various parts of the island and of different cultures. Some of the dishes that I make sure to try are the Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice), Oseng-Oseng Wortel (Stir fried carrots), White Curry Jackfruit, Durian fruit salad, and Singaporean-style noodles with tofu. In Singapore, the Durian is nicknames the king of all fruits and is definitely the tastiest and most popular. I personally enjoy watching people's faces resemble different degrees of confusion when I discuss my love for Singaporean Durians.

Tasting good food from the island is one thing, but shopping in it is another. There are an unimaginable number of malls spread out all over the island, mostly located in the main hubs of the city. Sales and Discount signs are always up, and are quite ubiquitous during the Grand Shopping Fest. I remember spending hours together in malls, just walking around to look at pretty things and hopefully even convince my parents to buy some items.

I don't know if it is just the appeal, but there has never been a time when my family has spent a day in a mall without buying at least several mall items that when you pack them into the large shopping bags and stack them on top of each other, we could almost create a tower taller than my father (who is actually very tall). Once, my sister and I spotted two nice belts that seemed to sit there, waiting to be bought by the perfect fitter (ahem my sister and I). So we each took belt, and after our parents' approval, proceeded over the counter to pay for it. I got distracted and ended up leaving my belt on some wooden chair that was near the queue. My sister's belt never ended up on the counter. Instead, when we finished paying for our other purchases, our family proceeded towards the main door to leave the mall. My sister took her belt and tagged along, until we heard a loud beeping sound and security guards rushing towards us, whisking my sister away. I thought she was getting kidnapped and started running after them (somehow the fact that the men were from security didn't register in my brain). Two hours later, my sister and I walked out of the "interrogation room," solemn, only to see my parents still laughing over the incident near the entrance.

There is always something to laugh about every trip to Singapore, and I've recently realized that it is also the case with many other people who go to the island. I always feel like home whenever I come back to the island, and am proud to show any friends around Singapore and introduce them to all the wonderful things it has offer.