Hey there! Thanks for viewing my profile. :)

This is Lena from Singapore.

I make it a point to visit Saigon every year, it's like my second home.

Every trip I make to a Southeast Asian country is like a history lesson for me. I seek real life stories and honest interactions with people I cross path with.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I feel a certain sense of responsibility, in helping you to learn about everything you would like to know about Singapore - from daily life to politics to history, so that you will walk away confident in knowing that you have not just experienced Singapore but learnt about the country (*that said, my knowledge is exhaustive and limited. It is possible that some of you might even know more about singapore than I do!)

Please write to me at lena.lokey@gmail.com as I may not always log in onto CS!

Interests

I enjoy exploring. writing, learning and teaching. Joking, to make people laugh. Enjoying good food (which need not be expensive), learning about new cultures, etc.

• writing
• dining
• coffee
• politics
• traveling
• history
• sign language
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Iron Lady, Lincoln Lawyer, Les Miserable, Dead Poets Society, A Beautiful Mind, Freedom Writers, The King's Speech

Author: Kishore Mahbubani

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think i can only offer some Interesting/goofy travelling experiences:

1) Spending a night on Mae To Mountain in Northern Thailand while doing missions related work. It was freezing at night, and as i was not expecting the cold, all i brought was a tight fitting trench coat (for day wear) that i had to sleep in at night. I ended up awaking every hour from the violent shivering, while praying for dawn to come soon.

2) I was thrilled to discover that some vietnamese in HCMC could speak fluent cantonese. Bargaining became a breeze, and the locals became more chummy with me because they considered me to be one of them, like "tong yan" (same kind) and we communicated like distant relatives.

3) The first time i ever travelled alone was to Chiang mai to volunteer at an orphanage there. I found out that my luggage was severely overweight (>40kg), when one of my pack broke and i had to spend two hours repacking, shoving stuff into the hands of all the airport staff that came my way, and discarding some items. I almost missed my flight.

4) Signed up for a remote village trekking as a solo female traveller in Luang Prabang, Laos for my 21st birthday!!! Ended up meeting an amazing dutch lady who was also travelling by herself!

Teach, Learn, Share

Essentially, I enjoy learning about people. What makes people tick, what interests them, what they believe in... In the form of cultures and customs, religious practices, etiquette and politics.

Singlish

I can also do basic sign language (SEE2)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Laughter. Some goofy personal anecdotes. Companionship. Anything you would want from Singapore?

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Singapore