Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Singapore’s January 15th, 2010 Eclipse

January 15, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

I was looking forward to this solar eclipse. I’ve never even seen one before and even though this wasn’t going to be a full solar eclipse it would still have been a first for me.

Somehow, I managed to let it slip my mind, and at 4:20 I found myself staring at my computer screen, scanning Twitter. Then I was making a mad scramble for my camera and I ran outside to try to get a photo or a video of the eclipse.

Unfortunately, there was nothing but clouds. It was a bit cooler out than usual. It was also a bit darker than usual. Well, not even that really. It wasn’t much darker than on a normal cloudy day. I took a photo of where the sun appeared to be with my camera. Unfortunately, my camera and Ubuntu don’t want to play nice together, so later I snapped this picture of the cloudy sky with my iPhone to share.

It seems like every time there’s an eclipse, Singapore has cloudy weather that prevents me from enjoying it. The last eclipse I tried to view was a lunar eclipse and it was cloudy that night as well. Downfall of a tropical climate I guess!

Hopefully I’ll get to see one sometime soon.

Cleaning Up After Yourself At Fast Food Establishments

January 14, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

The past two years saw a similar campaign for food courts, but they were not well-received.”Encouragement has been done a lot, in schools, in army camps, in polytechnics, in universities, everywhere. But once they go to a food court, they have the habit of just (leaving the trays behind after eating), which I think is not very good,” said Sim.

Six fast-food companies – McDonald’s, KFC, Mos Burger, Subway, Superdog, and Long John Silvers – will have stickers on their tables for the rest of this year to remind customers to clear the trays and make everyone’s dining experience a pleasant one.

…

“I guess if it’s in the CBD area, there’s a larger concentration of local yuppies, the expatriates who are more aware of the needs of the diner after them. In the heartlands, people are closer to home, and they are used to domestic help, so probably they are still in that mind frame that people will clean up after them,” said Chan.

via channelnewsasia.com

This is something that surprised me when I moved to Singapore. In fast food restaurants, people simply got up and walked away, leaving their mess on the table. It seemed horribly rude.

I spent some time thinking about it and I realized that there’s really nothing that rude about it. If you’re in a restaurant, you’re there to be served. Part of the reason you eat out is that you want to enjoy a good meal and not have to clean up after yourself. That’s part of what you’re paying for.

So, why is it that in the US we always clean up the trays after ourselves? There are no signs. It’s just what my parents did and what others around me did, so I did it too. There’s no bonus for cleaning up after yourself. No one will call the police if you don’t do it.

I try to clean up behind myself most of the time, except in hawkers. Occasionally a cleaner comes by in a fast food restaurant and clears the table before I’ve gotten up to do it myself. It’s kind of nice, but at the same time I feel guilty.

I just hope that this lazy attitude towards cleaning up after myself doesn’t stick with me after I leave Singapore, or I could find someone spitting in my hamburger at a fast food restaurant I go to frequently.

One last thing I wanted to point out is that if this does go through here in Singapore, it may reduce the cost of meals in the long-run, but I doubt it. The chains will probably keep the prices high to increase their bottom line. On top of that, it will cause people to lose their jobs in a time when people should be thinking about how to create them, for the sake of the economy and the livelihood of families.

When Dogs Go Wild: A Singapore Misadventure

January 12, 2010 Bradley Farless9 Comments

The afternoon was pretty much like any other. I was getting ready to go out to dinner when I realized that I needed to wash a load of laundry. So, I went down to the laundry area with my basket, sorted the clothes into piles, put in a load and started it up. When I turned around to put everything else back into the basket I noticed the dog trying to chew on a piece of my wife’s clothing.

So, this is where things got a bit ugly. It was a bit shocking too, since it was so unexpected and happened so fast. I picked up the end that was sticking out of his mouth and gave it a little tug, but he wasn’t letting go. I told him, “Let go!” and gave another little tug. Then he growled and before I realized what was going on, the dog had let go and had clamped down on my arm. I yelled, partially in pain and partially in surprise and gave a yank to get free of him. His bite was brutally hard and as I got my arm free I gave him a good solid whack to get him away from me.

Then I was looking down at my disaster of an arm. If you look closely you can see the imprints of his teeth towards the left of the obviously broken skin.

The maid rushed out and quickly hustled the dog into its kennel and then looked at my arm. She insisted that I should go see a doctor and called the homeowner. After hearing what happened, the homeowner also insisted I go. I was a bit reluctant, and my stomach had been growling just previous to this incident, so I washed the wound and put some alcohol on it and got something to eat while waiting to hear from my wife. After my wife heard what happened she told me to stop being hardheaded and just see the doctor. So… I complied.

The polyclinic in Pasir Ris near our place was closed, as it was about 6 PM, so my wife suggested we meet in Tampines and go to a polyclinic there. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying much attention and got on the right bus, but going in the wrong direction. I hopped on the 81 all ready to go and then after about 20 minutes I realized I was in Serangoon instead of Tampines.

After switching buses and getting a good seat on the upper deck of the 72 heading to Tampines Interchange my iPhone unexpectedly gave me the finger. Without the usual 20% battery warning it simply shut itself down and told me to plug it in when I tried to restart it. I could’ve sworn that thing had read at 80% battery before I left the house. Just not my day. I felt a bit naked without access to my iPhone and it made it worse that I was holding it in my hand but couldn’t do anything with it. I considered asking a girl using her laptop if I could plug my phone in, but that would have been a bit ridiculous. Not to mention I didn’t have the USB cable with me anyway. Oh iPhone, you’ve spoiled me.

Luckily my wife was waiting right where the bus dropped me off at the interchange, so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time wandering around looking for her in our typical meeting spots. We made our way to the clinic that’s just across the street from Tampines 1. It’s called Healthway Tampines Central Clinic. If any of you guys ever get hurt and you’re in the Tampines area, I really recommend this place. The staff was all very courteous and warm, especially the doctor, Dr. Vivien Ang. She made the process a lot more pleasant than it could have been.

I wound up getting the wound cleaned and bandaged.

Then I got jabbed with a tetanus shot. Hadn’t had one of those in a while! I also got some Curam 625 mg antibiotics that look like horse pills. The things are massive. I thought I was going to gag on the first one. I’ll have to start breaking them in half. I also got some Bactroban mupirocin, which is antibiotic cream.

I was kinda worried about rabies, but the dog is a house dog, not a stray, and looks healthy enough. I also found out that rabies has been wiped out in Singapore. The last case was in 1953, before Singapore was even an independent country. That’s a relief! Oh, and just as an odd coincidence, that last case of rabies was a human case involving a Caucasian man.

One positive thing I can take away from this is that Singapore’s health care system is very affordable, at the polyclinic level at least. I have no experience with Singapore’s major hospitals, but my bill was small. Very small. Especially when I think about how much the same care would’ve cost me in the US. We’re talking a difference of hundreds of dollars here. Most of that would’ve been taxes and surcharges and inflated medication prices. I know this is off-topic, but I hope that whatever Obama’s doing gets the healthcare industry under control in the US. If it’s possible to have cheap, quality healthcare in Singapore the same should be true of the US.

This also gave me a deeper appreciation for my cats. They may be snotty sometimes, or aloof, but they’re also very affectionate, very cute, and they don’t try to gnaw my arm off!

I never was much of a dog person to begin with, though there are some small ones I don’t mind, like the one I saw in Thailand, but now I suppose I like them even less. I know it’s not right to judge all dogs based on the actions of one dog, but I suppose this last photo can kinda sum up my feelings towards dogs right now:

Finding Common Ground Through Community Cats in Singapore

January 11, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

It’s amazing how friendships can start over something small.

There’s a cat that lives under a block that we pass by on our way home from the Pasir Ris MRT station. My wife had found it one day while jogging and since the cat was very friendly she started bringing a small bit of cat food with her to give it when she passes by. One day, she saw two girls feeding the cat as well and they struck up a conversation.

That was a few weeks ago. Over the weekend, we met up with them for coffee and later sat around playing with the cat and feeding it while talking. It’s amazing how well we get on with these two girls that we just met. We became ‘friends’ on Facebook and even got invited to a wedding. All because we all enjoy looking after a cat.

There was a survey result I saw a week or so ago saying that in Singapore, expats have an easy time making friends, but it’s often with other expats. They don’t typically mingle with the locals. I’m sure people could infer a lot of negative things from that fact, but I think it’s just a matter of not finding a common ground to start from.

Most of the expats in Singapore are from countries where life is tougher and they may see Singaporeans as pampered and not feel that they would have anything in common with them. So, they might not initiate a conversation to get to know someone. On top of that there’s the natural boundary of being from different cultures. Singapore has a long way to go, but it’s a more watered down mix of cultures than what expat workers may be used to where they’re from.

For me, I guess I just haven’t had much interest in getting to know locals. Well, I don’t avoid it. I just don’t go out seeking it. Besides the two girls we met through the cat, the only other Singaporeans I know well (that are in Singapore) are the family we live with. They’re a great bunch of people. I have a feeling I’m missing out on a lot by not getting to know more of the local population.

New Year’s Resolutions

January 3, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless6 Comments

Well, it’s the beginning of a new year, 2010. This is the time to reflect on the past year, evaluate what you’ve done and then make new resolutions. My holiday weekend was packed! I went out to meet friends for dinner, did some shopping, visited Little India and Mustafa for the first time, went to a birthday party and still tried to find some time to relax at home with my wife. With all of that going on, I hadn’t had much time to think about resolutions, so when I did finally put some thought to it tonight I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t take a lot of thought or soul searching. The resolutions I needed to make for this year were obvious.

Later this year I’ll finally be departing Singapore in pursuit of academic success at De La Salle University in Manila where I’ll be taking up Japanese studies. The curriculum looks rigorous but I think I’ll have an OK time of it, because it’s something I’m interested in already. Part of that program will be learning the Japanese language. By the end of the degree program I should be ready to take the JLPT4, which is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 4 (the lowest end).

Hiragana:

In addition to the two alphabets above, there are a little under 5000 officially used kanji, which are borrowed Chinese characters that form syllables or stand for words. Not all of them are in common usage, but I should know 300 of them at least by the end of this degree program.

To that end, my first resolution is to get a head start and continually stay ahead of the game when it comes to character memorization and vocabulary improvement. I’ve found a great site to get started with too. It’s called Smart.fm.

One of the things we bought over the weekend was a new pair of running shoes for myself. Since I got out of the Army I haven’t been too keen on keeping up with my physical fitness. I started to put on weight that I then had to lose, but just being thin isn’t enough for me. I want that physical fitness back. So, I got a new, colorful pair of running shoes. Some of you may have seen this photo in my Twitter stream.

Hopefully I can get myself toned again. I probably won’t put as much effort as I’d like into running due to an old ankle injury that still bothers me, but that won’t stop me from trying. I remember when I was in training in the Army one of the instructors told us, as we struggled on a long, long run, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Well, that’s probably not the case for me since it’s the result of an injury, but even so I’ll try to bear a little pain to get back in shape.

So, I guess it boils down to getting back in shape and kicking ass at learning Japanese, both of which are easier said than done. Any of you guys taking on hard resolutions for the year?

Singapore’s 2009 New Year’s Eve Fireworks

December 31, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Walking through CitiLink Mall to the Esplanade area was a minor nightmare. The place was jam packed with people. After we finished our dinner at ‘New York, New York’ we took a break at the restroom and then braved the crowds. It wasn’t too bad until we got to the escalator that goes down, where the sign that says Esplanade is. There was a HUGE crowd down there and it only got worse. The pictures are a bit out of order but they’re just to give you an idea of the size of the crowds. In them you can see the busted escalator on the left side. Notice the people looking back behind them as the escalator slowly moves down instead of up.

Part of the problem was that some of the escalators were broken. So many people were trying to use them at once that a few of them gave out and started to slowly go backwards, which could have caused injuries. Security guards and eventually police officers showed up to help direct people around the broken escalators. We used the stairs mostly. As we got to the top of the stairs in the above photo, the security guard at the top started telling people to come up one at a time so the escalator wouldn’t go backwards. I guess if too many people got on it the weight would make it move. One at a time? Better to just use the stairs.

All of these photos are from areas that are underground. CitiLink Mall itself is underground if you’re not familiar with it. By the time we got to the top of the last flight of stairs I was damned glad to see the sky over my head again. Not to mention it was a lot cooler. With so many people down there it was hot and sweaty and… smelly.

When we got to the escalators that open onto Esplanade Waterfront we found it barricaded. Apparently that area had already filled completely and we had to find an alternative. Luckily, following the crowd worked this time. There wasn’t much choice either. With the massive flow of people the only reasonable way to go was to the exit by Esplanade Park or down into the MRT station.

When we got up to the park we wandered around a bit and I wound up using the “Maps” app on my iPhone so we could get our bearings. We’d never even been down there. I want to go again during the day when there are less people. It looks like a nice part of Singapore.

We almost walked down into the park, but I saw some people moving on the bridge through the trees so we doubled back and walked up there. I figured it would be better to have a higher vantage point. If we staid in the park the bridge would have obstructed part of our view. Later I looked at the park behind where we ended up sitting and saw that it was completely packed out with people. The small bridge between the park and the Fullerton Hotel area was packed too.

We did try to get over towards Fullerton One, as per Mr. Brown’s instructions in his video about where to find the best free spots to view the show, but it was blocked off. The area wasn’t as full as the bridge we were on but I guess it was full enough that they didn’t want any more people there. So, we doubled back and wound up sitting on the guard rail on the far side of the bridge from where the fireworks were being shown.

It proved to be a great spot after all. We had a good view and I didn’t have to move my camera back and forth too much to capture all of the fireworks on video.

Speaking of the video, here it is, for your viewing pleasure!

I thought they did a pretty good job with the fireworks. It was the first time I’d seen any in person since I was a kid in New York City. I’ve been in NYC on quite a few New Year’s Eves, but typically we just watch the show on TV to avoid the crowds.

The crowds as we tried to leave were rough. Brutal even. People were jamming together trying to force their way through as fast as they could. I’m not sure what the hell happened but I heard a woman screaming like a banshee. A lot of people stopped to look but we kept pushing through. Also, people were hopping the barricades on the bridge to try to find quicker routes on the side, where the pedestrian walking area is. Perhaps they got caught up in the moment and the revelry of welcoming a new year, but a few girls in miniskirts hopped the barricade as well and flashed a few dozen people in the process. Hey, I wasn’t complaining.

After the fireworks were over it took us almost an hour to get off the bridge and down into the Raffles MRT station. Oddly enough, the police had the areas set up into intentional bottlenecks. I think it must have been to prevent there from being too many people in the MRT station at once. The train was surprisingly uncrowded.

A short time later we were back in Pasir Ris, topping off the evening with an iced kacang and some cold drinks.

New Year’s Dinner at ‘New York, New York’ at CityLink Mall

December 31, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

We were running behind when it came time for the fireworks show so we had to haul ass down to the Esplanade area without stopping on the way for dinner. Luckily, there’s a ‘New York, New York’ restaurant in CityLink Mall, which you walk through to get to the Esplanade area.

The last time we ate at ‘New York, New York’ it was the DownTown East location and it left something to be desired. I guess it was just what we chose to eat that time though, because our New Year’s Eve dinner was EXCELLENT.

We started off with an appetizer of dry-spiced spare ribs.

Then we moved on to our main course! We both had fajitas. My wife had beef and I got the chicken and beef combo (pictured above). They tasted great, and they even came with guacamole. I hadn’t had guacamole in quite a while so that was a nice treat and the strips of beef tasted great!

Unfortunately we let our eyes get bigger than our stomachs and we weren’t able to finish everything, but hey, it was New Year’s Eve so what the hell? Gotta be a little decadent sometimes right?

The place was packed. We had to wait on a table when we got there. Even so, we managed to get in and out in about an hour. At 10:15 PM we started heading for the Esplanade. It was madness. You’ll see it in the next post. I’m just waiting on the video to finish uploading to YouTube. I recorded the entire fireworks show so it’s taking a bit of time.

Say Cheeze, Tampines 1

December 30, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

My wife and I finally got around to trying this place out. I’d actually decided not to eat there because the decor is hideous. I mean, I want to be nice, but there’s really no excuse for how horribly ugly the place was decorated. So, I’d written it off. It didn’t look that appealing. I know someone is thinking something ‘cheezy’ about books and covers, but when it comes to food, appearance is important.

So, I never really paid attention to the place until about a week ago when someone I know told me the food there is good. A few days later we happened to be in Tampines 1 and realized it was time for dinner, so we started thinking about where we wanted to eat. Then I remembered what the guy had said about Say Cheeze and we decided to give it a shot.

When we first glanced over the menu we weren’t that impressed but we couldn’t think of anywhere else to eat so we sat down and ordered. We were very surprised. I wish I’d brought my regular camera. These are just from my iPhone.

The dishes we ordered had an upgrade ‘combo’ deal. For 5.90 SGD (4.90 on weekdays) we got a drink and a choice of soup. The add-on price seemed kind of high until we saw the soups.

My wife’s minestrone soup was very, very good. She let me try it. Seems like I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was really thick and had pieces of pasta and vegetable in it.

I asked for the cream of mushroom soup. It wasn’t watered down at all. It was also very thick and could’ve been a light lunch by itself if it came with a piece of bread.

The soups were a real treat. They reminded me of the soups we used to get at OrganiCafExperience in Century Square’s basement level, before it closed.

The main dishes:

My wife's mushroom stuffed ravioli. — My wife’s mushroom stuffed ravioli.

The sauces were delicious and the servings were just the right size. I can’t believe how good the food is there, considering the way the place looks and the relatively low cost of the meals. We’ll definitely be going back!

Example of Figure Photography in Singapore

December 29, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

One subculture of Japan is people who have a serious fascination with figurines. I’m not talking about the Precious Moments porcelain figures your grandma keeps in her cupboard either. I’m talking about anime or manga related figurines. These collectors sometimes go above and beyond simply filling shelves with their favorite figurines. They sometimes take a figurine with them wherever they go and take photos of it along with the background scenery. That’s some hardcore fandom right there!

There are a lot of anime and manga fans all over the world. There are even people that collect wall scrolls and figures. I’d sort of expected this particular hobby to be a Japan-only thing, for fear of being socially ostracized. I was wrong! I saw a group of young guys sitting next to the dome covering the Orchard MRT entrance in front of Ion with cameras and figurines out. They were busy positioning their figurines in the perfect poses while taking photos of them against the backdrop of the Christmas shopping crowds, the lights and the mall.

Well, I enjoy anime and manga, to some extent, but this is a bit over the line for me. Still, can’t help but respect their boldness for not caring what other people think and enjoying their hobby.

The guy was nice enough to let me take these photos of his figurine. Does anyone know what anime or manga this character is from?

If you’re into this sort of thing and want to find more about it, the biggest sites I can think of off the top of my head are Dannychoo.com and also his site specifically for figures, Figure.fm. I didn’t see anything specifically about figure photography in Singapore, but you might try this site: Singapore Anime News Network. The link goes to their forum section.

Are Singaporean Importers Hiding Nutritional Information?

December 28, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Imported goods in Singapore come with a label that shows who imported the product, their address, where the product is from and other miscellaneous information. After living here for so long I’d gotten used to seeing them, but one day I was looking at my jar of Peter Pan peanut butter and I wondered why they had covered up the nutritional information with another label that also shows nutritional information. It seemed kind of pointless, so I slowly peeled back the sticker to see what was underneath.

Oddly enough, the importer relabeled the product with incorrect nutritional information. In the photo above you can see that the importer label doesn’t show the potassium at all, and it also incorrectly shows how much of the daily percentage of recommended niacin the product contains. It rates it at 20%, instead of 15%.

It isn’t just the peanut butter labels that were changed. There were other food items I checked where the value of how much of a certain substance in the food was changed. For example, I think one reported there being a lesser amount of iron in the product than the original label indicated. Do the importers open the products and extract the iron? I doubt it.

These are both based on a 2,000 calorie daily intake, so what’s the reason? Do Singaporeans, as multiracial as the country is, need less niacin than other human beings?