Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

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  • Misbehavior on Public Transportation in Singapore

    [Update 15 June 2012: Peoples’ behavior when getting on and off trains really isn’t that much better in New York City.  In fact, it’s about the same, or maybe worse.  I suppose that’s a “grass is always greener” thing, because I may have been remembering NYC better than it was while in Singapore, or I may be remembering Singapore better than it was now that I have to deal with commuting in NYC every day.  The trains still smelled worse in Singapore, though.  I can’t forget that day my eyes burned and my wife got nauseous and we had to get off the train and wait for the following one to avoid becoming physically ill.  Not that weird situations don’t happen in NYC, like vomit, but it’s just much more infrequent.]

    I’m sure that at some point, anyone interested in Singapore has read a post about people doing things that are, basically, retarded when dealing with Singapore’s transit systems.  After living in Singapore for over a year, I think it’s time for me to weigh in on the debate.  So, here’s my list!

      1) When there’s a problem with your EZ-Link card, don’t stand in front of the turn-style scanning it over and over … and over … and over … and over … and over.  Obviously there’s something wrong with your card, so after at most three attempts, get the hell out of the way and let other people through! Don’t just stand there looking stupid, annoying everyone else that’s trying to pass through to either get in or get out of the MRT station.  There’s a customer service desk usually located less than 10 feet away from the turn-styles in MRT stations.  Use it.
      2) This next one is a classic and is what people complain about most.  The people, usually older women, that stand directly in front of the train doors as it arrives.  Let me demonstrate with this handy image that I borrowed from this site.

    Board MRT Confusion

      As you can see, it’s made very plain to people where they should stand.  Obviously common sense wasn’t good enough and the lines had to be put on the floor to demonstrate how to be courteous and let people off the train before getting on.  On top of that most train doors have images of local actors repeating the warning to let passengers alight from the train before attempting to board.  It doesn’t really help though.
      Here are some photos from the Outram Park Interchange MRT station that should help illustrate this point to people who’ve never been in Singapore:
    Wait Let Me Come Out First
    Wait Let Me Come Out First
    Don't Play Play Let Me Come Out First
    Don’t “Play Play”. Let Me Come Out First
    Lines on platform floor at MRT train doors.
    Lines on platform floor at MRT train doors.
      3) This is something that can apply in all situations, but is especially annoying if you’re in an enclosed area like a train or bus.  Don’t play your music aloud.  There’s a reason portable music players are sold with headphones.  Even if you want your life to have a soundtrack, it doesn’t mean the rest of us want to hear it.  Respect the people that are stuck being around you.  Ya, it’s a free world, but that doesn’t mean you should be rude.
      4) This follows suit with #3.  Mobile calls can come at any time, but it doesn’t mean people in the front of the bus should be able to follow along with your conversation when you’re sitting in the back seat.  Have some volume control on your voice as well, ok?  You’re not making yourself look important by talking about your mergers or financial transactions either.  You’re still just being annoying.
      5) This one is perhaps the most deadly of all, and has been addressed recently by an advertising campaign in the trains:
    Stop The Horror With Soap and Water
    Stop The Horror With Soap and Water
      Please, do stop the horror with soap and water.  To paraphrase someone I know, if you stink like old rotting flesh at 7:00 AM, sure it’s impressive, but it’s still disgusting.  Really disgusting.  I’ve gotten on trains in Singapore at all times of the day, whether it be early morning, afternoon or evening or late night and there’s a varying degree of odor.  Sometimes it smells like urine.  Sometimes it smells like vomit.  Sometimes it reeks of durian.  Sometimes it smells like someone shit their pants.  Sometimes it stinks of body odor the likes of which makes the eyes burn and the stomach churn.  I’m not exaggerating.  My wife and I caught a train once over in the Jurong area that stank so bad we got off at the next station to wait for another one.  My eyes were watering and my wife was trying not to puke. Ladies and gentlemen, Singapore has great plumbing.  USE IT!  PLEASE!  Wash your nasty asses before getting on the train and subjecting the rest of us to your disgusting body odor. Besides the odor, your fetid bodies are leaving trails of harmful bacteria everywhere you go.  I’m almost afraid to hold the handrails in the trains now.
      6) On buses and trains there are designated seats for the elderly, pregnant and disabled.  If you’re a 20 year old stud and you’re sitting in the reserved seat with a 70 year old woman in front of you, you’re not only wrong, you’re a jackass.  Everyone else on the train knows you’re a jackass too.

    Well, that’s what I’ve got.  Feel free to add to this list by leaving a comment in the comment section below!

  • Wet Cat Food. It’s Just That Damn Good!

    Tastes so good!

  • iPhone: Open vs Closed

    A few days ago I had a really interesting conversation with Sachin Agarwal, co-founder of Posterous, one of the hottest new blogging sites on the internet.  (If you haven’t checked it out yet, you have no idea what you’re missing).  We were discussing Apple, iPhones, and how much control over their iPhones users actually have, especially when it comes to what a user is “allowed” to put on their phones.  The conversation was just so good, I wanted to repost it here.

    Bradley Farless said…

    I enjoy my iPhone but Apple’s policies annoy the hell out of me too. They’ve given us an amazing piece of hardware but then not allowed us to actually use its full capabilities.

    They’ve also told us that we’re not smart enough to make our own choices when it comes to what we want to install. They have to babysit us and make those decisions for us. I’m pretty sure I’m not a dumbass and I’m pretty sure I can decide on my own what I do and don’t want on my phone, and whether or not I want to see boobs in pocket-size goodness. It’s my damn right. I bought the thing. Why can’t I use it the way I want to?

    Sachin Agarwal said…

    The iPhone is an amazing piece of hardware/software/ecosystem *because* it is closed.

    Only by controlling the entire experience can you make it as great as they did.

    I love how my parents *never* need tech support with their iphones. If they could do anything with them, it would be a disaster.

    Personally, there’s nothing i wish i could have on my iphone that i can’t get through apple’s system


    Bradley Farless said…

    Then perhaps the answer to everyone’s concerns is an opt-out method.

    You either stay onboard with Apple’s “protected” experience, or you opt-out, and your guaranteed satisfaction is no longer guaranteed, not that people are always satisfied with the current iPhone anyway. But you see what I’m saying.

    People want choice. They don’t want to feel limited in how they use something that they’ve paid for. This is essentially the same as Honda telling you that you can only drive your car within a 70 mile radius of your house after you’ve bought it and own it.


    Sachin Agarwal said…

    If Honda wants to set those rules, they have the right to. I’m not saying I like that, but I am saying that it’s their own ecosystem. If you don’t like it, buy a BMW 🙂

    It’s really along the same lines as people wanting Disqus and other advanced features on posterous… we want to make the platform as flexible as possible, but sometimes you have to draw lines. It’s definitely hard

    Bradley Farless said…

    But Sachin, in that case you would have bought a car, not a license. Honda would have no more right to tell you how to operate that car than a home builder has to tell you what you may use each room in your house for. Once you buy it you own it and it’s up to the purchaser to maintain. If, on the other hand, we were purchasing licenses I could totally ‘get’ Apple monitoring what’s allowed on the platform (though they don’t do that with OS X and it’s still great) but this is a physical piece of hardware.

    By the way, as far as Disqus goes, good move with keeping it simple and in-house but these days isn’t it more classy to at least support threading? 🙂

    Sent from my iPhone


    Sachin Agarwal said…

    True, you are buying hardware, not a license.

    So hack your phone and run whatever you want on it. You aren’t breaking any laws, Apple can’t really stop you.

    But you can’t complain to apple because they aren’t welcoming you to mess with their device.

    it’s like if you modify a car, you void the warranty. Granted you are right, at least you *can* modify the car if you choose to do so


    Bradley Farless said…

    Good analogy with modding the car. I shouldn’t have to “void the warranty” on my iPhone to add the apps I want to use on it though.

    I still don’t feel good about having the Apple thought police telling me that I shouldn’t, let’s just use this as an example, have an app on my iPhone that acts as a remote control for a remote uTorrent program because it could possibly be used for copyright infringement. That was their argument with an ebook reader recently as well. They also won’t add apps that have any nudity because it doesn’t fit the company’s wholesome…. oh hang on while I close this porn site on Mobile Safari… anyway, it doesn’t fit the company’s wholesome values.

    When you mod a car, you’re replacing parts to make it work in a new way. When you want to put whatever app you want on the iPhone, you’re just trying to use what’s already there to its full potential.

    Now that I think about it more, there should be an app approval process, but the only tests done should be to make sure the program itself is sound, not the content.


    Sachin Agarwal said…

    Installing apps on an iPhone is more like adding a turbo charger to a car: you are trying to use what’s there (engine etc) to its full potential. But then when your engine explodes, your transmission dies, Honda is the one who gets the bad reputation. That’s what Apple is trying to avoid.

    1. Yes there should be an app approval process. And yes, it should mostly be to make sure the apps run and don’t do anything malicious. I wouldn’t mind if apple was more lenient in what they allowed

    2. It’s their platform and it’s an amazing experience. They should have the right to control it. Just like I have the right to control how Posterous works.

    Bradley Farless said…

    Well, I guess we both agree that there should be an app approval process, but only for keeping out malicious ones.

    Your comparison between Apple’s right to control a piece of hardware and your right to control Posterous is a bit flawed though. Posterous is a platform. It’s free even. It’s not a physical product that I can hold in my hand and claim ownership of. The iPhone on the other hand is a piece of hardware (albeit with an OS inside) that, just like the MacBook Pro I’m typing this comment on, I have purchased and fully own. However, unlike my MacBook, it’s not left to my discretion as to what I put on my iPhone. It should be.

    Do you think Apple would get away with it, or stay in business, if they had tried to keep a choke hold on the applications that are installable on Macs the way they’re doing with the iPhones?

    They have no more right to say what I put on my iPhone than they do to say what I can put on the laptop they sold me. Once I own it, I own it. And the ability to freely install the software of my choice, even if it’s sometimes the wrong choice, hasn’t tarnished Apple’s image. There are always going to be stupid people, but the vasty majority know that if something goes wrong with a Mac, it’s 9 times out of 10 a user error, and that’s not Apple’s fault.


    Sachin Agarwal said…

    “the vasty majority know that if something goes wrong with a Mac, it’s 9 times out of 10 a user error”

    I’m not sure sure that’s true. People always blame the platform. I know, based on questions I get about Posterous 🙂

    Ok, so back to the main point:

    When you buy an iPhone or a Macbook Pro, you are buying hardware. You can do anything you want with that hardware. I agree with this. So if you want to wipe your iPhone and install Android on it, go for it.

    But by owning OS X on the Macbook Pro or iPhone, that’s a software license you own to run that software. You have to abide by the rules of that agreement. If that agreement says you can only run Apple software, then that’s how it is.

    Now, please understand that I don’t necessarily agree with this. As you point out, this might be the downfall of the iPhone. If after a few years the Palm Pre improves, Android gets better, maybe the fact that the iPhone is closed will be what causes people to switch away.

    Or maybe Apple will be forced to adapt and open the platform up (remember back when there wasn’t even an iPhone SDK? Now that’s closed!)

    But for now, I’m quite happy with the closed Apple ecosystem, just as I’m happy with the Posterous ecosystem, or the fact that my BMW runs all the parts and software created by or approved by BMW, so I don’t have to worry about anything at all. Could they be more powerful? Yes. Is it worth it to me? No.


    Bradley Farless said…

    Well, user error usually gets blamed on something else, because no one likes to feel stupid. ^_^

    I guess I can’t really argue with what you said about the license agreement. I think you’re right in that Apple may be forced to reevaluate its game plan when or if Android and Pre become more popular.

    I guess it all just boils down to people wanting to feel like they actually own what they bought.

    This argument is really starting to drag out to the point of almost being annoying. I won’t argue anymore for my side of things, as that’s basically what this whole post is about, but if you want to weigh in on it, feel free to do so in the comments here, or on the original post by clicking this link.

  • Final Thoughts on Phuket

    Overall, Phuket was one of the more interesting vacations we’ve taken.  The sights, the sounds, the food!  It was all great!  Also, despite the foul weather, it was relaxing, because all of our worries were, quite literally, hundreds of miles away.

    We’re looking forward to being able to go back in the future, hopefully to take advantage of other attractions like the Thai International Boxing, the Phi Phi Island tour, and elephant riding.  (Hopefully with more sunshine than we saw this time too).

    The last thing I’d like to touch on is that the attitude of the locals is great.  In a lot of countries I’ve been to in Asia, everything feels forced, or business as usual, even in tourist areas.  Phuket as a whole had a more service-oriented atmosphere, and with good reason, since the economy there relies on tourism.

    Here are a few examples of that great attitude:

      Our taxi driver from the airport to Patong Beach had trouble finding the guesthouse we stayed in, but he didn’t charge us extra.  He also gave us his card and agreed to drive back to Patong Beach (45 minutes from the airport) to pick us up when we were ready to leave.
      The owner of the guesthouse we staid in (Som Guesthouse) booked tickets for us to the Simon Cabaret and provided the transportation, all for 100 baht less than the cheapest seats you would pay for at the counter.  Also, the owners of the guesthouse were very friendly and accommodating.  When it came time for us to book our taxi ride back to the airport, the lady used her personal mobile phone to make the call and arrange it for us.
      When we were done eating breakfast at Nicky’s Handlebar on the third day, the waiter went out and flagged down a ride for us, so we wouldn’t have to stand in the rain and do it ourselves.
      The people in general are approachable and not opposed to having a conversation.

    Don’t assume that all of the locals are being extra friendly, because some will be trying to rip you off, but overall they want to project a good image, so you’ll tell your friends and also come back yourself.

  • Thumper Tries To Dig Through The Bed With Clipped Nails

    via youtube.com

    I clipped my cat’s claws because she has a habit of wanting to attack our legs and feet while we’re sleeping. She didn’t like it! She had a fit trying to figure out why she couldn’t gain any traction on the bedsheets and then tried her hand… or paw… at digging through.

    Posted via web from Bradley’s Posterous

  • Phuket Photo Special

    I’ve kinda been dragging out my posts about Thailand, so, in the spirit of finishing it up and posting a link in the sidebar to a full list of the posts in some semblance of order, I will be blasting out three posts today.  That includes the one before this and one more after this to finish it all off!

    This post is a set of photos that are interesting, but aren’t worth a post all to themselves.  Check them out!

    Here’s a fantastic work of art you won’t find in too many bars.  I’m still trying to figure out if it’s supposed to be depicting a woman or a ladyboy.

    This monument was sitting down by the beach.  I’m not too clear on its purpose but one of the ladies told me it’s for prayer.

    Mutant prawns.  I was shocked to see how big these things are.

    The lobsters and crabs were huge too!

    This tattooed chick was walking up the street, swinging her upper body back and forth in an exaggerated fashion, presumably to entertain the kid, who cried anyway.  The baby looked like he was mixed.  Actually he looked full on caucasian, but I just assume he was mixed.  As for the identity of the woman, I can only guess.  Nice tats though!

    A rip-tide warning sign.  This thing disappeared on the third day when it started flooding.  I don’t know if the sea swallowed it or if it was simply underwater.

    There are always Life Guards on duty, just in case you ignore the sign.

    This is what happens when you sit on a restaurant chair shortly after taking a dip in the ocean.  And the following image is how you use it to gross out your family (click to enlarge):

    Well, hope you enjoyed this photo special!

  • International Thai Boxing. TONIGHT!

    Unfortunately this is one event we didn’t get to see, this time around anyway.

    What we did see (and hear) were the boxers riding around on the tops of trucks.  There was a recording playing, lauding the boxer and his achievements and informing onlookers of when the next show would be held.  Louder and more forcefully spoken than any other part was the word, “TONIGHT!”

    These trucks were riding all around town and as that word repeated itself over and over it became both catchy and annoying at the same time.  While talking to each other we would sometimes throw that word in, “TONIGHT!”, just for a laugh!

    As the trucks ride through town, they’ll stop at busy locations and a guy with flyers will jump down and run around passing them out.  So, if you go to Phuket, you’ll definitely get the chance to see these guys, even if you don’t go to the show.

    Here are a few more photos.  As you can see from them, and from the flyers we had, there are quite a few nations represented in the event.  Also there were two women competitors.

    This guy was posing on top of the truck for photos.  There were a couple of us there on the sidewalk with cameras ready.

  • Hari Raya Sweets For Sale

    Two days ago I wrote a post about being surprised to see “Christmas” lights up already, in September.  When I asked about it and found out that it was for Hari Raya, a holiday I’d never heard of, I was surprised.  I don’t remember seeing any lights up around this time last year.  I also don’t remember seeing any candies or sweets set out for sale either, but this year there are stacks of them!

    I’m not planning on “switching over” any time soon, or celebrating Hari Raya myself, but I’ve never been one to let a thing like that stop me from enjoying holiday celebration goodies.  So, we picked up a container of these called “dumai chipmore”.  I’m not sure if there’s any special significance behind the names, or types, but they looked like a safe bet as far as taste would go.  They’re not bad.

  • Durian Is Just Disgusting!

    Before moving to Singapore I’d never heard of a particularly vulgar fruit called “durian”.  It is sometimes referred to as the “king of fruits”, though how it can even be considered a fruit, let alone the king, is far beyond me.

    The first time I encountered durian was when I was still around the corner from it.  The most odious smell assaulted my nose and I stopped, near gagging.  It smelled like a whole truck load of rotting eggs had been left to sit in the sun.  I later found out that this more than unpleasant odor is typical of this offensive fruit.  In fact, the smell is so bad that it’s actually illegal to bring them onto public transportation in Singapore.

    The above sign is found on public transportation in Singapore.  (Image courtesy of Ich bin ein Ausländer).

    The taste of these things isn’t much better than the smell.  The smell alone had kept me from even thinking of trying them.  I mean, how do you put something in your mouth if just the smell of it makes your stomach clench?  So, I’d kept an eye on them from afar, typically afar enough way so that I didn’t have to smell them either.

    One fortunate but also unfortunate night (I say that because it was my wedding night), I gleefully grabbed desserts from a buffet and sat down to stuff my face.  I bit half of a little pastry into my mouth and thought I’d eaten something that had gone bad.  Just as quickly as I had bit into the pastry, I spit out a wad of horrid stuff into a napkin and, as discretely as I could, folded it up and placed it on an empty plate that was ready to be cleared.  I had accidentally bitten into a durian puff pastry.

    Ever since then I’ve faithfully steered clear of durian.  Until last night that is.  We were in the kitchen cooking dinner when the maid dropped in and handed us two wrapped candies.  She invited us to try them.  I poked it and pondered it for a bit and then asked her what it was.  It didn’t have any real name on the label, or any list of ingredients.

    “Just try it,” she says. “It’s good!”

    So, we carefully unwrapped them and looked them over once more.  My wife sniffed at it and she made a weird face.

    “Is this durian?” she asked.  But the maid simply assured her that it was good and urged her to try it.

    And, try it we did.  She said, “I think this is durian!”  I might have said something too if I weren’t trying to keep from puking in my mouth.  I quickly spit my “candy” back into the wrapper and dropped it in the trash.

    The candy was gone, but the taste remained.  It was so much stronger and more unpleasant than the taste of the durian puff I had accidentally bitten into.  I had to rinse my mouth and drink Coke to get the taste out of my mouth, and even after that I could still taste it faintly.  It lingered there, on our tongues and cheeks, like a hot fart lingers in damp underwear.

    I hope I never have to taste that wretched fruit again!

  • The Food in Phuket (Part 2)

    The Food in Phuket (Part 2)

    Nicky’s Handlebar

    Pretty close to where we were staying there was a restaurant called Nicky’s Handlebar.  As you can probably guess, it was a biker type bar.  It was decorated with a ton of Harley Davidson paraphernalia.

    This was my favorite item in the place:

    Anyhow, the atmosphere was great.  It had the right look.  It was even playing classic rock songs and the TVs were playing sports and some Harley convention show.

    The food is where the authenticity failed to deliver though.  Half of the menu was European food and half was Thai.  I figured I’d try the burger.  I’ve sort of been in search of a great burger since I left the US, along with my search for a great pizza.

    I’m not sure what my wife ordered, but it looks good and tasted good too.

    This is the burger I got.  It wasn’t quite up to par.  First off, they served it with the bun put together, with the veggies inside already, but with the meat pattie sitting off to the side.  So, I had to take the whole damn thing apart and put it back together.  Presentation is only important if it doesn’t create hassle for the customer.  Also, the meat looks a little pale to really be beef so I wonder if it was mixed with pork.  The taste was decent, but not great.

    The search continues.

    The following morning we dropped by there again, because it was convenient, and we had the Thai omelets.  They were actually pretty good.  The filling was mostly ground pork and it had a sweet taste to it.

    The above image is a glass of sweet tea that I ordered.  The orchid along the rim was a nice touch and it tasted good.

    Overall, Nicky’s Handlebar is a 7/10.  The atmosphere is nice, most of the food we ate is nice, and the drinks are nice.  I would just recommend sticking with the Thai menu though.

    Street Vendor Crepes

    We found this guy along the road that fronts the beach.  In the top right of the shot you can see the ocean.

    He was selling crepes for 30 baht.  Some might have been a little less or more.  I don’t recall.

    This was a great snack to munch on while walking down the road … looking for dinner!

    Mama Mia’s

    I can’t really say much for this place.  We totally weren’t impressed.  We both decided to try local dishes and got yellow curry.  I had the chicken and my wife had the shrimp.  The overall taste was bland.  If bland were a real ingredient, I would say they used too much.  Isn’t curry supposed to be spicy?  Plus, the food had no texture to speak of and you couldn’t taste anything except the bland curry.

    The only thing good about this place is that the beer was cheap:

    San Mig Light is a popular beer both in Thailand and in the Philippines.  I think in Thailand it’s #3 and in the Philippines, where it originated, it’s #1.

    Pizzaria Fresca

    This is another restaurant that was on the road fronting the beach.

    This place was great!

    This is the dish my wife ordered.  It’s a traditional pasta from Italy called Putanesca (Whore’s Pasta).  The story behind it is that Putanesca was a cheap dish prepared in Italy by prostitutes.  It was served to ‘clients’ after the deed.  Now that’s customer service!  Over time, the dish became a national favorite and is now served in many restaurants.

    Ham, mushroom and green pepper.  It cost about 13 SGD I think and was the best pizza I’ve had since leaving the US.  It still doesn’t hold a candle to New York City pizza, or even to fast food pizzas like Papa John’s, but it beats out anything I’ve had in Singapore so far.  I think the cheese was a bit off though, or maybe something in the sauce?  My stomach was going nuts later that night.

    Goodies!

    The last two items aren’t anything special or specific to Thailand.  They’re just things that we really enjoyed eating.

    We found an Au Bon Pain at the mall in Phuket.  Imagine that!  I’ve only ever seen one and that was in New York City.  I got a poppyseed bagel with Philadelphia Cream Cheese and my wife went nuts over it.  Apparently she’d never had a bagel before.  It’s interesting how we keep introducing each other to new foods.

    Muay Thai, not just a boxing event!  I’d never had one before and decided to try it for the first time while sitting at the bar at the Simon Cabaret while waiting for the show to start.

    Dunkin’ Donuts!  Until a week or so before we left on our vacation to Thailand, Singapore didn’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts.  So, we really enjoyed this chance to buy and eat a few.  We bought some a few hours before our flight to take back to Singapore with us.  The only Dunkin’ Donuts in Singapore is located in the downtown area and I have a feeling it’d be a lot more expensive.