The cats were not fooled, or amused, when they saw the suitcase. They knew what we were up to, and they weren’t happy about it.
We had just packed the suitcase for our trip to Phuket.
Recent updates
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Do You Know What You’re Eating?
Sometimes I sure don’t. There’s a buffet looking hawker stall near where we live. I’m sure there’s one in almost every hawker center. Anyhow, there is a wide range of choices, but there aren’t any labels telling you what the foods actually are.
You just have to look, guess, hope and point. Sometimes you make good choices, sometimes you don’t, but maybe that’s half the fun of eating the stuff?
What prompted this is that a few nights ago my wife and I were eating and I chose food from that particular hawker stall. When I sat down, my wife said, “Oh! What’s that!” And, I had to admit that I had no clue!
Luckily, most of it tasted good.
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Asian Shower Design (Much Different From American)
There are some things that you just somehow expect to be commonplace, regardless of where you go in the world, one of which is showers. Well, that’s how it was for me anyway. I’ve spent my whole life, up until I came to Singapore, believing that all showers were created equal. What I mean is that the shower or shower / tub combo are definitively separated from the rest of the bathroom, so that the water stays in the shower area and the rest of the bathroom stays dry. The water drain is located in the bottom of the shower or in the tub and the water doesn’t flow across the floor.
Water and drains on the floor? Wondering what I’m talking about? Check this out:
This is a bathroom in Singapore. As you can see, there’s no real distinction between the shower area and the rest of the bathroom, other than a slight depression in the floor. There wasn’t even a shower curtain in this one. Now that I think about it, two of the three places I’ve stayed in Singapore haven’t had shower curtains or curtain rods. The hose on the wall in this picture goes up to a wall mounted (or optionally hand held) shower head.
Yup. That’s it!
The downside to this is that whenever you take a shower, the whole bathroom generally gets wet from spraying water. The drains for the water are set into the floor, but oftentimes, for no apparent reason, the drains are on the opposite side of the bathroom from where the shower is. Also, the buildings have sometimes settled and are no longer level, so the water winds up pooling before it runs to the drain.
On top of that, spraying your butt with water rather than using toilet paper is a common practice in Singapore from what I’ve seen, which leads to this sort of problem:
Every time you go to the bathroom and you want to sit on the seat you have to wipe it down. Honestly I should be wiping it down with a disinfectant each time too, because that’s not just water. That’s someone else’s butt water.
You expect to miss things when you move abroad, but a dry bathroom and toilet seat just weren’t on my list of things I thought I would be missing.
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Heading to Phuket!
That’s right! Around the time this is published I’ll be hopping on plane to Phuket in Thailand for some much needed rest and relaxation! I’m looking forward to hanging out on the beach and finding out what the town has to offer in terms of cuisine.
We’d been thinking about going to Phuket for about a year, and now I’m finally going to get to see the place. White beaches, great water, great photo opportunities and I really hope there’s some great food! I wonder if Thailand has satay?
Anyhow, if you’re not familiar with the place, here are some map clippings.
The first one shows Singapore at the bottom and Phuket at the top left, circled. It’s not that far away. The flight is less than an hour, and I can’t recall exactly how much we spent on the tickets, but it wasn’t much.
The second one is a close up of the Phuket area and also shows the Phi Phi Islands, where that movie The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. I never saw it, but I heard the beach looked great, so we’re going to try to get out there and have a look for ourselves.
Our hotel is supposed to have wi-fi, but who knows? Maybe it’ll be flaky. I’ll try to get online at least once a day in the evening to approve any comments there may be, and I have some posts scheduled for tomorrow and the day after, but no guarantees!
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Are You Building a Bomb???
A few days ago my wife and I came home and we walked in on the maid sitting on the floor in the kitchen. In front of her was this pile of wiring, a bunch of tools, and some electronic devices in various states of disassembly.
For a moment I wondered if she was in the process of building a bomb, but then I realized what she was up to. She was stripping all of the copper out.
I’ve known people that have done this before. It only takes a while and when you have enough copper you take it to the local recycling factory and they’ll pay you for it. Same with aluminum, steel, iron, etc.
I’m not sure where you would take something like this in Singapore and I didn’t ask, but it’s not a bad idea really. Times are tough and when you think about it, why should you throw away money? Well, not money, but you can use it to get money.
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Redeeming Shopping Coupons
Most stores nowadays have a redemption program, or some sort of loyalty program, where you get a discount after spending a certain amount, or when you use your membership card. It’s basically a common practice.
Shop N Save is no different. They have a program where you get stamps every time you shop there. The amount of stamps you get is based on how much you spend. If you save up enough stamps within the month you can redeem them for discounts or even cookware.
The problem is that the stamps become invalid after the month they were “earned” in, so you feel compelled to buy, buy, buy!
But, who really needs that many groceries? Especially if you’re elderly and you don’t have kids at home anymore? People still want to take advantage of the promotion.
What I’ve noticed lately is that when I exit Shop N Save, there is typically an older person standing around and as you pass by the ask you for your stamps, so they can apply them to their own cards.
I always give the person the stamps because I know I’m not going to use them. I’ll never collect enough in one month to make a redemption, so why not let someone else benefit from it?
I was thinking though, that normally it’s an elderly person asking for the stamps, so I always feel more inclined to hand them over with a smile. What if it was someone my own age? Would I be less inclined to give them the stamp? Would it matter?
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Is Religion A Threat To Singapore?
I came across the following article today on ReporterNews:
Singapore prime minister: Religion threatens stability
Associated Press
Thursday, August 20, 2009
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s prime minister said in his National Day speech that “aggressive preaching” by religious groups and evangelizing threaten the tiny city-state’s stability.
Lee Hsien Loong, a Buddhist by birth, said his education at the island’s Roman Catholic High School was an example of how different religions can coexist peacefully.
“The most visceral and dangerous fault line (in Singapore) is race and religion,” Lee said.
Singapore’s majority Buddhist Chinese, Malay Muslims and Indian Hindus have largely avoided conflict since race riots between Chinese and Malays left about 40 dead in the 1960s.
“Christians can’t expect this to be a Christian society,” he said last Sunday. “Muslims can’t expect this to be a Muslim society, ditto with the Buddhists, the Hindus and the other groups.”
In the most recent census in 2000, 43 percent of Singaporeans said they were Buddhist, 15 percent Muslim, 15 percent Christian, 8.5 percent Taoist and 4 percent Hindu.
Lee cited the case of a Christian couple jailed earlier this year for distributing religious pamphlets deemed offensive to members of other faiths, and he condemned those who try to convert ailing hospital patients “who don’t want to be converted.”
He said the government must remain secular because Singapore’s authority and laws “don’t come from a sacred book.” Lee’s People’s Action Party has ruled Singapore since independence 50 years ago.
Lee said there has been a global surge in religious fervor, including in the United States and Islamic countries.
“There is a wave of revival, megachurches and televangelism,” Lee said. “Religion and politics are supposed to be separated in America, but in reality they are closely entangled.”
The title of the article is pretty provocative and it’s what originally made me stop to read this article. I can’t disagree with the guy. Race and religion are major contention points everywhere. There is always some religious persecution and tension.
It’s also true that people need to learn to look past those differences and get along with each other. Why can’t we all be friends? ^_^ Religion is important, but it shouldn’t become a stumbling block for a nation.
That being said, I think people should respect the laws in Singapore against forcefully proselytizing, especially when it comes to trying to push people that are on their death beds. Somehow, that doesn’t seem too Christian to me. Well, not modern Christian anyway. It could be a page out of a book about the days during the Grand Inquisition. If it’s not welcome, and certainly if it’s not legal, don’t do it! Give unto Rome what is Rome’s and give unto God what is God’s, right?
I’m not too sure about this global surge in religious fervor he mentioned, because I hadn’t noticed it, but it is true that no matter how much people try to deny it, the US Federal Government is based on and borrows heavily from Christianity. Separation of church and state aside, most of the US’s laws are taken from the Bible. Most of the country’s accepted values and morals are taken from the Bible as well.
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Chinese Coke Can Design
I thought this was pretty neat. Well, until I looked at the back of the can and saw that it’s Made in China. It probably has melamine or fertilizer or MSG or even lead in it.
Sent from my iPhone
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Looking For Eggs in Singapore?
I’ve moved around the world a lot, but in most places I’ve been I was on a military installation, so things were more or less the same. Well, the same in that one military installation is pretty similar to the others, especially when it comes to the stores.
There were times when I lived off of a military installation, or traveled off of a military installation, but I wasn’t exactly looking for eggs, or groceries.
So, coming to Singapore to live, and live in Singapore itself, rather than on a base somewhere, was a whole new experience for me. Part of that ‘new experience’ was shopping from local stores.
For the most part, shopping in Singapore is just like shopping in the US. Some of the brands are different, and sometimes you can tell that the item you’re holding is made by the same people that make it in the US, but is just under a different name. One example I can think of is Axe deodorant. I can’t remember what it’s called here, but the package design is exactly the same, but with a different name. Unless it’s a Chinese knock-off anyway. I didn’t look too closely at it. Also, there is a different variety of vegetables that are more commonly found in the produce section here. Some of the fish are different too.
One thing you expect to be the same though, is that you will find the items you’re looking for in the same parts of the store. You want meat? Go to the coolers along the wall. Same for dairy products. Want veggies? Look in the bins in the produce section. So… I remember how surprised I was when I couldn’t find any eggs the first time I wanted to buy some here. I checked every single cooler in the store. Not to be found.
Where did they end up being? On a shelf. Not being chilled. I was kinda shocked because that was completely foreign to me. I was actually under the impression that if eggs weren’t chilled, they would go bad. In the US there are even egg trays built into the doors of the refrigerators. Thinking about it now, I suppose that chilling them just slows down the spoiling process, or hatching process, though I don’t know if they would actually hatch.
Anyhow, here’s a photo of eggs on a shelf, from Shop N Save:
How are eggs typically stored at the store and in the house where you are?
