Tag: storage

Looking For Eggs in Singapore?

Bradley Farless4 Comments

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?

Two Tiered Bicycle Stands

Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Everyone knows that in Asia, bicycles are used quite frequently as a means of transportation.  It’s even used in jokes occasionally, but it’s true.  People do use bikes quite a bit, for quite a few reasons, here in Singapore at least.  It’s cheaper, as opposed to buying, fueling, and maintaining a car.  It’s also smaller and easier to park or store.  In fact, there are some foldable bikes here that you can take on the buses with you.  That could be perfect for a family outing to a nice park that you want to bike through, but that’s too far away to bike to.  Plus, it’s a great way to get where you want to go and get some exercise at the same time.

The problem with having so many bike riders is that there’s rarely enough room to accommodate all of the parked bicycles, especially in major traffic hubs or around the malls.  For example, if you go to the Tampines MRT area, you’ll see bicycles jammed in at the bike racks, but you’ll also see bicycles chained to poles, fences, gates, or basically anything that’s stuck to the ground.  In some extreme cases you’ll find bicycles that aren’t chained to anything at all, but just have a chain through the wheel spokes instead, because there’s just no space available.

It all seemed crazy and amusing to me and I never really gave it any thought.  Apparently, someone did though.  At the Pasir Ris MRT station there are also bike racks, but the bike racks there are two tiered.  I guess they figured that if there wasn’t enough horizontal space to accommodate all of the bicycles, they could go vertical with them.  It looked like it worked well too.  There was more space to park bikes, and as a result, the area looked a lot nicer and neater, which seems to be something Singapore as a whole looks highly upon.

This isn’t the only measure I’ve seen to accommodate the bicycle riders in Singapore, but it’s definitely the neatest.  There are also bicycle only lanes that run parallel to sidewalks on most major roads, as well as Park Connectors that run between major parks in different regional areas.  Also, there is a wide path that follows the MRT tracks that seems to get used pretty heavily by cyclists.  I think I noticed a bicycle lane there as well.