About Me

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I call the living, I mourn the dead, I chase the lightning.

Wanderlust -- "a trip, or a need to understand one's very existence,
that starts with the first step of a long journey"

-- Travels and ramblings -- summer of 08 and beyond ---

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Singapore so far

[Updated]

whew, I've been in Singapore 10 days now. Here are some random things I've initially noticed/thought about regarding Singapore. In no particular order:
  • Food is cheap. And Singaporeans eat a lot.
  • P.S. Noodles Noodles Noodles everywhere no good rice. Wah! >.<
  • P.P.S. Singaporeans really like instant coffee.
  • Other things are not cheap. The currency conversion doesn't help much because it's 1USD to 1.6SGD and prices are the same if not slightly more. Esp cheap stuff I'm used to buying here suddenly become imported goods and prices skyrocket. Tropicana Orange Juice @ 9SGD or Green Tea @ 2SGD? Local stuff please.
  • P.S. the randomest most everyday things are so hard to find here: laundry bag, trash can, shaving gel, a gallon of milk...
  • Singaporeans walk really slow, gosh! I naturally walk really fast, so I have to slow down a lot with the locals. Or if I'm late to something, you'll see me flash in and out of the slow crowds on the sidewalks as I'm weaving through. In fact, I haven't seen a Singaporean be in a hurry...
  • Singaporeans spend very freely. $2 desserts at food stands, $5 earrings in the mall during lunch time, $20 coffee, taxis when they don't feel like walking, regular LV, Gucci, Prada shopping trips... it all adds up. Those high-end designer stores get constant business, and they're more expensive than the US too. Yea we're all wondering where they get their disposable income from, esp the trendy high schoolers...
  • I'm not short anymore! In fact, with heels I'm tall and see the top of Singaporean girls' heads, hehehe.
  • For hot guys and girls, all I'm saying is that I would rather go to Japan, Korean, or even China (in that order).
  • Hearing Singlish makes you think Singaporeans can't speak correct English, but they actually sort of can if necessary. However, Singlish is just baby talk mixed with Malay words. Add words like 'lor' 'leh' 'wah' 'ay' to the end of all your sentences, speak in bad English grammar without any articles, add the Asian accent and you've got Singlish.
Example: Singlish: The house sell already. English: The house has been sold.
Example: Singlish: Dat one de wife lah. English: That one is the wife.
  • There are so many shopping malls. I'm speechless.
  • White collar office professionals are mostly female! I'm used to being and working in a male environment, it's weird to see all these groups of young women going to lunch together, dressed in high heels and cutesy feminine clothing as is the Asian fashion... and for me to be apart of one of those groups is even weirder.
The end. for now.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

the way you describe singlish is hilarious but i don't understand the second sentence without checking out your translation. but i bet people from west coast will disagree with you that singaporeans walk slowly