Same / Different

Warning - Warning - Scary pictures ahead

Seriously people - SCARY

Scarier than that. 

In the United States the Surgeon General has provided a "WARNING" on every pack of cigarettes sold.  This lets you know that your your children may be harmed if you smoke them.

It looks something like this: 

Don't smoke.

In Singapore there is also a warning.   DON"T SMOKE.  DON"T SMOKE OR YOUR FEET WILL FALL OFF AND YOUR BRAIN WILL OOZE OUT OF YOUR NECK AND YOU WILL BE COMPELLED TO CHEW ON YOUR OWN TONGUE AND YOUR BABIES WILLL DIE.

Don't smoke.

 Different.

NEWS FLASH - there has been - A Crime

Seriously.  On the one hand this is a pretty funny sign.  

Because, in Washington DC the crimes from just one week were reported as follows: 

It is sad really.  But on the other hand it raises questions.  How does Singapore keep the crime down so seemingly effectively?

Are the citizens all just trained to obedience from a very young age?
Is everyone afraid of the strict punishments for crime?
Is there some kind of government cover up?
Are the people here just inherently better behaved?  Less angry.

I like feeling safe.  But how?
~k

Finding a place to live - part 2

Apartment 4)

Oh, I fell in love.  It is truly a garden oasis in the city as he claimed.  The roomie is another crazy one, but a quite lovely crazy indeed.  He was a model, disillusioned by the life of modelling he turned to politcial science and is working on his PHD.  The whole place is furnished in comfy old antiques (I know, by definition antiques are old, these were comfy-old so you wouldn't feel bad sitting on them).
The horn-bills fly by the patio.  There is an awesome breeze.  The neighbors do tai-chi on the tennis court nightly.   But the commute is long, the rent is expensive and it isn't available till maybe Dec 15.   I keep looking but day dream of living there.


Apartment 5)

Artiste who doesn't really bother cleaning the kitchen so much.  Oh, and the cat with no tail.

Apartment 6)

The first normal one.  Just a normal blocky, condo, apartment building.  No pool, no gym but super amazingly clean.  Cozy.  Big room.  Great commute.  Two normal Korean girl roomies who work in finance.  And a landlord who LURVES her gadgets.  She proudly showed me the chinese/italian airconditioning units (italian style meets chinese engine = A++).  Her freezer had an ice maker.  The microwave steams the rice (no rubbery rice!).  She has a roomba (but don't worry the maid still does the floors too).  Amazing.  I'll take it.  But sadly, the girl who saw the place just before me wants it.  I could have it on Jan 1 - - - but I can't stay in my hotel till then.

Apartment 7)

I'm supposed to meet the guy on Saturday at 7pm.  But he says he will pick me up at the MRT / metro this creeps me out for no good reason and I stand him up.  Ok, not completely.  I texted him that I wasn't going to make it.

Apartment 8)

The shining twins.  Yeah, two german girls named Adita and Adiata.  Seriously.  They were identical, grownups, but they shared a room, and a bed.  Creeeeepy.  I'm sure they were nice and their apartment was very mod and cool.  They were also just next to a Buddhist temple so you could hear the chanting from pool-side.   Nice, but too creepy for me.  

Apartment 9)

A stunningly beautiful chinese shop house on a perfectly cute little street of antique houses with shutters and love and joy.  The entire inside of the house had been gutted and renovated and fixed all fancy-modern.  Sleek, wood, shiny, techno-lights.  Amazing gourmet kitchen. I'm telling you these people are RICH!  But it is too rich for my budget.  They invite me to their halloween party and the wife makes macaroons.  I love them but I can't really live there.

Apartment 10 - 11 - 12)

Totally forgettable.

Apartment 13)

Another scary Indian guy.  (totally unfair and coincidental that they are both indian) Old, weird, has two shelves filled with rubbermaid bins in his LIVING ROOM!  And no furniture.

  not that kind of indian.

Apartment 14)

Perfectly nice indian guys who live in - - - Little India.  It is a great space, but they are a little uncomfortable having a girl roomie so.

Apartment 15)  Seriously this is taking up my ENTIRE life now.  I hate apartments.  Where are the normal people in Singapore?  Why don't they need roommates?

I give in and book two months on AirB&B in a perfectly nice room. I moved in on Saturday.  All is well.  More details and pictures to come.

Finding a place to Live - part 1

Blog Friends.

Looking for an apartment is very hard.  Singapore is lovely and filled with lovely places.  But somehow, all of the people looking for roommates are a little CRAZY.   Mind you, some of them are also lovely lovely people.  Some of them I hope will be my good friends - because of their crazy.  But some. . .

Apartment 1)

  
Let us call this one the crazy-vegan-lesbian-chef-event planners-business owners-model girls.  They were fun.  They were gracious.

The chef cooked me a delicious dish of vegan pasta and vegan wine (nobody seems to know why all wine isn't vegan, but this was confirmed in its vegan-ness).  We discussed sun-signs, watched some Ellen, admired the white leather couch.  I didn't choose this place as home partly because it was the first place I looked and I wanted to be sure about what was out there.  But partly because there was just a little bit too much potential drama for five girls sharing one bathroom.   Oh also, they had an alkaline water filter - guaranteed to make you pee forever, and sleep like a baby!


Apartment 2)

We are pretending this one never happened.

Apartment 3)

Indian guy who wants to share a bedroom.  It sounded so promising, just five minutes from work, lovely view, great swimming pool.  Turns out, not so much.  The entire apartment had just two rooms.  Bedroom and living/kitchen.  My potential roommate assured me that it was perfectly fine - we could take turns sleeping on the bed or the fold out couch.  It wouldn't be creepy at ALL for me to walk through his bedroom on the way to the bathroom EVERY single NIGHT.  And for this priviledge he was asking a mere $1600/month.     No.  Also, the pool is closed till 2014.

Same / Different - Street Cleaning

A typical Singapore street sweeper.




Has a broom like this:

And can be found on every block or so.










In the US - - - - - street sweeping is: DIFFERENT

But who do you think has cleaner streets???

Same / Different

Chicken Pot Pie:

from Allrecipies.com

Different!

This seems to be a take-away food.  It comes in a clay pot.  And you must smash it.  But you can eat the 'clay part'

So far I have only found ads for this amazing food-item.  But I will track it down.  In the name of science and cultural exploration I will eat this for you my blog friends.

~k

Bookshelves and Bathtubs

Hello Friends.

It's Friday Friday.  Here is a first installment of Bookshelves and Bathtubs.  Inspired by my blog-friend Jamie Meares  http://www.isuwannee.com who posts bookshelves of the day that I love dearly.


Some of these may be ripped from the pages of her blog.  Please click the link and give her some love.

I wish you bookshelves and bathtubs of bliss this weekend.

Loves,
~k

Products and services!

Poor Sanjay suffers (oh he suffers my friends) from too many brow gaps.  These hairless spaces made his brows look unbalanced and shifted attention away from other facial features.  Fortunately with Brow Resurection we filled the gaps with 3D lifelike brows giving him a more stand-out look.

www.browhaus.com

Aren't you all glad I am looking out for you and your unbalanced hair-less brows!?

Same / Different

Don'tcha Want ta?  Want-ta Fanta fanta?

thealistdaily.com

In the US - here is the Fanta we know and love: 

food.productwiki.com

In Singapore it is: Different!
It is blue!? It is UPsidedown?!   And it comes in PEACH flavour!? 

Everyday things.

Here are just a few things from my every-day life in Singapore:

A very expensive latte purchased just for the free wi-fi!

Orchard Road - A mall obviously.

Two Views from the rooftop parking lot of Shaw Towers where I work.   (11th floor, not actually the top of the building which goes to 30 something)

My morning coffee barista.  For just $2.50 you can have a delicious iced latte.  But no wifi.

Ps. Snow Fungus with American Ginseng is a DRINK!  

Peanut butter toast is quite popular here.  Usually served with a drizzle of condensed milk on top.  ?!???

This white fungus seems to be a main dish.  I'm confused by the papaya though.  I'm sure it is talking of a mushroom of some kind - but seriously all I can think of is athletes foot.  Double boiled or no - I don't want that in my mouth thank you very much!

There is a reason Singapore is so spotless.  Everywhere you look someone is scrubbing or sweeping something.  The other day I was in a small cafe and a man was up on a ladder apparently cleaning the ceiling.  

BABY!

Foot massage while I wait for my laundry.  SUCH a good idea!