I've been in Singapore for almost a year and a half. What's it like? Let's see...
1. Probably in any native's household here in SG, all footwear, clean or otherwise, would take a very prominent place, stacked up neatly (or otherwise), by the front door. Sometimes, like when we lived back in the West Coast where the HDB was the corridor-type, and you would have to pass several front doors before getting to the lift or the staircase, it would be inevitable to get a waft of the hard work that these footwear have been put through. It's quite a way to start a day and you're off to work, and could be most unpleasant.
2. The alarm button of the elevator in our building gets pressed so many times in 24 hours nobody is alarmed anymore.
3. At exactly between 7 and 7:30 am on a school day, a male voice from the school comes on over a loudspeaker. Two things: One, I would suppose he is some kind of a prefect of discipline or something, thrashing out reminders for proper conduct or generally reprimands ill behavior (well, how should I know... he talks in Chinese... but whatever he's saying sounds like a reprimand to me). And two, that he is talking to the students while they are assembled in the yard... cause it would be queer for him to be doing that while everybody is in their classes doing their own thing. The thing is, this happens every single school day. Oh... and it's a good thing I'm up before he comes on because I'd sooner have my alarm clock go 'ttrrriiinggg' than to hear him in his daily monologues.
4, The cab drivers here are so friendly you'll know their life stories (whether you want to or not) by the time you reach your destination.
5. Singapore is a commuter's haven.
6. I like the way they bill for basic services like electricity, water, LPG and garbage disposal. They all come in just one billing statement and it's never late. Oh... and the charge for gas is quite cheap... well, at least up until now... so far.
7. You would know it's time to prepare the meals when you hear your neighbor heavily chopping something on the chopping board. This happens everyday, whether it's lunch or dinner. And it's true not only here in Block 250 but back in the West Coast where we lived at Block 701... and I'm dying to find out just what it is they keep on chopping.
8. Here you will find a hawker center or food court every 5 yards or so, and a drainage every 5 meters or so.
9. The men here are as adept in the kitchen as the women, or more so... if you base your observation on the fact that most food stalls are manned by the men.
10. Most, if not all, Singaporeans are so psyched up for queueing that they will fall in line no matter how long the queue with no complaints or tempers shooting up.
11. Gay people are not a very visible part of the crowd, specially with the youth, and even in the beauty salons. Sometimes you would spot one or two, but they would be in business suits and would look very posh.
12. Shopping, as a way of life, is almost a task... but they do it all the time anyway.
13. Based on experience, whenever you visit offices, the batting average that you would be offered something to drink is 100%. This is probably what Buddy Bonifacio of First Union Direct, in his seminar, referred to as 'the sales attitude.'
14. At KFC, you never get gravy without mashed potatoes in them... good thing we still do in the Philippines. Here, if you ask for gravy, they give you chilli sauce.
15. In all of the 1.99 Shops I've ever been to, nothing is exactly $1.99 and almost everything costs more than $1.99.
16. For a tropical country that's warm for the better part of the year, comforters are very popular. Which leads me to the conclusion that most houses have airconditioning. Which leads me to the question of why one would freeze up an already warm room and then use a comforter cause he's cold. Putting together 'warm room,' 'airconditiong,' and 'comforter' has led me to no viable premises and conclusions to date.
17. For a city where housing is predominantly high-rise, their plumbing is excellent.
18. Motorists are more courteous in the West Coast than in the East Coast.
19. I've never seen anybody with a handkerchief, which is an eye-opener for somebody who grew up having the handkerchief as part of her official school uniform. Here they use tissue papers... which is another evidence to the assumption that cosmopolitan societies have the 'throw-away mentality.' As a matter of fact... you'll see couches, cabinets, tables, appliances and clothes dumped all the time. In my parents' house, the bed they had when they got married is in the guest room, still being put to good use, the matching closet is in the maid's quarters and the armoire is in my younger sister's room in her in-law's house, which she uses as her baby's cabinet. By the way, my parents are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in June.
20. About 80% of the women here have drop dead gorgeous legs. And if you look closely, even the ones with the most homely faces have pretty good figures. I spoke to a guy once who told me that everytime he's in Singapore, he gets a hard on just walking the streets and looking at the women's legs... this was before I got here. My reaction then was something like, 'Yeah, right.' Now I can see he was serious. And no, that guy was not my husband or I would have smacked him unconscious.
21. You can conduct your business in any government office like the public clinics, the immigration or the police departments, and also the banks in... maybe 20 minutes tops. I opened my bank account and didn't spend 10 minutes at it. It's the queue that will kill ya.
22. I like the idea of being able to switch off electrical outlets. I wish they had this stuff in the Philippines. It's really safer for the children.
23. The most popular books, school and office supply store is called 'Popular'.
24. There are not a lot of good singers and actors/actresses here.
25. I have hardly ever seen flies buzzing around.
26. Procter and Gamble is probably not doing a very prolific business here in Singapore as the supermarkets are practically void of their products.
27. About 1 in every 3 children I've seen wear spectacles.
28. The buses and MRT trains are very clean.
29. Smog is almost non-existent. So you can wear white, walk the streets in the heat of the sun all day, perspire like frozen meat defrosting and you won't get black smudges on your shirt sleeves.
30. Here, where we live, I hear children's laughter from the playground right below my kitchen window every afternoon, just when I'm about to prepare dinner...:)
1. Probably in any native's household here in SG, all footwear, clean or otherwise, would take a very prominent place, stacked up neatly (or otherwise), by the front door. Sometimes, like when we lived back in the West Coast where the HDB was the corridor-type, and you would have to pass several front doors before getting to the lift or the staircase, it would be inevitable to get a waft of the hard work that these footwear have been put through. It's quite a way to start a day and you're off to work, and could be most unpleasant.
2. The alarm button of the elevator in our building gets pressed so many times in 24 hours nobody is alarmed anymore.
3. At exactly between 7 and 7:30 am on a school day, a male voice from the school comes on over a loudspeaker. Two things: One, I would suppose he is some kind of a prefect of discipline or something, thrashing out reminders for proper conduct or generally reprimands ill behavior (well, how should I know... he talks in Chinese... but whatever he's saying sounds like a reprimand to me). And two, that he is talking to the students while they are assembled in the yard... cause it would be queer for him to be doing that while everybody is in their classes doing their own thing. The thing is, this happens every single school day. Oh... and it's a good thing I'm up before he comes on because I'd sooner have my alarm clock go 'ttrrriiinggg' than to hear him in his daily monologues.
4, The cab drivers here are so friendly you'll know their life stories (whether you want to or not) by the time you reach your destination.
5. Singapore is a commuter's haven.
6. I like the way they bill for basic services like electricity, water, LPG and garbage disposal. They all come in just one billing statement and it's never late. Oh... and the charge for gas is quite cheap... well, at least up until now... so far.
7. You would know it's time to prepare the meals when you hear your neighbor heavily chopping something on the chopping board. This happens everyday, whether it's lunch or dinner. And it's true not only here in Block 250 but back in the West Coast where we lived at Block 701... and I'm dying to find out just what it is they keep on chopping.
8. Here you will find a hawker center or food court every 5 yards or so, and a drainage every 5 meters or so.
9. The men here are as adept in the kitchen as the women, or more so... if you base your observation on the fact that most food stalls are manned by the men.
10. Most, if not all, Singaporeans are so psyched up for queueing that they will fall in line no matter how long the queue with no complaints or tempers shooting up.
11. Gay people are not a very visible part of the crowd, specially with the youth, and even in the beauty salons. Sometimes you would spot one or two, but they would be in business suits and would look very posh.
12. Shopping, as a way of life, is almost a task... but they do it all the time anyway.
13. Based on experience, whenever you visit offices, the batting average that you would be offered something to drink is 100%. This is probably what Buddy Bonifacio of First Union Direct, in his seminar, referred to as 'the sales attitude.'
14. At KFC, you never get gravy without mashed potatoes in them... good thing we still do in the Philippines. Here, if you ask for gravy, they give you chilli sauce.
15. In all of the 1.99 Shops I've ever been to, nothing is exactly $1.99 and almost everything costs more than $1.99.
16. For a tropical country that's warm for the better part of the year, comforters are very popular. Which leads me to the conclusion that most houses have airconditioning. Which leads me to the question of why one would freeze up an already warm room and then use a comforter cause he's cold. Putting together 'warm room,' 'airconditiong,' and 'comforter' has led me to no viable premises and conclusions to date.
17. For a city where housing is predominantly high-rise, their plumbing is excellent.
18. Motorists are more courteous in the West Coast than in the East Coast.
19. I've never seen anybody with a handkerchief, which is an eye-opener for somebody who grew up having the handkerchief as part of her official school uniform. Here they use tissue papers... which is another evidence to the assumption that cosmopolitan societies have the 'throw-away mentality.' As a matter of fact... you'll see couches, cabinets, tables, appliances and clothes dumped all the time. In my parents' house, the bed they had when they got married is in the guest room, still being put to good use, the matching closet is in the maid's quarters and the armoire is in my younger sister's room in her in-law's house, which she uses as her baby's cabinet. By the way, my parents are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in June.
20. About 80% of the women here have drop dead gorgeous legs. And if you look closely, even the ones with the most homely faces have pretty good figures. I spoke to a guy once who told me that everytime he's in Singapore, he gets a hard on just walking the streets and looking at the women's legs... this was before I got here. My reaction then was something like, 'Yeah, right.' Now I can see he was serious. And no, that guy was not my husband or I would have smacked him unconscious.
21. You can conduct your business in any government office like the public clinics, the immigration or the police departments, and also the banks in... maybe 20 minutes tops. I opened my bank account and didn't spend 10 minutes at it. It's the queue that will kill ya.
22. I like the idea of being able to switch off electrical outlets. I wish they had this stuff in the Philippines. It's really safer for the children.
23. The most popular books, school and office supply store is called 'Popular'.
24. There are not a lot of good singers and actors/actresses here.
25. I have hardly ever seen flies buzzing around.
26. Procter and Gamble is probably not doing a very prolific business here in Singapore as the supermarkets are practically void of their products.
27. About 1 in every 3 children I've seen wear spectacles.
28. The buses and MRT trains are very clean.
29. Smog is almost non-existent. So you can wear white, walk the streets in the heat of the sun all day, perspire like frozen meat defrosting and you won't get black smudges on your shirt sleeves.
30. Here, where we live, I hear children's laughter from the playground right below my kitchen window every afternoon, just when I'm about to prepare dinner...:)
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