Culture Shock - Arriving in singapore

[Max Headroom]

I tip here when service was good, so, yeah, I rarely tip here.

That said, on those few occasions when service was great here, I eagerly tip; with a bit of luck, it sparks off a Darwinian change that then sweeps the country's service-based industries. Maybe.

Meanwhile, my frequency of tipping is way higher in the surrounding countries, not because the service there is awesome per se, but because at least they:

1. try to have a decent go at it
2. don't look utterly indignant while serving you.

[zzm9980]

Tipping baristas? How do you tip them and not the cash register lackey, like at a Starbucks?

Cash in the jar. It is generally shared to everyone, and that is OK with me. At most of these places the person taking my order not freak it up when they relay is equally as important as the person making it. Not because that should require some immense talent, but it seems quite difficult for the people in Singapore. So if my drink shows up as I requested, tips all around. Generally I only start tipping when I've become a regular and know the people working that day.

[JR8]

- Biro pens that never seem to want to work. We 'drill' them back and forth through a pad, nothing > bin. don't know if it's the climate or what!?

- A maybe 80 year old man at a food-court decked out like a gangster: Jewelry (lots), wrap-around shades worn indoors, Hawaiian shirt, dyed hair.

- A guy giving me the slow-mo once-over at a traffic crossing (wife thinks it is because he probably thinks she is a 'dirty pinay').

- At Fork and Spoon, a table of aunties all in *very* colorful and jolly outfits.

- Going to Courts. Sofas on the 3d floor. As we go up the escalator all the sales staff are standing in a row at the top, like hyenas waiting for the latest delivery of fresh-meat.

- Children with trainers with ball-bearings in their heel tips, who sort of roller-skate by.

- Bird-song. Some extremely loud and dominating, some in the background that burbles along pleasantly.

- Linguistic emphasis via lengthening a word. Local version 'Ayyyyy-aaaaah'. Similar mechanism (different meaning) in British/Geordie: 'Your're jooooorking man!'

- Competing accents. In Europe if I overheard something, I'd enjoy -say- trying to figure if it was in maybe Norwegian or Danish (they're close). Here it seems to be Japanese vs Korean... and then some of the Chinese dialects are not clear to me yet. Thus you look at physical characteristics, clothing, style, etc., it's quite fun trying to figure a stranger out.

- I note the welcome arrival of a cool breeze.
- - But subconsciously plan for rain that often seems to immediately follow.

- I spy from above a VW Beetle going by. Sunroof. White paint. smallish rear oval window (rear window size being a reliable indicator of manufacture period). It appears quite old, but the condition looks new. Are they producing new 'retro' models... ?

- Stormy every day, but it's not monsoon ... cannot compute

- 5 armed men at a mall.

- Beeping car door locks you can hear from 100+ metres away ['Beep-beep ... ... beeep-beeep-beeep]

- Something that looks like a National Guard Fire/HUMV-type vehicle driving into a petrol station

- schools seem to use alarms, rather than bells for break-times etc. So rather than ding-a ling, you get 'Bwer-wer-wer-wer-wer-wer!' a kind of high-pitch high-frequeny alien death-ray sound presumably intended to instill action.

- A street crossing signal that sounds like a loud deranged bird

- 4 Pinay maids having a picnic lunch on a concrete void deck (maybe they got rained off from the nearby grass).

- In KFC there were many tables of domestic helpers (x-ref above)

- Domestic helpers in KFC sharing tables with Bangla men.

- Scarfies, but not Malay style, more Turkish or Arab - with a large projecting back bun or similar. This creates the ET look, with the extended head the size of a shoe-box, with just the eyes poking out from the front.

- Pimples come up very quickly (from shaving and similar).

- Pinays no longer seem to be just maids, they seem to commonly be working a shop-staff.

- Buying furniture at Courts. They seem to be acting as an agent, a front. Nothing bigger than a kettle is held in stock. We buy a bed-frame, a mattress, a microwave, a coffee-table - all of which will be delivered separately (in three lots) by other companies, in 2-3 weeks time. The kettle we get to take home today.

- A Hello-Kitty branded and decorated line of sandwich toasters.

- Young men with the sides of their heads shaved, with their upper hair pinned or gelled up to expose it.

[zzm9980]

- Pinays no longer seem to be just maids, they seem to commonly be working a shop-staff.

Not for long! Didn't you know? The locals all want those jobs.

- Young men with the sides of their heads shaved, with their upper hair pinned or gelled up to expose it.

You know what gets me even more? All of the Indian (Bangla maybe?) guys rocking really long mullets.

[Max Headroom]

What blows me away is how cheap-as-dirt no-brand razor blades from the 1-dollar shop can last forever here and all branded ones become useless after 2 weeks tops.

Mind you, I haven't bought branded blades for years now, so perhaps some new technology has since kicked in. Still, these branded ones are absurdly expensive.

[the lynx]

This.

- Young men with the sides of their heads shaved, with their upper hair pinned or gelled up to expose it.

Sends me ticking away each time I see one of them.

[Max Headroom]

By the by, how come people here insist on calling a yacht a yatch?

[JR8]

I've just had a shower, and got that kind of inner pleasure that one enjoys. Today the water was cool: Back home the same feeling might come from a hot shower.

[Sergei82]

- People riding bicycles on the pavement and ringing their bells at pedestrians to get out of their way (is riding on the pavement legal?)

I guess, that wasn't pavement, that was a bicycle "lane"(???) You are supposed to walk just next to the road while bicycles are on the "pavement".
If you pay attention, there are bicycle signs on the asphalt.
I have the same thing next to my house.

[x9200]

- People riding bicycles on the pavement and ringing their bells at pedestrians to get out of their way (is riding on the pavement legal?)

I guess, that wasn't pavement, that was a bicycle "lane"(???) You are supposed to walk just next to the road while bicycles are on the "pavement".
If you pay attention, there are bicycle signs on the asphalt.
I have the same thing next to my house.

It is notorious on the pavements, NOT on the bicycle lanes and yes, it is illegal. More recently I started to fight the bastards if it happens I am in somehow not so friendly mood. Must admit they show good riding skills bypassing me through the grass full of roots.

[JR8]

- People riding bicycles on the pavement and ringing their bells at pedestrians to get out of their way (is riding on the pavement legal?)

I guess, that wasn't pavement, that was a bicycle "lane"(???) You are supposed to walk just next to the road while bicycles are on the "pavement".
If you pay attention, there are bicycle signs on the asphalt.
I have the same thing next to my house.

There are no bicycle signs, and the pavement (sidewalk) is about 6" higher than the road. Where the pavement dips down to a side road, there are yellow textured tiles to aid blind people.

Yesterday an oncoming cyclist was ringing at me urgently, to get out of his way. As I'm not as nimble as usual this was quite irritating, especially as I was quite laden with bags. So I politely advised the cyclist to 'Ride on the f****** road!!!'.

I just wanted to check that my advice to him was correct/appropriate, for when this situation arises again.

[Sergei82]

That is how it is near my house. But I remember, when I worked at Paya Lebar, it was extremely dangerous to walk around with earplugs inside your ears - you may get killed by cyclists from behind!

[Hannieroo]

We have a chap who cycles on the pavement at speed, with headphones on and does not stop at the crossing, just keeps going. He goes so fast that he comes out of nowhere and I've almost hit him twice. Third time's a charm.

The Mohawky gel hair is pretty popular in the UK. Looks just as stupid there.

[bgd]

-People riding bicycles on the pavement and ringing their bells at pedestrians to get out of their way (is riding on the pavement legal?)

You would think so by the number of people that do it.

They did run a pilot about 5 years back. Never heard the outcome. As far as I know it is still not legal.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I believe it is legal in Tampines.

http://travel.cnn.com/singapore/none/ta ... ore-820667