Culture Shock - Arriving in singapore

[nakatago]

- Everything at the shops is bagged and double-bagged.

And those bags are quite small (why???) - they need to use a dozen of them each time to pack your stuff.

I buy 15 SGD's worth of groceries from NTUC and I get 4, 5 bags.

[x9200]

There was a bunch of them on the roof of a covered walkway on Bukit Timah today, a fair bit from the park.

Our condo is c. 1km away from Bukit Batok Nature Park where the monkeys are pretty common and we have them too form time to time. I guess they must be roaming a bit through the whole area.

[Hannieroo]

Do you know, I walk to Bukit Batok park every single day and I've never seen one. The estate notice board has a no feeding monkeys poster but no show.

[Strong Eagle]

There was a family of four or five monkeys living around Watten Estates Drive, near the park.

[JR8]

- people texting while walking

Is that not common elsewhere? Guess I should spend more time outside Asia.

No, it's not, you're kidding. I reckon people in europe are too polite to do that, and you'd get 'walked through' to teach you a lesson if you did.

In the US, say NYC, you'd be inviting real trouble, antagonising a bunch of complete strangers wit your 'I'm the king of the hill' show...

[JR8]

Nobody take offence please. After all, they reflect as much on the observer as the observed. (That's 'kinda the point' with culture shock, right?
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- Spread out belongings across a table, to 'chope' it, i.e. have it all to yourself, and make sure no one else wants to sit down at 'your' table.

- Very few people of any age have grey hair.

- Lambo Countach, Ferrari, huge cars. Limited to 30mph going by on Orchard Road.

- QBHouse barber-shop, used to be $10/10 mins, well now it's $12/10mins.

- In the hotel. Noisy neighbours ('banging' house until 8pm), noise from hallways, doors banging, thin partition walls, I could sing along to the music in the neigbouring room ('What is love' by Haddaway). Housekeping carrying walkie-talkies on 'open channel' in the hall outside our room - why?

- Cow signs/images standing on grassy areas. Hearts up in trees and 'Love green'. Just WTH does it mean?

- No dirty cars.

- Terribly 'flat' low energy lighting in the hotel room and malls. I find it very difficult to read papers etc whilst under such lights.

- Ooph, top-class chicken-rice at McKenzie Rex on Prinsep Street.

- Fresh coconut - yum!

- US style abbreviations. SOTA ( sited right next to POMO

- Shop-names that ride on the coat-tails of long established brands. There were 2 at the Cathay Mall, I will have to return to note them down.

- Short, super-obese children.

- CD shop. Aloo has lots of re-mastered vinyl offerings - nice. Most CDs seem to have some price offer on them.

- A waier wearing a germ-msk, to bring an ordr of ice c ream to a table.

- Anderson's ice cream at Plaza Sing - delicious and friendly (no-bull) staff.

- Spray on, 'high-top' shorts on girls. The waist band must be just under their breasts I think. Doinky looking.

- Many electronic gadgets on the MRT. Phones, netbooks etc.

- People with fake LV and Gucci goods.

- Lesbians. Sitting at a food outlet in a basement of a mall. 7 tables, 2 of them occupied by lesbian couples. [wonder why SG is SO SO gay].

- Stupid kiddy t-shirts.
An adult in a t-shirt emblazoned with 'Bullshit'.
Another adult with a t-shirt with the symbol for a bicycle, over which was written 'Ride me'.

- A place called 'De Beaute', a poster of simpering girls, maybe a porno joint?

-Monks in saffron robes

- Royal Enfield retro motorbikes.

- A stick-insect of a young lady, but wearing lumberjack boots.

[hesitant to say this - please don't hate me]
- the sing-song local intonation, makes the speaker sound thick.

[JR8]

Escalators in the MRT are fast.

Concept food stands
(apologies, have I done this before?)
- ToriQ grilled skewers
Saybons crepes
Wow- Japanese tako
DOM - Seaoul street food.
'Lolly-talk' [!?]
'Yummi-house' [!?]

Cold Storage - fresh green-lip mussels at $2.20/kg. a screaming bargain.

Tea, marked 'MyCupofTea, arrived from UK', but I've never heard of it.

- Din Gi, Chinese restaurant. Bad choice of name!

- 'Chippy Happy Food' - WTH!?

- Fung shwei shop, a crystal shop, a birds nest shop. Wow an expensive industry found on ridiculus superstition.

- Botoxed grannies.

- $10 25cl bottles of wine at M&S (for which you'd get a bottle back home).

- M&S. Selling frozen samosas, Spring rolls, mini-spare ribs. Jars of curry sauce. Curry paste. 'Chinese style' egg noodles. - This really is a case of 'coals to Newcastle'....

-'Trumpet praise' - Chrisrtian shop.

- Huge shopping trolleys

- Sacks of 'Noble Pine Crane' rice. What's with the name ?

- Slippery bank-notes. I hold ten in my hand, most folded, to count them. Feels like most will want to spring out onto the floor.

- Packets of various peeled fruit

- Women with multiple bruises on their legs.

- A young lady in a peach diaphanous top, black strappy heels <CLASH>, with apparent green diamantees <CLASH> glued on her toe-nails.

- Yound adult men who laugh/giggle like schoolgirls.

- People hanging out, not eating, in fast food restaurants.

- Pretty Malay girls.

- Girls using I-Phones as mirrors

- Smiley friendly tray-aunties.

- Anorexics

- A child with dayglo orange spectacle frames.

- permanently feeling rather congested (respiratory system).

- 'Reactor' watch shop. Who are they, to command their own unit?

- 'Bods:Bodynits' - a brand, and shop. Really!? Nits are lice. Super-fail!

- High end shops. Many products marked 'Once broken, considered sold'. Er... what and why?

- Adverts for Asian products featuring white-euro girls.

- 'Exchange - Hair Salon' .... That's not so appealing.

- Axe faced white chicks.

[Brah]

the sing-song local intonation, makes the speaker sound thick.

This.

I have the same reaction now as I did years earlier.

[x9200]

Do you know, I walk to Bukit Batok park every single day and I've never seen one. The estate notice board has a no feeding monkeys poster but no show.

Very high likelihood area is where the quarry pond starts. Roughly in the wide vicinity of the playground. Probably 1/4 of my visits there I see some. Around noon or later.

[Hannieroo]

I shall stake it out, cheers.

[nakatago]

- Botoxed grannies.

At least you didn't run into one with a whale tail. Once seen, it cannot be unseen (shudder).

- Sacks of 'Noble Pine Crane' rice. What's with the name ?

Probably sounded good in native language but translated word per word into English

- Slippery bank-notes. I hold ten in my hand, most folded, to count them. Feels like most will want to spring out onto the floor.

Polymer notes. Allows for that transparent window as a security feature, lasts so much longer than paper.

Also probably will cost more than it's worth to give a rougher texture. Blame the Aussies; they invented them.

- Packets of various peeled fruit

So that stores could still make money off fruits with only a section gone bad or bruised.

- Women with multiple bruises on their legs.

Dancing lessons. For example, pole dancing is popular AND I AM NOT KIDDING, they're not doing it for their man.

- Yound adult men who laugh/giggle like schoolgirls.

Probably one of the reasons why Singaporean girls don't want Singaporean guys. Hey, a Singaporean told me this once. She wasn't being ironic.

- People hanging out, not eating, in fast food restaurants.

It's trendy for the kids (oh yeah, I said it--kids).

- Girls using I-Phones as mirrors

For selfies, duckface shots and The MySpace shot.

- A child with dayglo orange spectacle frames.

It seems to be a Chinese youth thing. Have also seen in on other Chinese in other countries. Note that for some, it's just frames--no lenses.

- High end shops. Many products marked 'Once broken, considered sold'. Er... what and why?

People like fondling things a lot. A lot of people have butterfingers.

- Adverts for Asian products featuring white-euro girls.

Hollywood.

[StephNET]

My better half and I went walking in Macritchie reservoir and had several monkeys trying to steal a carrier bag off of us that had some sunscreen in it. They were quite aggressive about it.

[zzm9980]

- Spray on, 'high-top' shorts on girls. The waist band must be just under their breasts I think. Doinky looking.

These drive me nuts, and they're EXTREMELY unflattering. I don't know if it makes the girls just look fat, or they really all are. But god most of these girls should never wear those.

- Pretty Malay girls.

+1

[the lynx]

- Spray on, 'high-top' shorts on girls. The waist band must be just under their breasts I think. Doinky looking.

These drive me nuts, and they're EXTREMELY unflattering. I don't know if it makes the girls just look fat, or they really all are. But god most of these girls should never wear those.

I disagree. Those shorts actually flatter the waist area. I think some girls really pull those off very well but I cannot say the same of the majority.

[Sergei82]

- Slippery bank-notes. I hold ten in my hand, most folded, to count them. Feels like most will want to spring out onto the floor.

Polymer notes. Allows for that transparent window as a security feature, lasts so much longer than paper.

The funny thing is that you can drop it in a washing machine and do your laundry, it will come out as new.