Tuesday, December 21, 2004

eZ come eZ go

Date: 21 Dec 2004
Time: 1800 hrs
Place: outside eZ-Link office

Malay man, probably 30-plus years old, asked me where the Ministry of Manpower had moved to. I pointed to the map pasted on the door, and gave him a piece of paper for him to copy it.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

the signs (part 2)

Date: 30 Nov 2004
Time: 1742 hrs
Place: Braddell MRT

(sorf) ... at the same station, near the bench at the bottom of the escalators, tudung-clad elderly Malay woman asks if it was the right side to take to Novena.

the signs (part 1)

Date: 30 Nov 2004
Time: 1737 hrs
Place: Braddell MRT

(sorf) Middle aged Chinese woman asked which side to the take the train to Ang Mo Kio. She might not have been able to read the signboards in any language. Even then, the signs don't explicitly say "Ang Mo Kio, this way"...

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

10p

Date: 23 Nov 2004
Time: 1307 hrs
Place: Maxwell Market

A girl in her 20's asked me if I could change her 50 cent coin so she could use the toilet facilities there.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

curry hunting

Date: 21 Nov 2004
Time: 1404 hrs
Place: Perumal Road

A gang of 5 aunties, probably on holiday from China, asked us as we exited the taxi where they could eat fishhead curry. We directed them to follow the yellow curry road, that is, Race Course Road, and they went off happily.

Friday, November 12, 2004

do i look like a chair?

Date: 12 Nov 2004
Time: 1325 hrs
Place: Plaza Singapura, inside 2nd Floor ladies' toilet

(sorf) A fellow shopper asked where Novena Furniture is.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

international building

Date: 28 Oct 2004
Time: 1800 hrs
Place: Lift Lobby, Shaw Center

Short Asian lady, not Chinese, not Japanese, not Indonesian, not Filipino, not Korean. She asked me, "Where is International Building"? I told her, in English, and she asked if she could go in through the back.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

gym bunny

Date: 16 Oct 2004
Time: 1000 hrs
Place: Fitness First Paragon

(sorf) She was a gym bunny, or perhaps a wannabe, since she was unable to get the threadmill to work. Looking around, the lady with the book seemed the smartest and asking her for instructions would most likely be successful. Turns out that despite looking pretty in the Saturday morning sunlight, this threadmill, like all things mechanical, was broken. Wonderwoman in the TV screen was unable to help, though she too was running in the re-run.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

Esplanade

Date: 15 Aug 2004
Time: 1647 hrs
Place: Raffles City Entrance / City Hall MRT Exit

So we've been away on holiday ;) that's why there've been no posts recently. We were a couple, they were a couple, and judging from their slightly off-fashion clothing, pale skin and accents I think they were from Hong Kong. It must have been quite overwhelming for them to suddenly be faced with such a massive crowd (this was the weekend after National Day when everyone seemed to have nothing to do, having all escaped the country over the long weekend and now back and bored), coming out from the dark and long escalators from the MRT station into brightness and confusion.

I could almost sense the slight panic as the guy turned right back to us at the top of the escalators (and we were just a step or two behind, still carrying some forward momentum). I could see the concern in their eyes behind their spectacles. He asked sorf where the Esplanade was and she explained to him matter-of-factly that they should go back down the escalator and turn left and go through the underpass all the way. I think they felt much safer with a overground route but we insisted that it's easier to go underground. I added that they just needed to remember to turn right at the Adidas store (with the very nice Justine Henin poster I might add). The poor couple realised they had to take their chances, so off they went, back into the dungeon.

Is Adidas popular in Hong Kong?

Thursday, July 15, 2004

mainland

Date: 12 Jul 2004
Time: 1510 hrs
Place: Inside Dhoby Ghaut MRT

I could tell from his tanned skin and her gaudy overly colourful clothes that this middle aged couple were from mainland China. Them opening their mouths confirmed it. It was just my luck that I was standing next to the map showing the station sequence, and the man asked loudly to no one in particular the way to Bugis MRT. He looked at me and I felt obliged to reply that they needed to change train at City Hall. I don't think he understood me completely and the woman just seemed to be either too arrogant or too embarrassed.

It's strange but we probably seem like the most exotic location possible for a comfortable holiday, a city of Chinese folks and English signs.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

fencing

Date: 4 Jul 2004
Time: 1605 hrs
Place: Outside Meritus Mandarin Hotel

Out of the corner of my eye, just behind and to my left, was a short Malay woman berpakaian baju merah tua (wearing a really red shirt) walking very rapidly -- now we all know the whole theory about the length of the pendulum determining the period of the oscillations but I think someone she managed to force her legs to swing much faster than that theoretical limit. The rapid plop plop plop of her heels forced me to turn my head to the left and I gazed at her and she seemed not to be moving because relatively, she was matching my speed. She asked, "How to go in?" You see there's this cobblestoned road just outside the Mandarin entrance and a white metal fence that blocks off that road from the main pedestrian pavement and it's not that high so I normally just hop on over it when I'm in a hurry.

"Follow me," I said and I led her to the nearest opening that was quite plainly visible but perhaps not so from her more humble perspective.

Saturday, July 03, 2004

the power of three

Date: 2 Jul 2004
Time: 1840 hrs
Place: Outside Clarke Quay Station

Three German girls (a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead) were have a quiet discussion over their German language guidebook to Singapore. It had a nice map. They needed to get back to "Novotel", I needed to clarify which one because there were a couple of "Novotel"'s in the country (wouldn't life be easier if the hotel chains put their branding on the end of the hotel names rather than at the beginning?) So it turns out to be the Novotel Apollo on Havelock Road, where some time ago they boarded a river taxi and ended up here. Looks like they already decided to take a walk back to the hotel, and had already figured out the civilised, follow-the-roads route, but the discussion was about whether to walk along the river.

I pointed them in the right direction (upstream) and advised them to walk on the other side (that's the Robertson Quay side) as it's more pedestrian-friendly.

It was the short one with the eyebrows that almost faded into her face that could speak the English well. I wonder why girls tend to travel in groups of three, or why girl groups in general are in threes (pop culture examples being Powerpuff Girls and Charlie's Angels). Sorf tells me it's cheaper to pack three girls into a single room, and the odd number is needed to break deadlocks. Makes sense. :)

Thursday, July 01, 2004

right before your eyes

Date: 1 Jul 2004
Time: 1550 hrs
Place: Toa Payoh North

(sorf) Directions to the SPH News Centre.

cash deposit

Date: 27 Jun 2004
Time: 1900 hrs
Place: outside Kallang MRT

(sorf) An Indian worker not so fluent in English was trying to deposit some cash. Unfortunately he was trying to do so at an ATM, which could only dispense cash, but also was of the wrong bank. He really needed to prevent his account from busting because he was sending money back home through the account (and we wonder why his employer did not GIRO the money into his account directly in the first place). Eventually it was explained to him that he needed to get to a cash deposit machine, the nearest at City Hall/Raffles City. Requests to be escorted were politely declined due to a mismatch in travelling direction.

I'm just thinking of the innocent $2 that DBS is deducting each month from his less than $500 account.

airport

Date: 27 Jun 2004
Time: 2000 hrs
Place: City Hall MRT

A young backpacking couple, tanned Brits with huge backpacks, the girl frowning very hard into her folded MRT map. The boy just looked tired. She asked me, "Which train goes to the airport?" Apparently they had been here a while back, because the boy was mumbling something about the train going directly to the airport, but that system in the past where alternate trains go to the airport or to Pasir Ris was changed to one where all airport/Expo going trains must be boarded at Tanah Merah.

I told her, "No, you have to change at Tanah Merah."

I left her to frown at the map a bit longer looking for that station.

wrong way

Date: 26 Jun 2004
Time: 1445 hrs
Place: Dhoby Ghaut MRT train doors

A middle-aged local auntie-type carrying several shopping bags came right up to the train doors just as I entered the train and asked me, "This way go Orchard ah?"

I told her, "No, other way."

She's lucky she's at least on the right line, not lost in limbo on the North-East line. I do admire her positive shopping attitude, doing solo shopping and braving the crowds.

purpose

I really do get more than my fair share of people asking me for information, like directions, or the time of day, etc. etc. Do I just happen to have a friendlier than average face? or do I look like I know everything? :) Just to prove my point, I've set up this blog to keep track of each and every time some stranger interrupts my normal routine to ask me a question. where, when, why, and how I replied, as well as my thoughts on the general philosophy of asking.

It'll also show that yes, men *do* ask for directions. sometimes.

enjoy!

(sor fern is updating me on when she gets asked for info too. those posts are marked "sorf")