Do you speak Ikea?

Date: 28 Dec 2006
Time: 1730 hrs
Place: Ikea Tampines

This new Ikea is turning out to be really popular and the queues at the restaurant are just amazing. I just stepped in to get some coffee and cake when a little girl wearing pink and a tartan skirt and pink Crocs asked if she could speak Chinese. It took me a while to understand that she meant if I could understand Chinese. I said I could and she then asked me, in Chinese, to help her reach for the cup that was on the rack. And as I reached for it the young Malay Ikea employee tipped it out and I passed it to her.

She should stay away from toe-eating escalators while wearing those pirated Crocs.

Nursing the media industry

Date: 18 Dec 2006
Time: 1827 hrs
Place: Novena Square

(sorf) Lady in office gear asked me which side of the road she should take the bus from if she's going to Mediacorp and nurseries. There was an insane cab queue.

Do angmohs like ginger?

Date: 9 Dec 2006
Time: 1620 hrs
Place: Centrepoint

(both) We're in Cold Storage at Centrepoint when we were approached by an old lady who was looking for young preserved ginger (for eating with century egg porridge). She was directed to row 4 by the staff but she couldn't find it. We helped her scan the shelves and I managed to spot it. She thanked us and remarked that young people have sharper eyes, though sorf said that I had sharper eyes than her because I spotted it but she couldn't. And we told her that this place was rather "angmoh".