Lost in sakura mania

Date: 30 Mar 08
Time: 1128 hrs (Tokyo time)
Place: Ueno Park, Tokyo

(both) We are standing in front of a map in Ueno Park and it's the first Sunday since the cherry blossoms have opened and so the park is packed with locals and tourists. We're trying to figure out how to get to a restaurant specialising in eel for lunch. From behind us, an Indian man asks us, "How do you get to the water?" and pointed to the map where the small lake was. So we told him to follow the main path where the cherry blossoms were and at the end of the road would be the lake.

Singapore Slinging

Date: 03 Mar 2008
Time: 1508 hrs
Place: Raffles Place MRT

(sorf) Stuck in the rain at Raffles Place and a chubby, short, blonde American woman tourist asked me where Raffles Hotel was. I told her she should have gone to the City Hall stop instead.

Cookie cutter answer

Date: 01 Mar 2008
Time: 1502 hrs
Place: Isetan Scotts

(both) We'd just purchased Le Creuset pots and were wandering about looking at kitchen gadgets when we saw a little flower shaped vegetable cutter when an Indian lady behind us in a pink sari asks "oh you use this to cut cookies right?" and we said, no, you use this to cut vegetables and make canapes.

Prepositioned

Date: 20 Feb 2008
Time: 2135 hrs
Place: National Library (corner of Victoria Street and Middle Road)

(both) It took him a while to get the sentence right because he was rearranging the prepositions. "Excusemesir, excusemesir, which is the way we are getting to... which is the way to get to... to walk... how do we get to Mustafa?" So we told him walk down three junctions, turn right at Selegie and walk up Serangoon Road, at which point he recognised "oh! Serangoon Road" and went on his way.

He was an Indian dude, quite young, quite chubby, approaching us from behind. He was with a friend in a white t-shirt and jeans.

Just a hunch...

Date: 30 Jan 2008
Time: 1533 hrs
Place: The Factory

(sorf) A slender woman with a ponytail accosted me in front of my cubicle to ask where Hun Ching was sitting. I turned around and pointed behind me and said "She's right here!"

The elusive Dhoby

Date: 29 Jan 2008
Time: 2251 hrs
Place: Outside National Museum Singapore

(sorf) A 20-something year old guy in a black t-shirt and pants interrupted me as I was sms-ing and crossing the road in front of the museum. He asked me in Chinese, "Excuse me, where's Dhoby Ghaut station?"

Top up

Date: 20 Jan 2008
Time: 1724 hrs
Place: Shop'n'Save (Boon Keng)

(sorf) A little old lady in a red shirt came up to me in Shop'n'Save to ask me how much groceries I'm buying because she wants to top up to $15 and get the sticker.

Post haste

Date: 20 Jan 2008
Time: 1415 hrs
Place: Junction of Victoria Street and Bras Basah Road

(sorf) Middle aged chinese guy in blue bermudas and checked blue shirt stopped me at the junction to ask where the Bras Basah Post Office is.

Stereoscopic spectacular

Date: 19 Jan 2008
Time: 1313 hrs
Place: Funan Center

(both) We are sitting at the Funan Center taxi stand opposite the fire station, waiting to pass a newly-bought laser printer to our friend who was going to drive over. A nice slender lady wearing a tudung, colourful blouse and jeans, who had been sitting there with us for a while, asked us whether Sim Lim Square was bigger than Funan. I think she's from Dubai - she's got an interesting accent. We told her yes, there are more shops there, but that to be careful because they tend to try to rip tourists off there. Then she shared that she had been asking at the Funan shops one by one, looking for stereoscopic 3d glasses, that her friend said he bought 6 months ago while he was working a stint here. She asked us what time the shops at Sim Lim close and we told her they close about 7 or 8.

North and South

Date: 10 Jan 2008
Time: 1833 hrs
Place: Braddell MRT Station

(sorf) Some middle aged guy with a bowl hair cut wearing a lime green t-shirt and grey shorts accosted me at the MRT door at Braddell saying "Excuse me this go to Toa Payoh?"

The threads that bind us

Date: 20 Dec 2007
Time: 1532 hrs
Place: Plaza Singapura Spotlight

(sorf) Got asked about thread at the DMC counter by a woman with a Chinese accent.

The long and short of it

Date: 16 Dec 2007
Time: 1027 hrs
Place: Downstairs from the block

(both) We're downstairs at the carpark walking in when this auntie with a red flowery shirt and red lipstick and henna-ed hair, asking, "xiao jie, where's the market?" and pointing one way then another. In fact, both routes would have worked, but we set her off in the direction that was shorter.

It's on the map

Date: 04 Dec 2007
Time: 1014 hrs
Place: Bus stop at corner of Bencoolen and Bras Basah

I'm sitting and reading my book at the bus stop waiting for the bus when a bunch of Korean tourists (two ladies and a little girl) ran up to me and asked me where Dhoby Ghaut MRT was. I told them to walk down the road and follow the curve and the MRT entrance was there. The interesting thing was that she had written "Dhoby Ghaut MRT" on her tourist map. Not that it helped her find the place...

Water tight

Date: 30 Oct 2007
Time: 1758 hrs
Place: Raffles Place MRT

I'm at the 7-11 store inside Raffles Place MRT when a lady holding a file and a red handbag, wearing red top and jeans, asked me to help her open a bottle of mineral water. It was quite tight. I had to use my handkerchief for grip.

From the golden shoe or the bay?

Date: 11 Oct 2007
Time: 1634 hrs
Place: Esplanade bus stop

(sorf) Small teenaged girl in pink tank top and jeans asked me whether bus 162 comes to the bus stop and if it's from Shenton Way or Marina. I was plugged into the iPod and there were tons of other people around.

Citiblanket

Date: 10 Oct 2007
Time: 1455 hrs
Place: near Isetan Scotts

(sorf) Got stopped by a Citibank promoter. They're everywhere!

Live office directory

Date: 9 Oct 2007
Time: 1400 hrs
Place: The office

(sorf) Two girls asked me where two of my colleagues sit.

Auntie hunts for bargain

Date: 29 Sep 2007
Time: 1229 hrs
Place: BHG at Bugis

(both) We were near the escalators at BHG when an auntie wearing a brown t-shirt asking "Miss, do you know where they sell the eating utensils?" and we told her that it was outside the departmental store because they moved (which is why she couldn't find it walking around).

The time for politeness is now!

Date: 20 Jul 2007
Time: 1803 hrs
Place: Harbourfront MRT Station entrance

I was just about to enter the cavernous stairwell that leads down to the Harbourfront MRT station when a 20-something Malay man, dressed in a red cap, brown t-shirt, jeans and slippers, and staring out of the window towards at the cars passing by on the road, approached me and asked me very politely, "Excuse me sir, what is the time?"

As if to reinforce the point of his lack of timekeeping equipment, he showed me a very bare forearm. I looked at my watch very deliberately and said "6.03" and he said "Thank you", and turned around and continued to look at the road, waiting.

Try the hor fun for fun...

Date: 2 Aug 2007
Time: 1244 hrs
Place: The Factory's canteen

(sorf) In the queue at the canteen and an auntie behind me asks what's good to eat so I said the fish slices hor fun.