Date: 15 Sep 2005
Time: 1128 hrs
Place: "The Factory"
(sorf) Again I get asked for directions to other people's cubicles...
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
"I read your face, it says you're a sucker..."
Date: 11 Sep 2005
Time: 0955 hrs
Place: Table no. 9, a HDB market
(both of us) A man in a polo t-shirt, hand carrying a bag, comes up to us and asks if we want our faces read and to tell us our fortunes.
Time: 0955 hrs
Place: Table no. 9, a HDB market
(both of us) A man in a polo t-shirt, hand carrying a bag, comes up to us and asks if we want our faces read and to tell us our fortunes.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Do they have upsidedown lifts down under?
Date: 09 Sep 2005
Time: 1824 hrs
Place: Shaw Towers
Three Aussie Tai-Tai tourists got into the lift to try to get to the cinemas, but I told them to go back to the first floor, past the McDonalds, and to take the other lift.
Time: 1824 hrs
Place: Shaw Towers
Three Aussie Tai-Tai tourists got into the lift to try to get to the cinemas, but I told them to go back to the first floor, past the McDonalds, and to take the other lift.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Hubba hubba
Date: 31 Aug 2005
Time: 1039 hrs
Place: HDB Hub
(sorf) A little old man, dressed in shorts and slippers, anxiously waving his letter with the address. He needed to go to the Central CDC office, stating so in Cantonese. I answered in my very wobbly Teochew, then took him up the wrong lift lobby. Had to go check the map and get to the right one.
Time: 1039 hrs
Place: HDB Hub
(sorf) A little old man, dressed in shorts and slippers, anxiously waving his letter with the address. He needed to go to the Central CDC office, stating so in Cantonese. I answered in my very wobbly Teochew, then took him up the wrong lift lobby. Had to go check the map and get to the right one.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
I not American
Date: 17 Aug 2005
Time: 2046 hrs
Place: Earshot store, The Arts House
Middle aged female tourist from the States with sort of white-ish hair asking where to buy "I Not Stupid" cos she watched the show and really enjoyed it and wanted to buy back copies for her friends. Told her to go to Dhoby Ghaut via MRT and buy it from the cheap VCD/DVD shops at Plaza Singapura.
Time: 2046 hrs
Place: Earshot store, The Arts House
Middle aged female tourist from the States with sort of white-ish hair asking where to buy "I Not Stupid" cos she watched the show and really enjoyed it and wanted to buy back copies for her friends. Told her to go to Dhoby Ghaut via MRT and buy it from the cheap VCD/DVD shops at Plaza Singapura.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Adjustable fitness
Date: 25 Jul 2005
Time: 1930 hrs
Place: Fitness First
I'm at the gym and someone asked me how to adjust the bike seat.
Time: 1930 hrs
Place: Fitness First
I'm at the gym and someone asked me how to adjust the bike seat.
Indian stitches
Date: 25 Jul 2005
Time: 1747 hrs
Place: somewhere in Orchard Road
(sorf) Nice middle aged Indian lady asked me where to buy cross stitch materials.
Time: 1747 hrs
Place: somewhere in Orchard Road
(sorf) Nice middle aged Indian lady asked me where to buy cross stitch materials.
Friday, July 22, 2005
No, it doesn't matter how busy you look
Date: 22 Jul 2005
Time: 1840 hrs
Place: Near HDB Hub
(sorf) Got accosted by a guy trying to do a survey on skin care while trying to find the cinema while on the phone, sms-ing.
Time: 1840 hrs
Place: Near HDB Hub
(sorf) Got accosted by a guy trying to do a survey on skin care while trying to find the cinema while on the phone, sms-ing.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Do we look hungry?
Date: 06 Jul 2005
Time: 1708hrs Bangkok Time
Place: In a cab on our way to Sirocco
(both of us) Sweet Chinese lady offered us food outside of a Hindu temple. Do we look hungry? Maybe we just look curious. Just boggled by the idea that they were giving out free food, even to tourists passing through in a cab.
Time: 1708hrs Bangkok Time
Place: In a cab on our way to Sirocco
(both of us) Sweet Chinese lady offered us food outside of a Hindu temple. Do we look hungry? Maybe we just look curious. Just boggled by the idea that they were giving out free food, even to tourists passing through in a cab.
Sour or Sweet?
Date: 06 Jul 2005
Time: 1447 Bangkok Time
Place: Tops Supermarket, MBK basement
(both of us) Some thirty-something woman asked us, in English, if the mangoes were sour or sweet. Er, like how would we know unless we've taken a bite into them??
Time: 1447 Bangkok Time
Place: Tops Supermarket, MBK basement
(both of us) Some thirty-something woman asked us, in English, if the mangoes were sour or sweet. Er, like how would we know unless we've taken a bite into them??
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Unmarketable
Date: 14 Jun 2005
Time: 1358 hrs
Place: The Factory
(sorf) Again I get asked for directions in my cubicle! White haired dude asking where Mag Lum sits. And Pau Lin. And Ah Yoke. And he turns out to be from marketing!
Time: 1358 hrs
Place: The Factory
(sorf) Again I get asked for directions in my cubicle! White haired dude asking where Mag Lum sits. And Pau Lin. And Ah Yoke. And he turns out to be from marketing!
Saturday, June 11, 2005
passage through little india
Date: 11 Jun 2005
Time: 2340 hrs
Place: Junction of Kitchener Road and Serangoon Road
(both of us) It was just a couple of seconds, standing at the corner, waiting for the traffic lights to change. I was looking forward, and sorf was looking back, just briefly. Without any distinguishing reason (I mean we weren't the only people on the street that busy Saturday night, with all the Mustafa traffic and lonely construction workers on their day off), two Indian men in colourful short-sleeved polo t-shirts and jeans came right at us, pounced on us from behind, and asked "How to get to Lau Pa Sat?" I was stumped, for the first thing I wondered was if these people were seriously wanting to *walk* there. "By?" I asked, and he said "Taxi." That was sorf's turn to go "Huh?", because why would you need directions if you were going to take a cab? I pointed in the direction of Jalan Besar and off they went happily with a "thank you very much" and leaving a puff of smoke.
Time: 2340 hrs
Place: Junction of Kitchener Road and Serangoon Road
(both of us) It was just a couple of seconds, standing at the corner, waiting for the traffic lights to change. I was looking forward, and sorf was looking back, just briefly. Without any distinguishing reason (I mean we weren't the only people on the street that busy Saturday night, with all the Mustafa traffic and lonely construction workers on their day off), two Indian men in colourful short-sleeved polo t-shirts and jeans came right at us, pounced on us from behind, and asked "How to get to Lau Pa Sat?" I was stumped, for the first thing I wondered was if these people were seriously wanting to *walk* there. "By?" I asked, and he said "Taxi." That was sorf's turn to go "Huh?", because why would you need directions if you were going to take a cab? I pointed in the direction of Jalan Besar and off they went happily with a "thank you very much" and leaving a puff of smoke.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
boon lay boondocks
Date: 7 Jun 2005
Time: 1404 hrs
Place: In front of Swenson's Crown Prince Hotel
(sorf) A soft spoken white-haired Asian lady with an ang-moh accent, dressed like a Japanese tourist with a white shirt over a coloured t-shirt, hat and shades, asking how to take the MRT to Boon Lay Interchange. It's surprising that tourists still want to go visit the Bird Park in this kind of heat.
This happened just minutes after being stopped by some Citibank salesperson after half a dozen people walked past him. What exactly goes through their tiny sale-person minds as they filter through the crowds that throng past them? hmm...
Time: 1404 hrs
Place: In front of Swenson's Crown Prince Hotel
(sorf) A soft spoken white-haired Asian lady with an ang-moh accent, dressed like a Japanese tourist with a white shirt over a coloured t-shirt, hat and shades, asking how to take the MRT to Boon Lay Interchange. It's surprising that tourists still want to go visit the Bird Park in this kind of heat.
This happened just minutes after being stopped by some Citibank salesperson after half a dozen people walked past him. What exactly goes through their tiny sale-person minds as they filter through the crowds that throng past them? hmm...
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
personal space
Date: 31 May 2005
Time: 1056 hrs
Place: SPH office
(sorf) I'm the only one plugged into headphones out of 4 people and I get asked directions to Judith Tan's desk!
Time: 1056 hrs
Place: SPH office
(sorf) I'm the only one plugged into headphones out of 4 people and I get asked directions to Judith Tan's desk!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
what do you call pregnant bimbos?
Date: 25 May 2005
Time: 1735 hrs
Place: Paragon Shopping Center
(sorf) I think this unsolicited accosting on the street is getting way out of hand. Three times in the space of minutes. Twice by survey girls who went out of their way to stop her and once by some guy selling postcards.
Moments before, in the lift coming down, a couple of bimbo ah-lians got on at the 3rd floor to get off at the 2nd. That short journey was sufficiently long enough to overhear a declaration that if she's pregnant she won't wear maternity clothes but sexy things.
I think the headlines for the week were about educated women choosing abortion as their choice of birth control...
Time: 1735 hrs
Place: Paragon Shopping Center
(sorf) I think this unsolicited accosting on the street is getting way out of hand. Three times in the space of minutes. Twice by survey girls who went out of their way to stop her and once by some guy selling postcards.
Moments before, in the lift coming down, a couple of bimbo ah-lians got on at the 3rd floor to get off at the 2nd. That short journey was sufficiently long enough to overhear a declaration that if she's pregnant she won't wear maternity clothes but sexy things.
I think the headlines for the week were about educated women choosing abortion as their choice of birth control...
Sunday, May 22, 2005
a crow, defiant
Date: 22 May 2005
Time: 1113 hrs
Place: Outside Farrer Park MRT
I was trying to find where my favorite prawn noodle stall at the Race Course Road kopitiam had moved to, so I was walking up and down Rangoon Road and Kitchener Road, in vain. There was a crow, standing his ground on top of a metal drain cover, enjoying shade from a nearby tree filled with noisy crows, and generally oblivious to the passers-by. I had passed it twice already in my noodle quest. So I started disturbing it, touching its beak with the bottom of my slipper, when another crow-like creature came out of the MRT exit and (it seems, almost) made a bee-line towards me.
He was a long-haired middle-aged Malay man, dressed rocker-mat style, with a dirty sling bag and his hair flowing out from under his cap. "Where is the Mustafa?" he asked, the article "the" being quite appropriate actually. I pointed him down the road and to the right and off he went, leaving me to wonder what exactly he was looking to buy from "the" Mustafa, and whether he'll be wearing rock t-shirt and jeans for the rest of his life.
(Later I asked the angry Putien stall matriach and she feigned ignorance without uttering a word, perhaps she'd gotten a sore throat screaming at her teenage rebellious daughters. The drinks stall auntie was much more helpful, even explaining why she did not go "support" the stall, among other things. I think people should talk to her more.)
Time: 1113 hrs
Place: Outside Farrer Park MRT
I was trying to find where my favorite prawn noodle stall at the Race Course Road kopitiam had moved to, so I was walking up and down Rangoon Road and Kitchener Road, in vain. There was a crow, standing his ground on top of a metal drain cover, enjoying shade from a nearby tree filled with noisy crows, and generally oblivious to the passers-by. I had passed it twice already in my noodle quest. So I started disturbing it, touching its beak with the bottom of my slipper, when another crow-like creature came out of the MRT exit and (it seems, almost) made a bee-line towards me.
He was a long-haired middle-aged Malay man, dressed rocker-mat style, with a dirty sling bag and his hair flowing out from under his cap. "Where is the Mustafa?" he asked, the article "the" being quite appropriate actually. I pointed him down the road and to the right and off he went, leaving me to wonder what exactly he was looking to buy from "the" Mustafa, and whether he'll be wearing rock t-shirt and jeans for the rest of his life.
(Later I asked the angry Putien stall matriach and she feigned ignorance without uttering a word, perhaps she'd gotten a sore throat screaming at her teenage rebellious daughters. The drinks stall auntie was much more helpful, even explaining why she did not go "support" the stall, among other things. I think people should talk to her more.)
Thursday, May 12, 2005
What's interchange in Mandarin?
Date: 12 May 2005
Time: 1803 hrs
Place: Braddell MRT
I was waiting for sorf to join her on the train, at the Braddell MRT southbound platform, when a female Chinese national and her son asked me how to get to "Wen Li" (Boon Lay?) and mumbled something about IMM. I explained to her as best I could about changing trains but I wasn't sure how to say "interchange" in Mandarin. They got on the next train and left.
Time: 1803 hrs
Place: Braddell MRT
I was waiting for sorf to join her on the train, at the Braddell MRT southbound platform, when a female Chinese national and her son asked me how to get to "Wen Li" (Boon Lay?) and mumbled something about IMM. I explained to her as best I could about changing trains but I wasn't sure how to say "interchange" in Mandarin. They got on the next train and left.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Machine trouble
Date: 07 May 2005
Time: 2345 hrs
Place: Near Upper Boon Keng
(sorf) At one of the ATM machines, there was a foreman and his Thai worker who asked for help regarding his wonky ATM card.
Time: 2345 hrs
Place: Near Upper Boon Keng
(sorf) At one of the ATM machines, there was a foreman and his Thai worker who asked for help regarding his wonky ATM card.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
It's never too far
Date: 30 Apr 2005
Time: 1417 hrs
Place: Le Meridien bus stop
(both) We had just gotten off the bus 167 together when two teenage Malaysian girls asked sorf in Mandarin "which way to Plaza Sing?", and "is it far?"
Time: 1417 hrs
Place: Le Meridien bus stop
(both) We had just gotten off the bus 167 together when two teenage Malaysian girls asked sorf in Mandarin "which way to Plaza Sing?", and "is it far?"
Thursday, April 14, 2005
French dog
Date: 14 Apr 2005
Time: 1609 hrs
Place: Cannes
(sorf) A sweet little old French lady walking her dog stopped to introduce me to her pet. He's called Pearl. Hee hee
Time: 1609 hrs
Place: Cannes
(sorf) A sweet little old French lady walking her dog stopped to introduce me to her pet. He's called Pearl. Hee hee
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