Singapore Adventure

Monday, January 30, 2006

Random Lacks: He Said
by jima

Now it's my turn. Some random things I miss:
  • Good beer. Beer here isn't significantly more expensive once you do the math. A six-pack of Tiger in Singapore run about SGD$15, roughly USD$9. Comparatively, a six-pack of Fat Tire in Ft Collins can usually be had for USD$7. There's a big difference, though, in the quality; while I actually kind of like Tiger, it's not Fat Tire or 1554. Not by a long shot. And paying more for a decidedly inferior beer tends to make you want to cry in it.
  • Q-tips. They do sell cotton swabs here, but they're anemic compared to the original Q-tip. The shaft bends quite easily, thus pathetically reducing their ear-cleaning power. Maybe this explains why so many people pick their ears on the MRT?
  • Burritos. My co-workers back in Colorado may remember my home-made lunches of the past several years: bean burritos. I made a week's worth at a time, so prep-time was short, plus they were yummy and healthy! In Singapore, I, along with everyone else, eat out. Granted, the lunch options are incredible and delicious, but finding something that isn't fried can be a challenge.
  • Biking to work. I love Singapore's mass transit system, and I've no complaints about the extra reading time my 45-60 minute commute provides. Still, I miss the feeling of arriving to work on a cool morning, chilled, refreshed, and wide awake.
  • Donut Thursday. OK, so toss all that talk of healthy lunches out the bus window. I'm not a nut about it, alright?!? My division in Ft. Collins used to have donuts brought in on Thursday mornings, getting everyone out of their cubes for informal chatting and, well, [Homer Simpson In-A-Trance Drooly Voice ON] mmmm.... dooonuts... [HSIATDV OFF]. It's hard to imagine Singaporean management coughing up the money for weekly treats, and when I think what my co-workers might want, well, let's just say I'm better off dreaming of [HSIATDV ON] donuts [HSIATDV OFF].
  • Pulcinella's pizza. A Ft Collins favorite, Pulcinella's makes the two best pizzas in the world: a thin-crust vegetarian and a double-crust spinach w/black olives. In Singapore, I live across the street from Pizza Hut. 'Nuf said.
  • Cubicle walls. The office in Ft. Collins has 5-foot-high (1.5m-high) walls around the cubes, which cuts down on the office noise and makes it easier to concentrate. It also makes it easier to screw around undetected, but that's not why I miss it. Really.

jima