various rants

Late last night I walked up to Mustafa Center in Little India since my shower broke (a lot of things you buy here are from China and break very easily...but what can you expect since they're so cheap. I hear that a lot as an explanation as if it should make sense to me. It's not an excuse. It's more of just a statement that everyone excepts. It wouldn't be so bad if you actually had the choice to buy a high quality item for more money but I haven’t seen those options. Plus it was late and I really needed to fix that thing so I went to Mustafa Center since it's open 24hours a day, every day, and has everything you could need for anything. Six stories of everything from clothes to food to TVs to whatever. I don't agree with this wikipedia description that it 'caters to the budget market'... you can see it's a Singapore based entry which makes me think it has a strong anti-Indian bias. The prices are good there, maybe better than other places in Singapore, but that doesn't mean they sell cheap stuff only.) Anyways this brings me back to the point of the story. While I was walking there I was thinking how quite the normally busy streets were. It wasn’t that late, maybe around 9:30pm. Then I noticed a group of Police officers just strolling down the street up ahead of me and I was thinking how strange that was. Then I found out they were stopping suspicious looking people on the streets and questioning them. Literally as I passed them they stopped an Indian and apparently asked for either ID or some kind of residence card. As I kept walking I saw them searching though his bag... he must have been a very suspicious guy... and some of the other cops were pointing out another guy across the street they thought seemed suspect, too. This is so crazy, I can't believe someone can just be stopped and searched here for walking down the street. As I kept walking I could hear the people talking about "immigration" coming through. Maybe if Bush is serious about protecting the borders he could learn something from Singapore. Civil liberties whatever. I spent way too much time in Mustafa Center looking at random things. I bought some sunflower and cilantro seeds to plant on the balcony. I refused to buy the potting soil since I was sure it came from China and was just some dirt they packaged after digging it up at a construction site. Forget that! I can just get some dirt from the construction site across the street from my place. On my way back home I saw the police again. They had a few other Indians stopped and were going through their bags. I have to admit though, all those Indians they stopped did have their shirts untucked and their hair looked uncombed... not too different from . . . me. This reminds me I have to write up my thoughts on my India trip and post photos...

Speaking of my construction site though, it's really coming along. I think the whole foundation is poured now and they're starting to build up. The sounds of jackhammers breaking up the old foundation and rocks have been replaced by the constant soft hum of pumps for pouring concrete and grinders cutting rebar.

On my way home tonight I saw like 50 Harley-Davidson's parked outside a movie theater/mall near my house. It was obviously the Harley-Davidson club I've heard about here. Possibly the most candy-assed motorcycle gang in the world. I heard someone tell me they wanted to go up to Phuket, Tailand to ride their bikes around.. but instead of driving up though Malaysia they shipped them all up by plane then flew up separately then just drove around the island and came home. Anyways the bikes were all outside and all lined up in about 3 rows then I noticed 3 security guards standing there watching over them. Like Singapore isn't the safest country in the world, these bikers hired security guards to stand out there making sure no one messed with their hogs while they were inside watching a movie or maybe having a drink at starbucks.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!
In Singapore, Good Friday is a public holiday. Since there are so many religions here, most of the public holidays are for some kind of religious holiday actually. I had Friday off so I went to Batam, Indonesia with James, one of the American friends I've met here. It was very relaxing and also nice to get out of Singapore, especially since it's only a 40min ferry ride. Batam, along with the rest of Indonesia... along with the rest of the world really... has a reputation as being very unsafe according to the Singaporians. But the Indonesians especially would kidnap and kill you for just $1000 SGD (according to one of my co-workers)...I guess it's to be expected from a Muslim nation. However, my experiences with Indonesia so far have been nothing but good. I've never felt unsafe and the people are some of the friendliest I've met. I think it's very ironic that there was actually a stabbing at Holland Village just on Saturday night. From the newspaper article it sounds like no one was killed and both involved parties got away with out the police capturing them. I really want to get my co-workers opinion on this when I see them tomorrow. Anyways, that's besides the point. Happy Easter! and back to work tomorrow.

Good Friday

It's Good Friday and I have the day off work since it's a public holiday here. I went to one of the specialty grocery stores figuring they might have some hot cross buns at their bakery today and I was right. Got a few and had some coffee and relaxed. I'm going to Batam Indonesia w/ another American friend, James, in a little. It's a quick trip on a boat to get there and it should be a good vacation. Looking forward to it since I havn't been yet.

strange stuff

I saw a few things today that make you think how ridiculous this country is.
This is some Tiger Beer on SALE! Okay, not really that strange in it self. It's not the price that's the shocker but that the special is a 25 cent (Singapore cents) discount ! in U.S. terms that's like 15 cents off a $10 six pack of beer. This isn't such a great special but this is the kind of special that's always going on at the stores... really bad sales just making you want to buy more since you're getting a deal which is really what it's all about here. If you pay too much... you're just a sucka.

I was also supprised to see Budweiser at the store today there with all the other premium export beers. This grocery store across from my apartment seems to be one of the worst in Singapore for their stock and selection so you could imagine my excitment to see they started stocking it. I thought it is was funny when I was in St. Louis last summer and realized the 'local beer' was Budweiser and now it's been reinvented as an export to me. Although the logo here does seems a little off; I'm pretty sure this is not the same Budweiser label I've seen in the U.S.

This is the famous Busweiser beer. We know of no brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood Aging produces a taste, a smoothness and a drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price.

Maybe I've been out of California for too long but I just don't remember ever reading that before so I guess they've handcrafted that message for the locals here to make sure they know they're getting an exceptional value when making this purchase. It also seems strange that I was so excited to buy Budweiser and I can't wait to drink some