speak cryptic

More graffiti from the SGPC

Support Your Troops, on Middle road a few blocks from my place. Stenciled on a covered sidewalk

Speak Cryptic, posted on a light post across from Raffles Hotel and CHIJMES

Don't Get Reckless...

...because it KILLS!

"The faster the dash, the harder the smash."
and
"The impact is forever"

Certainly I can't argue with these facts. I was actually even starting to toy with the idea of recklessness but all I know now is that I'm not going to be getting reckless anytime soon.

From this campaign around town, I've also learned that Jaywalking Kills and Speeding Kills.

Blood and Gum

Walking home late last night I saw some very out of place things on the east end of Orchard Road- not too far from my place. First of all there was a trail of blood drops on the sidewalk for about a block which looked like someone got their nose broken walked off bleeding. Recklessness isn't encouraged in Singapore. The other thing was some sticker graffiti that's been going up. Graffiti isn't that strange but you rarely see it in Singapore. Recently though I've been noticing a lot more recently.

The end of the blood trail.

Blood and Gum. Two things I don't expect to see on the mean streets of Singapore.

I don't know what this thing is supposed to be but it looks like a Japanese bear from outer space

on the subway

Most everyone here uses some kind of shoulder bag wherever they go. A lot of people adjust the strap to let it hang low. really low. this guy may have it the lowest I've ever seen but it was a fake Louis Vuitton so his style points get neutralized

Oxtail Stew

The other week I went for Oxtail Stew with some friends. This was served at a place called The Wagon Wheel: a real American western tavern here which seems really out of place. It was a Wednesday night and the place was packed with locals just drinking (and a few others eating the stew since it's only served on Wednesdays).
This stew is delicious. I remember my grandpa talking about oxtail stew before but I never really thought of it, especially that it would be so good. I was reading about it on the web and the ox tail used to be considered a bad cut of meat and it was only the very poor that would eat it. Recently though it's been recognized a premium cut and it's supposedly a very popular dish in Europe. It really is delicious and if you ever see it I'd recommend you try it.

Meet the New Neighbors

Walking home from work tonight I noticed a new sign up in the empty lot next door to my building. Construction has now officially begun on a new 7 story condo unit scheduled to open in 2012! ...and JUST when all the noise across the street was starting to die out at the new mall/condo high rise construction site. I'm hoping that since this new place isn't going to open until 2012 it means they won't be working on nights or weekends.

The signboard

Wilkie Regency (my place)in the background. That room with the light on is my living room so I'll have quite a good view of the construction process.

...and here's the view from my balcony. That building in the background is called Sophia Flats (it's in some of the other pictures I've posted from my place before as well)...and it IS haunted. I have a friend who used to live there in the top floor and he swears it's haunted. There used to be a HUGE tree with a canopy covering almost the whole empty lot. One day when he was still living there the owner cut it down in preparation of developing this site. Ever since that day my friend, James, said things got very strange and that's when he started noticing ghosts. He had a cat and it would sometimes freak out and start hissing at things in the corner, he's have people over and they'd often claim they felt some presence in one of the bedrooms, and he said once he saw a ladder he had leaning on the wall fall backwards just like some one pushed it...not like it just slid down the wall. It seems throughout Singapore there are a lot of ghost stories and a lot of people really believe them. A year later the developer died of cancer and the lot sat empty until now. That was more than 10 years ago.