sliding by

It rained on Saturday which is nothing special to say the least but I was out walking around and it reminded me of something that’s been on my mind for a while. I guess you could call this another rant.

In San Diego it rains so little that when it finally does it's a big deal and the last thing I want to do is go out and do anything in it. It's also usually cold when it rains there (relatively, of course) which makes for a general feeling of miserableness when you're out in it (although it’s nothing like cities that really get cold and rainy weather like in the Pacific NW for example).

In Singapore you HAVE to go out in the rain or you'll never be able to go anywhere or do anything. I realized this very quickly while still living in my temp apartment after moving here. I swear it rained for a week straight when I first got here too, and for some reason I always had my air con cranked up full blast in that place so I was always freezing. Looking out at the rain while I was freezing to death inside, somehow I created this connection in my mind that it was freezing cold, wet and miserable outside out there. Finally when I started to go out in the rain purely out of necessity (like for food, beer, fun) I realized it's actually kind of nice since it's not cold at all. Actually, a warm rain is nice. almost… tropical...

However, instead of the cold, there is something much worse here that when combined with rain makes my life miserable here in Singapore. So many sidewalks around here are tile, very smooth tile which becomes so slippery once it gets wet. I swear it's almost like walking on ice. I have no idea why this smooth polished tile is everywhere in a country where it rains so much because people are either slipping all over it or walking crazy slow to keep from slipping (this is my tactic which is hard because I usually walk really fast). It's just such a bad idea and I don't get why the government allows it since it's obviously dangerous. A plain cement sidewalk is much less slippery and it's always nice to find a short stretch where you can walk and not worry about breaking your neck. I had a theory that it’s put in place on purpose to keep people walking slower just to discourage recklessness.

While these slippery conditions would obviously create a dangerous situation anywhere, I think it’s especially disastrous here since Singapore is now home to the worlds fastest walkers (according to a study released this past May)! That's right, I can’t believe it either, but they really say it’s true. Now keep in mind that about 1 in 4 people here are expats and the study excluded people walking in groups, people talking on the phone or people texting on their phone while walking…oh and it must not have been raining of course. So like, it must have taken forever to find enough people who qualified for the study because everyone is either talking or texting on their phone wherever they go (well, not everyone but it is a lot). Plus, they were only walking like 4 miles per hour (measured over a 60 foot ‘speed trap’). I’m so much faster than that, ha!

Anyways, I just don’t get what the deal with all this slippery tile is, that’s all. I guess it does look nice at least.