Phew, I just returned from London yesterday and immediately I was busy into the night upon returning. The week in London was good. It wasn’t only because it was a much more interesting area with lots to explore but it was due to the company as well. Being with people you know and feel comfortable with attributes much to your well-being in a foreign land. That’s like pretty “duh” right? Haha, well on my journey back to Durham, which was a long one, I pondered upon many random thoughts, so this blog entry would be pretty disorganized I guess? Anyway this post is meant for “my cup of tea”, with sugar of course and a little milk. Hope this helps =)
I’m currently sipping the nicest milk tea I’ve had in Durham in my room now. See, I’m such a good son, didn’t disobey my parents and went to buy milk, NOT! Haha, I bought a MacDonald’s breakfast at the train station before going to the coach station and I did something a little mischievous i.e. taking like 4 additional mini-cups of fresh organic semi-skimmed milk from the counter when the cashier wasn’t looking. Boy, am I so desperate or cheappo now? Oh well, who cares, I’m having such a nice cup of milk tea now.
If you think that MacDonald’s breakfast in Singapore is not filling, try UK’s one. I think their cows or pigs etc. went on a diet, maybe they’re fed some organic food since UK’s hot on organic stuff. The sausage muffin with egg is so pathetically small, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but it really is small which is surprising. Thought it should be of the same size as that in Singapore or bigger. So to make up for the small muffin and the cost of it, I think taking additional milk is henceforth justified.
I reached the bus stand 1 hr earlier than the stipulated timing for my coach back to Durham. So I was just sitting there along with several others when this huge truck, as big as a container truck, stopped at the bus stand to unload the good. I was intrigued by how huge and new/clean the truck is, it’s unlike those we see in Singapore where they’re old and low tech, and I bet I wasn’t the only one that had my interest pricked. That’s because everyone else was watching the workers unload the goods as well. It sort of provided us entertainment for ½ hr. Then a thought came to my mind, all these workers that were unloading goods were all Englishmen. Anyway, here’s why UK is expensive. The people doing “3-D” jobs, i.e. dirty, demeaning & degrading, are their own countrymen. So they would get paid higher, if not who would want to do such jobs right, and the cost of living would rise. In Singapore, we have our infamous foreign contract workers i.e. the Bangalas. Our government purely uses them for their cheap labour in order to keep the cost of living in Singapore lower. So people, don’t complain or poke fun at them. Give them the respect they deserve or your next bowl of noodles would cost 8 bucks haha!
One thing I noticed in UK is that many people wear those yellow or orange luminous vests. These people range from cyclist to street cleaners to rubbish collectors to security guards to policemen. It’s kind of hard to know who is who at times. I think a parking warden would wear a uniform and the vest as well, so they look similar to being a policeman. Imagine if you get mugged on the street and you’re chasing after the thief… “Help! Somebody help me!” And you run towards the policeman at the corner… “Officer, I just got robbed by the guy running away in that direction.” The policeman looks stupefied and says “Sorry, I’m just a cleaner. I’m only equipped with a broom. I can lend it to you if you want, if not you gotta look for someone else.” Haha, think you guys should get my point.
Another thing I noticed was that the Englishmen aren’t really much bigger than us Asians. Perhaps on the whole their average height is taller than the average Asian but when you walk on the streets and look at majority of them, they aren’t pseudo-giants. I think the reason for their smaller physique now is indirectly due to globalization. In the past, all they had for meals were meat & chips and meat & chips and more meat & chips and more… Now, with globalization, UK has opened its door to the world. You can find various Asian food in UK and I think they like eating Asian food. I say this because I dined at a Chinese restaurant the day before and I was the only Chinese taking my meal there. The rest of the Chinese were waiting on me and the other westerners, which were of a sizable number, eating there. With a changing palate geared towards Asian cuisine, this has resulted in changes to their diet. I suspect this has led to a decrease in their physical size, leading them to become more Asian-like in terms of physique. Thus, I conclude from this observation that globalization has resulted in this latent unintended effect. Haha, now we know why some people are so against globalization!
Is Singapore a global city? Think most people would agree that it is, and even most ang mohs would say so as well, IF and only IF they have been to Singapore. The people I’ve came across would ask “Is Singapore part of China? Where is Singapore? What language do you speak there?” Even when I tell them English is our 1st language, several moments later, they would ask “What language do people from Singapore speak?” I feel that to rectify this alarming situation, the Singapore government should take a more active role to promote Singapore. Don’t just promote Singapore to the educated, promote Singapore to everyone worldwide. Maybe we can have advertisements on their local channels to show them what Singapore is like, how modern we are and that we DO speak English. I think NUS can attract more exchange students by this “Come to Singapore for exchange studies, we all speak English. If you must, approach the nearest friendly Singaporean located next to you and find out more for yourself. If you feel poor in UK or USA, fret not, for only the airfare’s expensive but food and transport are cheap. Want to experience living like a king? Come on over to Singapore and be one!”
When I reached back to my room yesterday, the President of my college was looking for me urgently. Gosh, it spoilt my day because he wanted me to do him a massive favour i.e. to shift to another room yet again! Seems like there was some administrative problem in the sorting or allocation of accommodation. He came to my room to speak to me and I found out this girl wanted to take my room. Didn’t know why she wanted my room so desperately, but I even met her father. Being Mr. Nice guy, I agreed to shift out though I was pek cek because I unpacked everything and even bought more stuff. It would be so troublesome to shift again, mind you, this would be the 2nd time they asked me to shift to another room. Am I doing backpacking around my hostel? However, the President was really apologetic about it and helped me to shift my stuff and he eventually bought me a drink. Perhaps it was worth the trouble? (Edit: I found out why she wanted my room so desperately. Her boyfriend is staying in one of the rooms on the same floor as my ex-room.)
I went pub crawling last night, though drinks were cheaper than in Singapore, I drank only 2 glasses, one complimentary of Mr. President. Didn’t want to spend much if not I cannot afford to even buy bread for my meals in the future haha. It was my first time doing pub crawling, went to 3 pubs and a club. It’s too expensive to do so in Singapore. Anyway the nightlife in Durham ends at 2am, so for people complaining that clubs in Singapore close too early, be thankful! Gosh, I’m left with only 10 minutes to change... gotta rush out for the mayor’s reception. I feel so important now! Muahaha, hope the food’s good. See you guys later!
I’m currently sipping the nicest milk tea I’ve had in Durham in my room now. See, I’m such a good son, didn’t disobey my parents and went to buy milk, NOT! Haha, I bought a MacDonald’s breakfast at the train station before going to the coach station and I did something a little mischievous i.e. taking like 4 additional mini-cups of fresh organic semi-skimmed milk from the counter when the cashier wasn’t looking. Boy, am I so desperate or cheappo now? Oh well, who cares, I’m having such a nice cup of milk tea now.
If you think that MacDonald’s breakfast in Singapore is not filling, try UK’s one. I think their cows or pigs etc. went on a diet, maybe they’re fed some organic food since UK’s hot on organic stuff. The sausage muffin with egg is so pathetically small, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but it really is small which is surprising. Thought it should be of the same size as that in Singapore or bigger. So to make up for the small muffin and the cost of it, I think taking additional milk is henceforth justified.
I reached the bus stand 1 hr earlier than the stipulated timing for my coach back to Durham. So I was just sitting there along with several others when this huge truck, as big as a container truck, stopped at the bus stand to unload the good. I was intrigued by how huge and new/clean the truck is, it’s unlike those we see in Singapore where they’re old and low tech, and I bet I wasn’t the only one that had my interest pricked. That’s because everyone else was watching the workers unload the goods as well. It sort of provided us entertainment for ½ hr. Then a thought came to my mind, all these workers that were unloading goods were all Englishmen. Anyway, here’s why UK is expensive. The people doing “3-D” jobs, i.e. dirty, demeaning & degrading, are their own countrymen. So they would get paid higher, if not who would want to do such jobs right, and the cost of living would rise. In Singapore, we have our infamous foreign contract workers i.e. the Bangalas. Our government purely uses them for their cheap labour in order to keep the cost of living in Singapore lower. So people, don’t complain or poke fun at them. Give them the respect they deserve or your next bowl of noodles would cost 8 bucks haha!
One thing I noticed in UK is that many people wear those yellow or orange luminous vests. These people range from cyclist to street cleaners to rubbish collectors to security guards to policemen. It’s kind of hard to know who is who at times. I think a parking warden would wear a uniform and the vest as well, so they look similar to being a policeman. Imagine if you get mugged on the street and you’re chasing after the thief… “Help! Somebody help me!” And you run towards the policeman at the corner… “Officer, I just got robbed by the guy running away in that direction.” The policeman looks stupefied and says “Sorry, I’m just a cleaner. I’m only equipped with a broom. I can lend it to you if you want, if not you gotta look for someone else.” Haha, think you guys should get my point.
Another thing I noticed was that the Englishmen aren’t really much bigger than us Asians. Perhaps on the whole their average height is taller than the average Asian but when you walk on the streets and look at majority of them, they aren’t pseudo-giants. I think the reason for their smaller physique now is indirectly due to globalization. In the past, all they had for meals were meat & chips and meat & chips and more meat & chips and more… Now, with globalization, UK has opened its door to the world. You can find various Asian food in UK and I think they like eating Asian food. I say this because I dined at a Chinese restaurant the day before and I was the only Chinese taking my meal there. The rest of the Chinese were waiting on me and the other westerners, which were of a sizable number, eating there. With a changing palate geared towards Asian cuisine, this has resulted in changes to their diet. I suspect this has led to a decrease in their physical size, leading them to become more Asian-like in terms of physique. Thus, I conclude from this observation that globalization has resulted in this latent unintended effect. Haha, now we know why some people are so against globalization!
Is Singapore a global city? Think most people would agree that it is, and even most ang mohs would say so as well, IF and only IF they have been to Singapore. The people I’ve came across would ask “Is Singapore part of China? Where is Singapore? What language do you speak there?” Even when I tell them English is our 1st language, several moments later, they would ask “What language do people from Singapore speak?” I feel that to rectify this alarming situation, the Singapore government should take a more active role to promote Singapore. Don’t just promote Singapore to the educated, promote Singapore to everyone worldwide. Maybe we can have advertisements on their local channels to show them what Singapore is like, how modern we are and that we DO speak English. I think NUS can attract more exchange students by this “Come to Singapore for exchange studies, we all speak English. If you must, approach the nearest friendly Singaporean located next to you and find out more for yourself. If you feel poor in UK or USA, fret not, for only the airfare’s expensive but food and transport are cheap. Want to experience living like a king? Come on over to Singapore and be one!”
When I reached back to my room yesterday, the President of my college was looking for me urgently. Gosh, it spoilt my day because he wanted me to do him a massive favour i.e. to shift to another room yet again! Seems like there was some administrative problem in the sorting or allocation of accommodation. He came to my room to speak to me and I found out this girl wanted to take my room. Didn’t know why she wanted my room so desperately, but I even met her father. Being Mr. Nice guy, I agreed to shift out though I was pek cek because I unpacked everything and even bought more stuff. It would be so troublesome to shift again, mind you, this would be the 2nd time they asked me to shift to another room. Am I doing backpacking around my hostel? However, the President was really apologetic about it and helped me to shift my stuff and he eventually bought me a drink. Perhaps it was worth the trouble? (Edit: I found out why she wanted my room so desperately. Her boyfriend is staying in one of the rooms on the same floor as my ex-room.)
I went pub crawling last night, though drinks were cheaper than in Singapore, I drank only 2 glasses, one complimentary of Mr. President. Didn’t want to spend much if not I cannot afford to even buy bread for my meals in the future haha. It was my first time doing pub crawling, went to 3 pubs and a club. It’s too expensive to do so in Singapore. Anyway the nightlife in Durham ends at 2am, so for people complaining that clubs in Singapore close too early, be thankful! Gosh, I’m left with only 10 minutes to change... gotta rush out for the mayor’s reception. I feel so important now! Muahaha, hope the food’s good. See you guys later!
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