Singapore surprises

Singapore surprises:

Surprise 1 There were storm troopers in the bookstore.

Surprise 2 They still kind of scare me

Not a surprise 3. Andrew makes an ugly hairy girl

We have seen these BNE stickers all over Europe and in KL and Singapore

The little shit has been everywhere

Surprise 4. Despite all you heard about Singapore, it is not as visibly rigid as we expected. There is still graffiti. The streets are very clean, but people still have bad public transit manners (getting on before people can get off, getting on and then standing in the middle of the doorway and blocking everyone else, etc, the usual) There may be signs admonishing people to walk on the left, but if there isn’t a barrier with arrows, they don’t. The major difference between Singapore and other cities we have visited is the number of signs requesting good manners. So, for example, at food stalls there are signs asking people to follow proper food stall hygiene (wash hands, serve with a serving spoon rather than your dirty spoon, clean up after yourself, don‘t sneeze on the food). In bathrooms, there signs about hand washing, and not getting the floor wet. People still don’t wash their hands, although, they probably do more than at home. The floor of the bathroom is still wet. They kindly request you not to jump onto the train track, which I consider to be good manners as well. Singapore is a small island with a lot of people. I understand the government taking an active interest in infectious disease control. It makes sense. So do codes and rules that make it cleaner and more organized. 5 million people in a small confined space is no small trick.

Surprise 5. At least someone on this island has a sense of humor.

Surprise 6. For 5,000 Singaporean dollars you an buy a gold floor tile to be placed near the 460 kg gold stupa that carries the tooth of the Buddha in this temple. We decided to skip that investment.