Shopping and Hawker Stands

Today we went shopping for a new refrigerator at a mall - found a great deal on one and then went grocery shopping. MAN! Don't ever go shopping at a mall here on Saturday! It is INSANE :-( Me being the shopper that I am, made me ready to scream by the time I got through. I did find a lot of things we had been looking for, but it is soooo not worth the effort.

I finally threw up my hands in frustration. I think Steve knew I was going to commit harry carry if he did not get me out of there. We checked out with the little bit of food I could reach, the rest of the loot we had found earlier, wandered around until we figured out how to get to the taxi que to catch a taxi, and came home. It was nice; peaceful and quiet here. We sat on the little patio we have and relaxed until I calmed down.

I must say, the food has been the most difficult thing to get used to, but I am finally finding peace with it. However, the crowds of thousands of people still drive me insane. If you know me, you know me and crowds. I just cannot do them for long periods of time. I have no interest in being armpit to armpit with anyone. Every where you go, there are huge masses of people going the same freaking place you are. Ok, that is not true, but everyone goes shopping ALL the time here! There are 4.5 MILLION people on this little island and every darned one of them are shopping or eating out every day!

Just to tell you how crowded it is, here is a figure. One square mile = 640 acres. One square kilometer = 247 acres. For every 1 square kilometer there are 6,489 people. Since nearly 1/4 of Singapore is forest and natural reserves, that means that all of those 6,489 people are not covering 247 acres, they are really on 185.25 acres - or less!

New Orleans in its prime had 2,000 people per square mile - not 6,500 per square mile. Got it?

Later after recovering my wits, we ordered gas for our bbq pit - hoping to grill for supper. I think they got lost and it took much longer than the 20 minutes they promised - more like an hour and a half, but they deliver a full tank to your door, set it up and charged us $37.00. Isn't that insanely cheap?

Lastly, because they took so long it was too late to grill. Steve finally took me to the East Coast Hawker Stand - and I must say mmmm mmmm good! It is like a fair - dozens of food stands side by side with little cubby holes for each to cook their specialty in. There was a HUGE selection. They are graded by the government for cleanliness and taste from A - C. I found a place I could really enjoy! There were many different types of foods to try and I found some really yummy ones. Thankfully, we finished just in time for the downpour to come. We raced to a covered awning with about a thousand other people.

There is a handy little thing to do when you need a cab here. Every line in Singapore, whether it is a grocery line or a taxi line is called a 'que'. When you see a huge que for a taxi (like we did in the downpour), you merely call the taxi company (it is programmed into our phones) and they tell you what number the taxi is they are sending to pick you up. Taxi's that are "on call" have red lights on top and have accepted a call to go for a pickup. Ones that are open to use have green lights on top, and ones that are in use say something else in red. I don't remember now - too tired. Anyway, you pay from S $2.50 - S $4.50 for the luxury of having them go 'on call' taxi to pick you up, but it is worth not having to stand in line for long waits to get a taxi.

It is interesting to ride in a taxi - at least it is when you can get past the way they drive. Most taxi drivers are very informative if you ask questions. I like asking questions, and most of them freely answer. Some give you lessons on how to correctly pronounce the words. One actually worked with me to say the street name near our apartment for 10 minutes or so. My tongue simply does not roll that way... lol...

They also have a screen in the taxi that scrolls words - like 'call for taxi at 21 sampan place' then a touch screen below that says 'accept' or 'decline'. If the taxi driver is in the area and does not have a fare, he can accept it. If he does so, then the auto voice on our phone quits telling us they are "PROcessing our request" and tells us the type of car and the 4 digit number on the license and that is what you watch for.

Also on the screen it sometimes says to "drive carefully" in a certain areas - between point a and point b. I finally asked the driver if that meant there was an accident or hazard on the road - he said, "no, it means there are police or working cameras in the area!" rofl...

Anyway, that is our day, no pictures and I am glad I didn't have the camera - it would have been soaked. However, I must learn to always have an umbrella with me - that is essential in Singapore I am finding out!