Doing this however lead to shit storm nr 2 (pun intended): if you need the water hose in connection to the kitchen (as in removing ice from a thermostat in the freezer), you have to unplug the water inlet to the washer, since we only have one tap. If you then loose the seal inside the washer hose in the process, replace the inlet to the washer when you’re done and start the machine, it will protest highly in the form of angry ‘Unknown Error‘ messages on the display. Fortunately it stopped spraying what was supposed to be the content of the washing machine all over the kitchen as soon as it was unplugged; thank God for that. It was after some confusion however fixed.
After crawling around fixing hoses and what not, it might be in everyone’s interest for the participants to take a shower. This is normally no real challenge for a normally equipped mind. Unless the shower handle falls off and you basically end up with a shower hose, slippery from the just applied hair conditioner, hence impossible to grasp, with also an amazing water pressure. This can mean that you end up with water and conditioner all over the bathroom and in your eyes, making your eyeballs so slippery, you loose at least one contact lens. And of course it did.
When you then try to dry and get out of the bathroom alive, looking like Bambi on ice due to the very effective conditioner now well established on amongst others, the floor, reach for the aircon remote for at least some relief, since you’re sweating to death, you don’t want the bloody AC to start leaking fluid onto the wooden floor. But it did.
If you then are in desperate need for a glass of ice water to cool off, it’s further very easy to avoid being gracious, with one contact lens I might add, now dripping of sweat and in need for another shower. I therefore unwillingly participated in a small party trick I would like to call ‘if-you-haven’t-tried-to-sweep-a-full-dish-drainer-on-the-floor-because-it-got-stuck-in-you-clothing-lately,-please-try-it-now’. The result was that four glasses, two bowls, four plates and two cups got smashed on our stone kitchen floor. Home alone, means that no one will hand you a pair of shoes to avoid carving up your feet completely if you try to move. I therefore had to climb up on the kitchen counters, onto a stool, push it towards the fridge and then not very acrobatically semi-jump out in the living room via the cuttlery drawer. This was all watched by a highly amused and rather surprised looking older Chinese-Singaporean neighbor, his daughter, her husband, their three kids and the maid, waiting for the elevator outside our kitchen window. They also applauded when I finally reached solid ground in the living room and gave me 'thumbs up'. No mercy.
The text above hopefully describes a not very typical Singaporean day, which I really did not want to/could take pictures of. Therefore the following photos are instead of the other typical Singaporean phenomenons we’ve encountered so far.
Swim lessons at the condos are seen several times a week for various age groups; the kids are really good swimmers actually and do everything from free style to butterfly.
Tai-tai is basically as I understand it a kept wife who often has both house keepers and maids if she has children, and it’s a well known concept in Singapore. Compared to Sweden, I actually don’t know anyone who is the equivalent and considering all the efforts for equality between the sexes, this of course becomes a very loaded question in many discussions.
Fogging; I think I’ve pointed it out before, but it’s just so weird. It’s supposed to kill/slow down/disturb breading of various insects, but according to studies it has no effect. I don’t know about the actual effect, but since also the trash tubes are fogged, it end up coming into the apartments in our condo and that feels quite scary.
Gymnastics in group is a really great concept they have here. However, in Tokyo you often saw people with every possible gadget under the sun for a particular activity, while here you can also participate in your cultural clothing, no matter the practicality.
There are so many centers for kids to develop their intellectual skills around, especially in shopping malls ;)
Many kids also seem to be doing at least one sport in Singapore, as well as playing one instrument. Here fencing is on the schedule.
This is really funny: concepts you recognize from the west, which are ‘asianized’. This for instance looks rather familiar.
In Singapore, all the kids in school I’ve seen so far are in uniform, but it of course needs to be adapted to each religion or culture.
You should also always be able to eat properly; even though it sounds highly practical with a foldable fork, it's not if it folds while you're using it. But the thought was nice.
I still think it gets crazy, when the stores here have proper winter clothes in this heat; I understand it’s for the people going to other countries where you need it, but it’s equally strange as palm trees next to a Christmas tree.
These are typical flower arrangements for a newly opened shop. I always thought they were fake, since they were so very lavish, but they are real. They have amazing flowers here and compared to Scandinavia or Japan, they are so cheap.
This week we have further sorted out Christmas curtains and table cloth (slightly tricky if you have the fabric, but no sewing machine), ordered a ham which we'll cook ourselves for the first time, found a huge Christmas wreath, along with mulled wine mugs and Christmas stars for the windows. The homemade Christmas snaps has also recieved the highest ranking ever so far, according to the Moeller/Eurenius board. Good luck with all the preparations out there and I hope to be able to get at least one more blog in before New Years!
