Jetlag-Induced Ramblings

These are just ramblings. They were compiled during the haze of what has been my past few days. Some where recorded during the flight from San Francisco to Singapore, while others were written at five in the morning when I was wide awake because my body has yet to adapt to the fifteen hour time difference between California and Singapore. Anyhow, I have only changed them a little, as I think they are kind of funny now that I am somewhat coherent. I will be sure to write a real update tomorrow...or sometime. It will include a real impression of Singapore, and some information about my project, which is a really wonderful opportunity that I am excited to share with everyone.


I. The Flight to Singapore

I am currently over the north Pacific hurtling at 34,000 feet in a glorified pop can towards Tokyo. We just passed the international dateline, which, in a way, still baffles me. About 75% of the occupants here in coach are high school students in some student ambassador group. They are probably going overseas to be exposed to new cultures, do community service, and get drunk for the first time...or at least for the first time legally.

At first I was worried that I was going to be stuck sitting next to one of them. I imagined annoying high school conversations entailing fifteen kids hovering near my seat while discussing what it is going to be like away from one’s parents, who on the trip is going to hook up, and who has cooties. However, I am actually sitting next to the equivalent of two high schoolers in the form of a single person. This apparently explains why I am only entitled to 78% of my seat. This rarely happens to me on short domestic flights, but always happens when the length of the flight exceeds 8 hours. Therefore, in retrospect I was wrong about sitting next to a high schooler. Since the average high school guy is about six foot, 105 pounds, I probably would have had room to spare instead of playing footsie with an overweight middle-aged man for the 11 hour flight to Tokyo.

Roeper from the show "Ebert and Roeper" now does a mini “review” prior to each movie shown on United. It is actually a pretty cool idea. The best part is that he tries as hard as he can to justify why I should spend the next two hours of my life watching the Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta epic, “Wild Hogs”. Instead of saying something about how it appeals to the adventurous spirit of middle-aged men he should just say, “You are on an eleven hour flight. What the hell else are you going to do right now?”

II. Singapore and My Apartment

I live in a shopping mall. The first six floors of my building is the mall called the Far East Plaza. I walk by three shopping malls to catch the subway, which is in a shopping mall. I transfer trains in a shopping mall. The subway lets me off at work, which is located in a shopping mall. After work I went to the grocery store for some essentials. It was in the basement of a shopping mall. I then grabbed some green curry…in a shopping mall. Freaking Singapore. On the bright side, I like that I can buy cheap electronics or have suits made if needed.


My apartment is great. It is a two bedroom on the twenty-third floor of the building. The kitchen is simple, which works since I don’t cook. The living room has floor to ceiling windows providing a view of my balcony, and beyond that, the skyline of southwest Singapore. It’s a pretty badass view, I must say.

I left my neighborhood, Orchard Road, or as Lonely Planet puts it, a blitzkrieg of shopping, yesterday to explore a bit. I went to the entertainment area of Clarke Quay and then found my way to Chinatown. I am not sure why Singapore needs a Chinatown since a majority of the people here are of Chinese descent. It is akin to having a Chinatown in Beijing. Or a Little America in Cheyenne…which exists. Ok, never mind, it makes sense.

I found a good radio station: Singapore’s 91.3, 100% Pure Fun. It plays good mix between music I currently love and music I loved when I was fourteen. Playing right now: Now That We Found Love What Are We Going to Do With It? By Heavy D & The Boyz. Which, by the way, is a good question.

The humidity is going to kill me. While I can say that my time exploring the town was meant to get my bearings, it would be a lie. More or less I was on an island-wide search for air conditioning.

Singaporean English, or Singlish, is ridiculous. Apparently they speak English here in Singapore. I haven’t heard it yet. I have heard Hindi, Malay, Chinese, and a language that sounds kind of like English, but whose word order is mixed up and lacks pronouns. However, I do like the fact that everything is written in four languages. Singapore definitely lives up to its multi-cultural billing.

I just had the greatest toast of my life. On the surface it was just bread, butter, and some sort of jam…but it was amazing. I have no idea what they put on it, but I suspect it was crack.