See and Snap

To cork or not?

2012-01-29T20:38:00.000+08:00

Look at the bottom of this menu. You mean there is corkage charge for everything, even non-alcoholic ones? Well fortunately I didn't have to pay the S$5 corkage for my lime juice drink, but it got me worried for a moment there.

Have your cake

2011-11-18T05:30:00.000+08:00

Truth be told, this serving of carrot cake is much much larger than what you will get in any Kopitiam Foodcourt. Got it for $3. Kopitiam will charge you at least $4, $5 if it is located in one of the newer malls.

Save and Win?

2011-11-16T15:55:00.001+08:00

Normally you wouldn't associate Gambling with Saving. But some people think otherwise.

Excuse me?

2011-07-22T08:10:00.004+08:00

How is this any much of a bargain?

Misprice

2011-06-08T08:55:00.001+08:00

Copywriting can be a hazardous job, if only because the world can witness their booh-boohs. And this is not the first time I am seeing this.

Hi Tech Lo Tech

2011-06-01T21:00:00.005+08:00

I couldn't help noticing the contrast. One is on 100% paper and pen, the other not. Taken at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf cafe in Changi Airport T3.

Inflated Mee Goreng

2011-05-29T09:45:00.002+08:00

A simple meal of Mee Goreng, bought off an eatery in the Aljunied MRT station, set me back by S$4.00! The MRT is frequented by the low to lower middle-income people, like me. That's runnaway inflation for you!

Dud Discounts

2011-05-20T09:52:00.003+08:00

This looked too good to be true, and even before the Great Singapore Sale! Guess what, it was too good to be true. I hauled 5 items to the counter and was told that only 1 of the items qualified for the 25% discount. The rest? Pony up the list prices. Retailers are abusing the phrase "storewide discounts". How can 20% of the items in my basket that qualifies for discounts be considered "storewide"?

What a fake.

New Kid on the Block

2011-02-26T08:07:00.001+08:00

I was wondering where to put these series of interesting ads on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. Well, here it is. I must qualify that these videos weren't taken by me.

Fart Shocker

2011-01-16T09:40:00.000+08:00

Alvinology was shocked with the Marthur Farker label. Well, here is one who seems to be wearing that label proudly on her (yes, its a her) butt.

Sorry the cam was somewhat out of focus. Happens when you need to take a picture of someone else's butt in public in a hurry.

Gangly Knives

2010-11-21T06:35:00.007+08:00

With all the bad publicity lately about gang fights in Singapore, I thought this wasn't something that a popular supermarket should promote at this time - and at 10 years warranty to booth!

See:

Crack down on Youth Gangs

Teen Slashed in Ang Mo Kio

Coupon Bonanza

2010-07-18T06:58:00.001+08:00

Coupons are great. Coupons are real price savers. No matter if they sell hardware, aesthetic packages, or food. But the prices on this coupon takes the, err, cake for doing the opposite:

I wonder if I can get this at the usual price (UP) instead?.

Stevey

2010-05-30T08:44:00.002+08:00

Yes, that's Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, in person, in Singapore, in the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Wednesday, 26 May 2010. It was taken on my aging camera-phone, so the resolution and all aren't all that fantastic.

Lemonade

2010-05-13T19:27:00.000+08:00

First, there was the issue of the pronunciation of Esplanade. I would pronounce it 'Es-ple-nard' but the guardians of good Singapore English would have it pronounced as 'Es-ple-nade' as in 'm-ade'. But then, if you listen to the news on the official TV channels, Promenade is pronounced 'pro-mi-nard' and not 'pro-mi-nade'. Talk about being schizophrenic. It just doesn't stop there. Now even language translations show elements of schizoid syndrome that plagues Singapore's officialdom.

With this kind of public display of linguistic ambiguity, who needs good English?

Tantalising

2010-05-05T15:21:00.000+08:00

Saw this in a supermarket. It is at once tantalizing and puzzling. I thought it read 'Buy ALL for $4.00". The '2' seemed displaced. But of course, any offer like this is too good to be true. "Buy 2 for $4.00" would have been much clearer, though not necessarily more eye-catching.

Postcards for the dead

2010-02-27T07:45:00.004+08:00

I must hand it to the Japanese. They can think of making anything, miniaturizing, and selling them. They do this even for the dead and departed. Here are invitation cards you can buy and invite people to that last journey.

Money Tea

2010-02-15T07:55:00.003+08:00

It is Chinese New Year, and restaurants are all getting in on the occasion by offering one meal package or another. This restaurant shows it understands the sentiments of the occasion.

Video Cart

2010-02-09T14:54:00.002+08:00

This is really not new, but in the context of Singapore supermarkets, it is the first time I've seen it. Carts with attached video streaming in-store commercials are now available in Cold Storage supermarkets. Apparently it is an eye catcher because some kids where following me all over as I pushed the cart around the supermarket.

Hail the New Year

2010-02-06T14:18:00.000+08:00

You know that the Chinese Lunar New Year is around the corner when you see rows and rows of red in the supermarket.

2010-01-28T09:27:00.001+08:00

Another way to inflate prizes is to shrink the portion. This serving of herbal chicken is really pea-size, I kid you not.

2010-01-20T09:23:00.000+08:00

Well, some people really like to make a statement with their buttocks. I hope than when the hot burning steel touches, she will not jump out of her pants.

Far encounters

2010-01-17T15:53:00.002+08:00

Well, you really, really don't want to sit close to this man, who is busy plucking his facial hair in full public view on the subway train. Talk about the crude and ugly Singaporean, there is non that can compare.

Slow leopard

2010-01-15T09:19:00.000+08:00

Long mane and leopard prints? Who does this guy think he is? Tarzan?

Skinnies

2010-01-10T09:13:00.003+08:00

Nowadays, chopsticks are really what they are - sticks. Ever noticed that in Singapore, public eateries (aka Hawker Centres/Foodcourts) are serving up ever thinner and flimsy chopsticks? Sometime I worry about accidentaly eating the chopstick too. Yes, there is more than one way to up prices...

Spell Bee

2010-01-06T09:07:00.000+08:00

Don't give these apples to your growing kids. They'd end up losing the spelling bee competition.

Squishy Tomato

2010-01-03T09:00:00.003+08:00

It's probably not an expensive item on the menu, but this is a real waste. Talk of climate change, People have to change their eating habits first.

Dangerous bike

2009-12-31T08:55:00.005+08:00

Ain't got no respect for the law, that's what I say. Can you trust the owner of this bicycle on the pedestrian pathway?

Barrage 2

2009-12-26T08:37:00.001+08:00

This is the real Marina Barrage (Singapore). It serves also as a dam to harvest drinking water.

Barrage 1

2009-12-26T08:32:00.000+08:00

Scale model of the Singapore Marina Barrage mechanism. Yeah, photography was not permitted, but what the heck, everybody was doing it (taking photos), which made the rule redundant anyway.

Challenging Language

2009-12-21T08:23:00.001+08:00

Tell me what you make of the first sentence and I'll give you a prize.

Neck Brandz

2009-12-20T08:21:00.000+08:00

This man certainly wears his brands proudly on his neck!

Stilty Legs

2009-10-24T09:02:00.004+08:00

This women looks like she is standing on stilts - of her high-heels. Now, where did I read that high-heels are bad for the wearer?

Shock and awe

2009-06-10T04:34:00.005+08:00

Talk of shock and awe - the Singapore government is using shock tactics to engineer citizen behaviour. Actually it has been doing so for some time now. This picture is now pasted all over town - in public access areas such as bus stops, subway trains, etc. now. It shows a hand full of hideous slimy creatures that will feed on our hands and anything you touch, if you don't wash them regularly. That's one way of fighting the Influenza A H1N1 virus now plaguing governments and human health services the world over.

Wash your hands regularly!

Jack of all Fruits

2009-05-16T08:51:00.006+08:00

I've rarely seen Jackfruits as big as these. And here, there's not one but a bunch stacked high. I wouldn't be able to carry one off by myself, not to mentioned the entire lot!

Torn fashion

2009-04-13T18:11:00.001+08:00

Nowadays, it is not surprising to find women (and some men) going about town with very little clothes on the back, and their bums. But this must take the cake. This woman (actually, I couldn't tell if the person was a man or a woman) is going around with torn up hose. No, she/he was not a vagrant. It's just fashion, you know.

Ox'picious Year

2009-02-03T05:47:00.001+08:00

2009 is turning out to be a terrible year, by all accounts, though we are only one month into it. For the Chinese, 2009 has just started and true to tradition, we wish everyone a 'Fat' year. Many pass red packets around, but you can buy an ox home, like the one above too. It is carrying sacks of faux gold ingots on both sides and the whole ox costs S$168. It isn't made of bronze or gold, just some plastic, I think. I saw this in a neighbourhood shop just before the Chinese New Year.

I wonder if someone bought it?

Lux Car

2009-01-05T15:40:00.003+08:00

Seen, on Bintan Island's Port - the local head honcho's entourage. Everyone, Singaporeans included, is ordered to stand aside, while the chief and his wife and his family walks to their boat. Notice the license plate, BP 1. Well, it isn't Air Force One, but these chaps are big enough to command Singaporeans to stand aside while they walk past.

The only thing is, they are driving a Toyota whatever, and not a Toyota Lexus. So much for a display of royalty and power. Probably on a budget now that the economy isn't doing well?

Fiery bike

2008-12-28T09:02:00.001+08:00

Tsk tsk tsk. Now the rider should have known better that a fire (water) hydrant is not for securing a bicycle. I believe this is illegal. Not only that, it may be fatal in a fire. I don't care about fatality to the bicycle. It's human fatality that I am concerned about.

This cyclist obviously thinks of his/her own convenience at the expense of risk to others. This person should be banned from owning a bicycle, or any vehicle, for that matter. No telling that he/she will not chain his/her car to a fire/water hydrant next.

Beefy meal

2008-12-25T05:51:00.001+08:00

I don't know what the Physics is behind this. but the beef is being cooked - yes cooked. The beef is placed on a leaf, which in turn is held in a gauze container which in turn is being cooked in a 'live' flame. At first, the meat was tough - really rare, but as the cooking progressed, it became medium to well done, depending on when you want to eat it. Really tasty too.
Get it at Sakae Sushi.

p.s. You need to 'refuel' to get the mean cooked really well. Don't to shy to ask.

Scruffy the dog

2008-12-23T08:33:00.002+08:00

Read this notice last Saturday. It was pasted at a Bus Stop just above Serangoon MRT station. I can't credit the English - its bloody awful, but I think the owner of the dog must have something more important on his/her mind.

Find the dog, please.

Lip on a teacup

2008-11-11T06:11:00.001+08:00

A human was here. Notice the lip mark on the cup. Yes, this is your regular morning cup of tea in the Heartlands of Singapore. Retails for 90 Singapore cents, circa 2008.

Nothing less

2008-06-01T10:57:00.000+08:00

Fashion is really exciting nowadays. Young teenagers walk around in anything and almost nothing. Some are confusing - you don't know if they are wearing anything or not. Is this a mini-blouse or is there a mini-skirt, or anything under? With that plunging sleeve-line, it is a very bold statement that swings heads.

Lovey dovey

2008-05-20T05:44:00.001+08:00

Here's a teenage couple who insists on being in tandem, hopefully, all their lives. Both have on sweaters that are matchingly the same. They even have on the same footwear, which are flip-flops, but I could not take a clear picture because of the crowd.

Love is in the bus

2008-05-11T06:40:00.003+08:00

You just cannot help not noticing when a teenage couple plays with each other on a bus. You are a captive audience, so to speak since it's not yet your stop, nor theirs. So I had some fun watching even though 'Just for Laughs' was simultaneously playing on the mobile TV in the bus. Lacking anything else to do, I recorded it for posterity.

Chain-locked

2008-05-10T08:54:00.001+08:00

When you travel out of Singapore, you have to drop your expectations about service, efficiency, etc., quite a bit and hope that nothing untoward happens. The picture shows the holding area for departing passengers on Bintan Island's harbour. Way after the 'final call', passengers were trapped because the door leading to the boats was simply chain-locked. What made things worse was that the air-con had broken down, so everybody was literally hot and bothered. I just prayed that a fire would not break out. Otherwise, my companions and I will be on the front pages of regional newspapers.

Wanted in Indonesia

2008-05-02T06:31:00.002+08:00

Mas Selamat Bin Kastari remains at large. Wanted posters of him are spread all over Singapore Island. Although not as pervasive as in Singapore, the Indonesia island of Bintan, which is 5 times bigger than Singapore, also has 'Wanted' posters for him, amongst others.

What is not is

2008-04-26T07:05:00.002+08:00

A self-contradictory phrase, if there ever was one! How can something that is fresh be frozen, or vice versa? But in an effort to get people to buy frozen products (because really fresh ones are scarce and expensive), retailers, with the backing of the Singapore government, has turned vocabulary on its head.

Bread Talks

2008-04-13T07:39:00.002+08:00

A foreigner reading this sign will be puzzled by Singapore's much vaunted educational standards. The sign reads deceptively correct, but students of English grammar will cringe. We never write that there is 1 bread or 2 breads, rather we write "1 loaf of bread or 2 loaves" of bread. However, in case of smaller items of bread such as buns, we do write, "1 bun or 2 buns". Remember 'Hot cross Buns'? Breads is used when you write 'types of breads', not otherwise.

Of course, practical people couldn't care less about the finer points of grammar. They understand what the sign means - a good bargain - and that's all they need to know, proper grammar notwithstanding.

p.s. I have written before, elsewhere, on this same subject, if you are interested, that is.

Read the rules

2008-04-09T13:25:00.002+08:00

What is this? A government department or office? That's usually where signboards like these appear.

But no, this is in a Foodcourt run by Kopitiam.

Sometimes, I wonder if anybody reads all those rules displayed in front of a Kopitiam outlet's Card Top-up counter. If nobody reads it, why display it? To protect Kopitiam's behind in case of a dispute, I guess. In any case, its looks intimidating.

Eye for an eye

2008-04-05T07:43:00.002+08:00

Gee, grandma, what long eyelashes you have.

The better to hoodwink you, my child.

I starred and starred and starred.

But she didn't look up.

So I snapped this.

Care with kids

2008-04-01T06:09:00.002+08:00

There are many Childcare Centres in Singapore, primarily because society, lifestyle and the government want both parents to be economically active. That often means placing the child's care into 3rd party care. But I doubt anyone looking for 3-party Childcare would be enthusiastic about this one.

Blind-sided

2008-03-21T06:23:00.001+08:00

Who is the daft person who allowed this window advertisement sticker to be put up on every glass window in this MRT (subway) train. This person must never have taken the train before, or if he/she did, could always find a seat that could comfortably see through this transparent 'binocular' holes.

For the rest of us long-suffering commuters, especially those who are tall and standing, we just cannot see outside the signs in the train station that tells us which station we are at. We'd have to bend, stoop, peep and whatever else necessary to find out where we are. And given that we tend to stand so close to people who are seated, there is a high chance that we would be sticking our asses into these people's faces as we try desperately to find out whether we have reached our destination.

Why am I seeing a lot of these things which shows that the people responsible are rather unthinking?

Extremely ripe

2008-03-15T06:53:00.001+08:00

I understand what 'Ripe for eating' means. But 'Ripe for good eating?' This grocer must be very anxious to make a sale, even to the extend of mangling the English language. Truly you'd do anything to make a sale.

For a moment there, I thought I wasn't in Singapore, such is the language on public display.

Half dressed

2008-03-11T06:52:00.001+08:00

Youth - its really a great age to be because you get to try everything and anything and not be labeled immature or unbecoming for your age. Of course, one of the most obvious things about youth is the way they dress and the things dangling from or wrapped around their bodies. However, I do sometimes get a bit uncomfortable when I see someone who, I suspect is half dressed. But of course, she isn't, so long as she dares to step out in public and believe in what she is wearing, or not.

The Slouch Ouch

2008-03-08T06:12:00.001+08:00

Young girls like to doll up and be pretty. That is natural and makes life for the opposite sex more interesting. But once in a while, the dolling up leave much to be desired, especially when you slouch in a bus, taking up two seats at a go. Tsk tsk tsk.

English as is it broken

2008-03-01T22:03:00.008+08:00

Broken English is becoming common place on this lsland, especially in the restaurant business environment. This is all the more shocking because Singapore has a law that compels every child to undergo at least 6 years' of Primary education. And the primary language of instruction (i.e. the first language) is English. So after all that stringent instruction and learning, we still get broken English proudly displayed in public. Are taxpayers wasting their money on education?

Well, the sign shows that this restaurant needs to improve in more ways than one.

Free Burma

2007-10-04T05:19:00.000+08:00

Brand consciousness

2007-10-01T15:00:00.000+08:00

New products flood the market today. Many have interesting and attractive packaging, others , like the ones above, have amazingly, similar ones, right down to the layout and colour scheme. Monmilk - touted as milk from Mongolia, originated the design. Yi Li is also from Green Food. What's the difference - in the content, I mean?

Law of eating

2006-10-14T07:36:00.000+08:00

It used to be well-known - no eating, no drinking, no smoking, no pets, no durians, no spitting, no...the list goes on and on - on the bus. Why else is Singapore known also as a fine city? If you did some of the above in a bus, you could be out of pocket to the tune of S$500. But the younger set among us couldn't care less - I have seen numerous teenagers and young adults eating away in buses over the last few years. I guess they have money to burn, or are those fine signs just for show?

Girl eating away in a SBS Transit Bus

Three of the best

2006-10-11T07:07:00.000+08:00

Vandals are like cockroaches. No matter how many you kill and no matter how much Baygon poison pads you lay around, somehow, they survive to roam another day, much to your despair. Vandals are like cockroaches too. They just don't go away, even after Michael Fay was given three of the best some 10 years ago in Singapore. I suppose somebody's behind is itching to be given another 3 of the best.

Beware - language contains expletives and may not be suitable for all people except vandals.

This picture shows the back of an SBS Transit bus seat

A Full Moon

2006-10-07T18:11:00.000+08:00

The Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn with a festival called the, err, Mid-Autumn Festival. It is also the period when the Earth's Moon is visibly the brightest and roundest in the sky. Well, this year, the Singapore Meteorological people told us that the moon will be nearest the Earth (and thus appear roundest) at around 11.30am today, the 7 Oct 2006 and not the 6th Oct 2006 when the Mid-Autumn Festivals falls. Well, the moon did appear this morning, bright and round in the morning sky. Unfortunately it couldn't be rounder or brighter because of the thick haze caused by smoke that has drifted over from the burning forest fires raging in the Sumatran island of Indonesia.

But its better than nothing. Enjoy!

A little closer...

That's the closest my camera phone can zoom.

Them dar haze

2006-10-07T17:30:00.000+08:00

Sengkang Town was shrouded in smoke this morning. So much so that instead of opening the windows in the morning, I had to leave to closed. These pictures show the haze situation in my neighbourhood:

To slym or not to slym

2006-09-29T10:18:00.000+08:00

Some products are sold on their slimming properties, such as this meal-in-a-cup 'Slym Meal'. It has low fat and comes with Calcium and Vitamin C.

But this supermarket insists on rolling back the healthy offering by giving away a box of chocolate with the product. Having your cake and eating it too?

Keep or throw?

2006-09-18T08:39:00.001+08:00

I would like to know what indisposable or non-disposable toothpicks look like. Here is a picture of disposable ones:

Newspaper nudes

2006-09-09T07:54:00.001+08:00

Now who said that squeaky clean and strait-laced Singapore does not allow nudity on its mainstream newspapers. Here is a page in Today which shows a completely undressed women, except for her extremely high high-heels.

Stating the obvious

2006-09-06T05:26:00.000+08:00

It is odd that in writing/specifying dates today about current events, some find it necessary to state that we are living in an age after Christ's birth (AD - Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi or "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ.") - more than 2000 into it. I came across this sign yesterday.

And the people who are so concerned that their project timeframe not be miscontrued as referring to ancient times (BC - Before Christ):

More likely, this is the work of Singapore's Land Tranport Authority (LTA).

Singapore Idol Roadshow

2006-09-02T16:54:00.000+08:00

Singapore Idols came to Compass Point this Saturday, 2 September 2006. The props were up early in the morning. By 3pm, the crowd had already formed. I was told that the queue to get onstage for autographs stretched right out to the taxi stand outside Compass Point - quite a distance away - such is the interest it garnered. For those of you not there, enjoy the photos.

Gossip in pictures

2006-09-02T16:39:00.001+08:00

Its so convenient to record a scene or even a video nowadays. Gone are the days when you regret not having brought your digital camera with you to record that once in a moment scene which you would like to share with someone else or want to keep for posterity.

Photoblogs/photoblogging and videoblog/videoblogging are words that have become common in every use, particularly in the blogging community, that it is a matter of time before the keepers of the English language (whoever they may be) will have to recognise these words in the English vocabulary.

This is yet another of those blogs that records things seen and snapped at the spur of the moment that might amuse some, interest others or is just plain kay-poh (gossipy). Enjoy