Ten Commandments for this part of the world

Alternative title : How to make Singapore a better place than it already is.

1. Thou shalt not rush into train carriages before outgoing passengers have stepped out of the trains.
2. Thou shalt not pretend to fall asleep when sitting in a priority chair meant for the needy when an old lady boards the train.
3. Thou shalt not drag thongs along the marble floor, creating an irritating slip slapping sound.
4. Thou shalt not become too engrossed in my high tech PSP play machine and deprive myself of learning much needed social skills.
5. Thou shalt not queue up for 2 hours just to be part of the latest trends e.g. durian (a stinky exotic fruit exclusive to South East Asia) desserts, organic whatever and donuts.
6. Thou shall not charge in excess of $150 for Fitness First monthly gym membership fees.
7. Thou shalt not charge $8.50 for a mug (halfway between a schooner and a middy) of local beer at a pub/club/lounge.
8. Thou shalt not pay $28 for a bottle of Jacob's Creek Chardonnay ($11 in Australia).
9. Thou shalt stand on the left side of the escalator, especially in crowded places where everyone is always rushing off to a life and death situation.
10. Thou shalt survey around one's personal space when opening up umbrellas in a crowded shelter area when it is storming outside.

Ahh...six days since I've been here, and I am surprised the heat hasn't gotten to me yet. Probably because I came back during the cooler season of the year, I'm surprised I haven't snapped at anyone yet as the weather usually makes me a real grumpy and nasty person ("Martyn nasty? Never!" I hear you say). I am also proud to announce that I have been weaning myself off the air conditioner, tonight being night number 3 I have slept through without turning it on....

The only shock I've had so far was when I checked my local bank account today. Can't believe that I've spent $1000 since I've been here, but it includes furniture purchases to set up my room (which incidentally will be revealed next week, I've only got curtains and wall furnishings to finish off....). By the way, the retail and credit industry here really needs some getting used to. I shall give two examples to highlight what I mean.

Case 1 : I decided to buy a printer, so I went to my local hub (equivalent of Australia's Westfield) to search out some prices. Saw a pretty basic one which I liked, a Canon PIXMA IP198, which costs $149. So I was pretty happy paying that price for an All in One printer which scans, prints, processes photos etc....As I was forking out my $149 at the cashier, the sales person mentioned that there is a $20 cash back promotion for this item. Great, I thought, so it'll only be $129. But wait, there's more....I get a pair of computer speakers with a sub woofer valued at $69 thrown in for free.....yeah!!! But there's even more....the shop which I've bought it from said if I decide to use EFTPOS (its known as NETS here) to pay for my purchase, I'll get a $10 voucher. See? They keep throwing gifts, vouchers, cash at ya. All that just to buy a little computer printer that I needed.

Case 2 : My brother was chatting with me about what credit cards i want to apply for. Apparently I have to choose very carefully, not because I might fall into the credit trap, but more because the benefits for different bank credit cards differ. These banks really throw in a lot of sweeteners to entice you to sign up with them e.g. 20% off purchases in some clothing brands, special benefits for movie tickets, special meal deals at certain restaurants etc...For example, my brother has a AMEX credit card and he was given an additional card called the Raffles Dining card where if he takes anyone to a group of restaurants within the Raffles Hotel (a rather famous hotel which if I am not wrong, is the birthplace of the Singapore Sling) and charge the total bill to card, he gets 50% of the bill if there were a total of 2 people dining, 33% for 3, 25% for 4 and so on. Isn't that great? It basically means you get to dine for free, you just have to make sure the people you're dining with give you back their share of the meal. Of course, the restaurants there rather pricey and is definitely not for everyday dining.

I know I promised last week I would tell more about my trip back. Am too sore (from gyming after halting for 5 weeks) to do it now. Promise you will get the full story by next week yah?