eileen's Blog

hello people,

all right....so...my trip here in Singapore is going great.  i can't believe people think it's boring here.  sure...i can understand if the person was born here on this iddy biddy island but someone who passed through...no.  it's fun here.  though...it may be because of all the people i know.

anyhoo...before i came to Singapore...i kept hearing three things from people.  it's sooo clean, it's sooo strict, it's sooo boring, and chicken rice chicken rice chicken rice.  oops...that's 4.

so...they say this place is the cleanest on earth.  hmmm....well...the first thing i saw when i got into their airport were people vacuuming and wiping down all the fake plants.  then ...outside...not one piece of gum or cigarette butt on the floor.  i was like wow...it's true.  but...i've been here for almost a month now and have seen many places here already.  Singapore does have its dirty parts.  i've seen piles of stinky trash in the streets, nasty old men walking around without their shirts on (bleh!!!), cigarette butts lying around, and lots of stray cats everywhere.

so i was at a job last week and talk to the makeup artist and hair stylist about how strict Singapore is.  is it true?  are they really so strict?  the mua says that if you get caught doing drugs...jail or rehabilitation for one year for the first offense.  if you get caught selling drugs....death.  if you get caught smuggling drugs....death.  there's a certain amount of drugs a person must be in possession of to be considered a seller.  i forget how much.  the mua...doesn't agree with this.  he agrees yes with the smuggling one...but not the selling of drugs.  he says the penalty is too strict.  it doesn't give a person the chance to change.  he's known too many people who've been put to death because of this.  the hairstylist as well.

another thing that these to don't agree with is the penalty for littering.  if you get caught littering by one of the undercover police over here you'll receive a fine of $2,000 SGD and you will have to travel to the east side of the island and help clean up  for how ever many days you're sentenced to do so.  the hairstylist  was like  "it's soo embarrassing.  they make you were big, bright, and ugly reflector jumpsuit.".   she's so funny.

hmmm...what else.  NIGHT LIFE.  Singapore does have a night life.  many clubs actually too.  all of there most popular clubs are located on one street.  it's perfect!!  as soon as you walk side of one club you're in view of 2 or 3 more.  they have many clubs and bars here too: chinese clubs, indian clubs, model clubs, ministry of sound (love this one...it's huge!!), hip hop, and also oxygen bars too.  it's sooo funny cause the first time i walked by the oxygen bars  i was like..."oh...how nice. look at all them..friends...and all still able to go out and have a good time.".  you see...when i walked by there were a whole lot of people in wheelchairs outside talking and laughing with each other.  i was thinking how nice that they still go out.   there were soo many of them.  well ....actually the oxygen bar uses wheelchairs as chairs for their outside tables.  oh...how tricky.  >:(

anyways...models are treated the same way here as in HK.  free drinks, free entry, no waiting in line (i feel so bad when we walk past all the other people),  and free model's dinner on Friday nights.  ;D  love that.

chicken rice.  the signature dish here in Singapore.  mmmm yummmy.  or so i've heard.  lol  haven't even tried it yet.  but basically i've heard it's chicken cooked with certain types of seasonings served with rice that was cooked with chicken stock.  sounds really really good.  i've heard the place that sells the best chicken rice is in the food republic, a huge mall of restaurants.  the restaurant right next to the toilets.  lol  next to the toilets??? i wonder if that's where they get all of their secret ingredients?   ewwe yucky!!  but....it seems like food is a big part of singapore.  and actually theirs a food festival this weekend.  yay!!!!  i'm sooo going.  i love food.

another reason why i like it here, as i said earlier, is because of my roomies.  i've known some of them already from HK and the others are so easy to get along with.  there's 15 of us, men and women from all over the world (mostly brazil...they're teaching me portuguesse  :D ), split into two appts that are right next to each other.  each appt is two stories. each has 3 bedrooms.  each bedroom is big and has it's own bathroom (thank you lord).  and i'm totally lucky because my roomies are soooo clean.  i'm the messiest.  but only in my areas.  ;) 

oh...another thing.  here in singapore...most people dont smoke.  good for them.  but tell you the truth...i dont know why anyone would start.  the cigarette cartons the sell are about $15 SGD each.  too much money for what most people make here.  another reason....the cigarette cartons all have a disquesting picture on it. the picture is to discourage people from buying it.  shoot...it would for me.  on the carton you'll see something along the lines of someone's rotten teeth (bleh!), someone's rotten lung, a picture of someone who's missing his lower jaw with his upper teeth exposed (double bleh!!), etc.  oh yea...cigarettes are expensive here....so some people feel that they should just smuggle some in to the country.  "that's a no no."   one of the models knew that was against the law...but wanted to try it anyways...she got caught in the airport with just one carton in her luggage.  they wouldn't let her leave (come into the country) without paying a $2,000 SGD fine. "WHOAH!"  and they didn't even let her keep the cigarettes.  stupid girl.  why would she want to risk it.  but she's lucky she had the money otherwise they would've sent her all the way home if she didn't.  

oh...also.  if you ever do come out here and buy some cigarettes...don't throw the cigarette butt on the ground.  i think the penalty will be a lot greater then $2,000 SGD. 

another thing that cannot be brought into this country....chewing gum.  they don't sell it here...and they don't want anyone bringing it it.  they want there sidewalks as clean as possible.  the only way to get chewing gum is to know someone who smuggles it in.  it's sold on the black market here.  lol  how sad.

anyhoo...that's all i can think of right now.  i'm tired too.   time for me to go and make sleepy time.  ?? make sleepy time ??  see what happens when you're away from america for too long.  lol