I saw this on campus once I had access to the areas that were previously off-limits because of the Youth Olympic Games. Looks great, no? Quiet, zero emissions, and out of commission now that the Games are over and there’s no international spotlight to shine on the thing. The branding exercise is over, and the […]
A bus stop in Singapore is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Or at least a place of shelter from sun and rain, and cleanliness, with polished marble benches to sit on and bollards. The bollards were added last spring after some bad driver in the city speeded and ran off the road […]
My colleague explained yesterday the precise mechanism of getting cars off the road in Singapore: you buy your car for about $100k, drive it for ten years, each year paying plenty in parking fees, ERP fees (they charge you to drive downtown during peak hours), and registration fees, as well as maintenance, insurance and gas. […]
Ok, here is the elevated walkway a couple of kilometers from Mt. Faber, in the Forest Walk section of the interconnected trails. It’s over a kilometer long and descends gently down a hill that’s largely covered in secondary rainforest growth. That is, if you start at the top of Mt. Faber. If you start at […]
Some pictures are embedded in the post below. One thing you may have noticed about these postings is that I get a lot of my information about Singapore from cab drivers. No, I am not made of money, that I take cabs around all the time. We live in the far west of the island […]
Here’s the sign on our local bus telling us not to carry durians aboard. You can’t carry them on trains either. I guess you either have to eat them where you buy them, or take a taxi. Unless you own a car, in which case you’re welcome to stink out your own property.
This week’s news from California is that, four months after the 2008-9 fiscal year began, the California legislature has managed to pass a budget, one that will try to cover its $42 Billion deficit. The reason for all the delay is the legal requirement from Proposition 13 (1978) for a 2/3 majority to pass any […]
Yesterday I was riding an MRT train during the lunch hour, and I scored a seat. The one to my left held a sleeping woman; the one to my right a tall Indian guy, about 38 years old, in a sporty t-shirt. He promptly called someone on his cellphone, and the conversation on his end […]
No, you don’t get caned in Singapore for gum possession. But they don’t sell it here, and you can’t bring in a lot. Here’s the reason: When the government created the MRT, the wonderful fully automated train system that moves people about cheaply and quickly, they put sensors in the doors to avoid crushing people. […]