OK, by popular demand, this is what your leather items look like if you keep them in the closet without moisture-absorbing crystals. I bought a hydrometer a few weeks ago and can tell you that the ambient humidity tends to range from 86-94%. Today is exceptionally dry – it’s only 78%! So what happens in […]
This is one of the local ornithological glories – the Great Hornbill. This guy is unusually cooperative, from a photographer’s point of view, sunning himself on the branch in the front of the aviary, not so high that I get only a shot of his rear, and obligingly turning his head so I can focus […]
Singapore has an indigenous snake called the spitting cobra. I have yet to see one outside the zoo. But it also hosts a much more common species, the Spitting Chinese. These are lamentably abundant. In the periodic TV announcements urging Singaporeans to be civil, government spokespeople sometimes inveigh against spitting in public. I’m with […]
OK, you may think that I’m going to be gross, but I’m not, really! Toilets in Singapore come in both varieties: seats and holes-in-the-ground, and they are generally kept very clean and pleasant, except where someone has left footprints on a seat, not knowing what else to do with it. But there are a couple […]
You always learn the most while in taxis. We were riding around in one the other day when the driver received a message (they have screens that display traffic conditions, fares, alerts and other news): a couple of streets downtown would be closed from midnight to noon for firewalkers! Well, that’s unusual (at least to […]
I’m going to start a periodic series in this category, on some of the birds at the Jurong Bird Park. This is an amusement and educational park near our place, established in 1971, and it’s one of the most impressive aviaries/zoos I’ve seen. To my surprise there’s no guidebook or pamphlet on it, so I […]
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. […]
Someone asked me if we’d been to a good restaurant in Singapore, and it took me a while to figure out how to answer. Singapore is riddled with food outlets, at every mall, at every bus depot, every train station (well, almost), every housing development. There are regular restaurants in malls and downtown, but mostly […]
OK, everyone talks about Singapore’s food, so I’ll start with the first thing I reach for in the morning. Singapore of course can get you Starbucks and espresso, but the locals drink small cups of Kopi, which is a very dark, even sludgelike brew, poured into a cup that contains a few spoonfuls of […]