minnesota nice or things i like about the states

i had no idea that my promise to share a list of good things about the US would cause such a fit of writer's block.  i've found myself sitting at the computer, blogger compose window open, daily for a week and nothing comes out.  in some sense, it's not fair, because there are good things about the US and it's not really for a lack of those. maybe it's just easier (and more amusing) to write about the negatives or the puzzling things (tho' frankly the positives can at times be equally puzzling). but here goes...

things that are great about the states:

~ target. i've had serious withdrawals from the bountiful variety at fair prices and which also gives back to their communities and isn't evil and contains a starbucks as you come in wonder that is a target store. tho' i wasn't that keen on what was apparently their $200 rule - as in, you can't leave without spending at least $200. the trick was to avoid spending the lot of it on nail polish alone. we didn't always succeed.

~ minnesota nice. i learned this term from my friend lisa. it describes those pleasant little conversations that you have with clerks in stores...whether it's about the odd-looking handful of coins you're pawing through to find some quarters or about how you're turning down their store credit card because they don't have any stores near where you live or about what exactly you're going to do with that quinoa or where you got those fabulous sequined uggs. it's a positive interchange and gives such a boost of energy in your day. of course, it's maybe not fair to credit it entirely to minnesota (tho' it IS a marked phenomenon there, even in the big city of minneapolis), as my sister and i had one of those uplifting experiences in our local grocery store right in our hometown in south dakota.

it was the day molly got her shots and her rather brutal ear mite treatment. her vet appointment was at 1:30 and i thought it would take like 15 minutes tops, so everyone was waiting for me to return with her so we could go swimming at the river (sans cat, of course). the appointment took much longer thanks to the ear mites, so by the time i got home, the three children were melting (literally, as it was 107°F/42°C) and whining like crazy. we stopped by the grocery store for snacks (and crisp, refreshing american light beer) and the sweet young girl at the cash register said, "how are you guys doing?" in her best local accent (think the coen brothers film fargo). we responded that no one was whining, no one was complaining, no one has asked 56 times whether we were going to the river and no one had begged for any junk food or candy. and in the process, those things started to be true...and we started to laugh and our stress melted away. all because the girl at the cash register acknowledged us with a greeting.

let me tell you, the danes could learn something from this.

i was talking to a canadian friend (who also lives in denmark) about this the other day. she's a sociologist, so she's thought about it a bit more than i had (hard to believe, i know). i said that i missed those light-hearted, surface conversations with clerks or others in line at the store and told her how much i'd appreciated them while we were in the US. she said she thought they were actually deeper than they appear at first. that when the young very pierced and tattooed clerk in the gas station's eyes light up when he sees your funny coin with the hole in the center and hearts around the edge and begins to tell you about foreign coins in his collection, he's revealing something more about himself...dreams of travel to far-away places perhaps, or a hint at the desire that despite having had ALL of his front teeth sharpened into vampire-like points, he wants something more from life.

which brings me to the next good thing...

~ believing something more is possible. i know that the american dream has come to be a bit ridiculed around the world in the face of financial crisis and political buffoonery. but that pie-in-the-sky belief that if you just try hard enough, you'll succeed and get what you want remains strong in americans. but isn't there something charming about it as well? and something optimistic and hopeful? i think (especially in the upper midwest) there are still a lot of people who believe that if they work hard enough, they can change their lives for the better. not everyone thinks they can take the reality t.v. shortcut to success (tho' it may seem like that sometimes).

however, the american dream is a double-edged sword and has resulted in the bewildering acceptance by the poorest for the concentration of wealth being in the hands of the few, some of whom apparently would like to be president (just not the ones one wishes would (say that three times fast)). it's because everyone has a core of belief inside them that they could make it too and once they're also there, they surely don't want to have to pay a bunch of taxes.

but i've digressed.

~ diversity. the states is BIG. there's a lot of space. and it means that everyone, no matter how wacky their idea, probably can have a little plot of land or a building or a place where they can have a chance to try it out. the mormons have utah. homosexuals and hippies have san francisco. wackos have LA. hutterites have their colonies in south dakota. amish in iowa (and moving into south dakota). there are organic farmers and big-scale farmers. there are snotty, organic grocery stores and there are everyday normal ones. there really is something for everyone. and people come in all colors, shapes and sizes. and it seems there's room for that.

whenever i come back home to denmark after being in the states, i'm struck by how much the same everyone is. the clothing choices, the food choices, the cars, the haircuts, the shoes. it's like there's a danish uniform (and sub-uniforms within categories - nurses, schoolteachers, business people, etc.). of course, it's a bit similar to that in south dakota, where i grew up, but it feels like there's more space (and there literally is) to unfold yourself and be a little different.

so there you have it. and i even went a little deeper than i did with the more negative list. and got past that spot of writer's block.

and i do so love those american clouds.

let them drink bacon vodka or observations on the current state of america

just a few observations from our time in the states. it's funny how time away makes what was once familiar seem strange, tho' i simply don't recall some of this stuff, so maybe it's new in the past decade or so...

~ there's a real obsession with anti-bacterial hand cleaners. in bathrooms, in the cleaning product aisle, on the dish soap, little purse-size bottles. apparently americans are really, really scared of bacteria. and i wonder if it's not contributing to illness and allergies.

~ there's a lot of fake stuff - especially fake sweeteners and fake creamers. i just wanted some ordinary half & half in my coffee and that was a rare commodity in many convenience stores, tho' 5 sweetened, artificial flavors of carnation wanna-be cream(er) were on offer.

~ waitresses introduce themselves, "hi, i'm shelly, i'll be your server." do i really need this information? do people actually take note of it and remember their server's name?

~ the lighting is really, really depressing in shopko, k-mart and even macy's. what's the purpose of that? wouldn't good lighting move more merchandise? how can these stores be so off on this important detail?

~ walmart's new logo doesn't hide that they're still pure evil.

~ enormous, chernobyl (as in possibly irradiated), giant fruit and vegetables - peaches bigger than a softball, same with plums and the leeks, as big around as my calves, i tell you. we also had a 50 pound watermelon. talk about having to pee after that...

~ only in the states could you overhear a casual conversation at the airport between two waiting passengers on the merits of the M16 vs. the M4.

~ struck by how people who have BEEN there, still pronounce iraq "eye-rack."

~ a shocking lack of recycling. i had a little shudder of horror every time i saw a bottle or can in the ordinary garbage can.  this is part of why the US is consuming far more than its share of resources.

~ vodka that comes in bacon, marshmallow, cake or cookie dough flavors. i can see these are produced in france, but still, they apparently know what the american market craves.

~ direct marketing (long ads on television and in magazines) of prescription meds. man, that must drive doctors nuts.

~ no television show can be watched or enjoyed with any sense of continuity because it's constantly broken up with ads. i remember when i first came to denmark, it was agony for me to watch an whole episode of the x-files without commercial break, because i was so accustomed to the release of tension the commercials brought with them. now, i can hardly stand to watch television in the states. and don't even get me started on the shameful coverage of the olympics by nbc, i'm still not over that.

~ automatic-flush toilets. these possibly symbolize everything that's currently wrong with america, not to mention scaring the living daylights out of the user. apparently people cannot even be trusted to flush the toilet on their own these days.

~ interesting how with two acts of terrorism committed while i was there - one in a crowded movie theatre in colorado and one at a sikh temple in wisconsin - that i never heard them referred to as terrorism. it seems that word is now reserved only for acts committed by muslim extremists. if you ask me, both of those maniacs were also terrorists. 

~ car design has truly gone awry. i talked about this a little bit after my visit two years ago, but it's only gone downhill. even old design stalwarts like mercedes have given up and started making what appears to be a chevy impala with a mercedes logo. it's sad, really.

lest you think i only observed the negatives, i'll be back soon with a list of positives. because there are also good things about the land of my birth. you just have to look for them a little harder.

observations while waiting for the rain to begin

ahh. a lazy saturday afternoon. a cup of steaming finnish coffee from the french press. the cleaning girls busily working away, making the house sparkling clean and fresh. and because it's grey and heavy and threatening rain outside, there's nothing better to do than sit down to blog and read all of the blogs i've been woefully neglecting this summer. plus, i've been so focused on my 30 secrets that i haven't been getting my usual observations out of my system. and i can feel that they're starting to back up.

observation 1: don't you find that things come along to exactly at the moment you need them? i needed to laugh and found this blog.

observation 2: when you're thinking of something/post about something, you find out that other people were thinking about it and posting about it too. just as an example, if you want to read more about doors opening, go here. or if you're worried about your kids growing up too fast and not catching all the good stuff, check this and this.

observation 3: you never know what mood someone will be in when they receive your comment/email/tweet. and what you may have been lighthearted and buoyant about just might hit them like a ton of bricks. when that happens, it's best to just apologize and move out of the way of the bricks.  it's also best to know that it happens and it will undoubtedly happen again. mostly because you don't get any smarter.

observation 4: once you start looking, you find that street art is everywhere. and lots of it is funny. look for more here in the next week.

dublin street

observation 5: when you finally remember to go to flickr, you find out that some very cool people have featured your pictures on their very cool blog. thanks daisy loves! also for the nice note, letting me know. it's cool when people give credit (as i've been reading lately, sometimes people don't). 

observation 6: a guinness and a jauntily literary hat in a pub in dublin will leave you feeling a bit joycean...even if you didn't bother to finish ulysses.

observation 7: a day when the skies are grey and heavy and the air is still and just seems like it's waiting to unleash a deluge worthy of building an ark will give you a dull headache that you just can't shake.

observation 8: i am astonished at how quickly the lemon cucumber seeds have become seedlings. they must like it in the greenhouse.

observation 9: you can feel genuine sorrow for the passing of a person you never met. and you find that you can't stop thinking about all of the feelings your friend, who you've also never met in person but only through her very real and honest blog, must be going through and your heart genuinely aches for her. thinking of you and your family, mari. 

observation 10: sometimes you will not be able to get to all of the geocaches you'd like because there are too many muggles around. sadly that was true here and here.

well, it seems the rain has begun. and i think i'll go out in my beautiful blue room, open all of the doors, settle into a comfy chair with a book and enjoy it. 

the eyes have it

once you start looking, you find that eyeballs are everywhere...

by the side of the road

on the beach

on the birch trees

and sometimes they even follow you home.

observing right now

1. the day is grey.
   
2. burned hair smells really bad.
   
3. the smell of burned hair lingers on and on.
   
4. listening to röyksöpp.
   
5. i'm pondering a gocco print and it's going to come out of my head and onto the paper soon.
6. the room is warm.
7. flickering candlelight.
8. amazon.com sent my book from new zealand (who is doing the logistics on that?)
9. there are pictures to be hung.
10. cameras make me happy.

note to self: remember where the candles are when you are caught up in taking photos.

tropical backwaters

the setting: slightly seedy bar on an out-of-the-way tropical island in what might as well be the south pacific.

the characters:  one brit, heavily tattooed, wiry, small, late 40s, early 50s; another brit, early 60s, or perhaps a bit older, grey hair that has the unreal, unmoving look of a toupee, missing a couple of key teeth in the front; a balding aussie with reading glasses and a severe case of the shakes, might be only late 50s, but could pass for late 60s; heavily-tattooed and pierced, mid-50s american, trying to hold onto youth with long, thinning, grey pony-tail and biker-style leather hat. it’s 11 a.m., but cold, squat, dark-bottled san miguels, glistening with sweat in the heat and humidity, stand before them.

what are they doing here? their conversation is largely about how much tickets cost now to get to the out-of-the-way island. it’s clear they’ve been coming for years. they talk about harrowing landings and take-offs on a nearly-too-short landing strip that starts in the water and ends in a volcanic outcropping that might as well be a mountain. they talk of hong kong, macau, melbourne and manila.

the younger brit who has just arrived has a two-day-old copy of the sun with him. he proceeds to engage in a conversation about how the muslims are taking over the UK...the newspaper has a story of a council that is hesitating to put up their christmas decorations because of the possibility of offending muslims in the community.

i find myself wondering what they’re doing there. what brings them back to this backwater place, where they clearly meet one another again and again? the bartenders know them--setting out their beers without them even asking. people passing by know them. some of the local girls know them. perhaps it’s the girls that bring them back. they’re talking about meeting in melbourne in february. there’s no hint of their business. but i find myself musing on it...small times arms dealers? drugs? whatever it is, it seems small time, more than a bit seedy, insignificant in the scheme of things...something that takes place in a tropical backwater such as this all the time...

schöen tag

it takes so little to start a day off on the right foot. a "have a nice day" said to a stranger upon stepping out of an elevator, even if it was said in german, a language which i don't speak, i got the idea. it was a human interaction, an acknowledgement of my existence, despite the fact that the man didn't know me. he smiled and wished me a good day. and you know something, i think it will be a good day.

the exhibition hall is coming to life around me. our ice sculpture of a polar bear is frosty and already dripping, our stickers of the yield sign with a polar bear on it that say, "a safe and sustainable future?" are stocked up (they go quickly). the beautiful korean girls are passing by in their bright costumes. those girls in the silver bodysuits are in position, ready to hand out sweets. screens are being turned on all over the hall. the guys down the way have restocked their little blue rubber ducks wearing hard hats (i want to get one of those today). today, i will go around with my camera, taking it all in through the lens.

life is fascinating. have a nice day.

on accents and having one

last night, we went out together with some people from my husband's old department. we went on a dinner cruise on the saga fjord, which cruises from roskilde on the roskilde fjord. the wife of one of my husband's former employees had a heavy accent.

ASIDE:  quick explanation. my husband was, until recently, a department manager in a large danish company. his dept. was responsible for internal distribution of all post and packages and such within this company--which has many locations in denmark and around the world. last year, he had the guts to suggest that because what his dept. did wasn't core business, it should be outsourced to someone whose core business it was. he was, in the end, the only one of 47 people who were without a job. all of the others were either guaranteed a transfer to the outsourcing company or another job within the original company. this was a VERY gutsy move and one that not many people would do. we think he's cool for having such guts. evidentally, the company does too because he has been offered another, more exciting job now. we hope he's not going to be sent around as the dark lord of outsourcing, but, this is clearly the stuff of a whole 'nother posting and as usual, i digress...

back to the point of my story...for a small country (it's about the size of wisconsin) and a minor language (only 5 million danes), denmark has a lot of accents. my danish being what it is, i can HEAR the accent, but not necessarily place it. sometimes i hear accents (bornholm comes to mind), where i think, "hey, if they're allowed to speak danish, i should be too." and i, of course, am allowed, but you know what i mean.

the accent i have in danish, and i DO have an accent, luckily, isn't necessarily pegged as an american accent. this is good, because i've heard heavy american accents in danish and they are not good. i think because of my studying russian, people tend to think i'm some kind of eastern european from my accent in danish. that's ok with me.

anyway, this woman had a serious accent and although i could get the gist of what she said, it wasn't necessarily easy (for me). turned out she was from somewhere in jutland--which is the bit of denmark that's attached to germany (as opposed to the big island--sjælland--that i live on). they have a number of pronounced accents over there.

and this, combined with iris' comment on my reference to an "iowa accent," got me thinking about accents... 

tom brokaw, longtime NBC evening news anchor, is from a town not far from where i grew up, in the same county even. thus, we always claimed, mostly because of him, not to have an accent. we spoke (in our ears and our opinion) neutral, american english (not realizing, in our naivete, that his original accent had surely been beaten out of tom by a combination of accent coaches and a desire to flee from his roots). 

now, when i go back, i realize how WRONG that was. there is a heavy accent there. it manifests itself in words like: package--packeege, garbage--garbeege, tuesday--tuesdee.  as in, "if the packeege comes on tuesdee, don't throw it in the garbeege." and phrases like "ya darn tootin'," which isn't just something coen brothers made up for fargo. people really SAY that.

the simple fact is, we ALL have an accent. some are more intelligible than others. some sound better than others. there's something charming about a french accent and something distinctly uncharming about a danish one. some accents make you sound smarter and some dumber. some make you seem exotic and some make you seem like a hillbilly. but, we ALL have an accent. and it's ok. we should. it's part of what makes us who we are.

observations on a sunny afternoon in copenhagen

observed today in copenhagen while sitting in a café along gammel strand:

1. sweet old american couple with the easy, understated elegance of retired academics, getting lattes before going on a canal tour.  
2. sweden pretty much providing all of the wait staff in copenhagen.  malmö really is a suburb of copenhagen, thanks to the bridge.
3. so many charming upright bikes with a front basket and pretty fenders.
4. busy yellow buses
5. everyone is on a mobile phone is some fashion--whether texting or talking.
6. tourists sticking out due to their fashion:  spaniards with dark hair, scarves and totally different sunglasses. jutlanders with their sing-song danish and short leather jackets.
7. trendy young men who have clearly spent hours and a fortune in hair wax/gel giving their hair that tousled bed-head look.
8. middle-aged academics in unfashionable slightly too short sport coats.  they are no doubt politiken readers.
9. lawyers (or perhaps shipping executives) in suits, striding purposefully towards a business lunch.
10. the odd clothing of summer.  it's clear that summer is so short here that people replace their summer clothing more infrequently.

travel impressions

foggy distance view of neuschwanstein castle in VERY southern bavaria

i'm in munich on a long weekend with sabin. we're having a lovely time, tho' it's raining. here is a quick list of experiences/impressions, since there are many and i love lists:

1. the food is seriously white in this country. or perhaps only this region. white asparagus is clearly in season. and i don't get it. totally overrated as far as i'm concerned.
2. people think you are a bit mental when you carry around 6 cameras.
3. 6 cameras are HEAVY.
4. have officially seen it all on SK1665 CPH-MUC on may 21, 2008: story about caffeinated soap in Scanorama.
5. you can spot germans by their socks. it's clearly a totally different sock culture.
6. you can spot north dakotans by their light-colored, high-waisted, mid-90s lee jeans.
7. did i mention that the food is seriously all white or shades of white--sausages, sauerkraut, asparagus, potatoes...
8. i now officially understand the word "kitsch."
9. there are a lot of average american women who have clearly had too much access to inexpensive plastic surgery and/or botox.
10. risotto made with ordinary rice rather than arborio. not good.
11. white asparagus. totally overrated. (i'm aware i mentioned this before, felt it bore mentioning again.)
12. italian waiter in germany, pretending to also speak english and spanish. not good.
13. spotted on the train: two elderly women (approaching 80), clearly twins, dressed identically and visibly upset about having to sit across the aisle from one another. wonder if they've ever been apart in all their lives?
14. brief moment where i considered putting on a danish accent to avoid being identified in any way, shape or form with shocking amount of arrogant american backpackers which seem to currently be unleashed on europe.
15. it's only been 36 hours and already i'm dying for a green leaf of lettuce. i WANT to embrace the food culture where i am, but i'm not sure i can deal with all this white food! i need other colors!!
16. while starving yesterday afternoon wandered into large apparent tourist trap german restaurant and found it full of...germans. not bad at all. and the beer is superb.

home on sunday...more then if not before.

it always comes back to me

yesterday it was a typical crowded monday at the grocery store. at one point, while i was examining the bright, cheerful kitchen towels in the "spotvarer" section, i squeezed close to the shelf to let an older woman by. she said, in english, "thank you." for a good five minutes, i thought, "how did she know i was english-speaking? do i have an especially english-speaking look about me today? what is it that made her know i was english-speaking? am i dressed differently? is it my hair? or my seven for all mankind jeans?"

then i got to the cash register and she was at one of the other registers and i heard her say, "thank you" again. then and only then, it hit me. SHE was english-speaking!

maybe life isn't always about me.

a whole 'nother world

overheard in dashing divas...

conversation between two young filipino women of privilege, whom i learned in the course of the overheard conversation, were 32 and 33 respectively:

the conversation started because they were complimenting one another on their Chanel flats. one of them had them in black and the other in teal. they bragged on and on about what other colors they had at home and how much they loved them except for this one little pinchy place, but what a great everyday shoe they were.

from designer shoes, the conversation moved on to bags because one of the girls had a #30 Hermes bag in red. she had many Chanel bags at home, but was selling them, except for a few of her favorite everyday ones, because "once you go to Hermes...."(this is a direct quote which she said at least 5 times, warning the other girl to enjoy her Chanel while she could because it just wouldn't be the same after the Hermes, which the other girl was anticipating getting for her 35th birthday).

it seemed that both of these girls were actually making a business of acquiring, using for a while and then selling on their designer bags. they hadn't met one another before, but had mutual friends in the "bag trade."

it was clear from the conversation that bags were a subject they were very passionate about (and i can understand this, since i have a bit of a bag collection of my own--just no Chanel or Hermes). although it sounds like an incredibly pretentious conversation, believe it or not, they actually did not come across as pretentious. this world of traveling to hong kong or japan or hawaii and acquiring bags, using them for awhile, selling them (to others like themselves, i guess) and then buying new ones was simply the fact of their way of life.

what i sat there thinking about (aside from the fact that my brand new Coach bag, which i adore and which was on the seat beside me was probably not high enough end for them), were the poor sweet little nail girls. there were two of them working on each of these girls, plus the two working on me and the two working on the woman on the other side--so a total of 8 girls who are no doubt working VERY long hours and long weeks for astonishingly little money--all sitting there listening to this conversation. i tried to read their faces to see if the conversation hurt their feelings in any way. other than one small rolled-eye gesture which i silently coaxed out of one of them whose eyes caught my eye, there was no sign.

but what was amazing was that these two sets of young woman are living in the same country, but are worlds...no, GALAXIES apart. it did strike me as more than slightly rude of the two young women to have that conversation there in front of those girls who could scarcely even dream of having a copy of a Chanel or Hermes bag. but, it was clear that that didn't cross their minds. it was almost as if those girls were invisible to them. and i really have to stress that it wasn't in a haughty or snobbish way. it was simply clear that they had been brought up with maids and nannies around the house and were completely accustomed to conducting their lives without noticing them.

i can't help but find that a little bit sad..for both sides, actually.

jetlagging and another list

it's late. again. and because i'm on a shopper's high (which you can read about here), i'm WIDE AWAKE. and that is once again SO STUPID because i have to get up for a morning flight. at least it's at 9, which means i have to head for the airport around 7 if i want to get in a little retail time at the airport. i know that sounds strange, but lemme tell ya, singapore's changi airport is shopping heaven. and i'm gonna get me some henry kloss tivoli audio action for my writing house.

around noon today, i thought i was going to drop dead, right there in the conference room, of sheer tiredness. i could actually hear that my heartbeat was sluggish. it was perhaps a reaction to an especially boring speaker or staring at the master of ceremonies of the conference who appeared to have last had his mullet cut in august 2007 and who may have actually slept in his suit on a regular basis. or maybe it was because i didn't go to sleep last night until well after 4 a.m. (i stopped looking at the actual time because of how disturbing it was counting how many minutes of sleep i'd have if i went to sleep NOW.) but anyway, two excedrin (thanks sis, for leaving those!) and a good lunch later, i was feeling quite ok again. and now, thanks to the retail adrenalin, i'm once again awake.

i have a lot of impressions and have filled 9 pages of notes in my little waves of inspiration notebook. i'll leave you with a few teasers, since i'm into lists this week:

1. totally disturbing bar called "the clinic" at clark quay. chairs are hospital beds and wheelchairs and it appears you can order blue drinks that come in an IV bag. it was actually rather creepy or perhaps just deeply cynical, and i would definitely have to be in a very special mood to go there.
2. i ordered a fried tofu dish that had some very thinly shaved japanese daikon on top which was moving in a very disturbing way which made you think it was alive or at best that they hadn't totally killed it back in the kitchen before they brought it out. it turned out to just be the breeze from the ceiling fan. and the german couple at the next table was also very transfixed by it. i thought they were a little creeped out, but they proceeded to order one too.
3. power point should never have been made available to the masses. you should, at the very least, have to have a license in order to use it. and it should be VERY difficult to get one.
4. there is a very odd food server culture. they are EXTREMELY attentive when you first arrive--eager to bring you drinks and take your order, but once your food comes, you are totally on your own. heaven forbid you would want to order an additional glass of white wine. often, the original waiter or waitress you had at the beginning just completely disappears and another one takes that person's place. the new person, however, does not do the attentive at the beginning thing, even tho' it's the beginning for them.
5. i have started a collection of martini glass stamps. it is in order to, at long last, have the martini party that i've been talking about for years. it will be the kind of party where you send hand-written or, in this case, hand-stamped, invitations in the snail mail. you will be requested to bring your own martini glass to the party, with the idea that you then leave it behind as your hostess gift and in order for me to acquire enough martini glasses for future parties. pretty cool idea, eh?

with that, i will leave you and try to get some sleep. dreaming of cameras (sorry, jaime, i went for the nikon--it just felt right in my hand) and iYiYis.

disneyland

i swear singapore is one big disneyland. with embassies around the world. it's very clean, very pretty, very maintained and coiffed. just like disneyland. but, for some reason, i like it better this time than on previous visits. maybe that's because my hotel is right next to clark quay, which is a pretty happening spot.

observed in singapore:

1. people walking around in stores eating really weird looking stuff (something that looked like it was covered in red bean paste on the outside and had some rice mixture on the inside).
2. tips on the radio for being more organized and thereby living a happier life.
3. young, prosperous-looking indians.
4. young, prosperous-looking filipinos.
5. erasers in the shape of sushi.
6. a strange store called daiso where all of the craptacular things cost only $2 (sing dollars).
7. models of pretty candy-colored sony cameras (built-in 4GB memory) which i feel a strange desire to own (now, now, now) mostly because i've never seen them anywhere else.
8. shops which sell only bling--hair bling, phone bling, bindi bling, all bling, all the time.

that's all for now. will check in again later...