Overheard in Singapore

American girl in her 20's talking to American boy in his 20's:

Girl: "I don't like Singapore; you can't smoke pot, the boys have small dicks and they don't sell corn dogs".

Boy: "No, they have corn dogs here".

Sand Sculpture in Durban, South Africa

I have been waiting to post this photo for quite sometime now. This was taken by my very dear friend Sarah Cassidy on a recent work trip to Durban, South Africa.

Armpit Problems in Southeast Asia

During the screening of "My Magic" by the Singaporean director Eric Khoo, I felt a very sharp pain in my armpit. I hate to say it, but, I kind of felt like I was having a premature heart attack. Post screening I expressed my feeling of discomfort to my friend Jordan. Much to my surprise I realized that he experienced a sharp pain in his pits as well. Several others including professors and industry professionals who overheard our conversation chimed in with similar stories of armpit pain. We put our stories and symptoms together and concluded that we all similarly have inflamed sweat axillary glands due to moisture being trapped in our hair follicles. Gross! The humidity is intense out in these parts, I am selfishly glad that others share in my discomfort.

PS. Go check out Eric Khoo's new film when it gets distributed in the US. The film is about an alcoholic magician that has to take care of his only child. Its very sweet and special.

My apartment is weird

There was a local concert in the park outside of my Walk up. Transvestites sang some odd Chinese Anthem. A big crowd gathered, they may have been the most non-expressive crowd that I have ever witnessed. They clapped for the performers post performance as if they were watching a bad comedian. At one point I, the only white person, was put on the spot. The performers said something to me in Chinese, but I don't really know what, something about a boyfriend and me being cute. Photos attached.

Much love,
Katya

Kim Tian food

The most exciting thing about my new apartment is that I live directly above tiny hawker food stalls. Right below me is a delicious Muslim/Indian Restaurant, several fresh squeezed juice stalls, and multiple noodle shops. The Chinese Restaurant downstairs has live frogs that will eventually be cooked, I think about freeing one of these sweet little toads every single day. From a distance it looked as though one local stall was selling "Poo buns", I took a closer look and realized they were actually selling "Pao buns". Bummer! My new local restaurants and home is on Kim Tian Road, a short distance away from the Tiong Bahru MRT station. I love my new access to delicious eats for midnight snacks when drowned in work, or after a late night out.

My new Friend Nate

I have a new friend named Nate. Nate is French. You can tell that he is French because he makes big gestures with his hands to express himself. Nate's father was a baker at the famous French pastry shop "Fauchon". When Nate was 8 years old his Dad was asked to open up his own pastry shop in Tokyo. Japanese people love Paris, but, usually after Japanese people come back from Paris they get really depressed. They get depressed because Paris tends to be really dirty and smelly and the people there aren't very friendly to Japanese tourists. So, Nate and his family moved to Tokyo, where France could come to Japan. Nate's dad recently went through a mid life crisis and stopped baking beautiful cakes. Rather, he decided to start up his own line of lingerie (I imagine his lingerie to look like his beautifully decorated cakes). He tests his bras out on his wife and Nate's older sister.

The biggest joy in the world is sharing good friends with good friends. I look forward to collecting as many as possible.

Pet Burial Grounds in Singapore

Some pet owners go beyond urns and niches: they pay hundreds of dollars for Buddhist monks to chant prayers during urn placement ceremonies or for memorial services. More information on Singaporean pet burial grounds at: http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_270015.html