SAME-SAME BUT DIFFERENT
19 October 2020 | As we were walking down the street the other day, I mused about our trip to Brazil in 2001 and how we couldn’t get a to-go cup of coffee to save our lives. It occurred to me at that point that every country has its nuances and differences; things that they do a little bit differently from the United States and what I know in my own experience.
In Singapore, there are no electrical outlets in bathrooms. It’s a bit of an irritating overreach of government interventions but I understand why they do it.
Electrical outlets all have a switch to turn them on and off. It’s irritating when you plug in your mobile phone and forget to turn the switch on, only to realize the next morning that you have a dead phone, but it’s also very cost-efficient.
To exit most doors, you have to push a button on the door which unlocks it. Weird at first but it’s mostly because doors are electronic here; operated by key cards instead of physical keys.
Motion detection on lights is very common in the hallways. This is a good thing and something we often wish was more widely accepted in the USA.
Bathtubs... very uncommon. Rain showers... very common. Okay by me since I rarely if ever take a bath.
Hot water is also on a switch in most residential buildings. So, if you want to take a hot shower, you have to anticipate it and turn it on about 5-10 minutes in advance. We just stopped using hot weather altogether because, frankly, we’re always hot anyway and a cold shower feels good.
Pools are everywhere in Singapore. Again, it’s hot all of the time so being in a pool is a great way to cool off, relax and/or exercise.
We joke about Asian lightning but even Singaporeans we know joke about it, too. Asians love bright overhead lights and it’s not uncommon to see most apartments lit up like Christmas at night.
It was very peculiar to us that we couldn’t get a knife at a restaurant when we first arrived and then we noticed that Singaporeans don’t use knives. They use a big spoon and fork, and the spoon is used to cut into food. We’ve adapted now and find it quite efficient but it was strange at first.
Chopsticks... not as common as we would have thought here. You see them but the default is often a spoon and fork.
Crime, homelessness, poverty (while it exists) is very rare. One of the things that we found very interesting when we arrived is that you could walk by a woman at night and she wouldn’t flinch. It’s so safe here that most people, women included, feel very safe walking around anytime of the day or night. Of course, CCTV also exists everywhere so it’s always good to behave yourself.
Exposing yourself (being naked) to others is a crime in Singapore. Even if you are in your apartment, you are required to cover yourself and not expose yourself to others.
I’m sure there are many more things like this that we could share but these are just a few of the same-same but different musings that we’ e discovered in our time here in Singapore.