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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

3 Signs I've Been Living in Singapore

Signs I've been living in Singapore... for too long.  I remember when I naively thought I was down with the Singapore culture (read: I'm Not a Tourist Because...), but now that I'm coming up to my 4 year anniversary in Singapore, I'm starting to realize its more than just a simple understanding of what Singapore is. I was back in Hong Kong last week when either my friends and I noticed a few things...


1.  Heat Tolerance
On a [Comfort 1 to 10 Discomfort to-the-point-of-rage] scale, over Hong Kong summers I'm usually bursting at a monstrous 12.  After 4 years in Singapore, I can bear Hong Kong summer heat in long pants and heels and feel around an 8.
2.  Chilli in EVERYTHING
I was having dinner (Cantonese cuisine) with a group of friends, and something felt like it was missing the entire time.  That is, until my friend Victor asked if I wanted chilli, "All of my Singaporean friends always ask for chilli when we eat out."  Everything tasted better after that.  Damn.
3.  Can lah, unker!
In Hong Kong, when speaking to locals, my inflections have become Singa-fied rather than Chinglishy.   Taxi drivers are more convinced than ever that I am a pure foreigner rather than the Canto-deficient HK ABCer that I am. (Hong Kong American-Born-Chinese)
Now I'm just awaiting the day that I simply start mangling words Singapore-style all together.