Where in the world...?

Walking around with throngs of other people in the stifling heat; Watching beads of sweat develop on others; Feeling waterfalls of perspiration develop on me as my already saturated clothes cling to my body like huge suction caps.

I do feel like lazing about the pool and going for a swim and then getting fit (hey, at least I think about it). But my entire body feels like rejecting the notion of stepping outside in such humidity.

There's nothing like being in Singapore!

When the combination of 30 degrees celsius and 60% precipitation makes one feel a bit more than uncomfortable, there's nothing like sitting in an apartment with high speed internet and air-con creating a dry 23 degrees of comfort.

A lazy Sunday.

Typically, I attempt to compress as much as I can into my Sundays, although admittedly, a majority of the time is spent just travelling to and from destinations, rather than at the actual place I wanted to go.

Today started off great. Woke up late. Took a long shower. Had a hearty continental breakfast. Read some magazines. Chatted with friends. Played some games. Organised some emails and notes. Often, I don't allow myself that luxury, but once in a while it is relaxing and recharges.

A couple of things I noticed while here:

1) Just like HK, there is a general persistence to get on the train first - even if that means going against the tidal wave of people trying to get off the train. I am not sure whether it is to get bragging rights of who gets on first or general clamour to get to a seat or even fear of missing the trains which come every two minutes anyway.

2) Yesterday, I went shopping down at the local supermarket and was shocked at the extorionist prices charged for some of the goods. A packet of 250gms of beef was SG$4, milk was SG$3 and a punnet of berries were SG$8. Cooking for oneself is ludicrously expensive (upwards of $10) while food at the hawker stalls is $5 a pop. Talk about economies of scale! Apparently, most of the food is imported - even water is pumped from Malaysia!

3) Having just returned from HK, I understand that the temptation of shopping will be very great in many comparatively "cheaper" countries. For some reason, I spend more when I am overseas than when I am in town. Not that I spend it on food, but I just spend it buying item which, to be honest, I probably don't need or wouldn't have purchased back home. Having confided in a friend and confirmed that such behaviour was not isolated to myself, we concluded that this behaviour was the good deal theory.

Good Deal Theory
Knowing full well that it is comparatively more expensive in one's home country, one will merely spend the money for the sake of getting a good deal.
Common statements to justify one's decision include:
"I am not spending - I just saved money."
"I can't get the same product for that price back home."

This, I must say, would explain why my HK trip yielded seven pairs of shoes on the way home (admittedly, I had taken three pairs to HK in the first place - golf shoes, runners, and black shoes. Not unreasonable, right?)

4) Singapore has one of the highest level of savings in the world - gross national savings is about 38% of gross national income. That's a rather astonishing level and definitely puts me to shame! This would explain the high proportion of salespeople on the streets offering credit cards with low interest rates while throwing in some expensive gifts (like hi-fis and mobile phones). The uptake of credit cards is so low, that credit card companies are practically throwing them at people!