Aug 5 -
Got stopped for eating a sausage in the metro station! lol.
Got some sushi for 50 cents. Was going to get my usual peanuts and rasins but decided to try more of the local food. Saw quail eggs next to the regular eggs. And some other great big eggs from I don't know where.
Found internet for 2.80 an hour vs the 5.00 they wanted to charge in the mall for 30 minutes. The mall is very American looking. People here waste a lot of money on material things just like Americans.
Saw on news that Mariott Hotel was bombed in Jakarta. lol And I was just in the Hotel Intercontinenal. I might not wander around the fancy American hotels so much in the future! Of course I wouldn't stay in one but I have been in them a lot to get maps and pens and things.
Tried out this 6,000 dollar massage chair. How ridiculous! It hurt my back. It had all these moving things going on. I'd much rather get a massage from someone I loved. Or even from a prostitute. lol. Haven't ever gone to one yet. But I hear they are about 20 dollars in Indonesia. I think I might just pay someone to hold me and let me feel their skin against mine. But then it might be hard not to do more. It could get addictive too. I wouldn't want spend 20 dollars every night. Then again, it would take a lot of 20 dollars to equal the price of a massage chair! lol. It had synchronized music too. lol. Then I tried out eye massage things. They made my teeth rattle. lol. And I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous I must look in them! I wished I could walk around a place like that with some of my friends. We could laugh and laugh. Laughing is so healthy. Oh, and they have these Jeep brand clothes. And lots of Barbie stuff. But the main thing I have notice while walking around is the number of friggin shoe stores and shoes - all ladies shows of course. The women must be really obsessed with shoes here.
I talked to two technical institute students in one store. They had to wear uniforms even when they have finished high school! Things seem to "work" here, what ever that means, but there seems a lot of conformity. Haven't seen anyone with spiked hair or dyed red hair yet. Or dressed up in "goth" clothes.
Had a stimulating convo with a lady from Canada who travels with her American hubby around here a lot. She has been denied entry at the US border even though her husband is American! Sometimes they let her in and sometimes they don't. She got me even more excited about exploring some countries around here. The more I travel the more fun it gets! I love it so much. I love seeing the new things. Talking to new people. I just wish I could share these experiences first hand with someof my best friends who are locked up at home. It is so sad they can't get out. Not even for good behavior. In prison you can sometimes get out early for "good behavior." But when you are labeled by society as a "minor" there is nothing you can do to get your freedom if your the legal authorities who have power over you, usually known as "parents" don't want to let you be free to travel.
So now I will go to "Little India" and try to find the backpackers hostel called the "Incrowd". They are supposed to have free Internet.
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Talked to Avis who works here at New 7th Street Hotel. He told me that in S'pore (as they call it) there is a lot of pressure for children to be the best. He said parents push them to get into the top secondary schools. He said after their primary school exams there are a lot of suicides. He also told me the last time there was a murder was two or three years ago.
Incrowd backpackers seemed good. They don't allow any families with young children. Though I don't like rules, I kind of like that one. So am I hypocrite. Or am I? "Should" I label myself? Is that "appropriate"? I think I will write about that now.
Phone system
You can buy Siingtel phone cards which work on some of the phones Some phones still take only coins. Calls are 30 cents for 3 minutes. Some phones only take 5 and 10 cent coins! It costs the same to call a mobile phone as a home phone. Unlike Australia where you can call your neighbor across town and talk for hours for about 25 cents on his land phone but if you call his mobile it costs about 40 cents per minute. I was paying less than 10 cents a minute for overseas calls with my Cardcall card.
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Aug 8
Things I have been told by residents;
Singapore is an open prison.
Here, you are guilty until proven innocent.
Government controls the newspaper. Articles critical of the government are not allowed.
Journalists have been expelled for writing critical stories. The magazine The Economist was banned for one month in singapore when it printed a critical article.
Protests, such as protests against the invasion of Iraq, are not allowed.
But I have had two people tell me there are "other avenues" for trying to change things. Like you can get a permit to stand in a park on a box like in Hyde Park in England. I feel more than a little skeptical about how effective this is.
People in Singapore have the same values as Americans, meaning money, appearances, status symbols and material things. I woud add, obedience and conformity. And "education" as in training to become a part of the unfeeling capitalist system.
As I have said before, you can care about people or money, but not both.
Someone told me they got a fine for jay-walking
Today I crossed a street after the light said don't walk. There were about ten people in front of me. They all had just stopped like robots as soon as the walk light turned red even though they had time to cross. I was walking fast and almost ran into them. I went around and went across the street. it was a divided boulevard. In the middle there was a fence. I put one hand on it and hoped over it. lol. Then hurried across the rest of the lanes. Iwas afraid the police would see me. Which brings the question - is it better to be afraid of the traffic or the police? Had i looked around for a police car I could have gotten hit by traffic. In paris I wouldn't be afraid of doing something like that. I miss paris... *smiles thinking of it*
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at "lee's traveler's club"- second night. sleeping on a board. thin mattress does almost nothing. more like a sheet in the middle of the bed.
manager is sleeping on mattress on the floor near me. He had fallen asleep at his chair when I came out. Then some backpackers came in. Complaining about the heat. I found out there is a fridge here where I can put some water to chill.
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meng said he wanted "financial freedom"
but i want psychological freedom for myself and for the people i care about
which brings me back to blame. if u blame someone else, you give away control.
if manager says "you should have...." then how can the hotel prevent same situation from occuring?
if sarah blames me, how can she prevent same situation?
who am i blaming? mother, family, soceity?
difference between blame and cause and effect.
if it rains and the grass gets wet, do i blame the rain? or do i say, the rain caused the grass to become wet?
if i don't want the grass to be wet, would it help to know what is causing it to become wet? if i lay on the grass and it is muddy and damp, and i want it to be dry, would it help to tell the grass that it is responsible for being wet? would it help to tell the grass, "you should have gotten out of the rain"?