For this year's National Day special post, I shall drift away from being historical and political. Instead, I find it imperative to inject some fun into this post to celebrate my country's 46th birthday.
Singapore has come a long way and still has a long way to go. From a fresh and innocent girl to an auntie now, many things about her has changed. These include the infrastructure, environment, economy and even the amount of foreigners living here.
However, one the few things that has not changed is the "boring" tag used to describe the Lion City. Is Singapore really that bloody boring or is that just a myth started by Westerners and some bored Singaporeans?
Let's analyse to see which are genuine boring stuff and which are stuff worth wasting your time to do in this small little city-state.
Going to the Istana: Boring
Oh come on, should be a cool thing right? Neh, the gates are only open to the public on some public holidays. Otherwise, on any other day, you would see two guards immobilized in a rusok-senja-ta position facing each other while walking past the gates.
The only thing that people can legally do there is photographing. Chances are you might get arrested for wearing an opposition party outfit even if you are just strolling on your own in the Istana.
Going to Sentosa: Not Boring
Sentosa used to stand for So Expensive and Nothing TO See Actually. As for now, we can add an "Almost" in front of the "Nothing". It's still the Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong beaches and none of them look like a world-class beach.
But with the launch of Resorts World Sentosa, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for the Singapore Tourism Board after all. I shall go straight to the main point and point out the iFly Singapore.
This indoor skydiving wind tunnel lets cowards like you fulfil your dreams of parachuting minus the clouds. Anyone who is seven years of age and above are eligible to take the plunge. Man, even George Yeo tried it out to kill time after losing the General Elections!
Take the Singapore Flyer: Boring
The biggest observation wheel on earth doesn't equate to giving you the biggest satisfaction in the world after paying almost thirty bucks for a ride.
It encountered at least four breakdowns since its launch in 2008 with the most notable one in December that year where 173 passengers had to hold their bladders for six hours.
What do get to enjoy for thirty bucks? I have not checked it out yet but with my geographical knowledge about the Marina Bay area, you would most likely be seeing cars on expressways, blocks of flats and some greenery.
Nightlife: Not Boring, hell no
Like fellow Asian cities, Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok, Singapore has a vibrant nightlife with a myriad of nightspots to choose from.
Although you tend to hear your friends mention clubbing at St. James, Zouk, Butter Factory or shisha at Arab Street, there are still outrageous amounts of places which ask you the question "Why sleep?". If everywhere else is full house, there's still the Night Safari.
And can you believe it? None of the places mentioned above have been visited by me before. I am really a boring person.
Reading newspapers: Boring, except for the entertainment section
With only one printed media company which is closely linked to the government, you can easily predict what sort of news would appear in the front pages and what will be censored completely.
In fact, reading newspapers is more like reading newsletters in Singapore. No wonder, Gen X and Y have turned to the Internet for good during their spare time.
Speaker's Corner: Boring ring...
This free speech area does not differ from your void deck other than standing on grass instead of cement. It falls other three legislative acts, Public Order 2009, Public Entertainments and Meetings and Parks and Trees Regulations.
The first one bans the making of demonstrations publicly anywhere in the country even if it is only one damn person. The second states that only "approved" places can be used for "speaking".
As for the last one, I do not study law so I do not comprehend why must trees get involved in this.
Counting the number of PRCs you saw when outside: Not Boring
If you take the MRT, shop in the heartlands or go to Chinatown, you will most probably be counting one more every thirty seconds.
This is bound to keep you entertained throughout your train ride in case the battery of your smartphone runs low or there's nothing worth buying at the shops.
If that fails to prevent you from being bored, why not calculate the number of Filipinos, Burmese or Vietnamese you encountered to see who is the champion? That is provided if you can differentiate their li-an-goo-eech first.
Lunch at the hawker centre: Boring
This may sound debatable but hang on, let me state my reasons for labelling it as boring first.
It's lunch time, your stomach is protesting and all the tables are occupied by either plates of food or tissue papers. Your colleagues try to look for an empty table to no avail. Your mind starts telling you to go somewhere else when a hand waves at you.
An auntie from a drink stall signals for you and your colleagues to approach her while gesturing that there's an available spot. The moment your butt touches the seat, the auntie will be asking what drinks would you people like.
Then slowly but reluctantly, one by one, each of you will say the name of a beverage and most of times, you will have to repeat it as the auntie is erm, an auntie.
In the end, you would either settle for vegetarian bee hoon (and console yourself that it's good not to eat meat) or the chicken rice stall which hardly attracts more than two customers at a time.
That's what makes it boring to dine in hawker centres when the sun is at its highest.
Reading this blog: Not at all
I hope this post wasn't that boring after all. How can a blog written by me be considered boring? Ok maybe it is, but if so, then why are you still reading it?
Singapore has come a long way and still has a long way to go. From a fresh and innocent girl to an auntie now, many things about her has changed. These include the infrastructure, environment, economy and even the amount of foreigners living here.
However, one the few things that has not changed is the "boring" tag used to describe the Lion City. Is Singapore really that bloody boring or is that just a myth started by Westerners and some bored Singaporeans?
Let's analyse to see which are genuine boring stuff and which are stuff worth wasting your time to do in this small little city-state.
Going to the Istana: Boring
Oh come on, should be a cool thing right? Neh, the gates are only open to the public on some public holidays. Otherwise, on any other day, you would see two guards immobilized in a rusok-senja-ta position facing each other while walking past the gates.
The only thing that people can legally do there is photographing. Chances are you might get arrested for wearing an opposition party outfit even if you are just strolling on your own in the Istana.
Going to Sentosa: Not Boring
Sentosa used to stand for So Expensive and Nothing TO See Actually. As for now, we can add an "Almost" in front of the "Nothing". It's still the Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong beaches and none of them look like a world-class beach.
But with the launch of Resorts World Sentosa, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for the Singapore Tourism Board after all. I shall go straight to the main point and point out the iFly Singapore.
This indoor skydiving wind tunnel lets cowards like you fulfil your dreams of parachuting minus the clouds. Anyone who is seven years of age and above are eligible to take the plunge. Man, even George Yeo tried it out to kill time after losing the General Elections!
Take the Singapore Flyer: Boring
The biggest observation wheel on earth doesn't equate to giving you the biggest satisfaction in the world after paying almost thirty bucks for a ride.
It encountered at least four breakdowns since its launch in 2008 with the most notable one in December that year where 173 passengers had to hold their bladders for six hours.
What do get to enjoy for thirty bucks? I have not checked it out yet but with my geographical knowledge about the Marina Bay area, you would most likely be seeing cars on expressways, blocks of flats and some greenery.
Nightlife: Not Boring, hell no
Like fellow Asian cities, Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok, Singapore has a vibrant nightlife with a myriad of nightspots to choose from.
Although you tend to hear your friends mention clubbing at St. James, Zouk, Butter Factory or shisha at Arab Street, there are still outrageous amounts of places which ask you the question "Why sleep?". If everywhere else is full house, there's still the Night Safari.
And can you believe it? None of the places mentioned above have been visited by me before. I am really a boring person.
Reading newspapers: Boring, except for the entertainment section
With only one printed media company which is closely linked to the government, you can easily predict what sort of news would appear in the front pages and what will be censored completely.
In fact, reading newspapers is more like reading newsletters in Singapore. No wonder, Gen X and Y have turned to the Internet for good during their spare time.
Speaker's Corner: Boring ring...
This free speech area does not differ from your void deck other than standing on grass instead of cement. It falls other three legislative acts, Public Order 2009, Public Entertainments and Meetings and Parks and Trees Regulations.
The first one bans the making of demonstrations publicly anywhere in the country even if it is only one damn person. The second states that only "approved" places can be used for "speaking".
As for the last one, I do not study law so I do not comprehend why must trees get involved in this.
Counting the number of PRCs you saw when outside: Not Boring
If you take the MRT, shop in the heartlands or go to Chinatown, you will most probably be counting one more every thirty seconds.
This is bound to keep you entertained throughout your train ride in case the battery of your smartphone runs low or there's nothing worth buying at the shops.
If that fails to prevent you from being bored, why not calculate the number of Filipinos, Burmese or Vietnamese you encountered to see who is the champion? That is provided if you can differentiate their li-an-goo-eech first.
Lunch at the hawker centre: Boring
This may sound debatable but hang on, let me state my reasons for labelling it as boring first.
It's lunch time, your stomach is protesting and all the tables are occupied by either plates of food or tissue papers. Your colleagues try to look for an empty table to no avail. Your mind starts telling you to go somewhere else when a hand waves at you.
An auntie from a drink stall signals for you and your colleagues to approach her while gesturing that there's an available spot. The moment your butt touches the seat, the auntie will be asking what drinks would you people like.
Then slowly but reluctantly, one by one, each of you will say the name of a beverage and most of times, you will have to repeat it as the auntie is erm, an auntie.
In the end, you would either settle for vegetarian bee hoon (and console yourself that it's good not to eat meat) or the chicken rice stall which hardly attracts more than two customers at a time.
That's what makes it boring to dine in hawker centres when the sun is at its highest.
Reading this blog: Not at all
I hope this post wasn't that boring after all. How can a blog written by me be considered boring? Ok maybe it is, but if so, then why are you still reading it?
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