Thursday, June 17, 2010

I Spy With My One Good Eye...

Alternate title: Singapore is so not India.

I arrived in Singapore two days ago, and I've been spoiled by the generosity of my friend Ann, who's letting me stay in her beautiful condo while she's vacationing in France. Originally I decided to come here for cataract surgery largely because Ann was here, and because I was going to Indonesia in the summer anyway. Now Ann's not here (nor her new baby or husband, whom I've yet to meet) and I'm not going to Indonesia.

I'd love to write more, but I have my surgery scheduled for EARLY tomorrow morning - it's 11:30 pm and I'm getting up at 5:00 am. So I'm just letting you know that the knife awaits. Apparently it's a very tiny knife, and the slicer has experience with this sort of thing, which I find comforting. The slicee has only limited experience, however, and because he's a little nervous, prefers to be flip. Fa-la-la!

Surgery is at 8 a.m. Friday here, which makes it 5 p.m. Thursday in California, where I might be if I was more sensible. Not really. More cautious. Probably.

I've posted 15 photos here, but only a few are shown below:


Could be anywhere. Except India! (OK, maybe even some places in India.) Notice that it's open 24 hours. The only thing open 24 hours in San Francisco is fog.
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Bathroom in a five star hotel? No - a shopping mall, where the urinals have little mini-TV's above each one. (Check the link!)
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My new new best friend: Rita. She's Ann's cook and helper. She's house-sitting and pet-sitting while Ann and family are gone. I love her.
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Wow. This thing is HUGE! It's a hotel and casino, apparently.
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Part of the River Walk, a popular stretch of river teeming with outdoor cafes and hawkers trying to get you to eat dinner in their outdoor cafes.
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More River Walk.
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More River Walk. And more Not India.
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Too much love,
Dave

p.s. A friend asked me what's up with this "too much love" line. Can there be too much? Here's the thing: in India, people commonly used the phrase "too much" instead of "very" or "very much." When a native-speaking English teacher tried to correct a teenager when he said, "It's too much hot," he replied, simply enough, "No. That's just how we say it." Sure enough. Singapore, for example, is way too much hot. I'm bathed in sweat all day. But I'm also happy. Too much happy...