JabrWoky - Following the white rabbit since...

Meanwhile...

...just came to know last thursday that there is a beast on the large in the vicinity of our office building. Luckily he was sleeping.

Extra Safety Measures

Singapore is one of the safest cities I have lived so far. There is added measure of absolute safety in communication messages in most public spaces. They make sure you are warned in advance of all the possible impending dangers that could happen. I am wondering if this could be a manifestation of the Kiasu culture here. (The Coxford Singlish Dictionary meaning of Kiasu is here)

While at the Shangri-La Hotel yesterday, happened to see this all encompassing rules and regulations board. So if you are planning to use the hotel pool premises, make sure you reach there in advance (timing depends on your reading and understanding capabilities) to figure out what applies to you.

Then there are these which could turn out really helpful in the most unusual of circumstances, when bad luck just turns its act on you.

Occasionally, you could be in the way of some angry charging rhinos. Of course not in the city, but at the Singapore zoo.

And some to our benefit, especially helpful to prevent your public transit turning into a durian stench nightmare!!

to buy or not to buy

[Photo via Peter Orum]

We live in the urban iPodized jungle. More and more people are wading through the streets and alleys of this jungle with ears plugged in to their favorite music, sermon or whatever it is they are listening to. This helps them to unplug themselves from the realities of their everyday surroundings. For the young it’s a kind of cool to be seen with the iPods and also a form of mobile isolation from the trivialities of their everyday world.

I have never really felt the need to shut myself to the world this way. For that matter I have never purchased an iPod or any mp3 music device. I listen to music at office and at home on the comp or on the stereo or while I lived in US mostly on the car stereo. Otherwise I like the sounds (natural or mechanical or conversations) that my ears absorb from the surroundings through which I commute on a day to day basis.

Of late I’ve noticed on my Singapore public commutes in buses and trains that a lot of people tend to play their music quite loud (especially young teens). One girl I was standing next to in a bus had the ear phones on, still I could hear the death metal she was listening to like I could at a live concert. And sometimes it has become sort of like one guy plays his music loud on his mp3 cell phone in one corner and others seem to follow to outdo him in another corner, all in the confines of the same bus. You can imagine the resulting music fest.

So now, instead of the natural or mechanical sounds, my ears are forced to listen to the latest Justin Timberlake super crap or Kylie Minogue’s pop wailings. Which makes me ponder about the loss of sound space around us in public commuter spaces. We all crave for our personal physical space. Now the question is what about personal sound space for the ear?

The bigger question that has popped up is should I go and get an mp3 device so that I can shut myself out from the nonsensical music nuisance and plug my ears and find some solace in at least something I like to listen to. How circumstances sometimes sort of drives you to get an iPod and maybe look cool!!