singapore’s morning haze and why 1699833’s just a scratch on the pavement
woke up to the usual singapore jazz-humidity that feels like a third roommate you didn’t invite but can’t kick out. checked the weather: i just checked and it’s…that stickiness, absolutely relentless. but hey, it’s not killing me yet. tried some street food at the market near 1699833 and the young lady selling char kway teow said the chicken was ‘fresh from the trendy neighborhood.’ didn’t believe her but ate it anyway. turns out it was okay? maybe?
a lot of people here are tourists or expats. but i heard from someone (a guy in a backwards baseball cap at a 7-eleven) that the real singapore isn’t in the malls or the bars. it’s in the hdb flats, which are like nicer cardboard boxes for people who don’t care about flair. i stayed in one last night. it had one window, a fan that barely worked, and a fridge that made noises like a dying whale. still, the bed was clean. that’s enough for now.
il then there are the neighbors. not the scary kind, the ones who blast music till 3am. my hdb’s got a wall shared with a guy who plays piano. not bad. he let me borrow his headphones once to sleep. they were beat. but i meditated anyway. if you get bored, singapore’s just a short drive away-jump to johor or baccalau and suddenly you’re not paying 10x tax for everything. but here? here’s where you learn to hate the mrt. it’s slower than a snail on a Tuesday, and the map is like a cave map. you follow the red line and wonder if it’s a metaphor for your life.
il overheard gossip is equal to real news here. at a red dot bar, a drunk tourist said the art district was ‘just hipsters trying to be cool before it’s not cool.’ i laughed but now i’m second-guessing every poster of a cat on a wall. another person warned me about a kopitiam where the owner might serve plain rice if you ask for coffee. i didn’t verify but i’m adding ‘avoid plain rice’ to my mental checklist.
il found some weird magic in the weather. it’s like 27 degrees but feels like 29 and 76% humidity. it’s the kind of heat that makes your skin cling to your shirt, but also makes the streets glisten in a way that’s not pleasant. tried to take photos but the pictures looked like they were taken through a filter of regret. got one decent shot though-red mercedes benz coupe on road. it looked lonely. maybe that’s it. maybe singapore is just a lot of lonely things.
il linked to a tripadvisor for the hdb i stayed in. yelp for a cheap hawker center that actually has vegan options. and a local board about free concerts in geylang. also a comment on a forum that the hdb flats are ‘haunted by ghosts of ex-tenants who illegally watch porn at 4am.’ didn’t sleep last night after reading that.
il the mrt ride was the highlight. saw a kid map a route using a toaster. another guy tried to talk to me in malay but just kept repeating ‘i am sorry’ in english. strangers, right? became my new friends. also, the aircon in the kopitiam was broken. so we all shared one fan. it was…charitable? i think.
il wrapped up at a cafe called the wrong address. the sign said ‘closed’ but the owner made me tea anyway. it tasted like old coins and hope. left with a receipt that said ‘10 singapore bucks’ but the guy didn’t care. maybe that’s the vibe. cheap, strange, and weirdly warm even when it’s not.
il next stop is probably the beach. but maybe not. singapore’s beaches are more like concrete patches in the ocean. but i’ll check it out. the sign said ‘no umbrellas’ so i brought a towel. it was 85% shade and 15% ‘why did i come here?’ but then i saw a drone flying over and chanted along with the waves. weird flex. maybe that’s singapore. a place where the weirdness is almost a feature.
il p.s. the numbers 1608000459? that’s a timestamp. maybe from when i last checked the weather. or when i last posted. either way, it’s stuck in my head like a bad song. okay, enough rambling. sleep later?
You might also be interested in:
- https://votoris.com/post/pros-and-cons-of-living-in-curitiba-a-digital-nomads-unfiltered-take
- https://votoris.com/post/serhetabat-the-desert-ghost-town-that-made-my-board-cry
- https://votoris.com/post/childcare-chaos-in-bordeaux-a-street-artists-guide-to-not-losing-your-mind
- https://votoris.com/post/exploring-the-flickering-lights-of-our-citys-forgotten-corners
- https://votoris.com/post/manila-mayhem-humidity-halohalo-and-a-whole-lotta-hustle-7