Super?? and the naming of places, being of a curious matter

The Katong Laksa which is everywhere


Home is where the gerrymandering is - Aljunied GRC

Been on facebook now for a few weeks. What's with the vampire bites, werewolf dubs and tickles. I don't understand this. Is this some kind of attempt to communicate without words? Vitual proddings???

Was feeling low this morning. I think it was homesickness and just doing too damn bloody much. Let's see what have i done since i got back. Put away six weeks worth of laundry, put away all the trash in the hall and threw out half of all the shoes there (mostly mine which were all more than five years old!!!), recycled at least six months worth of glass (mostly Leffe bottles and Tiger beer - ok, a few white wine bottles too), reorganised the friend (that didn't take too long, if truth be told), cooked all the food that was going out of date - hmmm - also changed the sheets, refolded all the clothes in my cupboard - and tried most of them on for size and cheap gratification (can get back into cheongsam again - gloat, gloat) and of course run around like headless chicken to and from Holywood (Co Down) - as well as dropped into Tescos three times now, including once at 1.30 am with Ghin. I've also had playdates with Jago and Rory for Oisin, and visited a whole lot of friends. It's been just over one week. No wonder i felt like a train wreck today.

I'm falling asleep as i type this as well. I hear the trombone from the theme of HEarts and Minds, this political chat show in Northern Ireland. It consists mostly of Unionists shouting at each other and Nationalists attempting to superpoke each others eyes out - now. Of course in the bad old days the opposite sides were doing this to each other as well. Oh yes, the dynamic is complex in Northern Ireland. But mostly, it's no more or less saddled with the same shit that everywhere else is...one thing though, i've noticed that ang mos love to hold onto things whereas Asian people don't like dwelling on the past.

For instance...today, Oldham town council was carrying out a rebranding exercise and was thinking of changing the town's name to smoething else which didn't have the word Old in it. It was too fuddy duddy they thought. Of course everyone, bar the PR agency, has thought this is a terrible idea. What's wrong with Oldham, they say. We have a proud tradition of being a milltown. We'll have an identity crisis. In Singapore, if a name was thought crappy, no one would think twice about changing it. In fact people don't care if they've previously live in Serangoon Constituency and are now in Marine Parade or Aljunied. I'll never EVER forget the time we were told we were in Marine Parade. For the 19967 GEs. Or maybe even before that. MARINE PARADE????!!!! I said, unbelieving. As the name suggests, the real Marine Parade is by the sea. However, seeing how we are forty minutes inland, by no stretch of the imganiation could we be thought of a Marine or indeed a Parade. However, needs must and we were thrown into our then PM's GRC. The last time i came back was i so incredibly confused, when i rounded the corner at what looked like Hougang and was cheerily welcomed to Aljunied. Dear GOD, i said to myself, i'm so bloody lost. How did i end up in Aljunied. This looks just like Hougang. Shit. It turns out, it was indeed Hougang, but we were now under Aljunied GRC. In other countries, it is called gerrymandering and quite a poor show. In Singapore, this was called being fair.

Anyway... taking a leaf from the gerrymandering book, this ability to call yourself whatever you like no matter where you are is manifest most visibly in the hawker stalls. You can now find Katong Laksa in Serangoon Gardens, Macpherson Duck in Jurong and Botanic Gardens Rojak in our local market. It is probably a testament to how small Singapore is that localtionally specific places are so well known across the island that it translates into a business naming opportunity...

I think i'm beginning to drivelise. Must go to sleep. Tomorrow Peter is taking Oisin to school and Anita is fetching him home to her place. Hooray!!! My morning off. I've run four times since i've gotten back, mostly at about 9 pm at night. It's quite dry but cold - and i'm dreading the rain, but i'm sure that when it arrives i'll just pop on a raincoat and be fine. Just dramaing, as usual.