What Recession?

The photo above was taken from the East Coast Park this morning. The Singapore port appeared very crowded. What recession? The numbers in the papers had been going down for many months now but the sight on our waters is so different from the recession of '85, where there were very few ships.

The trade numbers are not wrong. The major difference is the size of the Singapore economy. It is much larger than it was almost 25 years ago. Despite this, the parking space at sea hasn't changed much. This is the same with the people thronging the malls and various eateries. Singapore is at a different level now. Trade to GDP ratio may be in excess of three times. Our dependence on the external world has increased but counter-intuitively, we have become more able at absorbing external shocks.

So what recession? This is actually the deepest recession for us since becoming independent. It is just less obvious on the street now. Remember, we all laugh together but cry alone. The affected residents are staying away.

Durian dinner

Daisy and I decided that we will do something exceptional for dinner on friday - We would eat only durians. We bought two the first and smaller one was much better than the bigger second one. You can find durians at Carrefour in Dubai, but they look like they were fallen from the tree last year. Who will eat them? They should be offered to the decomposers, i.e., the bacteria and fungi.

National Geographic Shop

We were in Vivocity on Friday to restart our cable TV connection when saw the National Geographic shop. It was a real treat to the eyes except for the price tags. I especially love the bags, and I always thought this sort of thing is a woman's obssession. Daisy is always eyeing bags and she thinks I am quite good at picking out the nice ones.

If you were wondering if we bought anything? Non. Money sits in my pocket better than elsewhere most of the time.

I will window shop there again and again and buy nothing unless there is a big sale. I will never be tempted, and has had more than 20 years of training already.

Very hot in Singapore

This is the wall clock in our living room. The only interesting data was 30.3 degrees celsius. No wonder so many people have been complaining to me via email when I was in Dubai that it is unbearably hot here. More than once, my sister said she was melting.

I remembered the e-mercury rarely exceeded 29. It has been consistently above 30 since we got back.

In our Dubai apartment where we have 24/7 air conditioning, we usually set the thermostat to a pleasant 24. My desk top clock thermometer would typically read 27. Now above 30 and with almost perfect humidity it is very difficult not to turn on the a/c.

Return to a dearly missed place

"Verging all Teens" occupies the top floor of the Jurong Regional Library. One day after we landed in Singapore, we too the girls to the library, one of their favourite places. We had in Dubai unsuccessfully tried to find any facility that would fill this void.

This photo was taken on a comfy bench as I sat there waiting for the rest of the family to get their books. On my lap is my reserved copy of, "Prisoner of the State" translated from the audio tapes dictated by the later Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang.

Two cities skyline

The last time we approached Dubai International Airport, Lin took a photo shot of the Dubai skyline, I told myself I must also take a shot of the approach when we go back to Singapore. I had hoped to get a photo of the Singapore CBD but discovered that we were on the wrong side of the aircraft. I have here is the picture of Pasir Ris HDB estate in the distance and Changi Village near us.

My point? We are so blessed to be in the tropics where nature is on our side if we want to green the city. Dubai is less fortunate. Theirs is an endless battle with the sand, pitting technology and money against nature. Even Abu Dhabi cannot do much better.

On the way home

30,000 feet above the Indian Ocean in the morning of the 27th and waiting for my bread roll to arrive. All of us have slept most of the journey home, i.e., skipped a "Gordon Ramsey" supper. This is our last trip from Dubai to Singapore. No plans to go back unless it is a different Dubai. Also no plans to fly business class unless forced to do so. We rather fly coach and pocket the difference. Due to the hard times, the Raffles Class ticket to Singapore was absurdly cheap anyway. Yes, we are grateful that for once, we did need to board the bus to our plane. We had the aero bridge this time!

We arrived in Singapore's Changi airport at 11:20am. The midnight temperature in Dubai was 37C compared to 29C at Changi.