Every step you take

[austin_dern]

So at the Harbourfront MRT station I stopped at the mini convenience store and bought a block of marzipan. Opened it up, started to eat; after a moment, someone made an announcement reminding all that eating and drinking was not allowed within the station. Um ... was that directed at me? Something inspired it, since it wasn't the prerecorded announcement, which is made by a pleasant-sounding woman who tries to do the BBC Accent while sounding Singaporean. This was just a guy doing better than mumbling. Their signs say they have ``approximately'' forty closed-circuit televisions for your protection, but, sheesh, give some space. And I was in the tunnels leading to the station, anyway.

At the adjacent Harbourfront Mall (which has its own Customs officials) a jewelry store set up one of those booths contestants grab prizes represented by slips of paper fans blow around. Mildly amusing, sure, but my attempts to watch were nullified by a store clerk who insisted on telling, at excessive length and in inordinate detail, all the deals they had. I am more likely to buy chili durian mouthwash than jewelry, but I couldn't get that across.

Over at Plaza Singapura I saw the competitors who strive to survive 72 hours in a room chilled to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Mind, the real challenge is staying awake and not moving out of the 0.8-square-meter block. Contestants have complimentary spring water. They'd dwindled to about a dozen by the time I was there.

Trivia: The most expensive Singapore MRT fare is S$3.80, for an adult riding between the Bukit Panjang and the Sengkang LRT lines and paying single-trip ticket fares. With an EZ-link card the maximum is S$2.92. Source: TransitLink Guide 2004, Transit Link Pte Ltd.

Currently Reading: Louis Pasteur, Patrice Debré.

Comments

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

Big brother is watching you! Btw, the marzipan I had was mostly tasteless. Or did I just get an oldish batch?

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

This was rather good marzipan. I forget the company that makes it, but they make these nice, solid, palm-sized blocks of chocolate that are ... relatively pricey (something like US$1.50, compared to the US$0.75 of, say, a Nestle Crunch), but surprisingly filling.

[orv.livejournal.com]

I know people who keep their houses at around 64 degrees F all winter.

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

We keep our thermostat at 66 in the winter. It's a compromise between what we'd like and what we can afford.

Here's to old RPI...

[oliver-otter.livejournal.com]

Back in grad school, living in upstate NY, where it was very cold, I kept my apartment at 60. Although in fairness, the waterbed was usually at 85, and the bathroom had a heat lamp, so I didn't endure 60 in the nude all that often. However, I'm quite comfy anywhere between 65 and 85, so aside from being unable to stay awake for 72 hours, I think I'd ace that contest even if it was in the nude. Which somehow I doubt it was anyway

Re: Here's to old RPI...

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Now, at RPI, in winter, I'd leave the thermostat somewhere in the low 60s. The dial wasn't really marked, and it was one of those cookie-cutter twelve-apartment units Troy Gardens scattered all over the region, so the heaters were around thirty years old in spots. The only room I deliberately kept warmer was the bathroom, though I gave my bedroom a couple extra degrees an hour or two before bed.

The real contest at Plaza Singapura, of course, is not so much the cold. The designated outfits are shorts and short-sleeved T-shirts, in bare feet. At that it's ... cool, but not insufferable, particularly considering air conditioning is applied to public buildings on the ``saturation bombing'' theory, so people have some familiarity with it. The challenge is 72 hours awake, and the air-conditioning just the gimmick.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

For comparison, I keep my air conditioners around the 68 to 78 Fahrenheit region, although I don't always leave them on. Often enough, particularly when it's raining, it's cool enough just to leave the windows open, which I guess shows me acclimating. The fans I keep on all the time, though.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

It does unavoidably make me smirk a bit, at this being considered cold. But if the folks at Wikitravel are to be trusted, the coldest temperature observed out-of-doors in Singapore is 67 degrees, which gives some idea the range people are used to. Still, anybody from north of about Delaware could ace this contest.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

62 here in the day, 60 at night. We're cheap, like sweaters and blankets, and the 21" monitor in my bedroom can heat the room pretty well on its lonesome.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

62 is a little cooler than I'm comfortable with, although 60 was fine for the spare rooms I don't have to go into often or for very long. I didn't get much into sweaters, apart from one nice vest-type sweater (I don't know how t describe it) that was comfortable and gave me two more pockets. I don't know where I got it from. My monitor didn't give off too much useful heat, but I did keep some nice scented candles going as well. They provided a little heat, the chance to warm my hands if I really needed, and made the place smell a little less like me. Surprisingly I didn't set anything on fire.