Brrrr....

NOTE:  Still flashing back.... I haven't caught up to real time yet!

January 15th, 2009

I've been getting more messages from home about how cold it is in Minnesota today!  More specifically, -21F.  Painfully cold, though I do miss it.  A little.  Or rather, I miss not sweating profusely everytime I walk outside for more than 60 seconds.  It's amazing how much brain space is freed up when you don't have to think about the weather.  David and my discussions about the weather used to take up a good 10 minutes every morning, mostly after I'd been out walking the dog before work.  Here, I still walk the dog before work in the morning, but our conversations go something like this:

David:  What's the weather like?  Is it humid?

Chris:  [Sarcastically] What do you think?

After that, there's pretty much nothing left to say.  It rains sometimes in the afternoon, but nothing else really changes.  I remarked to a native Singaporean once about how great it is to always have nice warm evenings to sit outside, and he said, "I suppose, but it can get monotonous."  Spoiled native.

I took the bus up to Woodlands where David works to meet him for lunch and to open a bank account.  We were running late, so I ran into Long John Silvers (funny I've never been until we arrived in Singapore), wondering why there were so many Muslim women in the place, and then I read that LJS is Halal!  Who knew?

After that we went and opened a bank account.  We had some cash, but most of our money was in the form of a cashier's check from our bank in the US.  There is a $3000 minimum to open a bank account, and not wanting to bring all our money in cash form, we brought the cashier's check.  We then found out it will take 21 days to clear.  Crap. 

After we signed everything and recieved our starter checks, the person who was helping us showed us where to deposit the check.  She pointed to a small slot in an obscure wall that was sort of like where you put your mail in the post office.  But it didn't even have a sign.

"In there?"  I asked.

"Yes, in there."

"Don't I need to sign it?"

"No"

"No envelope?"

"No"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's very safe."

"And I don't need to sign it."

"No."

"And you know that this is a cashier's check, not a regular check.  This is actual money."

"Yes."

So in it went - all our money.  No electronic assurances, a hole in the wall doesn't give receipts.  We felt like we just threw away $10,000.

2/4/09 update:  We're still waiting for the money.

Later that evening, we went for drinks with people from David's work group.  I title it:  "One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others".  Can you spot it?