Cleanup in Aisle 7

[FLASHBACK]

Tuesday, February 3^rd

I am officially connected.  I have Ovoo.  I have Windows Live Messenger.  I have Yahoo Voice.  I have Skype.  I have Office Communicator.  If anyone wants to get a hold of me, they can.  Except my parents.  They still have dial-up.

Completely unrelated, grocery shopping has to be one of the most stressful experiences I’ve had here.  I don’t like it even back in the US, but here, it takes the stress to a whole different level.  I had been to the grocery store the day before, and I was almost brought to tears in the store.  (Have you ever been faced with an entire aisle of soy sauce and tried to decide which one to buy, all along knowing your $12 crappy ice cream was melting?  That and the $300 bill for ½ cart of food just about pushed me over the edge.)  Today, I was determined to find the four items I was unable to find yesterday:  Thai basil, limes, vegetable oil, and dishwasher detergent.  Was Thai basil the same as basil here, just like cilantro is called Chinese parsley?  Why can I not find limes for gods’ sakes?  For lack of vegetable oil, do I buy corn oil?  Sunflower oil?  Canola oil?  Am I the only person in Singapore who owns a dishwasher and needs dishwasher detergent?  The answers:  No, basil is just basil here – if I want Thai basil I have to grow my own.  Limes are these tiny marble-sized ones, looks like I’ll need to modify the recipe.  I settled for canola oil.  Yes, I am among the 1% of people here who do not have a Helper to do my dishes, and will have to try somewhere else for dishwasher detergent.

Jeezum crow, I’m exhausted.  Frozen pizza for dinner tonight.  And a dishwasher that will sit idle for another day.