Singapore Hostel - Prince of Wales Backpackers Pub and Hostel

Thursday, August 27, 2009

NUTS in Singapore - By Jess The Dog

I love driving around Singapore with the boss. I get to sit in the front seat watching the world go by with my head out the window. Ears back, tongue out, dribble all along the van doors...and taking in the fresh air along the tree laden AYE freeway. The boss and i get to chat along the way. Today he was talking about the "No U-Turn Syndrome (NUTS)", which is a term to describe the social behaviour of Singaporeans having a mindset of compliance to higher authorities before proceeding with any action. Phew, what a mouthful! Anyway, in the book Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium, the author uses a compari

son of traffic rules in Singapore to those found overseas, to describe the phenomenon : In Singapore, drivers are not allowed to make a U-turn unless a sign specifically allows them to do so, while in some other countries drivers may make U-turns freely so long as the "No U-Turn" sign is not present. This analogy is used to explain the authors 'red tape' he has encountered with hard-nosed bureaucrats, which in turn stifles the very creativity that the Singaporean government has been trying to promote in the recent years.

And in one of those classic photo moments, the boss took this snap shot of me at one of the very signs to tell people what to do. And if you look carefully, you will notice, there are two signs missing; "Hey Uncle, No Jay Walking!" and "Taxi Uncle, don't cut over three lanes with no indicator!"
So remember, when visiting Singapore, if there is a sign, can-lah, If there is NO sign, also can!
See you soon for tummy rubs and big face licks.
Love Jessica

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Singapore is OK! - By Jess The Dog

I'm so happy to live in Singapore where everything is OK! Our H1N1 alert is nicely on yellow and we have all thrown our face masks in the air, while doing a twirl of joy in Raffles Place, ala Mary Tyler Moore style. We are keeping it clean in Singapore, and even the kiddies are chipping in. I love a Happy toilet.

But be aware, we can't rest on our furry backsides. We all know about Mad cow, Bird flu, Swine flu, Monkey pox, and now my boss was telling me that his friend has caught...Yellow fever! I was a little worried that the boss might come down with "The Fever" as well, but he said he's already gone through it, and once you've had a good dose of Yellow fever, the body builds up an immune system,

however, it's always lingering and ready pounce on you again. "That sounds terrible" i thought. How can i possibly cure the boss from this contagious and long lasting illness? The boss thanked me for the concern and mentioned something about a one way ticket to Norway...? Norway must be even more cleaner than Singapore!.

I decided to do some investigation myself on this "Yellow Fever", and went to Flu Central, The Communicable Disease Centre (CDC). I'd heard all sorts of scary

rumours about this CDC; So i went online, and yes, the rumour is that the staff are getting a pay rise soon, that's nice, I thought. Anyway, I slowly went into the CDC and asked the reception about Yellow Fever. They said they had not heard of it, and no cases of this fever had come through the CDC... confused, bewildered, I asked for a face mask and slowly wandered down to The Prince of Wales for a doggy bowl of beer. I love beer breath, mmmm.

For more information on Yellow Fever see; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_fetish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOyRWuklsiQ

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/82614/yellow_fever_dont_let_it_get_you_blue.html?cat=41

See you soon for tummy rubs and face licks.

Love Jessica

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Presidents Open House "NO Dogs Allowed" - by Jess The Dog

The old Government House (Istana), the official residence of the President of Singapore, is open to the public today! During the Open House, there's going to be a "variety of performances and demonstrations". I'm not sure what the people are going to demonstrate about, but I'm all for "More jobs for gay christian whales!".

No presidents have actually lived there since 1959 And no one seems to know where the president, Mr Nathan, lives these days. Maybe in one of those nice HDB estates in Hougang? Did you know that Singapore has the highest per capita "Home Owners" in the world! A third of our wages goes into a special government fund (CPF), which can be used to buy a HDB apartment. Each floor of the housing estate are divided up by race. For example: Ten apartments on one floor. Six apartments would be allocated to Chinese families, three to Malay, one to Indian/Eurasian, that way everyone is living in harmony and happiness.

And talking of happiness, I'm all excited to cue up and walk the grounds of what has been described as "the finest "country house" east of British India". Maybe even get to see Mr Nathan himself! So today I started to cue to enter the old Government House grounds, when an officer came up to the line and said "No Dogs Allowed", at first i thought he was talking to someone else, then i realised, "Oh my gosh, I'm a dog!"

I thought ALL Presidents liked dogs. That nice man in the big white house likes dogs AND beer. I like beer breath. Anyway, I left the cue and asked the officer why can't i come in? He said it was because there were "Children inside". I looked at him with my big brown sad doggy eyes and sweetly said "you're kidding, right"? but apparently not. So, with my tail between my legs, I walked to The Prince of Wales, had a doggy bowl of beer and dreamt of the nice President in the big white house.

See you soon for tummy rubs and big face licks.
Love Jessica

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Gentian Violet - By Jess The Dog

The Boss and I like to go running a lot. And our favourite is to run along the Singapore canal from Robinson Quay up to Queenstown. We must of over done it a bit because my pad on my paw got a little cut. So the boss applies this purple paint called "Gentian Violet". It's amazing stuff!
It quickly heals infected mosquito bites, pussy sores, cuts on paws, and various fungal infections; including something called 'Thrush'? I asked the boss what was thrush, and he said it was a

women's thing that could be sorted out with good dose of Natural live yogurt - eating it and/or inserting it? I'm not quite sure what he meant by that...

The good news is that you can buy Gentian Violet off the shelve anywhere in Singapore for S$1.75 a bottle, while in the UK, USA and Australia you have to get a prescription. By the way, what is a 'carcinogenic'? Probably not important. I know i get very car-cenergetic when the boss and i go for a drive to our beer

warehouse.

Hmmm, anyway, the cure all purple paint, not so glamorous to be sporting purple, but better than pussy sores. Race out and get a bottle today!

See you soon for tummy rubs and big face licks.
Love Jessica