Shopping at your doorstep

Yesterday a few aunties in similar uniform came to knock at every-door selling the probiotic drink Yakult.

The price might not be cheaper than what you find in the shop but it came with a plastic container as a free gift. I believe the free gift would hit the soft spots of most Singaporeans even if you have 20 other unused containers at home. I politely rejected the Yakult and instead I was given a “Yakult Home Delivery Service Order Coupon.” Now why will I need that when I hardly ever consume any probiotic drink? I join the billions of people who do not take probiotic and survive (I hope).

The amusing thing was the ladies in hats and trolley dragging the drinks in the hot sun going from house to house. This is hard selling at your doorstep.

Only a few days ago an elderly man rang my doorbell trying to sell me durian. Yes, we come across such people from time to time driving a Malaysian registered Protong Saga with durians stuffed in the booth. With the Singapore Custom checking every car entering the country, what do they do when they find over a hundred durians in the booth? There may be no duty or restriction to bring in durians, but these people should be charged for air pollution.

Apart from selling fruits and drinks at your doorstep, I encountered recently one more amusing item selling not exactly at my house’s door step but next to my car door. I was at the IMM car park waiting for a parking space when a van pulled up next to my car. The driver stuck out his head and asked me “Would you like to buy a Home Stereo System?”

Do Not Use Our Electricity

Yesterday we went to the large Scandinavian furniture shop at Alexandra Road. The wife went looking for things in the shop and I settled in the cafeteria, next to the wall electrical socket to power my laptop. I was surprised that there was no wifi but it did not bother me as I was working on my report.

The cafeteria at about 3pm was quite empty. After less than 10min on my PC, an elderly lady staff member approached saying, “Sorry Sir, you cannot use our electricity”. Throughout the half an hour I was there, different staff members walked near to me to discreetly check if I was using the electricity. This is the first time I encountered such a situation. Maybe the store wants to discourage people from hogging the place in the cafeteria, as it seems to be very crowded during mealtime. But the place was almost deserted when I was there. Anyway not everyone is a Starbucks.

Talking about Starbucks, a friend of mind produces an electrical system that runs along the entire wall. A plug socket adapter can be inserted into the railing like devise on the wall to draw electricity. You can insert multiple adapters and presto; you are connected to your electricity, anywhere next to the wall. Why Starbucks, you may ask. I understand Starbucks actually fixed this system in an outlet in Singapore. I wonder where it is?

View from National Library Singapore

I am a regular visitor to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library at the National Library Singapore. All the floors are designed so that when you enter the library room you will see a lot of study benches on your right facing north. After more than a year facing north, I ventured to the other side of the library looking south and see what I found!