Trip to Walmart & Target

Due to the stress of having parents around, I am down with runny nose. Mum has been making me eat Actified and I am drifting in and out of consciousness. Now parents are jet lagged and keep having naps in the afternoon and I am trying to earn more money. After sleeping the whole afternoon, we decided to go to Target and Walmart @ Mountainview.

The weather was hot and humid (since when?!!) and so unlike the usual Stanford weather. It was so nice to be able to hop onto the Shopping Express bus and head straight for Mountainview. Byebye to cab fees! One funny incident on the bus was how my mum scolded my dad when he accidentally hit her already injured knee with the plastic bag that had a box inside. It must have really hurttt!!!

We headed to Walmart first and I actually managed to return my phone and a few hangers for Walmart credit (even though it was well past the return deadline). Ooooh I love the lax returns policy in the US. We used the $32 credit to buy Haagen Dazs icecream (3 sticks for only $3...unbelievable), lots of Centrum multivites ($8.88 per bottle compared with S$50 in Sg?!), and I must say we took nearly an hour to buy a decent weighing machine. NEVER buy weighing machines at Walmart!!! More than half of them do not work!!! I think it has something to do with Walmart either buying the most inferior goods or not handling them well. Anyway they have a good returns policy so no problem if the one you bought sucks. Dad spent FOREVER trying to find a decent weighing machine and settled for one that cost $20. It is a rip off considering that in Singapore, you can get a decent scale for about S$15.

Then we got smart and decided to check out Target. After all, the stuff would be relatively the same, but better quality. Lo and behold, there was a cheaper weighing machine that was as accurate (only no digital display) that went for $6 and back went the $20 weighing machine to Walmart. Reason for return : not accurate (actually not true but heck!)....the real reason: too expensive, we regret our purchase.

We walked around the area and settled for Chinese food at a nearby cafe. It was more like Vietnamese food. Wanton mee, ban mian, pad thai e.t.c. Food was not good but servings were really generous for US$5.50.

That night, I watched the movie Singapore Dreaming. It is pretty realistic portrayal of life in Singapore. I saw my parents under the pressure (Dad is still proud of his gold mastercard), buying country club memberships and the like. The question is: are Singaporeans doing it because they don't want to lose face or is it that they really want a better life (which is defined by the 5Cs)? Is this what is keeping us from questioning what our government is doing?

Our Singapore Dream is not different from the American Dream I think but the latter is about prosperity. You can achieve prosperity and decide to live in a humble abode and drive a normal car. However in Singapore, our dream is more defined in the Cash, Credit card, Car, Condo and Country Club Membership. Thus, the rat race to look good in front of family, friends and business contacts.

So is the Singapore Dream more important or your real Dream ???? Don't let yourself be carried away from what you really want in life. Are you taking a job just because it pays well or are you on the path to getting the job that you love and it is but a necessary evil? This is one important thing that I learnt in the US.