Xmas@Orchard. A whimsical christmas.

Christmas at Orchard is really quite an experience. For one, it is very crowded. Although it is still nowhere as crowded as Chinatown on CNY eve. If you want to know what being suffocated is like, go to Chinatown on CNY eve. If you just want to see a lot of people, go to Orchard Road on Xmas eve and Xmas.

A lot of people. To be specific, a lot of moving people. I need a camera with a better shutter speed, but this year Santa gave me a miss because my house has no chimney.

Secondly, there are also a lot of shops offering sales, so if you think you have a bit of extra money, you could do some shopping. Most shopkeepers are actually rather desperate to clear goods so you might actually start seeing some pretty good discounts. Just in case you were wondering, I am not being paid commission to advertise. I am doing it out of Xmas goodwill.

I was deliberating what to call this post, until I chanced upon this brightly lighted Xmas tree outside Paragon.

A whimsical Christmas. For those who don't know what whimsical is, it means something happening on one's own fancy, often erratic and unpredictable. A whim took me to Orchard Road, so it was kinda perfect.

There were actually quite a number of performances being put up by different groups on Orchard Road itself, and several of them were actually quite good. There was a skit and several vocal performances, and they held the crowd captive. I also walked past a choir.

I actually took pictures of them, but because the conductor in front kept swaying from side to side I got the choir, and a white blur in front for all my pictures. Pity.

A huge crowd watching the stage performance from the screens, because they were too far from the stage. The whimsical Xmas tree is in the background.

People watching the stage in the background. The blurry guys in front are the inconsiderate people who walked past just as I took this shot. Well they are permanently immortalised in blur form. You can see the nice overhead decor too.

There were actually many policemen around to direct traffic. What I didn't get was the police fencing off the entrances to Ngee Ann City and allowing people to enter only from one particular point. A major inconvenience especially since it was extremely difficult to move along Orchard Road due to the crowd.

Orchard Road was actually quite beautifully decorated this year, as the next few pictures will attest.

Princess and castle. There were many people queuing up to take pictures in front of this.

The entrance to the Heeren. I liked the spiral Xmas trees, and the hanging lights.

Centrepoint entrance. I would have taken a better shot if not for the many people below taking pictures in front of this. But its really quite nice if you see it for yourself.

I LOL-ed at this fish tank. I know "La Mer" means "the sea" in french, but trust me that wasn't the first word that came to mind when I saw this fish tank.

I felt like I owned Orchard Road when I took this shot. I was like standing right in the middle of the road for about half a minute admiring the utter lack of vehicles, till this bus came along.

If you have nothing better to do on Xmas next year, consider visiting Orchard Road.

Perhaps I should have said something...

Have you ever been in a situation where you saw something, you wanted to say something, then in the end you didn't say it and you end up thinking about what if you had actually said something.

I was in such a situation. I was on an MRT going west towards Boon Lay, and the whole row of seats was filled except for the one on my left, because that particular seat had liquid on it. I wasn't about to do charity and wipe the seat because I had not the faintest idea of where the liquid came from. Liquid of dubious origin is really best left alone. Really.

And so it happened that the train stopped at Raffles Place station. Everyone knows that this station has lots of people, which means no empty seats, except the one on my left. So this guy came in, and I knew he was going to sit on that seat. I could see it in his eyes, the determination, the drive, the fire in his look as he walked nearer, the certainty as he approached the seat, that the seat was his for the taking.

I hesitated for a moment, because I wasn't sure if I should say something. And before I could open my mouth, he plonked his huge ass right smack on the seat. At this point, it was pointless telling him because he would be angry that I hadn't told him earlier.

So in my mind, I silently applauded his selflessness at using his jeans to clean the seat. Bravo tissue ass!

In this time and age, how many people will still sacrifice their jeans to clean dirty seats? How very noble! How selfless! A good Samaritan in this time and age! It brings tears to my eyes!

However, all throughout the journey though I wondered, what if the liquid soaked through his jeans and somehow he felt a coolness on his arse? If that happened, I'd have to do my best "I'm sleeping so don't look at me I don't know anything" act. But apparently, he never felt a thing, and when he left at Jurong East station, the seat was clean and dry.

Perhaps I should have said something. So I'll say it here now. Look before you sit.

Taxis are too freaking expensive.

Taxis are totally too freaking expensive these days. In fact, they are so expensive it has actually become cheaper to drive into town and park there than to take a cab in and cab out. Despite the fact that petrol is so costly its close to almost a hundred for a full tank now when it used to be a dollar a litre like only a few years back.

Here's a case in point. This is what happens when you call for a cab and you happen to be in the city area.

Booking fee: $2.50
City surcharge: $3.00
Starting fare: $2.80

Before you even move a single metre, you're already paying $8.30. Happiness. The days of the single dollar digit cab fare are over. Seriously. Unless you're cabbing for like 5 minutes, be prepared to pay at least 10 dollars.

And the most fantastic part? The meter now jumps by 20 cents, and the distance by which it jumps by 20 cents is less than the distance that two 10 cent jumps used to give you. Which means that you pay more now for the same distance.

And the midnight surcharge? Don't even get me started. The cabs after midnight start at $4.20, and they jump by 30 cents, thanks to the 1.5 times cab fare midnight surcharge. A distance of about 3 MRT stations yielded me a cab fare of 10 dollars, thank you very much.

The conclusion? We should all start getting bicycles.