Buzzfeed ran an article about things Americans (US Citizens) miss when they go abroad. Or didn't realise was "American" until they couldn't get it. (Throughout this article, I'll use "American" to mean "US Citizen" cos that's what the article did. Apologies to Mexicans, Venezuelans, Peruvians, Brazilians, Ecuadorians, and other "Americans".)
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| Enormous Supermarket in US. |
1 Free Ketchup. For Singaporeans, it would be chilli sauce.
2 Ranch as default dressing. Singaporeans - Soy Sauce?
3 Ubiquity of red Solo cups. No Singapore equivalent. Sorry.
4 Strong water pressure. Same.
5 Giant gaps in public restrooms. You're on your own here, America.
6 Garbage disposal. Uniquely American.
7 Bacon. Singapore not being Singapore-centric, are used to distinguishing Streaky Bacon from Back Bacon. Not a problem for us.
8 Convenience stores open 24/7. We have Mustafa. And NTUC and Giant Supermarkets that open 24 hours. And Prata shops that open 24 hours. And coffee shops. I think in this, Singaporeans are one up on Americans.
9 Colourful clothes. Never really noticed.
10 Tax and prices. This is idiosyncratically American. Stupid Americans.
11 Generous portion sizes. Again, stupid fat Americans.
12 Drinking Rules. Yes, again, American. Singapore also has rules but only after 10 pm.
13 Enormous Grocery Stores. Singapore has a space constraint. Stores are as big as they need to be and no bigger. Our supermarket aisles tend to be on the narrow and congested side. Except for Cold Storage who have to cater for big, fat Americans.
14 Air-conditioning. Singapore is "summer" all the time. And businesses would turn on air-conditioning when they are operating. Homes, not so.
15 Jaywalking. Singapore adds, littering, spitting, and not flushing toilet...
16 Wearing Shorts. Same same. Hard to use this to spot tourists in Singapore.
17 Refills on water. Varies in Singapore. Some places, yes. Some places, you pay.
18 Tons of ice. Same in Singapore. Also for beer. Cos Singapore hot.
19 Cashiers bagging your groceries. Used to. Less so now with the plastic bag charge. But you can still get this.
20 Constant dieting. This is an American Thing. Cos they big, fat, and stupid.
21 Wide, multilane highways. Singapore controls car population. We used to high prices for cars.
22 Free toilet use. Singapore used to charge and some restrooms still do, but fewer.
23 Sweet Desserts. Don't know. According to some, Singaporeans also love their sweet desserts... but this may be changing.
24 Sports. Singaporeans LUURVE a winner.
25 Adding Cheese to everything. Singapore: Adding sambal/chilli to everything.
26 Being overly friendly. American thing.
27 Eating pizza, burgers with your hands. This is bogus. Eating with knife and fork is just pretentious.
28 Being loud. Only if Cantonese. But yeah, SOME Singaporeans are.
29 Working late. Yes. Singaporeans too.
30 Rooting for a team. Yeah. We have some of those.
31 Peanut butter. American thing. We just put ground peanuts in our rojak, satay sauce, popiah etc.
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