Shopping on the High Street

  Well, the title of the post might be a little bit misleading,but it just sprung to my mind as I sit at my desk typing after a day out. I went to one of the two IKEA stores in Singapore, and to an ordinary suburban shopping street. Going to IKEA was very nice; every time I step into one and smell the familiar smell of wood distinctive to the IKEA stores I've been to thus far , I feel that I am somewhere else in that hour or two. The desk lamp,the bathroom shades,the clock are all labelled " Made in Sweden" , and it all spells Swedish elegance and a sleek modern European connection. Not to mention, the Swedish meatballs, fried chicken wings ( and Turkey with lingonberry jam at Christmas time) that I always love to eat whenever I tread inside. It is a very special feel, and it just makes me think that I in a world that has got that little bit smaller with the ongoing process of globalisation.

  Then I went for my haircut and visit to a stationery shop to photocopy a few pages of a history text to study in camp tomorrow when I book in. It is not exactly a street, that is a misnormer in itself. Perhaps a cluster of suburban shops all located within walking distance? You see people wearing slippers, singlets and t-shirts on a stroll around the place. People live above the shops too as it houses some walk-up apartments. I had a choice between a chain of haircut saloons called " Snip Avenue" that charged $3.80 for a haircut and a neighbourhood haircut saloon that is run by a lady in her late forties or early fifties. She is probably Chinese-educated and cannot speak much English. I chose the second option. It cost more, but I like to think that if no one goes to such mom-and-pop salons ( or shops, for that matter) , it is only a matter of time before they close down. Not to mention, the haircut done by Snip Avenue looked worse than the mauling by a dog, as my mother once said when I came back with a horrid one. Well, if there is something approaching a Singaporean identity,it is to these places that one must go. So this is Singapore, caught between modernity and a slowly vanishing past. I hope it will be a few decades before such clusters of a Singapore I remember from my childhood disappears. I will be sad if they do.

Alice Cooper - I m Eighteen Studio Version

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