Jun 20, 2013

Heavy SMOG in Singapore

My computer desktop shows the weather in Monaco. It is raining there. I wish it was raining here in Singapore too. It has been dry for a few days now and it is hot.
But it is not the hot weather that is bothering right now. It is the smog!!!

With the burning of forests in Indonesia, the island of Singapore is covered with heavy haze. It is reported to be the heaviest in 16 years.
Yesterday night the PSI level was 321!
The authorities advise everyone to stay indoors, and say, that if the condition continues, they schools will be closed.

This morning at 8am the PSI level was 122, now (1pm) it is 371.

I took photos from our balcony at 8am.
 
An hour later (PSI 131) it looked like this:
 
There is a smell of fire in the air, the eyes are burning. Some people are wearing face masks. A scene I have never seen in Singapore before.
 
So now we are waiting for the rain.





Jun 6, 2013

Laundry Day

When I was a small child we had a semi-automatic laundry machine. A break-through of its time. Most house holds didn't own one. But still, in between the machine circles my mother had to use wooden forceps to deal with the wet laundry, following with hanging all outside on the wires.
A day later the laundry, which was stiff as a heavy paper, was neatly ironed and folded.
I can't even think doing it nowadays... myself...
Who can think today of dealing with hanging laundry that can be easily be put in the dryer.

I can divide Singapore to two main areas - The Expats live in state-of-the-art condos. Most of the locals live in public housing (HDB), most of them very nice and huge.
You will never see any laundry hanging out in a condo, but going to an HDB neighbourhood is all different feeling and view. There's this a warm environment around the HDBs. The buildings are colourful, surrounded but little shops that sell everything. And yes, laundry is hanged outside.

 

 I have just finished a painting. I call it Laundry Day.
I painted the Western style.
I can't even begin to understand how the Eastern way work. How do they get it on there, how do they get it off.
It's a mystery to me :-(