Thursday, July 05, 2007

And... it was hot today

Today began with finishing the second Lord of the Rings movie and ended with the third movie. And thus is the trilogy at an end after three days. I liked how Peter Jackson passed off Eowyn to Faramir, though - I don't remember that being in the book.

I mailed my one and only purchase off today to my UK buyer. She's apparently wearing them to a tearoom party for a design thingy. Sounds fascinating! Anyway, I really, really hope they fit. Gloves can be tricky. The unfortunate part about mailing anything here is that I didn't see a single mailbox. So, we had to track down a post office - which is easier said than done.

The post office is really weird, as it is in nearly every other country. Okay, so maybe the US Postal system is the weird one. Anyway, in Austria, the Post was a bank, it developed film, you could buy piles of stuff there, all in addition to being a post office. Here, the post does all this, and offers loans. There were ads for Singapore Post realty loans. Rather odd, if you ask me. But then, airmail costs were about half what it costs in the US, and regular stamps are cheaper too. Perhaps if the USPS got into the real estate business, they wouldn't have to keep raising the cost of the mail every year. I couldn't believe it when it cost 41 cents to mail a letter! Since when is it 41 cents? Last I checked, it was 39 cents, which still seems like highway robbery to me.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I have no plans. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm certainly not going to sit rusticating in this eensy weensy apartment like I did last Friday night (well, we watched the Corpse Bride, which is a good movie). I'm very much looking forward to Saturday night, though - I've been wanting to watch a real Chinese opera since I saw it on film during my World Music course. That and Japanese Kabuki, but I'm in Singapore right now, so I'll take what I can get. Oddly enough, I got to see a qin being played live (a Chinese stringed instrument similar to a hammered dulcimer) in Great Falls, Montana, of all places.

But, the overarching theme of every day is the heat. As soon as I step outside, it assails me. When we forget to turn back on the AC, it slowly heats the apartment. Sweat is a fact of life. And I really, really hate having to put on sunscreen so often. I will be SO happy to get back to the land of rain and rainclouds. But for now, I will enjoy my little adventure.

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