I just finished reading the book, "A Year In The Merde" by Stephen Clarke. For those who are unaware, "merde" means "poo poo", "excrete", or simply "shit" in French. I bought this book earlier this week, and couldn't put it down since I started reading it. And I began to think and speak in zee funeh french azzent. The book is about an Englishman who wenta Paris to set up "English" tea-rooms. Why would the land of cafes need tea-rooms?
As the book critics put it, this is a "funny, mostly irrelevant, and politically incorrect" book. If the what described in the book were true, then this book had provided a great insight to life in Paris. And come to think of it, some aspects are quite similar to living in Singapore. To begin, Parisians say "Boujour!" when they see you, so do Singaporeans, eg. when they see you at the canteen enjoying your kopi break, they are likely to say "Bo Jio! Not steady lah". Both cities have similar pastime too - Queueing! Don't be surprised if you find yourself queueing for almost everything in Paris. I'm sure Singaporeans will feel really nostalgic there when they do that. You get to queue for french bread such as baguettes and crossiants. Yum Yum. In Singapore there are usually queues as Breadtalk too right? In Paris you also get to enjoy service from rude waiters who wish that you'll quickly swallow your food so that they can quickly collect their tips from you, tho' service charges are already included in the bill (sounds familiar?) and serve the next customer. The Parisians don't have a very rosy relationship with their neighbour (the English), so do we. Like Singaporeans, culinary is an important aspect of Parisians culture.
Of cuz, there are also alot of difference between us. For example, the Parisans have the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, the Eiffel Tower, while we the Durian, the Merlion and some buildings from the colonial times, etc. Parisians on the average enjoys sex 4 times every night, while we rank somewhere at the bottom for the Durex survey in Asia. Parisians have all types of interesting strikes, from street cleaners to electricians, from journalists to policemen to pornstars. You can count the number of times there were strikes in Singapore history using just one hand! While Singaporeans parents are worried about the pornography from Internet, althought our censorship board has a fabulous job with the prints and tv, there is a regular free-to-view channel pornographic channel in Paris. And where else will you get 100% medical subsidy from the government and insurance for a lil' flu, except Paris? If you are trying hard to think about what Singapore is better than Paris, you are missing the point here. This is about the insight into Paris which many of us do not know.
And if you wanna know more, read the book (don't wanna be disappointed when you have your honeymoon there!).
*Rum Pum Pum Pummmmm* Finally, on the eve of Christmas, I wanna wish all my dear friends, family, colleagues, readers of my blog and strangers who have stumbledupon here, Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas in French)! Start caring and sharing more, and spread the spirit of giving in You and in Me!
Next year my friends! Au Revoir! =)
As the book critics put it, this is a "funny, mostly irrelevant, and politically incorrect" book. If the what described in the book were true, then this book had provided a great insight to life in Paris. And come to think of it, some aspects are quite similar to living in Singapore. To begin, Parisians say "Boujour!" when they see you, so do Singaporeans, eg. when they see you at the canteen enjoying your kopi break, they are likely to say "Bo Jio! Not steady lah". Both cities have similar pastime too - Queueing! Don't be surprised if you find yourself queueing for almost everything in Paris. I'm sure Singaporeans will feel really nostalgic there when they do that. You get to queue for french bread such as baguettes and crossiants. Yum Yum. In Singapore there are usually queues as Breadtalk too right? In Paris you also get to enjoy service from rude waiters who wish that you'll quickly swallow your food so that they can quickly collect their tips from you, tho' service charges are already included in the bill (sounds familiar?) and serve the next customer. The Parisians don't have a very rosy relationship with their neighbour (the English), so do we. Like Singaporeans, culinary is an important aspect of Parisians culture.
Of cuz, there are also alot of difference between us. For example, the Parisans have the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, the Eiffel Tower, while we the Durian, the Merlion and some buildings from the colonial times, etc. Parisians on the average enjoys sex 4 times every night, while we rank somewhere at the bottom for the Durex survey in Asia. Parisians have all types of interesting strikes, from street cleaners to electricians, from journalists to policemen to pornstars. You can count the number of times there were strikes in Singapore history using just one hand! While Singaporeans parents are worried about the pornography from Internet, althought our censorship board has a fabulous job with the prints and tv, there is a regular free-to-view channel pornographic channel in Paris. And where else will you get 100% medical subsidy from the government and insurance for a lil' flu, except Paris? If you are trying hard to think about what Singapore is better than Paris, you are missing the point here. This is about the insight into Paris which many of us do not know.
And if you wanna know more, read the book (don't wanna be disappointed when you have your honeymoon there!).
*Rum Pum Pum Pummmmm* Finally, on the eve of Christmas, I wanna wish all my dear friends, family, colleagues, readers of my blog and strangers who have stumbledupon here, Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas in French)! Start caring and sharing more, and spread the spirit of giving in You and in Me!
Comments