boondocks

for dinner, we embark on this odyssey across singapore in search of buckaroo's, a bbq place buried in the deep nowhere that is sembawang. the usual combination of lack of foresight and pure bad luck means, of course, that the restaurant is closed when we get there, leaving us to contemplate what else there is to eat in a place where the most salient landmark is dieppe barracks.

we eventually light in a rather suspect food center beside sembawang mall, and mike and i trot into a 7-11 to get drinks. we bring our gulps to the cashier, who is clearly new and who decides to ask us (in Chinese) how much they cost. submerging my displeasure, I point her to the prominently displayed sign on the soda fountain that says GULP: $1.20, but she is incredulous and duty-bound to charge us the right amount, not a penny more not a penny less. thus, she starts trying to scan the barcode on the cup in the hope that it will reveal The Truth. a queue starts to form behind us. the machine beeps, and reads out BM Valentine: $35.00, which allows her to rapidly compute that our purchase of four Gulps and one can of Yeo's chrysanthemum tea totals $141.00, an amount that she then stands in eager expectation of receiving. i gently try to tell her that she's made a mistake, but she's not buying it - it's her first night on the job, she says, and she doesn't want anything to go wrong. the guy behind me in line fumes. we ask her if there's a store manager; she disappears into the backroom, and finally emerges with someone who sorts the whole mess out, releasing us to return to mediocre satay and tepid gado gado.

and that's the last time i'm ever going to sembawang.