A Real Know Where Man

Standing in line is a so orderly in Singapore.  And as I learned and wrote about before, knowing where to stand is important in Singapore.

My favorite is standing in line at The Old Tea Hut for kopi (the Singapore coffee).  You stand in line of the left to place your order and pay.  Once you've done that you move over to the line on the right, making sure you stay in the same line order and you are served your kopi as it comes up.  Much better than waiting to hear the Starbuck's barista mispronounce your name.

Another everyday experince on where to stand is on escalators.  Traveling on the  MRT daily you spend a lot of time standing to the left (remember as a former British colony they drive on the left here).  And the left is for standing only.  If you are on the right you are expected to walk up the steps or quickly shiftto the left if there is a place to "change lanes".  Really nice because EVERYONE does it.  (By the way, this makes me think that BART's line about this practice causing wear is BS!)

Once you get up or down the escalator and are waiting for your train to arrive you also need to know "the directions" on how and where to wait.  Luckily they put arrows on the floor to help you. 

1. Stand to the side
2. Let people exiting the train go first down the center
3. Then enter the train in two orderly lines

It too works becasue everyone follws the rules.

Last is one that I have observed now that we are entering the sunnier season.  Its easy--whenever you are crossing a street, stand in shade even if its 10 meters from the street--it makes a BIG difference. 

We never have had to worry about that in SF!