I met Tim and his friend at the City Hall subway stop.
We went to eat in a food court in a mall. I wanted to
eat something "typically Singapore" and he ordered me
some chicken and rice meal. You had to order drinks at a separate counter.

A janitor lady yelled at the boys for putting their
school bags on the seats beside them. "What
language was that?" I asked. "Chinese," they
said. "What kind?" "Oh, Mandarin," Tim said. I think
he thought I was crazy. I didn't bother asking him
all the things I wanted to--like the history of
Singapore, its boundaries, culture, etc. I was an
ignorant visitor, for sure and he looked at me
weird when I asked him was "Malay" was. "Malaysia!"
he said matter of factly and almost rolled his eyes.

I dragged them shoe shopping because I found
the cutest shoes--red, pink leather with thick t-straps
and cushy soles. They sat on foot stools awkwardly
as I loped around the shop, looking for a salesperson.
Earlier they had taken me record shopping, their favorite past time (of course! I think Tim had written me
from a review in MRR). The records were pathetic
and you had to check in your bags, so I sat at a table
and moped. One does not carry a $400 camera
and $700 in cash, only to check one's bags at a
rinky dinky vinyl shop.

We parted ways after he convinced me to eat a "curry puff." I got lost and no one seemed to know their way
around town very well. I bought an apple juice to break a fifty dollar bill for the bus, wandering into a Costco-like
building They had 20 different kinds of soy milk in boxes.