Singaporean Wong Pei Ting navigates her way around the city's quirks
Sound horn
Judging from its iconic yellow background, accompanying circle, flower, and bird motifs, and the sheer number of automobiles that carry them, Sound Horn must be a popular car horn brand. Only brand names get plastered over cars from where I come from they are never a kind reminder for drivers to drive properly.
Worse, Stop Sound Horn gives the idea that the vehicle is on a protest against the Sound Horn multi-billion corporation that I suspect existed, especially when some vehicles had it below a One Family One Child slogan.
Mah
It had been a challenge making out the intonations of Tamil and requires quite a bit of reconfiguration. Mama, which is how I call my mother, now means uncle. Ama, which is how I call my grandmother, means yes.
Va mah means come. Amma means mother. When people tell me, Va Ma in the market, I wonder why they are calling me mother! A local friend clarified that they were just asking me to come to them.
Tolet bills
When nature calls, I have a fostered idea of why Stick No Bills notices are everywhere. Public toilets are hard to find in Chennai, and these bills that I see in every nook and cranny provide such false hopes. Turns out, the accompanying number will lead you to a property-service provider, and not directions to the nearest toilet. And if I fall for Tolet, I cant imagine how misled the opposite gender is with these sex posters plastered around town that will reveal its proportionally-minute imprint of problems when you take a closer look.
Green Gram
Can you get me some green gram, asked my house mate one day. I didnt know how to react back in Singapore, Id be subjected to capital punishment for possession of gram. However, at the store, I found green gram quite effortlessly. They also had red and yellow versions. Turns out that all my house mate wanted was common green beans. And here I thought she was referring to weed!
Fractioned unit numbers
I was prepared for the Indians love affair with acronyms, but the rampant use of fractions caught me off guard. One day, I came across the fraction 3/8 painted on the door post, and chuckled at how Platform Nine and Three Quarters in the Harry Potter chronicle should be rather unoriginal to the Chennai-ites. The second day, I saw 52/39, and scenes of the wizardry world played out in my mind as I stood before the portal the odder the fraction, the more convoluted the world within is, my theory goes. The third day, I spotted New 2 Old 2 and then realised . that they refer to new and old house numbers.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/met...cle6511386.ece
Sound horn
Judging from its iconic yellow background, accompanying circle, flower, and bird motifs, and the sheer number of automobiles that carry them, Sound Horn must be a popular car horn brand. Only brand names get plastered over cars from where I come from they are never a kind reminder for drivers to drive properly.
Worse, Stop Sound Horn gives the idea that the vehicle is on a protest against the Sound Horn multi-billion corporation that I suspect existed, especially when some vehicles had it below a One Family One Child slogan.
Mah
It had been a challenge making out the intonations of Tamil and requires quite a bit of reconfiguration. Mama, which is how I call my mother, now means uncle. Ama, which is how I call my grandmother, means yes.
Va mah means come. Amma means mother. When people tell me, Va Ma in the market, I wonder why they are calling me mother! A local friend clarified that they were just asking me to come to them.
Tolet bills
When nature calls, I have a fostered idea of why Stick No Bills notices are everywhere. Public toilets are hard to find in Chennai, and these bills that I see in every nook and cranny provide such false hopes. Turns out, the accompanying number will lead you to a property-service provider, and not directions to the nearest toilet. And if I fall for Tolet, I cant imagine how misled the opposite gender is with these sex posters plastered around town that will reveal its proportionally-minute imprint of problems when you take a closer look.
Green Gram
Can you get me some green gram, asked my house mate one day. I didnt know how to react back in Singapore, Id be subjected to capital punishment for possession of gram. However, at the store, I found green gram quite effortlessly. They also had red and yellow versions. Turns out that all my house mate wanted was common green beans. And here I thought she was referring to weed!
Fractioned unit numbers
I was prepared for the Indians love affair with acronyms, but the rampant use of fractions caught me off guard. One day, I came across the fraction 3/8 painted on the door post, and chuckled at how Platform Nine and Three Quarters in the Harry Potter chronicle should be rather unoriginal to the Chennai-ites. The second day, I saw 52/39, and scenes of the wizardry world played out in my mind as I stood before the portal the odder the fraction, the more convoluted the world within is, my theory goes. The third day, I spotted New 2 Old 2 and then realised . that they refer to new and old house numbers.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/met...cle6511386.ece