Such a Deal...

We love the contests here in Singapore. Everywhere we look, there is a reason to shop or buy or sign up. When we go to the grocery store and pay over a certain amount, we get money off of gasoline. Sign up for a credit card, get a t-shirt. Our anniversary dinner came with about 4 dozen vouchers for a $1,000 prize drawing. Need books? Perfect! When shopping at the bookstore, for every $100 spent, loyal shoppers are awarded coupons. Everywhere we look there is an opportunity to win.

Today while we were out and about, we stumbled upon quite the banking display. When opening an account at the OCB, one could win a host of prizes - a trip in the money machine, stuffed toys, undescribable foods (not like 'soooo delicious' - more like 'foods that defy description...') But the clear favorite was the line dancing show. This was the very best offer so far. In order to attract customers, they had a bunch of guys with the classic fu man chu look dancing the Electric Slide in full Western regalia, all the way down to the red snakeskin cowboy boots. They were sliding and dancing and yee hawing and looking like regular Asian cowboys, which I am reasonably sure exist someplace around here. The lucky winner of some kind of drawing won a spin around the stage with these guys. It was all I could do not to sign up...

Sadly we already have a bank account, so I was unable to stick my name in the hat. I am happy to report that we did walk away with a free watch, though. All we had to do was buy 2 six-packs of Tiger beer - the local favorite that I would describe as a cross between PBR and Natty Light, except without the full bodied taste.

For those of you who are wondering, Andrew made it home in one piece from Indonesia, none the worse for wear but for a healthy dislike for sand, one new love interest and one woman scorned. Stay tuned.