Day 53: A Case of Glasses

Yes, that's right. Can you believe it really has only been 53 days since I left you? I know that it must feel so much longer to you all...or not long enough.

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Anyway, my glasses have lasted all these 53 days. But after the unfortunate run-in with the Polish vodka bottle on day 46, I noticed that one of the arms was looser than usual, to the point where I would have to keep adjusting the frame as it would quickly slip off my nose. This was the parlous state of imminent blindness in which I lived for the last week, before finding the chance to head out today to get them fixed.

There are many exotic-sounding opticians and optometrists you can visit: Mee Mee Optics, Optics Dee (whose logo is a creepy eye inside a triangle - the Illuminati have finally found me!), Visio Optical, Koolook, YSH Optical Solutions, as well as several small, local ones based in certain districts. But the internet suggested that the best one is called, simply, Owndays. And the internet surely knows, you see? As far as reviews go, different branches of Owndays occupy positions 1, 6 and 7 of the top 10. The top-rated one is at the far end of the highbrow shopping street Orchard Road in Bugis district, a mere 15 minutes from Geylang on the MRT from Paya Lebar. However, as I had intended to do some light shopping, I decided to find an Owndays branch in a more affordable part of town, and there is one in Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay is very near Chinatown, and if you fight your way through the persistent street vendors and market traders of Chinatown, you find on the other side a small but convenient shopping centre with an affordable supermarket.

Calling in at the Owndays at Clarke Quay Central, I was told that one of the pins in the frame was beyond repair and was turned away. But it was just not possible to stagger on with that feeble frame any longer, so I decided to upgrade to a new pair of glasses. It was about time. I had had the same pair for four years.

One of the annoying curiosities of Singapore that I have reported in a previous entry is that for all the hustle and bustle, all the technological advancement, all the people going slowly crazy in their offices from 08:30 to 18:00 every day, most things only seem to get done at the pace of a snail on valium. So far, only two of my dealings with officialdom have been mercifully short. First was when I went to the bank at the end of October to cash my first pay cheque. That was a bizarrely laissez-faire process. The cashier took my cheque and counted out a wad of banknotes for me to carry right out of the place there and then. There was no waiting around three days for it to clear or anything! And second was today. After choosing my favourite frame and lens combo, ordering any extras (like transitions) and paying, I was told that they offered a same-day service and the new specs would be ready for collection in just two hours! And I wouldn't even have to bring my grandma along to prove lineage!

Satisfied with my work, I had lunch at the Clarke Quay Central food court and then did my shopping. Another curiosity I have not been able to fathom yet is that you occasionally get money off at the till on items that are not reduced. This phenomenon appears to be random, as far as I can tell, and so too is the amount of discount you get. But I'm not complaining about that! Today, I got $1.65 off my shopping, for seemingly no reason at all, along with the usual accumulation of so-called "Passion points" on my bankcard, which I will probably figure out how to spend one day.

Almost two hours later to the minute, and just as I was finishing up at the shops, I received a phone call from the optician to say that the new glasses were ready. When I left the shop, I put my bags down to re-pack my shopping more tidily, and as I knelt down to do this, the loose arm of the old pair fell off and slid away into the gutter before I could catch it, never to be seen again. And so I thought, it was meant to be, divinely ordained. My choice of glasses was the right one, and a timely one, too, for the old ones knew that their work was done! I still had to get back to the optician, though, and now with about three feet of visibility, but you become an expert at blindly weaving in and out of people in this country, so I made it, and not a moment too soon. I have the new glasses now, and for near-enough half of what they would have cost back home. To dispose of what's left of the old pair, I should go to Specsavers...next time I get the chance.

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By 

The Imperial Orange

21st November 2015