I've been guilted into blogging again, as apparently "Christmas in the tropics" doesn't have the staying power to keep everyone sated with information for two months. Understandable. So, I'm back. :)
Happy February! (Since 2008 is SO one month old already.) I actually just realized that I never explained the name of my blog, which might help anyone wondering why the hell Jack Kerouac's book title has an extra syllable. "Lah" or "la" is part of Singlish, the Singaporean rendition of English (triiiiiicky). According to my co-workers and a friendly cabbie, it's tacked onto the end of a word or sentence to give emphasis/affirmation, to mimic a Chinese tone, to act as punctuation, and to make foreigners look stupid when they try to blend in.
Ex: You going to the movie later?
Cannot lah! I have too much work to do.
Ex2: Would Mike Huckabee beat McCain in the Republican primary if Chuck Norris was Huck's running mate?
No lah, only if Chuck Norris gave McCain a roundhouse kick to the head.
Does that make sense? Also, "can" and "cannot" are very popular Singlish (contractions are more of an American thing). They substitute for Yes and No a lot (see above), and carry a heavy emphasis on the first syllable. CAN-not blog tonight, too tired!
Wish I could hitchhike here like Kerouac did, but there's probably a law against it. You get fined $500 for eating or drinking on the subway, get fined for not flushing a public toilet. I would imagine hitching isn't very popular. No matter -- still plenty of traveling to be done.
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