So...I'm still in singapore.

(this was written yesterday - Tuesday - but not posted until today.)

Today I went "shopping" for three and a half hours. Both of our stylists are out of the country (keep in mind that the country is half the size of LA, so not an unusual occurrence really) and it's fallen on me to dress the cast. Shopping is bad enough when it's for myself. Wardrobe shopping can be a nightmare. First of all, I may be the most indecisive person I've ever met. If I were alone I could spend hours walking around looking at things without picking up the first shirt. Thankfully (for me, but not so much for them) I was accompanied by Sarah, my art director, and Kaini, our producer who had the unfortunate job of coordinating with the department store that's sponsoring us. That department store is another whole issue. It was enormous. All of the malls here are huge. And there are so many of them. For such a small country a huge percentage of the land mass must be covered in malls. I commented on this to Sarah to which she replied, "Shopping. It's the national past time. There's nothing else to do." I'm still not sure to what extent she was joking. So after navigating through six storeys of department store I managed to pull together a passable selection for the two actors I'm dressing tomorrow. And then Kaini used some kind of magic and they let us walk out of the store with literally thousands of dollars of unpurchased apparel. I am constantly in awe at the way movies work.
Right now I'm drinking some pretty awful coffee to pass the next hour until our tech scout ("tech recce" here) to look at six of our locations. I think tonight I will be exhausted.
I think I will take the bus home from the train station instead of walking. I took the bus for the first time last weekend and was amazed to discover that Singaporean buses have TVs in them. I was even more amazed when Matt pointed out to me that what was on the TV was the Asian version of "Deal or No Deal" whose host is none other than our leading actor. I can't begin to explain how much this amuses me.

This weekend was also amusing. I went with Kaini and Matt to try durians, a local fruit, for the first (and last) time. Imagine a banana filled with garlic mashed potatoes and a horrible aftertaste. Also you can smell durians from at least a block away. The smell is so powerful that they are banned on public transportation. I've met lots of people that like them, though. Kaini ate most of the one we bought. The first two or three bites weren't so bad, but the more I ate, the worse it was. I did try though. We got the durians in Geylang which, as my guidebook delicately points out is, "coincidentally Singapore's red-light district". Did you know that prostitution is legal in Singapore. It's a weird place. Prostitution is legal, but chewing gum is not.

Anyway, on Saturday night we went to see one of our actresses perform in Urinetown the musical. She is a student at La Salle (which, by the way, might be one of the most beautiful schools I've ever seen). It was a student production in a small round theatre and it was absolutely incredible. Had it not been the last night I might have bought myself another ticket to go and see it again.

I think that was my last weekend off until we wrap, though. I have so much to do still. Yesterday I stayed home and, with the exception of a few distractions from on-line chess, worked all day. Tomorrow I have a fitting and Thursday more shopping and Friday another fitting. And honestly I don't ever want to see the inside of a department store again.