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Thursday, August 24, 2006

How to "chope" (reserve) seats in Singapore.

Visitors from overseas... this is the tip of the day. How do you reserve a seat in crowded foodcourts etc in Singapore? (the local slang is "chope", if you do not know how to pronounce it, its rhymes with choke)

Yes tissue paper!



Why do you need to "chope" seats? People will want to eat their food immediately after getting their food. Not walk around carrying the delicious bowl filled with hot soup, (or maybe a heavy claypot) trying to balance it, prevent it from spilling, salivating at the same time, and there's no place to sit and eat. How pathetic that would be.

So, you find an empty table, leave a packet of tissue there and walk away, you have indicated to others that this table is taken, so do not even think of hijacking my table! LOL...

The tissue is from a colleague who recently went to Japan, they give out lots of free advert tissues. Here's one of the many packets that you can collect as souvenir from Japan.

5 comments:

uzyn said...

That looks like NUS' canteen.

Perhaps the best example where you can find the most use of tissue paper as "chopers" is at the various Raffles Place foodcourts at lunch time.

Unknown said...

You are so observant. Aha.. you are from NUS that's why...

It's taken today at the Arts Canteen.

Other than Raffles Place, Shenton Way is where you see them too. NUS students use mostly their bags and textbooks. :-)

Details: said...

China Sq is rampant with many office ladies doing such thing. Leave the tissue papers and go q up for food.

Why cant they just have someone sitting there first and take turns to buy food.

Usually I will throw the tissue away when I eat alone. And more than often they just give you one look and keep quiet about it.

Anonymous said...

To disturb those chopers, bring the tissue home. :-D

Ciki said...

mwuahahaha.. i'm gonna refrain from writing something mean :P