Roommates

Chris comes in at around 8 PM, the sun is already out but the sky is still lit. He says hi, goes to his room and never comes out. One time when I was here he did, the adobo toot toot cooked got the best of him and he helped himself to some. (I thought it was salty, because I asked toot toot to dry up the sauce, just like Tata does it at home, but I digress, and that's unfair). Mark comes home way past 9 PM, when his shift ends at 8. Before sneaking into his room he talks to toot toot, mostly on office stuff, or gadget talk. Sometimes Mark cooks, or joins us in watching CSI or a movie, while he checks his mail on his brand new HP laptop and chats using Yahoo's Instant Messenger. When I came here 4 months ago, he was using an old laptop to communicate to his friends and family, now his brand new toy is worth every penny, or every Singapore Dollar he says. So this is how life in Singapore is. Guys love their gadgets and girls love their shoes. Let me count the ways:
Toot toot's desktop has 2 terabytes (that's 200 Gig) of hard drive, 19 inches flat LCD screen, pentium D-dual core processor, 1 Gig RAM, multiple card readers, Sonic Gear speakers, webcam of the latest model with the highest resolution available at Sim Lim Square. Actually, I love his set-up because we don't use the TV anymore. He downloads movies and shows from TV series, music, and uses the unit as a gamer's machine. Yesterday we stayed in and watched a season of Whose Line Is It Anyway, before we went out for dinner. This evening we watched CSI; the other day Serendipity and my season 1 of LOST which was in my external Samsung hard drive, bought from Guang Hua in Taipei. The other day we listened to new CDs we bought in HMV, the Balcony and Lounge CD we bought are fabulous finds. Actually, I forget that the set-up is a PC, and that I brought my laptop with me. So every time toot toot uses his desktop for checking his emails and chatting with his friends, I feel bad. Like at this moment, I hear loud gunfires and realize he is online gaming with some other guys on the internet. And then I realize, shit I have a laptop and they have a wireless set-up so I can hook up and actually check out my mails, write some stuff or view items on sale at eBay. A-ha!
While I'm typing this, Mark is already in his room, still chatting or using Yahoo Voicemail to call home. He has recently uploaded our photos from our little field trip with Elton and Toot Toot at Marina Bay. His digicam is a Sony Cybershot digicam (of course), small, but with very good resolution shots (as they should be). While chatting his iTunes play some lounge music that suits his lavander aromatherapy set-up in his bedroom. (He let me peep into his room and even let me borrow the lavander oil lamp for one night. I swear, I slept well that night. ) His laptop is the latest HP model in Sim Lim Square, but his cool set-up includes a docking bay for all his other accessories.
While we were watching CSI tonight, I asked about the other Chris and wondered what his computer set-up was. (You see, the way to a man's heart is not just through his stomach, but if you speak gadget talk, they can't stop talking). They say Chris bought 2 flat LCDs for his computer monitor, taking back home his laptop. Chris works for HP as a programmer, and I ask," What do you do with 2 LCDs?" Well, obviously, you can work on one screen while doing something else on another screen. Oh I get it, so you can have more work done. While some of us back home puts on our make-up while the computer boots up, Chris has 2 LCDs, one for his syntax and another for his excel files or porno download or whatever it is that guys download on the net.
So here I am in Singapore, with 3 geeky guys and their hardware set-up wondering why men are so different from women.