Dejavu: Singapore penetration

When I first went to Singapore two years ago, I was pretty surprised to see Korean stuff everywhere. I had heard about the "Korean wave," but I had no idea it was that big in Asia.

Now, since I came back to Seoul, I've been seeing ads for Singapore on quite a few occasions. It seems like there's some big Singapore tour promotion going on here, and on top of that, some rare Singaporean brands have made it here.

Come to think of it, I think I've actually read in the Straits Times that Breadtalk was trying to branch out to Korea, and indeed, I've seen a couple of Breadtalk shops here, with pretty big crowds curiously picking up bread in there. It was a dejavu of a bunch of Singaporeans standing in circle outside DVD shops, aimlessly watching Korean dramas.

I think they put up a big banner saying, "Singapore's Breadtalk finally arrived in Seoul," or something. As lame as it sounds, it was intriguing enough to almost drag my friend in - that is, before I stopped her. We also have Kaya toast, advertised as the Southeast Asia's finest product, and I can't wait to see a hawker center open in the middle of Seoul one day.

All of this must be part of globalization at work, and I should give it credit for dragging the Lion city out of its little box.