We don't take cabs in Singapore often because we're close to public transportation and it's not necessary. But when we do it's a great opportunity to get a unique perspective on Singapore, current events, the US, and anything else that happens to be on our particular driver's mind. Our cab ride home from my birthday dinner was no exception.

He warmed us up by complaining about Singapore drivers. Do you know why Singapore has such bad drivers? Because of the excellent roads! Drivers in Singapore don't have to know where their wheels are or pay attention, because the roads are all safe and sealed. Now we know.

And then he broached a topic that must be near and dear to his heart (judging by the enthusiasm applied to this particular topic): hot water and how much I should drink. Water is important for two reasons, first to balance your heatiness, and second to help you lose weight. He broke it down for me:

First thing in the morning you should wake up and drink two glasses of warm/hot water. Not hot enough that you burn yourself, but as hot as possible. I asked if tea counted, and it does not. (If I want tea, I'm welcome to drink it after I drink all the water he prescribes.) Hot water balances your heatiness. Now this is a very common Chinese concept: a balance of cool and heat in the body. I still don't understand it fully, but just know that things need to be equal and apparently while you sleep you are cooling off, so hot water brings things back into balance. (And I thought leaving the air conditioned bed room would take care of that!)

After your warm/hot water you can drink two more glasses of water (any temperature you prefer) for weight loss. See, in Western countries, people diet and it does horrible things to your body! But if you drink your two glasses of hot/warm water and then two glasses of regular water, you can eat all the oily Singaporean food you want and you won't gain any weight.

At this point he asked us where we are from, we answer the US. Oh! he says. Tell your friends. People in the US need to know this! They will lose weight easily if they just drink two glasses of water in the morning. No need for diets. Just drink two glasses of water and the weight melts right off.

I pointed out that this was a lot of drinking in the morning, so he gave me a very detailed timeline. Yep.

Wake up
[go to the bathroom]
drink your two glasses of hot/warm water immediately
take your shower
before you know it you'll need to [go to the bathroom] again
then drink your other two glasses at your leisure
then (and only then!) are you free to eat anything or have your tea

Happy Drinking!