"Have you eaten?"

"When I first moved to Singapore I met a woman in the lobby of my apartment block who was naturally curious about a foreigner living near her so she genuinely tried to be friendly to me. Part way through the conversation she asked me if I'd eaten yet and I got scared that she was going to invite me over for lunch and start introducing me to her family etc. So I made up all sorts of excuses that I'd eaten, what I'd eaten and where. For the next few weeks I tried my best to avoid her every time I saw her.

Only later, I realised that the question "have you eaten?" is just the Singapore way of asking "how are you?" just like the British talk about the weather as a conversation starter. It turns out to be a completely harmless question."

Mark (male), United Kingdom