I Found It!

 Singapore now has two book vending machines.  I thought this was a great idea, so I wanted to visit them.  One is in the National Museum, and I knew the other was in a tourist information center, but it was still a pleasant surprise when I stopped in to the Orchard Road info spot and found it!  The books are all by local authors and/or about Singapore.

When you buy a book, a ledge comes up and the book slides out onto it, and then it's lowered down and gently dropped onto a padded surface below.  Very slick!

The book I chose was The Resident Tourist, a graphic novel about a Singaporean who goes to the US and then comes home.  (I didn't know until after reading it that the author was at Penn as a student at the same time I was there as a new faculty member -- I never met him, but small world nonetheless!)  I really like the book because it captures some typical aspects of Singapore life, so it will be a good souvenir. :)

I'm still eager to visit the other machine -- it's supposed to have some kids' books set in the area, which sounds like fun.