Finally made my 10 rounds in jogging!

Ok this is going to be a short one. Yesterday (Saturday), I was kind of bored so I decided to go jogging again in the evening at the Bedok stadium. Well, I finally made my 10 rounds target! Not a big deal really, it's just 4 kilometers but still it was tough after having been out of shape for so long. But it does really feel good after the run... a little dehydrated but nevertheless, a good feeling. See the picture on the right... I was pouring wet after the run.

So what's next. Well, I'm going for 5 kilometers and thats another 2.5 rounds making it a total of 12.5 rounds. That will be my final target because I don't want to have knee problems when I get older. I'm going to get my pay soon (2 Dec), so I'll go buy a pair of running shoes. We'll see!

Wonderful healthy porridge!

Last night, I came home but decided not to have dinner. However, by 9pm I was starving and for some reason, another of my room mate was also starving. We decided to take a stroll out for dinner. Well the stroll turned out longer than expected. We took a train to Tanah Merah MRT and walked to Simpang Bedok where my friend knew of a good porridge stall.

While we eat a lot of porridge at home in China, I had never had the opportunity to have porridge here. Firstly I don't know where sells them and secondly, it's difficult to order for one person and I often eat alone. Also, it probably does not make economical sense for me to spend anything close to four or five dollars for my dinner. I don't eat much and usually a bowl of SGD2.50 noodle or rice will serve me well for almost a day.

In any case, we were really starving so we ordered three dishes and a soup and two bowls of porridge. It was wonderful, very refreshing and I would think, very healthy too as there was hardly any oil. The soup was good too... black chicken soup. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, we vowed to be back the next time there is reason to spend a couple of dollars more for dinner. The total bill for two came up to SGD8.50... costly (by my standard) but good and in my opinion, worth every cent!

My Pigtails!

Today, I got a little bored, so I decided to try a little something different with my hair! They are long, so tied them into two pigtails! I thought this is quite convenient because they are easily controlled and do not look messy.

At my new place of work, there is a regulation that says that all females working in the canteen must have their long hair neatly tied up for hygenic reasons. This is to prevent their hair from falling into the food or even just taking a an unwelcomed dip into a bowl of soup or a cup of coffee! Makes alot of sense actually. Fortunately, we are not working in a factory environment where you hair can get caught in the machinery and pose a safety hazard.

My colleagues thinks I am trying to look young or cute! That wasn't my intention. There are a few reasons I keep my hair long. Long hair gives you many options of doing up your hair and if you really do not feel like it, you can literally "let your hair down"!

The other reason is that it cost alot to have your hair cut in Singapore and I am not sure what hairstyle suits me, so I rather not take the risk during my two years stay here. Two years isn't a long time and can pass at the blink of an eye. So I've decided to take the risk back home when I get back to China. At least when I mess up my hair, I can still choose to stay home and help my mother do the farming, feed the chickens and ducks, plough the land, harvest the crops... where nobody will see me! Even a country girl can be vain you know?

Squabble at home...

The other day, I returned home to hear my landlord and one of the tenant squabbling. The subject of the squabble was the washing machine (picture on right). The landlord claims that the washing machine was damaged because when the tenant wash her clothes, she did not ensure that everything was removed from the pockets. This resulted in the washing machine being damaged that day. He then said that he wanted each tenant to pay SGD5 for each tub of washing if he gets us a new washing machine, until the machine price is paid for.

The tenant, a teacher, was very unhappy over this and insisted that it was the landlord's duty to provide the washing machine. The damage was coincidental and there was no way to prove that it was caused by items in the pockets of the clothes being washed. She claims the landlord should look at it as just a cost of doing business. Afterall, we are all paying him SGD210 per month for bed space in a room packed with 4-6 persons. That's alot of money!

Well, she has a point too! The landlord once told me he rented the place for SGD1,600. Currently we have 9 tenants and that means he's collecting SGD1,890 from us. Plus he gets to stay for free... so he makes an extra SGD290 a month, some of which goes to pay the utilities etc... Not sure if it makes good business sense??? Maybe it does... if you take into account his own stay... it adds up to almost SGD500 extra a month after deducting about SGD100 for utilities!

I really don't know who is right here because I don't know the cause of the damage. Thankfully for me, I usually wash my clothes manually when I have my shower at the same time. I try to wash a set everyday so I don't end up with too much clothes to wash over the weekend. And it just does not make sense to use the washing machine when I only wash one set of clothes. The only time I used the washing machine is when I have to change the bedsheets!

In any case, my landlord (on the right) bought a second-hand washing machine the last time for about SGD120 and it had lasted till now (that's almost 2 years), not bad or a second-hand washing machine! And I am quite sure he will not buy a new washing machine for us anyway! But for most of us, a washing machine is a washing machine.... used or new!

A friend once told me that I could get a room for 2 persons for about SGD450 to SGD500 and avoid the "congestion". Well, I did get a room for SGD450 in Punggol for two persons but in Bedok, it is alot harder as Bedok is a crowded town and demand is higher than supply! If I could get a simple room to share with a friend for SGD450 to SGD500, I would because it would just mean SGD15 to SGD25 more each month for me... a price worth paying for the peace, privacy and not having to queue to use the toilets!

Incidentally, the next day, I decided to wash my bedsheets and gave the washing machine a try.... and.... it was working again! So the squabble was all wasted effort.

Can somebody help find a job for my sister?

Ever since coming to Singapore, I have been calling home on a regular basis; every few nights or so. Most of the time, I call home to speak to my mother, just so she is not unduly worried about me being so far away. My parents have been country folks all their life. They've never traveled out of their city, not to mention the country and to them, any foreign place is bad! How can I blame them?

The other person who is always eager to talk to me is my sister. She's been bugging me to get her a job in Singapore. I guess she does not know that the government is reducing the number of foreign workers (at least for now) and it is really really difficult to find her a good job. She knew that I changed jobs and she thinks that it must be very easy for me to change my job, so why is it that I am taking so long to find her a job. Before I left, I promised to help her look for a job and since I came, I have been looking at the papers almost daily and calling prospective employers. Most of them just want PR's and "S" passes.

My sister is so eager she is all packed and ready to come. She even made me give her my bigger suitcase. That's how determined she is.

I kind of dread calling back because I know she will snatch the phone from my mom and ask me about the job and I have to keep giving her the bad news (that I have not found a job for her).

Can any of my readers help her? She is good looking, hardworking and smart too. Unfortunately like me, we never had the opportunity to further our studies due to financial reasons. However, I know she is willing to pick-up and learn just about anything.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Took a long good bath before I came to Singapore

When I went back to China at the end of October after resigning from Bread Junction, the weather was beginning to get really cold. Most days, we were experiencing less than 5 degrees celcius and together with the rain and wind (wind chill), it can be absolutely freezing. It's that time of the year again, when taking a bath is a big big chore, much as we want to keep clean! To make matters worse, the rain was pouring almost everyday and many parts of the region were experiencing their worst floods!

As I mentioned in one of my older post, when the weather gets really cold, taking a bath becomes a real problem for us country folks. We do not have hot water or even a heating system in the house and we have to walk out of the house to take a bath as the bathroom is located outside the house about 20m away. We can boil hot water but imaging having to cart them 20m in the cold to take a shower?

So this trip, I intentionally made a trip to the bath house just before I came back to Singapore. I wanted to take some pictures of the inside for you readers to see what it is like. Naturally I cannot take pictures in the actual bathing areas as most of us will be in our "birthday suit", but the general area is fine for picture taking. So here are some pictures for you to enjoy. The one on the right shows the price list for the various services as well.

One of my Singaporean friends saw it, and he said that it is quite similar to some of the "men only" spas in Singapore. Well, I have not been to one of these, so I really don't know. But I can say that they are very popular in the winter in the colder parts of China for both male and females. We have separate areas of course and some of these bath houses are quite luxuriously appointed that we actually spend quite a few hours there each time. Enjoy the pictures!

Jogging to better health!

With my current job, I have more time than I am used to. I work from 6am to 6pm and thereafter it's back home and I am free. While it is nice, sometimes, you are at a loss as to what to do??? For a few months now, I've not had a life at all, it's work, work, work from dawn to dusk... so now, I had better start thinking about how I can best use the little extra time I have.

For a start, I went jogging last evening. I love to exercise but I have not had much of an opportunity to do much of it in the last few years since I started work in Singapore. So I decided I must start jogging again. My place is quite near the Bedok stadium and that's probably the best place to start. I'm still not too familiar with the roads, so I don't want to get lost in Singapore. I know I won't get lost running round the Bedok stadium! I was wearing a cheap pair of China made shoes which I used for work. I will try a few more times jogging and if all goes well, I must get myself a pair of proper jogging shoes... maybe after my first pay day at this new job!

Well, I jogged 5 rounds for a start yesterday. That's about 2km. Not a lot but for a start and after letting my body rust away for so long, that's not to bad, I think! I intend to build up to 10 rounds, so that's about 4km by in a couple of months time. When I was in school, I used to run the 1,500m... so I still think I have a little of that running genes in me still. Hope they are not all lost to age....

I was a little surprised at the number of people jogging last night. The track was quite full with people of all ages who seem to be keen in keeping fit. I saw an old man of about 60+ and I saw kids as young as 8, I guess, together with their parents. It's nice to know Singaporeans are keeping fit. We need that in an ageing society!

Went to Church on Sunday

Some time back, a friend of mine staying at Bedok brought me to a church on Sunday. Since my friend left, I've not been to church. However, last weekend, for the first time, I had 3 full days off. I never felt so restless as I've had almost no day off (well actually once in two long weeks) while working at Bread Junction... So all of a sudden, when I don't have to work weekends plus the long Deepavali holiday... I felt like a free bird and at a loss as to what to do!

I spent most of my time at the Bedok library... for the air-conditioning, peacefulness as well as to read some books. I was looking for some Chinese books that teaches English. I figured that if I had some free time, the best thing to do is to brush up my little English! Also, home in Bedok is just way too crowded and noisy, and sometimes I enjoy a little peace... so it's nice to get away from the house for a while.The Bedok Library has always been my sanctuary... a place to get away for a little peace and quiet!

God works in mysterious ways!

I decided to go to church on Sunday too... on my own.

Interestingly, after so long not being there, I was surprised that some of them still recognize me and were pleased to see me there. I felt good too, especially when they said that they prayed that I will be back in church to join them. I've never been a regular anyway, as my friend was not always around to take me there, so it came as a pleasant surprise that they still recognize me.

It was a nice experience and I even had my lunch there. Somehow, I felt at home. God works in mysterious ways!

My first taste of "real" Roti Prata!

Recently, my friends suggested that we try some Indian food and I agreed. I like hot, spicy and sour food, especially hot and spicy noodles and curry.

My work starts at 11am on this day so we made our way to Sembawang where The Prata Place is known to serve some of the best roti prata in Singapore (or at least thats what I heard) at about 7.30am. This place is really quite far away and I would never have found it on my own! We ordered one Banana Prata, one Cheese Prata and another Paper Prata together with some fish curry together with the almost mandatoryTeh Tarik (milk tea made the Indian way with a foamy top just like bear!).

One thing that surprised me when I got there was that while I understand that Roti Prata is Indian food, the whole shop was filled with Chinese... or is it just that Indians do not take breakfast? Maybe we were early but the shop was already quite packed, with barely any empty tables.

In any case, the Prata was excellent. 很好吃！It was crispy and dry. While this was not really my first taste of Roti Prata, this was definitely my first taste of really good Prata. I tried Prata once in a Punggol food center near where I stayed but the prata was cold, soggy and oily. It was all ready made. This one was really different and the long journey from Punggol to Sembawang was definitely worth the extra effort. And the bill for 3 persons only came up to $8.70. That's quite reasonable considering that it was air-conditioned and we all had Teh Tarik too!

If you have not tried Roti Prata, you must try this place!

Farewell my friend!

Sunday was my friend, Jian Wei's last day in Singapore. On Monday, she will be flying back to China and she has no plans to come back to work again... at least for now. Besides being a great friend when I had the opportunityt work with her in Chai Chee, she is also the reason I am able to come back and work for my ex-boss again. Otherwise, I could have been stuck at Bread Junction for the next two years. I had always wanted to continue to work for my ex-boss and I am really really happy that this opportunity has materialize. I will cherish this job for sure!

Please don't get me wrong! I'm grateful for Bread Junction for offering me a job but I really felt like I was pushed around like a... like a... "spare tire". I'm OK if the company compensates me for all the transportation going back and forth, sometimes twice a day to different locations... but then again, that's a subject for another post!

I met up with Jian Wei on Sunday to bid her farewell and had a good steamboat dinner with her near the Kallang MRT. The place was crowded with Chinese Nationals. Somehow, we Chinese have a habit of congregating together, don't we?

We caught up on old times and she gave me some tips on working at the new location located at the Ministry of Education on North Buona Vista Drive. I also thank her for the opportunity she had opened up for me and I sincerely hoped we will continue to keep in touch as good friends are not so easy to come by.

Thank you Jian Wei (if you are reading this)... I wish you well, I wish you a pleasant journey and I hope to see you again!