Looking for a room!

During the Chinese New Year when both my sister and I had a chance to be together for 2 full days, we had some good talk and decided that maybe we should look for a place of our own to stay. Currently we both pay SGD220 each per bed to stay at the current place, and that means both of us are paying SGD440.

Some of my customers at work tell me that I can get a room in Singapore for about SGD500. That's SGD60 more a month but that means we have a room to ourselves. There will be no queuing to use the bathrooms, no disturbance when people come home late at night, not rowdy gambling and no more losing of things. Recently I lost one of my favorite jackets which I wear to work when the morning is cold, especially in the train.

You can see from the picture on the right that our rooms are getting really too crowded now. Two persons hardly have any room to move... and when my landlord and his buddies are gambling outside, sometimes we all have to cram ourselves just to escape the noise and stares.

That's my sister on the left and a room-mate on the right. With 4 double decker beds stacked close to each other and 8 to a room, we hardly have any private space we can call our own.

I had been browsing the papers and advertisement pasted at bus stops looking for rooms-to-let. I found two but unfortunately both do not allow any cooking, even when I told them I just need to make instant noodles every now and then! Preferably, I would still like a place near Bedok Central, but really anywhere near a train station is also fine... My sister works in Ang Mo Kio and I work in Buona Vista and we both take the train to work most of the time. My sister has recently started taking buses as there is a direct bus and it is cheaper too, although it takes about 15 minutes longer. But she reckon the savings is worth... each month, she will save an additional SGD15 per month just by taking buses instead of trains.

Well, if any of my readers know of any rooms-to-let close to my budget and near a train station, please do let me know. Maybe I have been reading the Chinese newspapers most of the time and I may have missed out many opportunities in the English newspapers or even on the internet.

Polite Old Lady

This week, I met a very sweet old lady during my train ride to work in the morning. The train was very crowded as usual at almost 6am in the morning when it made a stop at the Tiong Bahru MRT. An old lady got up and  she a little weak and frail. It's obvious she was going to work and I was just thinking to myself that she must have been about 70 and still working. It must be tough getting up so early at this old age. In China, we are used to it but looking at the number of people sleeping in the train, it must be tough for most city folks in Singapore!

I usually am able to get a seat as I start my journey in Bedok. As she came up, I noticed that there were no seats available and many of the commuters were sleeping away, waiting to reach their destination. Everyone was just trying to catch that few more minutes of sleep before the morning coffee wakes them up!

This lady stood in front of me, so I decided to give up my seat to her. I then stood up and offered her my seat. She politely asked me where I am stopping. Here is how the conversation went (in Mandarin of course) :

Old Lady : "Young Lady, where are you stopping?"
Me : "I will be stopping at Buona Vista, just 4 more stops to go!"
Old Lady : "Well then, you take a seat until you reach your destination, then I will take over your seat when you alight."
Me : "No, no, you take a seat. I have sat long enough! I came all the way from Bedok! I have sat here for half an hour already!"
Old Lady : "No, no, you take a seat! I can manage!"
Me : "Auntie, you take a seat because I am getting up to take a stretch"

With this, I held her arm and guided her to my seat. She must have told me "Thank you!" at least three times before settling down. What a polite old lady and what a pleasant experience it was for me!

Another start to another beautiful day!

Tomorrow will be a better day! 明天会更好!

A friend shared this on facebook and I love it! Some of my favorite singers are in there and the song is so motivating for me, especially when the day is tough... that I try to listen to it as much as I can. It never fails to make my day a better one! As such, I am putting it up here to share with my readers. I am sure most of you will like it!



I've even put it on my phone so that I can listen to it anytime I want. Sometimes in life, no matter how positive we feel, there is bound to be something or someone who will let you down. This would be the perfect time to listen to this song!

For all my readers, may this make your day a better one!

Living out of a suitcase!

My main suitcase!

Have anyone ever imagine how living 6-8 in a room with double beds is like in Singapore. Unlike some bigger countries, Singapore is a small island, the size of many cities in a bigger country. For example, Singapore is probably just about the size of Shanghai or Beijing in China. As such, homes are much smaller and rooms are even smaller. Housing 6-8 in a room means there is hardly any room to move, not to mention storing your clothes and other belongings.

My hand-carry!

So how do we live? Literally right out of a suitcase like a jet-setter who travels round the world. Only in this case, we are staying put in the same place and our rooms aren't quite like the posh hotel jet-setters are known to live in.

I came to Singapore bringing one check-in suitcase and a hand-carry wheeled bag. However, as this is already my second trip, I actually have some stuff in Singapore. My mistake was not bringing a bigger suitcase (actually I don't even have a bigger suitcase). So for now, all my valuables are stored in my locking check-in suitcase and my general stuff in my hand-carry suitcase.

The suitcase a friend gave me!

I also have some good Singaporean friends who gave me some of their stuff such as shoes or handbags or even clothes that they don't wear anymore. This I appreciate very much... but where do I keep them, when my two suitcases are already full. We do not have wardrobes to hang our clothes in and no shoe racks to keep our shoes, so everything is out in the open. Fortunately, a friend of mine gave me an old suitcase which I use to keep some of my favorite clothes!

Common clothes area!

Living in a "community" like where I live, we do lose things every now and then. Recently, I lost a very nice jacket given to me by a friend. It's a windbreaker and one of my favorites too. I use it especially at this time of the year, when the morning can be really chilly! One day, I came home and it just wasn't anywhere to be found. I know some of my room-mates commented on how nice it looks and they could have conveniently "borrowed" it. We have people moving out every now and then and new people coming in, so it's not easy to keep track of our things as we do not have our own individual cupboards and hang our clothes in a common area.

Well, this is part of the life of a migrant worker I guess...

Learning English!

Some of my readers (particularly Urich), has been very helpful to me by letting me in on some of the places where I can learn English. However, I never did have the time to go check them out, much as I wanted to. Recently, one of my working colleague told me to check out the local Community Center as they tend to be cheaper and that was what I did on Saturday.

My first task was to find the nearest Community Center and I had to ask around quite a bit for that, not knowing there is one, just about 500m away. A nice lady pointed this out to me and I made my way there to ask if they have any basic English classes available. Well it turned out that they do... so I was rather elated. However, after some further checks, I realized that the class had already started at the end of Jan and they had already finished 2 classes which means that there is no way for me to catch up, even though they allowed me to join the class mid-way through. The next class starts in May, and I decided I must sign up for this one. However, registration is not opened yet, so I have to wait at least one more month or so.

I decided to look at some of the other classes available and chance upon some Aerobics and Yoga classes. I had heard about Yoga but had never tried it. I hear it's really tough... and good exercise for the body. I was quite interested and so inquired more. For whatever reason, I do not know, I decided to sign up for it even though it cost $65 for 10 sessions and the next class starts on the 24 February. Maybe it was my disappointment in not being able to sign up for the English class immediately that caused me to part with my hard-earned money. Somehow, I just wanted to start learning something quick, rather than wait till May to start my English class.

Was there buyer's remorse after I got home?

I don't know... but I do feel the pain of losing $65 just in a few minutes! I've never been so extravagant! Hmm... maybe I was letting my emotions get in the way when I was deciding what to do from now till May when the English class will start. Well, I will decide if I regret after my first Yoga class...

I just felt I needed to get some flexibility into my body, as jogging is making me a little stiff...

Sleepless in Singapore!

Have you ever wonder how migrant workers like myself sleep in a room of 4-8 people, and yet manage to get a good 6-8 hours sleep a night?

Consider that we all work different hours. I work from 6am to 6pm, my sister from 10.30am to 10.30pm and some of my room mates work from 12noon to midnight. Some work regular 9-5 jobs while some factory workers work the night shift from 7pm to 7am. Our off days are different too... my off-days coincide with the weekends, my sister's off-day is on Monday and some are on different workdays. And the biggest problem of all... is that alarm clocks go off at different times of the day!

Because of this, the lights go on and off all the time, when someone comes home. There is a small television set in my room and sometimes, my room mates watch television late into the night, especially those who start work only at noon the next day. When I first got to Singapore 3 years ago, I could hardly sleep because of this and I sometimes go to work with puffy eyes.

I've heard from some of my male customers that Singapore men has to serve the army for 2-3 years. Soldiers sleep in a bunk with some 8-16 others. But they tell me that they don't face the same problems I do because by the end of the day, they will be so tired out with all the training that they just fall flat and sleep. Also, soldiers tend to sleep all at the same time, following the hours of their team members.

Well, I found the solution, after about a year in Singapore. I use an eye patch that a friend gave to me so that I can sleep with the room fully lighted up. And I use earplugs to block out the noise. I always tell my customers that when they do fly, to keep some of their earplugs and eye patches given on the plane for me. These are small items that gets lost all the time, and they don't last that long as well. Also, sometimes my new room mates who learn my sleeping habits will ask me if I have some to spare... and I will gladly give them whatever I have. I keep a small selection of different colored earplugs just like those you see in the pictures above. Earplugs and Eye Patches donations... anyone?

Some customers are nice... instead of just giving me the eye patches and ear plugs, they give me a complete toiletry bag from the airline! I'm so lucky that I meet nice people all the time! I have two of these which I like so much, I keep them and did not even use them.

Occasionally, when I just want to have a short nap, I will listen to music from my phone using a small headset that plugs into my ears. This blocks out the noise and I sleep with nice music. The only catch is that I often wake up to a phone that runs flat out of batteries!

Being a Jack of all trades!

Most days, I work outside the kitchen. My daily duties would include making coffee and sandwiches in the morning, tending to whichever stall needs my help during lunch and tea-breaks. And I love the job! I enjoy meeting the people who comes to buy their food, chatting with them and it's always nice to see happy faces all over, most of the time at least.

However, on some days, I get to work in the kitchen, especially during the off-peak hours and around the Chinese New Year period when some of the Malaysian workers go home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families and we are really short-handed. This week, we already had some Malaysian workers go home for the Chinese New Year holidays! How nice! How I wish my home is just across the causeway!

My day in the kitchen usually involves preparing the vegetables for the rice or noodle store. This is not tough work and sometimes it is quite pleasant as you are left doing all the work in a rather peaceful environment. However, handling a knife is not one of my forte (I'm the non-violent sort!) and often I end up cutting myself instead of the vegetables. The other day, I just accidentally sliced my index finger with the kitchen knife...

Practice makes perfect I guess and if I do this often enough, I am sure I will excel in it! Now I am kind of the "Coffee Queen" as some customers will come and insist that I make the coffee for them, instead of anyone else! How nice! And just in case you are thinking otherwise, some of these are female customers too. As I said, "Practice makes Perfect!". I don't drink coffee and I probably could not tell the difference between a STARBUCKS and a local KOPI-O!

Come to think of it, maybe it's good to be a Jack-of-all-Trades! Hopefully I make myself more valuable that way! I have customers who tell me, "When you are in Singapore, learn as much as you can! Learn English, learn computer skills, learn different jobs and don't be afraid to work hard and learn, learn, learn!" and I fully agree. When you don't have the money or the time to learn all you want, the only way to learn is "on-the-job" but that's better than not learning!

Cooking at home on Chinese New Year!

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we decided not to go out for dinner but instead cook something at home to eat. We both still remembered our experience on Chinese New Year's eve and we decided to play it safe this time around. This is nothing new, as we often cook noodles (instant type especially) or some meat and vegetables. However, for this occasion, we decided to make some dumplings. Afterall, it is Chinese New Year.

In the afternoon, I bought some ingredients from the Supermarket downstairs for the dumplings. Both my sister and I love dumplings, so we decided to try our dumpling making and cooking skills. I had helped my mum make dumplings at home often, but this will be the first time I am doing all this by myself! Wonder if it will turn out good? This will be the real test of our skills, not when mum is by our side!

In the late afternoon, we both prepared the ingredients and wrap the dumplings. It was finger-breaking task, especially when you had not had such practice for such a long time. We could have steamed dumplings, boiled dumplings or fried dumplings. For this time, we decided we wanted fried dumplings. When dinner time came, my sister did the cooking (or frying) while I cooked some rice to go along with the dumplings.

The truth is that the dumplings did not turn out as well as those I am used to at home... physically as well as taste wise. Firstly, they do not look as good... all crumpled and dried out instead of full, fluffy and crunchy. Then the taste... hmm... not so easy to describe but it definitely does not taste like how my mother made them. The meat was too hard and chewy, and not as juicy as I would have liked them. I still felt they were ok but my sister said I failed miserably.

Look at her face below!

Back to the drawing board!

Celebrating Chinese New Year with my sister!

Huge crowd in Chinatown!

This must be the best Chinese New Year I've had in the last three years since coming to Singapore. The last three years, I spent Chinese New Year mostly at home alone with some of my room mates. Some of them have become friends, although many are just acquaintances and some even total strangers. Chinese New Year is rowdy at home due to the gambling that my landlord is so fond of... not to mention the drinking and eating. Also the last two Chinese New Year, I was really down on cash (not that I have a lot now) as I had taken a big loan to come out to Singapore and was working really hard, saving every penny to pay-off the debt.

My vain pot sister!

This year, the pressure is much less. No debt to pay, so I am just saving to start a small business and to buy a small house when I do go back to China. It is such a blessing that my sister found a good job here... and I have her by my side this Chinese New Year!

So instead of just going out to eat with my room-mates, I went out with my sister on the eve of Chinese New Year. I don't know many places to go, so we decided to have a good meal in Chinatown. This is a place at least I am more familiar with in my days working in Tanjung Pagar as well as coming here to remit money home.

We took a train to Chinatown and when we alighted, we were shocked by the number of people out celebrating the Chinese New Year. We had expected a quieter night as most people will be home with their families, eating their reunion dinner. Chinatown was so full of people, there were long queues in just about every eating place.

All tired out!

After about an hour of roaming around, we were really really tired... and hungry. We had expected a big meal, maybe steamboat or something but ended up eating nothing till about 9pm. Finally, we decided to give up and just go home to cook something light to eat.

Nevertheless, it was a wonderful night! This is the first night I had been really out with my sister since she came to Singapore. I work from 6am to 6pm while she works from 10.30am to 10.30pm. My off days are Saturday and Sunday while her's is on Monday. As such, there are hardly any time where we could go out.

We both got home really, really tired and hungry!

Finally, my Sister!

My sister never liked her picture taken, for whatever reason, especially since she came to Singapore! One day she would say she has put on too much weight, another day, she would say she has no make-up on. Somehow, she will find some excuses to reject me. As for me, I enjoy snapping pictures with my mobile phone so that I can keep these as souvenirs when I do go back to China.

Well, finally she relented and I had some new shots of her to show. These were the first pictures I had taken of her since she landed in Singapore. It's been tough for my little sister, working 6 days a week from 10am to 10pm. I guess she'll get used to it soon, just like I did. I know it took me a while to adjust but adjust I did... and I am sure she will too.

Anyway, I took these pictures as she was preparing to go to bed. She had to brush her teeth, remove her make-up etc... after coming home from work and I decided to snap some pictures. I thought that with her face all wet, or her mouth full of toothpaste, she has no place to run. She decided to go wild and smeared make-up all round her eyes to look like a Panda, just so I won't be able to take good pictures of her.

She's always such a sport when she needs to be... always my lovely sister!

My first Hongbaos!

I'm so excited!

Yesterday, a customer came by and gave me a Hongbao (red packet). Not that I have not received Hongbao's before on Chinese New Year, but it's always nice to receive the first one. Isn't it funny how we do the same thing every year and yet we get excited over it. And being so far away from home, and not being able to go home (like my Malaysians colleague), receiving a Hongbao in Singapore makes it all the more special.

Today I got two more, even though it is just half a days work. I really love working here. The people are all wonderful, colleagues and customers alike. Today was a super busy day even though it's only half a day. Somehow, everyone wants to drink coffee and I had to make more than 500 cups of coffee this morning. My hands are sore, my arms are sore... but it was still loads of fun!

Hmm..., I wonder if my boss will be giving us any Hongbao's this year. He did give us in the first year but in the second, he did not. Maybe it was 2010 and after going through a rough and tough 2009, he must also be feeling the pinch. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed!

早早向你拜个年
新春到来又一年
食物丰富吃得甜
身体健康是本钱
幸福家庭好团圆
爱情顺利桃花园
欢欢乐乐迎新年
祝你兔年赚大钱

Happy Lunar New Year!

Time really flies and now it is Chinese New Year all over again! I have not been home for the last 3 Chinese New Year and I really miss all the fun, rowdiness, celebrations and visitors that Chinese New Year brings each year in China. However, this year, it will be a lot better as I have my sister with me instead of being all alone among strangers, semi-strangers and acquaintances! My sister will have two full days off on Thursday and Friday and she will resume work on Saturday while I have a super long weekend ahead... half day on Wednesday and off all the way till Monday! The only thing missing right now are my parents and brother!

I also want to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! I wish you Good Health, Happiness and Wealth in this coming year and I continue to look forward to seeing you here (at my blog)!

May the Year of the Rabbit brings you closer to your desired destiny!Have a wonderful Chinese New Year holiday!