Straight Hair!

I wrote sometime back that my ex-landlord gave away my hair straightener. Well, I managed to borrow one from a friend and decided to temporary straighten my hair just to get a feel of what it was like before. Women are always vain I guess... and since I am quite free during the weekends when I do not work, I can afford some time to indulge in my vanity. It's not an easy job and takes about an hour of hand-breaking work on my own. It's alot easier with a friend to help me.

Here is what I look like with long straight hair. I am going to enjoy a couple of days with my new straight hair because once I wash it, it's going to be curly again! Actually, I personally prefer my hair with a bit of natural curl.

But a change every now and then is good for the soul... regardless of what kind of change it is!

My First English Class!

Some time back, I wrote about signing up for English Classes. Well, it's been almost 3 months ago now and I finally signed up for my Elementary English Class. I've always wanted to learn to speak better English. Since coming to Singapore, I have picked it up a little but I still have a long way to go. I think the most important thing is to have someone to practice with, and that is the toughest part in Singapore. Singapore is a multi-racial country and most people are able to speak a good level of mandarin. When they know you are from China, they immediate start speaking to you in Mandarin.

While I did not really like my stint at Bread Junction, there was one good thing about it. As the staff were mostly Malays, they only speak to me in English, and like it or not, I have to learn it. We got along quite well, with a help using our hands to gesture and make some signs! Sometimes when it does help, we even make funny sounds! Quite funny actually!

For my first class, we were made to buy some photocopied notes at SGD3 per set. Not very impressive notes as you can see from the picture, but good enough to learn I guess. For those of my readers who are new, a friend is helping me translate and maintain this blog despite her busy schedule. I am very appreciative. She wanted me to start this to help me earn some extra money from Google Adsense but so far, it's not alot. Nevertheless, she's been a great help and mentor actually!

The class that I am attending is Elementary English and we have about 7 students, 5 of which are Chinese. I am glad to see so many Chinese learning English. Two are locals. The first day, we learn basic alphabets. I already know some of these as I use Pinyin to type sms and to do this, I have to understand basic sounds and letters. Nevertheless, it was a good revision and I learned some new words too.

Just like a bad student, I sat right a the back of the class, playing with my pen. Naturally, I do pay attention too while taking some pictures for you of course. Ha ha! Our teacher is a middle age lady who had taught English in school before. That's good because I am impressed with the Singapore schooling system and if she is good enough for the schools here, she must be pretty good!

I am really looking forward to the next few lessons where they actually teach you conversational English. Afterall, I think for me, being able to converse is more important than knowing how to read and write well.

My Sister doing her make-up!

I know we come here to work but being women, we also want to look good. Last Saturday, when I wasn't working and my sister had to go to work, I had the opportunity to take a video of her doing her make-up! It's not often I get to see my sister around the house, so we had a fun time chatting away while she "painted" her face!

This video also gives you a view of the new room. It's small but clean and neat and it beats being in a dirty room with eight beds! Enjoy!

Which is my side of the bed?

I am now beginning to like our new room. Without living eight to a room, we can be a lot more creative. I even decorated the room to my liking too. Can you guess which is my side of the bed?

I bought new bedsheets, new pillow cases, a table and a few other items too. In the past, there were too many items on the bed to want to do it up nicely. Now, we have a cupboard, drawers and even a make-up table to keep some of out things. This way, we can keep our bed really neat! How nice!

I am beginning to get used to the new place and I now have a sound sleep each night. While the room is not air-conditioned and we can hear the traffic, getting used to it is easy... especially when you are dead tired at the end of the day!

Blogger was down!

For some reasons, blogger/blogspot was down and even my last posting was lost. My apologies and I will repost some of these by this week.

Li Jing

My sister is changing work location too!

One evening, my sister came home and complained to me that she had a tiff with her Singaporean colleague. At her work place, they are paid commission based on how much each individual sells. When you attend to a customer, you ring up the bill and you get paid the commission. My sister said that a few times, when she made a sale, her Singaporean colleague will rush to ring up the bill, so she gets the commission instead. My sister got really upset too because they called her, "大路妹"! I told her that phrase don't mean much as long as she don't attach a stereotype meaning to it!

I am aware that I am only listening only to her side of the story... so I shall not make any comments. However, I did tell my sister about my early experience with some local workers too. Many local workers tend to treat us Chinese workers as if we are a big threat to them or their jobs. The truth is, we are here to earn a living, and are willing to work really, really hard to make ends meet too!

Anyway, my sister requested for a change of location from her boss and ever since, she had been posted to Yishun North Point for a couple of weeks and then to Serangoon NEX shopping center till now. She seems to enjoy the change of environment better, as it gives her a chance to experience different parts of Singapore. I told her she is seeing more of Singapore than I ever did, despite me staying here almost three years already!

I had the opportunity to visit her on a few Saturdays when she was working, just to make sure she is OK. Most times, she is so happy to see me. I even bought her a soft toy which she likes alot at NEX. It cost me a lot (SGD69) but I will do anything just to keep her happy. I made a promise to my mother to look after my sister really, really well... and I intend to keep that promise!

Working on Saturdays!

One of the big changes during this second stint in Singapore is that my boss told me I do not have to work on Saturday. In the past, I had to work half a day on Saturday, and for this, I get 7 days leave a year. However, now that the canteen at the MOE does not open on Saturday, my boss will be deducting the 7 days leave.

However, recently, my boss took up a new place at the HSA canteen at the Singapore General Hospital. They have to open on Saturday too. Last Saturday, I worked there till 3pm! That's like almost a full day. Another 3 hours more and it's a full day of work!

My boss now wants us to work on alternate Saturdays there. No extra pay, no extra leave. Unfortunately, I have already signed up an English course at the local community center and lesson starts in May every Saturday morning. My boss wasn't too pleased to hear this, and said that since my lessons are from 9.30am to 11.30am, I should go to work after my lessons, and stay till the canteen is close. Is this fair?

First, we agreed that the 7 days leave be deducted because we don't work Saturdays. Now he wants us to work Saturdays but will not give us back the 7 days leave. One of the weekends, I even worked a full Saturday and Sunday because they had a big weekend event at the MOE... no overtime pay too.

Please don't get me wrong! I am just curious if we, migrant workers here, are taken for granted? Employers know that we have signed a 2 years contract and will squeeze the maximum out of us. Regardless, this is still much better than my short stint with Bread Junction anyway, so, I am really not complaining... just curious and would like to know what my Singaporean readers think!

What would a Singaporean worker do when faced with such a situation?

My first night at the new room!

Moving to a new place and sleeping on a new bed is always not easy for me. Sometimes it takes me a few days to get used to the new bed and the new environment. Fortunately, it was a long weekend, which allows me an extra day to get used to the new environment. Sunday is going to be my first day at my new room... am I excited!

I spent the latter part of Sunday buying some utensils for my cooking and eating. At my previous place, we could use what was provided by my ex-landlord but my current landlord is a Muslim, which means I have to use my own utensils. Not that I mind using his, it's more like he minds me using them as he has to ensure everything is HALAL (...although I do not know what exactly that means! Nevertheless, I must be sensitive to these things). He did tell me not to leave pork in the fridge!

That evening I went back home at about 8pm. My landlord was at home so I was feeling a bit uneasy about moving around. He is a nice person but I think it's just me, trying to get used to the place.

At one point, I was feeling hungry and I did not feel comfortable to go cook in the kitchen. Fortunately, I had a loaf of bread which I brought over from my old place and I took two slices before I went to sleep (or at least attempt to sleep). Plain old bread taste good when you are hungry enough!

I tossed and turned till my sister came back close to midnight! By then, my landlord was asleep so I showed my sister the bathroom and how to turn on the heater etc... We then had a short chat before we both tried to sleep. She must have been tired as before long I could hear some heavy breathing! I was awake till about 2am!


When we both woke up on Monday, my sister said she had a very sound sleep and the room and bed was very comfortable! My poor sister must be really tired. She had to work overtime, just trying to earn a little more!

Does this look like me?

My ex-room mate who helped me move took this picture of me and my soft toy. She said that we both look alike. I had a good laugh and it was good because it took out some stress from the heavy moving job! I really appreciate having friends who can make me laugh and have fun, even when times get tough! I always remember the days when I first came and how stressed I was trying to make ends meet. It's exactly in times like these that you need someone to help you see the lighter side of things!

Have a good laugh at my expense!

Moving in!

I told my current landlord that I will be moving. He was rather disappointed but he wished me well anyway. He knows we'll remain friends and anyway, the new place I am moving to is just a 5mins walk away.

I had my stuff all packed since Thursday, anticipating the move. Today (Saturday) is the start of the move. Unfortunately, I have to work today for half a day (actually more like a full day) at the new HSA canteen at the Singapore General Hospital (another article on this later).

Moving wasn't easy as I we had 2 big luggages and a couple of smaller ones. As I don't have a car, I had to lug the luggages all the way from by current place to the new place, about 300m away and I had to cross one major road. I had to make about 5 trips to move everything! Fortunately, one of my new friends, (the new lady who was crying the other day) had not started working yet and volunteered to help me. She was bored at home... so I was very appreciative of her help too.

The landlord was quite nice. He bought a new clock, new curtains and even a poster for me to put in the room. Although I was very busy with my own packing, I managed to put up the curtain, the clock and the poster.

It's definitely one of the toughest weekends I had here. In the past, I had move from one place to the next before but then, I had less stuff. Also becase the places are further apart, I took a taxi, which means minimal lugging and walking. This time, it was all footwork. But come to think of it, it's good exercise! Maybe I can skip my jogging for a few days!

Found a room!

I finally found a room at Bedok! I had wanted a room for so long and finally I found it. A friend saw an ad in the internet and told me about it. With her help, I immediately made arrangements to view the flat at Bedok, right after my work. When I arrived, I was shocked! The outside of the house was full of plants... obviously a plant lover, I thought!

This is a two bedroom flat owned by a Malay bachelor just across the road from the Bedok library. He had previously rented the common room out to a Chinese couple but they left recently. When I was there looking at the room, I noticed that he was receiving many inquiries about the room. The price he is asking for is quite reasonable, SGD500 per month. It was well kept considering that he is a bachelor!

I decided to take the room and told him that I will be sharing it with my sister. He then asked for SGD650 which is way off my budget. We finally got it down to SGD600 but this was still quite a sum for me. If I divide this amount between the both of us, we will be paying SGD300 each, SGD90 more than what we are paying for now. Thoughts ran through my mind like a train! Should I? Should I not?

I weigh the benefits... a room to ourselves, no queuing for bathrooms or washing machines, privacy, no more missing items, better sleep, ... The disadvantages... no friends to "gossip" with... so when my sister is at work, it will be just me or if I am at work, it will be just her! But it's only a 3 minutes walk to my current place which means I can still walk there to see my friends! What is more important? Privacy or friends... both are important but at this point in my life, privacy and a little peace is more important.

The owner seems a nice guy, a little introvert but he did not like heavy cooking (which I don't do anyway) and ask that I be considerate to his Muslim faith when cooking or eating pork in the house. That's fair!

I decided to go for it! I gave him a S$600 downpayment and decided not to think about it any longer. I know it will be painful when I think about it... and to think of it, my sister has not seen it yet! The deal was I move in on 1 May!

Making Soba!

There are always good friends around to support you. I have a friend at where I work who knows that every now and then, when I get lazy, I eat instant noodles. In a previous post, I also stated that they are fast to cook and good to eat!. She explained to me that instant noodles are not healthy and usually has a lot of MSG, making you thirsty after the meal. Sure, they taste good, but they are definitely not the best for you.

The other day, she brought me a packet of Japanese Soba and the associated sauce and taught me how to make them. I had to boil them till they are soft enough to eat, then wash them down with cold water so that they do not stick. Then I pour out some of the Soba sauce, dip the noodles in them and start eating.

To some, the idea of cold noodles may not be very appetizing at all but in China, we are quite used to cold noodles. In fact, it is quite a delicacy although, it is quite different from Soba. I tried the cold Soba noodles that she prepared and it is quite delicious.

She gave me the remaining pack, which contains another three servings and whatever is left of the bottle of Soba sauce, so that I can try them out at home. She told me that it is true that Soba costs more, but they are also more healthy, especially when topped with some dried seaweed!

I can't wait to test out my new found skills on my sister! Ha ha!

New kid on the block!

When I came home today, I found a room-mate sitting on the bed and sobbing quite loudly. She was someone new and I have never met her before. I decided to talk to her and found out that she just moved in this morning. She had sought out an agent to seek for a job in Singapore as the agent had promised good pay, good living conditions and a new and better life. Incidentally, I found out later that this was the Singapore side of the agent was the same one who took my sister here.

When she reached here and found that she had to live 8 in a room, she was totally devastated. I had the same feeling when I first came, just that the living conditions when I came was worse than here. I decided to console her and told her my story when I first came to Singapore.

She said she missed her son. She as a 5 year old son back in China but she decided to come here hoping to make a better living and give her family a better life. I told her that she will get used to Singapore very quickly and settle down fast. Then everything will be OK. I could see myself, just like her when I first came... no friends, feeling cheated and totally frustrated.

The Singapore side of the agent was not much help either. They made her wait at the airport for hours and the next day, she had to look for her employer on her own, and she is not even familiar with Singapore. I wonder why some agents are so irresponsible. Afterall, they make great money bringing us here. We paid good money (SGD8,000+) to the agent and assuming their cost of bringing us here is about SGD2,000, they still make SGD6,000 between them (China and Singapore side). I remember when my sister came at midnight, that the agent will only go fetch her the next morning, which means she has to stay at the airport throughout the night! If not for the fact that I am already here in Singapore, can you imaging how scary that can be... staying at the airport in a strange land, all by yourself?

I really hope agents can be more responsible. They have a job to do, to ensure our safety, to get us on time to our employer, at least on the first day, to orientate us to the country, and show us how to get around on train or buses! This new room-mate told me the Singapore agent won't even speak to her in mandarin, pretending they cannot speak mandarin and insist on speaking in english which she does not understand!

I offered her an apple to console her and went for my evening jog. Later when I came home, I bought 2 packets of mee hoon, one for my sister and one for her, just in case she did not bring any money with her. I feel really sorry for her!

I also don't want my readers to get the wrong impression of why I am posting her pictures here. They are not to embarrass her but to show to readers how tough it is go have to move to a strange country to work! It isn't fun and most of us don't like it, but for the sake of a better life, we have to do it! I've gone through it and I know how it is... I feel for her every single tears because I shed just as many... though silently!

Scratch & Win!

While at work the other day, my colleagues told me that if I buy the evening Chinese papers, they are offering two coupons for a scratch-and-win contest and the chance of winning SGD388 is actually quite good. We Chinese nationals try our luck at anything, especially if it gives us a chance to win some extra pocket money. So that evening, I decided to stop by a news stand to buy a copy of the evening paper.

That evening, I decided to try my luck with my room-mate friend, to see if I can win some extra pocket money. This scratch-and-win contest sounds like fun!

So with this, I started scratching away. We had to have a straight row of identical pictures in order to win anything, just like in a jack-pot machine.

Unfortunately, despite 2 attempts and despite the fact that my colleagues told me it was quite easy to win, it wasn't to be. I did not win anything at all.

Well, next time maybe... I'm just not so lucky when it comes to winning contests!

Who is right?

Just before I went back to China after my first stint in Singapore, I decided that I will not carry everything back as I had the intention to come back to Singapore to work. I decided to leave some things with my landlord, like some shoes, clothings and electronic items. I asked my landlord permission and he agreed to keep them for me.

When I came back to Singapore the second time around, some of my belongings were missing. Fortunately, most of the items left behind were bulky items like shoes and not really valuable items. I lost 2 pairs of shoes and an electronic hair straightener which I brought from China during my first trip. My landlord told me that he was not sure why it went missing.

Just last week, we were cleaning the house with some of my room mates when I saw that the electronic hair straightener was on the bed of one of my room-mates. She was not in at the time and normally, the low beds are covered with a "bedsheet curtain" for privacy reasons when we sleep, and to keep prying eyes away. However, this particular day, we had to clean under the beds and as such had to move aside some of these "curtains".

I decided to ask my landlord that evening as to why my electronic hair straightener was on the bed of one of my room-mates. He finally told me that he gave it to her as he was quite sure I was not coming back. I was disappointed in his lack of integrity but then again, it was probably my fault too for leaving it at his place. Afterall, he does not owe me an obligation to look after my items for me. Somehow, after staying for more than a year with them, we had built up a friendship and I had thought that this friendship was enough for him to feel obligated to look after my belongings. However, he has had many tenants and he must have also built up many friendships, so my "friendship" probably did not mean as much as I thought!

Well, anyway, I learned another lesson...

Looking for a room - 2

Some time back, I wrote about looking for a room to rent. Well, I am still looking. and getting more desperate by the moment!

Here is why! Just last week, my landlord announced that he had intention to cut our rent from SGD210 to SGD190 per month. Sounds like good news right? Well, however, he added that he is going to split the electricity bill to all of us. This, he said, is so that we will actually make an effort to save electricity. Looking at the previous month's bill, it will add between SGD30-40 each for each of us. This will bring our monthly rent to between SGD220 to 230, more than what we are paying now.

A few of the more vocal among us protested. All the landlord could tell us was, "If you don't like it, then find a new place to stay!"

I got so desperate I have been buying the papers everyday to look at the "rooms-to-let" page. In fact, I have been looking at it for more than two months now and yet I am unable to find a room. This is also partly because I hardly have the time to go view the room unless it is after work, and by then, when I get home, it is normally past 7pm.

Recently, I resorted to calling agents to help me look too but to no avail. I even posted up a sign at the Bedok bus stop stating my intention. I had several prank calls instead. I really do hope I find a room soon as this place I am staying at is getting really crowded and sometimes a little inconvenient.

What do we do at home?

What do a bunch of foreign people do when they are not working? Well, some of my room mates will go out together every now and then but for the most of us, we are quite content with staying home. Going out means spending more money and Singapore is not a cheap place in any way. A day out could cost us SGD20 to SGD40 and for those like me who do not work Saturdays and Sundays, it can really add up to a big sum of money.

Sometimes we'd go to the library, sometimes, just walk along the beach etc... but what do we do when we decide to stay home? Well, there's not much space at home so there's really quite limited activities. Most of the time, weekends or non-working days are spent washing our clothes, bedsheets etc... and this can be a rather time consuming task. For me, I hand wash some of the more delicate clothes and this really takes up a lot of time, especially when you have to wait for the bathroom to be free. With12 to 14 people living in a 2 bedroom flat, can you imagine how often the bathroom is unoccupied?

Other times, we spent packing our luggages, which is mostly kept under our beds during the weekdays. When we do really have some time, I usually just lie in bed to watch TV or read a book as seen in the picture to the right. The only problem with reading in bed is that it can be quite dim, especially when my bed is the lower one in a double-decker bed setup. I must get a light for my reading! Often I want to read at night when everyone is asleep but I cannot turn on the lights... so I end up lying in bed doing nothing! There must be more productive ways to spend my time!

Well, we have to come up with creative ways to keep ourselves occupied when living in a "community"!

My breakfast on Saturday!

The weekend is always nice for me these days. I can wake up a little later instead of at the rather early 5am! However, due to habit, I still get up pretty early by Singapore standards. I am usually up at 6.30am and that way, I also don't have to queue for the toilet, once my room-mates get up and start getting ready for work.

Last Saturday, I decided to take a walk in the market to see what happens in Singapore in the early morning. Since coming to Singapore, I've never really walked around the estate in the early morning. I took a walk to the nearby market where there is also a food center. I've also seldom eaten out in the morning so this all looks rather new to me.

For some reason, I start to feel hungry. Maybe it's the sight of everyone eating their breakfast, happily tucking in what is at their table. Suddenly, everything looks so delicious. Fortunately for me, I brought a couple of dollars along with me, so I decided to treat myself to a good breakfast at the food center.

I walk around a little, trying to decide what is best to eat. Finally, I decided to try the local "soon kueh", as there seem to be less people. Someone once told me that to eat in Singapore, always go to the stall with the longest queue, as usually that is where the best food is! However, this morning, I decided I was too lazy to queue and just wanted to sit down and enjoy the food and the "scenery".

I ordered one "soon kueh" and the uncle asked if I wanted it fried. I nodded and he seem a little annoyed that I only ordered one piece. Maybe he thinks that for that one piece costing 60cents, it's not worth for him to heat up his pan to fry it for me, or even to provide me with a plate and fork! Nevertheless, I got my "soon kueh" and sat down to savour the dish! Very soon, the drink stall auntie came and I order a tea too. Interestingly, the tea cost more than my food at 70cents! Funny! I reminded myself that I am in Singapore and Singapore is not China! Ha ha!

I had a wonderful breakfast, not just the food, but the fresh air and nice "scenery" at the market. After my breakfast, I took a walk to the wet market to find out what they sell there. Interestingly, the food and vegetables sold at the wet market is about the same price as the local supermarket. I think I'll stick to the local supermarket then, not that I buy a lot anyway.

It was a great morning and I got back just in time to see my sister getting ready to go to work!

Home made Lime drink!

One of the things I really love about my job is that I learn to make different drinks. Before I came to Singapore, I cannot even make a good cup of coffee. Tea is easy as it is just hot water and tea bags... but brewed coffee is a little different... especially the local variety. However, since coming here, I am now able to brew good local coffee. I can't say how good yet because I personally don't drink coffee but if nobody is complaining, then it must be OK???

Few of the favorites I have learned to make include Lemon Tea and Lime Drink. I really love these as they are so refreshing, especially on a hot day. I even make these at home and keep them in the refrigerator so that I can drink them to refresh myself, especially over the weekend. The local small green lime are actually the best to use for such drinks, instead of lemon, as they are not as sour and sometimes, even a little sweet.

I usually start by buying a small bag (as in picture above) from the local supermarket. They are not costly and a bag can make several cups. Then I squeeze them all in a cup and separate them into smaller cups and add water and a little (just a little) sugar. Simple, effective and refreshing. Occasionally when I feel like it, I add a sour plum or two into the drink and they give a totally different taste... a touch salty but refreshing all the same.

My customers tell me that lime and lemon can keep you slim. That's an added bonus... not that I am fat. Now I realize why my lime, sour-plum lime and lemon tea are selling so well in the shop!