The non-comprehensive guide to ho chi minh

As of 1330hrs today my plane touched down on Singapore Chan-gee Airport (the vietnamese stewardess pronounced it this way. haha cute ) and i am back on this island with 3.5 more days of blissful freedom. Let me share with you my wonderful experience in the land of Vietnam, Ho-Chi Minh city.

My father had been transferred over to work in ho chi minh, and so if i ever go overseas again it'd most likely be back to vietnam again. No more shopping sprees to bangkok anymore, but that's quite a good thing too. Im starting to find it quite a boring place. Most shops generally sell the same stuff, and besides shopping, there really isn't much to do. Can't possibly revisit the same shops everyday. Air is bad and traffic is a catastrophe. It's really a different feeling altogether - going there on a short holiday/ a long term business stay or frequent trips to visit people. The former is better, keeps things fresh.

This is my first visit to vietnam, and i honestly didnt know nuts abt what vietnam is like, except through the eyes of camera-men in all those conflicts-in-vietnam movies, and they're always shot in the forests. I always had an impression that it is a really third world country, laid back and all, but it isn't that bad. They have shelter, decent buildings, and organisation. The streets are also surprisingly much cleaner then those in bangkok. Life is rather flow paced, as compared to bangkok or singapore, gives you quite a relaxing atmosphere.

Traffic is much better than bangkok, but the first thing that strikes you is that there are motorbikes flood the streets haha. And i got to see for myself how versatile bikes are, they can like fit 4-5 people on a bike, or stack up tonnes of baskets/crates/goods/chickens/ whatever they got on a bike and still ride it. There was like a doorframe too. Their driving is.. not as reckless as in bangkok, but still quite disorganized. They like to horn everywhere anywhere, and the people who get horned don't even give two hoots about it. Even if they dont annoy each other its quite irritating to us Singaporeaans. To them it's not really like a form of alert, it's more like notification, it can mean like anything: " coming through/ hey i'm beside you/car behind you/car beside you/ you're in front of my car/ i am going to overtake you/ you are in the center of the road/ how are you? / you're too close to me/ i'm making a turn/ offf the roaadd/ just let me cut through/ i horned first so i presume right of way ". Most of the time, the people who are horned at don't respond at all. It's the person who horned who has to get around the one who is like hogging the lane, so it's like "horn horn, ok i notified you but it's alright you carry on i'd get around you".

Like bangkok, trucks and big vehicles arent allowed to use the roads in the day, so traffic is very smooth. Oh one cool thing is that sometimes the road splits into motorbikes/cars lanes, cos there are just too many bikes around. FYI vietnam roads are left-handed. If you want to drive in vietnam i still suggest you take the AWXRC conversion.

Ho-Chi Minh is divided into subcities called districts, according to how developed they are. District 1 would be their premere district, very upclass, shopping centeres, cafeterias, big brands. It is also the commercial district, and our service apt was also located here. I feel the most secure in district 1, but not in like 7 or more. Tourists are already quite scarce arnd ho chi minh, and they are mostly concentrated in districts 1 or 2 or arnd the musuems and stuff, so in the other districts, it's hard to find foreigners arnd. It's also hard to blend in with the locals, cos the clothes we wear are just too different, so it's just be the few of you walking arnd, with your obviously more expensive clothes, big SLR arnd your neck, sticking out like sore thumbs. Just doesnt feel good, little kids start crowding arnd us begging for money, and people stare at you for being different. It doesnt help knowing that it is a strongly communist country too, ruled by quite an arbitrary government. Scarrryyy.

Hahaha turned off yet? Don't be. That' just the initial feeling i got, it really isn't that bad. The locals aren't as friendly as the thais, they don't seem very approachable, and don't smile as much. but i think that's just how they are. Maybe it's also cos there aren't many foreigners arnd, hence they're not so tourist-orientated. The women are also not as gentle as they look, so don't be surprised to see one yanking two stuck supermarket trolleys apart. The middle/older generation are fond of squatting by the road the way guys do. Haha. It's just the culture, after all, their traditional dress consists of long sleeves and long pants, not skirts.. and 30% of the VC soldiers were females..

Oh yeah anyway, their female national costume is veryyyy nice. It's like elegant, oriental, vv feminine, superr beautiful. Their national costume is like their college uniform. Saw a student wearing it, like wa. A dark blue long sleeved dress, with the skirt all the way down to the heels, and two slits up both sides to the hips, mandarin collars, and long white pants. The material is also those kinda very soft cotton kind. nice. Beats jap uniforms hands down, this one has class and culture.

It isn't a good place to shop, cos there's really nothing to see or buy. But i still feel it's a great place to visit, for the food and the experience. Traditional Vietnamese food is really fantastic, but you'd need a local to guide you arnd cos they're hard to find. Most popular is their beef noodles. They call it pho (pronounced fur). Nicee. It's a very unique experience too, they've got communist red-star/ workers' party banners up everywhere, along the streets, on top of buildings or sticking out from the their sides. Hahah bernard you'd like it. First time i walk down a street with communist stuff everywhere. Old buildings, communist banners.. Next thing I would expect would be tanks rolling down the boulevard, or rooftop speakers blasting communist propaganda.. It takes awhile to realize that it's too far fetched. hahaha.

Got some nice french architecture around, left behind from the french occupation. There's a post-office, townhall, opera hall, and a church called notre-dame. There is also a road in front of the townhall which resembles the champs elysees. A longgg straight boulevard. Nicee. Eh.. oh yeah and culture wise there isn't much, long time ago under chinese imperialism, den french occupation, den jap occupation, den american attack. So there really isn't much to see, unless you go to their war museums, and yeahh their famous tunnels, really cool stuff.

It's a must to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, the tunnels that the Viet Congs in this place called CuChi built to fight the french and americans. You really must try, even if you are claustrophobic. They enlarged the tunnels already, and some lamps along the way, so not that dark. There are 3 levels, and the 3rd is about 8-12 meters beneath the ground, and thats the level that gives most kick. They wont bring you there unless you pester them too haha, cos some portions are not enlarged and they aren't lit. One Cuchi guide saw that i was damn gungho and offered to bring me through the 3rd level one haha. 120meters for that one, when most people only go 15/30 or the most 50 meters. Haha totally awesome.

When you're there must try the live range too. Bullets are expensive, so i only tried AK-47. They have heavy machine guns like the M60 and some AK dunno what, m1 carbine, m16, ak47, some shotgun, m1 garand and i forgot the rest. Only sad thing is that they clamped the muzzle down on a wall, so you cant take it out and aim by yourself.

The war museum also shows you much about the vietnamese soldiers, respect. Now i can seriously watch US-made films on vietnam war with different perspectives.

Left this morning for home, back to the hectic singaporean lifestyle. Felt very sian, back to NS life next monday, it's just something we can't run away from. But anyhow, once i stepped out of the gate, there was this SIA girl showing us the way to the arrival hall. I looked at her, she smiled and me and said, " welcome home!" in such a sweeeeeettttt voice. and she was sooooo cute! she looks like vivian h.su!! and her smile was sooo sweet! Ahhhhh that just totally made my day =)

But how did i respond? i juuuust had to give juusst a small smile and walk away, it was almost like a momentary glance. Like.. Waddahell, thats all??? Mann, damn hopeless, i'm good at losing out on such chances, and thats like.. sad. That was like.. friggin golden opportunity! BLeeeeeh. SAD. ARghhhhhh. I could have just like said "hey thanks for that greeting. It totally made my day". And i had one extra frame in my camera, i could have like "hey ive got one unfinished shot, can i take a photo with you?" Could have just acknowledged her greeting by saying "thanks", let her smile one more timee. ahhhhhhh. hahahahaha. nvm.

Singapore isnt that bad.

just some fragments

Was just scrolling through some photos. Man seems like my days with hair happened in another life or something. Life is so different now i can't really remember what it feels like to be in these photos at that particular point of time. So distant. I do miss those times (:

Food time!

I really should catchup with both my alma mater mates someday!

welcome to mainland

back from tekong! whoo! I have never missed home this much before.

2 weeks in tekong, and im glad to say im onLY 7 weeks away from PoP! it doesnt feel that close away.

I got posted to G company. It stands for Gryphon, not Gay. Platoon 2, section 1, bed 3.

My two weeks in tekong weren't that bad. It's not that bad a place, really. Nice island, i really love the coastal route. Just that we never have the time and luxury to stroll along and enjoy it. The weather is nice and warm, an average of 1 degree hotter than Singapore, which isn't hot enough. Erratic weather changes from bright hot and sunny to dark gloomy and happy really make our day, and we start chanting " Cat 1 Cat 1 Cat 1.. ". Rain and thunderstorms usually ensue, and a monotonous computer generated voice echoes our chant, "Cat 1.. Cat 1.. Cat 1..". And then all outdoor activities are cancelled and we happily make our way back to our bunks.

The food is really not bad, and for now im not really sick of it yet. Fruits are provided every meal, and there are always syrup drinks, or special milo-like drinks like vico-coco. Ice cream is a luxury treat which we get once every week, rocks! The only sad thing is that, even if the food is nice, it has to be in the stomach by 10-15 minutes, which means we never get to savour what we eat. Oh we get stuff like greenbean/redbean/barley soup too.

Training is... quite alright. Not very shiong, not very slack either. Only dumb thing is that they throw us physically demanding activities one after another, day after day. Our bodies dont even get a chance to recover, how to improve like that? Once the fatigue builds up our morale goes down and we cant really give our best effort anymore. They say progressive training, which is quite bullshit. In our first PT, we couldnt even complete 50% of what we were asked to do. The intensity of the physical sessions we have are the same, even if we have two back to back, as if we would be as fresh as we were before we started the first session. They expect everyone to be conditioned just because we are the enhanced leadership batch, which is quite rubbish.

And the worst part of training is that we have no courtyard outside our company, only a semi-barren field. That means that all our physical activities are conducted on it. Lying down on the ground really sucks, our sweaty clothes get dirty everytime when all the mud and leaves get stuck to it, and becomes we have to wash clothes quite often. One day i left my clothes soaked in soap water for a day, and the next day they all stank like mad. So yeah never soak your clothes in washing powder water.

Oh yes we had Cover and Concealment lessons, which meant going outfield to gather twigs and leaves to stuff on yourself so you look like a tree as much as possible. That was quite fun, except that where i lay had two ant trails. Luckily they didnt bite. One of my platoon mates got red ants. hahaha. Thankfully not the big one though.

Our uniform really camouflages quite well. At least good enough to trick the birds. One day when we were in our files, two Sun birds came and flew in between us, damn cute haha. Den our sergeant was like "it thinks you are trees! haha" That malay sergeant is very funny btw. When we were doing our crunches lying on the field, he comes to each of us and, standing over us against the backdrop of the blue tekong sky, he asks, "do i look like an angel?" hahah.

Discipline is not that strict yet, because it is only our adjustment period, my commanders are quite friendly. As of now.. We are allowed to use the softdrink vending machine outside our bunks! Rocks

My platoon/section mates are all nice people. For those that i already know, there's samuel lim from hc/ac, Julian Tay ac, colin hc, reuben lim ac. At company level there's Melvin from nj.

I was happy when i went in, but subsequently after the first few days i started getting damn sian already. I went in all garang and pysched up, ready to chiong and get tekan, but i was disappointed when there was really nothing much to do, and the commanders were so laxed. Nothing to chiong. My phone died on the second day, and i was cut off from friends. My radio never worked at all, and i was totally deprived of music. I got back injury on the third day, and got excused from all activities for the next three days. Back pain never recovered, and together with muscle fatigue from the activities i was no longer anywhere near fighting fit, I really couldn't chiong sua anymore. When i couldn't chiong, it's like there's really no motivation for anything anymore, and morale all disappear. So now im quite sian, i hope the back pain goes away, gonna see doc on monday. So sad =( And i dislocated my arm during the monkey bar thing of the soc.

On a brighter note i was bored during my status period, and came out with a sketch for company T-shirt. My Platoon commander liked it and now i need to come out with a proper design for it. =D. I wasn't shortlisted for medicine, but i got shortlisted for architecture! Aptitude test is tomorrow, and i hope i do well.

So that's it for now, i have much of civilian life to enjoy. In camp i dreamt of food everyday. Last night after i booked out i had Ben and Jerrys, and then my bro and cousin brought me to cafe cartel where i had waffle ice cream and a berrie smoothie. Whoaa heavenly :)

Okay i have to answer my Call of Duty 3 now. Field camp next week. till the week after.. bye!

BMT!!!

ARMY ARMY! Wooooooooo!

Hair gone, phone downgraded, psyched up and ready to go! =D

I'm so excited, arent youu?

Chiong sua!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

hmm

3 more days before being deported to tekong. Trying to 'pack up my feelings' (chinese) and prep up for army.

Been playing war games, and watching war films. Everything is working fine, really getting psyched up for army now. I'm really getting excited about it. Not really looking forward to it, but I dont mind army. I figured it'd be fun. The brotherhood, the outdoors, guns.. everything macho. Yeahp no girls, but that's quite a good thing, back to good old all-guy-fun and jokes. Provided the company I have are nice. I hope i dont start thinking about girls, don't think i will either, being so tied up with all the army stuff.

Fitness is down, tried to revive it, but to not much results. Ive just been too lazy to do much exercise.

I'd type more when I'm in the mood to. In quite a shock


So, you got attached.

Ouch, that hurts some.


But Im fine, id be happy and occupied in tekong.
Hope i'd have nice people in my band of brothers

Driving Eutopia

Almost crashed into some bugger during driving a few days ago, and i swear it had nothing to do with me. He was on the lefter lane turning right, and he turned so close to me he was almost gonna cut into my lane as though i wasnt there.

Somebody ought to rethink Singapore's driving system, there are enough irresponsible/blur/hopeless drivers out there, just waiting for accidents to happen. Ive been to bangkok enough times to know that e drivers there have much quicker reflexes, and definitely 2000X more patience than Singapore drives. Only problem is that they like to get drunk more than we do.

Driving centers should teach us more practical skills, rather than just how to pass our practical tests. In reality, really got ppl use engine brake all the time, really got ppl turn the head over so exaggeratedly to check blind sport, really got keep to miserable speed limit. Okay statistics show that accident rates have dropped and have been quite constantly low these few years, but i have a plan that might just bring it even lower. heheh

May i present to you..


THE AWX EUTOPIAN DRIVING SYSTEM

The idea of this programme is to train up drivers in a more realistic environment, one that is akin to that of the real world. Drivees would be subjected to conditions and circumstances in the circuit that are prevalent in singapore - reckless driving, chiong redlight, jaywalk, suddenly stop car, swerve anyhow - and are expected to react immediately and appropriately. Drivees are thus expected to improve their reflexes and judgemental skills, and execute counter-accident maneuvers with precision.

To acquire a driving certificate, drivees are required to complete the 1km AWX Reflex Course (AWXRC) safely and alife, in 1:45min, ie an average speed of 85kmh. By placing candidates under conditions of real danger, they are taught that driving is not a game, and that the dangers of reckless driving are real and could cost them their lives.

Concurrently, inadept drivers would be removed before they become potential disasters waiting to happen.

Below are the main concepts of AWXRC

1. Random boards depicting various creatures would spring out of the ground at any random time during the drivee's exam. Candidates are expected to swerve away to avoid the boards, and not knock any down. Fines would be imposed on the candidate if he/she fails to avoid them, ranging from $500-$5,000, depending on the severity of the crash, and the status of the board - human/dog/monster. Boards are not intended to kill.

2. Solid machinery placed before red lights are able to pop out of the ground anytime, to simulate cars that are fond of sudden brakings. Crashes may result in death.

3. Boulders in the shape of parked cars may reverse/drive out, and drivers are expected to stay clear of them.
4. A Car shaped boulder would be propelled across the traffic junction anytime during the exam, simulating cars that beat redlight. Drivees are expected to look left and right even when the traffic light has turned green.

5. Sirens blare out ambient noises, and the intermittent ultra-loud blares of car horns, which are intended to scare or shock the candidates. They are expected to get use to the often random horning of impatient Singaporeans, but at the meantime be able to discern whether it is a real horn or not. Horns may sound right before 3,4 or 6 are activated.

6. In a tropical region, lightning strikes are common, and falling trees help to train up reflexes as well.

7. Posters or banners depicting sexualcontent/sale/discount would be displayed on the side of the course. Drivees are expected not to be distracted by them, and place full concentration on the road ahead, for the sake of their lives.


At any one time, no 2 or more obstacles would be activated such that the candidate has no sure way of passing through. AWXRC is also not the sole criteria for a driving license. Parking would be tested separately.

greenhouse and greenday

"The effects of global warming are starting to creep ever so not discretely into our daily lives, affecting our lifestyles and interrupting our habitual routines. This is evident from the huge increase in cockroach frag and mosbite counts through the months. Awx pest control statistics show that monthly cockroach kills have risen from an average of 0.083 last year to a whooping high of 2.0 just last month. Awx's sole staff and president Ang Weixuan also complains of incurring greater amounts of damage in his battle against the mosquito species, which have thrived and proliferated in the recent weather conditions. Right now as he speaks he is suffering from 7 sustained 7dmg/s type-p stab wounds, dealt by cunning mosquitoes which struck only in the dead of the night. They seem to have evolved to a high level species as well. Do simple maths, and you'd realise he is receiving 7 x 7 = 77dmg/s. However, no matter how high the damage, it doesnt seem to bother him at all. "My hp is infinite, haha", he quips. He's such a funny guy.

Global warming has also claimed its own victims. The screwed up scorch/rain/scorch/rain climate patterns have brought relative humidity levels up to as high as 93-97%. Precious bikes are beginning to rust at rates such that they reach painful levels even before their owners can awake from their procrastination spells. Bass strings also feel the effects of increased humidity, and rust as well. Rusting is mostly prevalent in the G-strings, though no effects are observed on its cloth variant. What to use to clean rusted strings? What strings are good to buy? Answers will be provided when fellow Bass veteran David Lee answers to either this tagboard or msn. Yes please do. haha.

Animals and humans alike have also adapted to the changing climates. Humans, under the sun, are able to produce brown pigments called melanin to shield them from the evil UV rays. It is a process known as reversible evolution, the process that has turned this author to the Dark side. Hence, do not be alarmed by his darkness when you meet him in person. Household pets have also exhibited changes in behaviour in response to screwed up weathers. Tortoises are starting to make more rounds into the living room at much higher frequencies than before, perhaps to escape the sweltering heat. In the past few days, it has also extended its daytime rendezvous into the kitchen as well, to smell food and perhaps peak at its owners dining. This global-warmed tortoise has also picked up a new trick as well; sit down in the living room and it would climb up your leg and bask on it. How adorable!


Jumping to some music news, a new band has been formed, and they just had their debut jamming session last week. The new nameless and singerless band is formed wholely of retired acsians, comprising seasoned guitarist darren chan, veteran bassist weixuan, breaking drummer abel and temporary singer john kan. I was privileged enough to be able to be there in person to hear their studio shaking live jam session. Man, it was a blast. woohoo. Chemistry was everywhere and they effortlessly pulled off songs from bands such as U2, Franz ferdinand and Red Hot Chilis. This is definitely the new band on the block to watch out for. If you're wondering what greenday in the title has to do with anything, here is where it has its relevance. Sorta.

Down to Entertainment and Gossip, interesting things have been happening. Ang Weixuan, main character and figure in the popular ilovewx and awxion series, has yet again been making headlines in his very own blogs. In an recent exclusive interview with Mr Ang, he tells us that he has been steeped up in many activities, with much more undone. "I have great plans before i enlist, and i will strive to do everything before i am banished. Only time stands in my way.. " Well yes he certainly is a man of great aspirations.. "

The above exerpt from awx daily just ended like that. The author became tired of writing that way.



Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year to U! May this new lunar year be the best year of your life, but still the best year yet, cos the best is yet to be! Thanks for bothering to keep in touch with my life =)



Cny's been fun so far. Eat, take money, eat. gamble, lose money. That's pretty much it haha. Ive got the most new clothings this new year! rock my socks

Life is fantastic =). Life at its best, no school no work no bills, how much better can it get? haha. It's true that you can appreciate life to its fullest when u've learnt to leave things behind. I'm glad ive learnt that.

This is the only period of time where i can do everything i love doing, but there're just too many that im finding it hard to find time and energy for everything. Enjoying every bit of life now, but of course i still have my complains. Don't feel like spoiling the mood of this post.


Just returned from an outing with fellow employees. Watched Norbit, haha like wth show. Funny though =). I've finally expanded my social circle, i love my friends! got a new girl in mind too haha. Nothing much, and not planning much either. Not close enough, and dont know her well yet. I've only spent 3days and 2nights with her hahaha. So, just attracted thats all, nice girl. Enlisting soon anyway, anything that starts now is bound to collapse. Spare both the possible heartaches eh.

No zongyi, 2-day sms conversation ended long ago. haha. I didnt even have any intention at all, it was all you who hyped the whole story up for tingfu lol. I was just trying to get my kayak certificate, and decided to talk for fun.


Oh my arm came off again, and now my neck gets stuck when i tilt left. It's like gear shifting, crick crick. What the heck


I hereby award samt and david with the most loyal site supporter award. But seriously thx for the past 6 years dudes =)

Employed and free

Weixuan is finally employed! haha. I'm glad i didnt just get any random job, or get contracted into borinng long term admin jobs, like many have (and are regretting). To the few of you i know that are going to start admin jobs, who are still blinded by the prospects of high pay and nothing else - have fun! loll..

Went for an interview at an adventure center which i always cycle pass at bt timah hill, and I'm now a camp instructor! Lead a group of kids around in camps, play games with them, do rockwall, obstacle courses, kayaking and dragonboating, sure's fun, if not for problem kids.

I wanted a job for experential rather than utility reasons; more for fun then money, so this job very suitable. It pays 160 per camp, which usually lasts for 3 days 2 nights. translate it into pay per hour and it's only a miserly $2.50/hr. But it's alright, fun and satisfaction are all that count for me. More then NS pay already anyway. Pretty pointless to get jobs just for the pay eh? a short 3-4 months, how much can you earn? This is the only period of total freedom I'd ever have, wasting it all away with boring long hour jobs sound bad to me. With no bills to worry about, 160 is much money already, a lan session costs.. $8? booking of courts cost.. $4? If im mad enough, i can take 3 camps in a week back to back, 7 days 6 nights, and rake in $480! hahah. I enjoy the social aspect of it as well, people handling and much interaction, wonderful =). Comes with complimentary forestry, nature and sunlight.

Still looking for job attachments and internships, but probably do more of these in march, need time to settle all my trivial matters and feel organized. My life feels like a mess, i seriously need a timetable to plan my activities. Did i mention? I'm employed but still as free as before haha, the power of freelancing. But yeah not all that good either, i still wake up everyday to the same quandary - "what i do today?". Answer it well and id have a productively fun day, leave it blank and more posts may spring up on my blogs.

I did do an attachment at ttsh under the physiotherapy department, for about a week, until i got kicked out after they found out i only wanted a 2-3 week attachment, haha. Some misunderstanding, they were more interested in 4-month volunteers. I said noo you must be mad, i dont even have 3 months of holiday till i enlist, and it's a no pay attachment too. Im not gonna lug myself halfway across the island for 4 months for no pay nor allowance. There are other attachments that i want to do as well, and of course i want to work and have fun too. Still in the process of applying for other internships.

But anyway it was enjoyable too, and rather insightful. I made new friends too! A phyllis and a joyce, from scgs-cj and chij-vj. there were guys too but nah i dint really bother. hahaha, i mean, just kidding.. the guys were far from our age. We were also instructed not to exchange phone numbers with the patients haha, especially since there are hot athletes who come in for physio sessions lol, quite amusing. They said it happened before too. For the camp thing we were also told not to exchange numbers with the participants, and lots of weird stories about pubertizing teens going crazy over instructors, and then threatening to commit suicide. Lol.. but of course they dont do it, they say ppl these age can't think straight so we shouldn't give them chances to think otherwise.

On the 11th Jan i did catering too, at gdwood park hotel. It was a last minute thing. Had physio orientation in morning, driving test in the aft. Met junkai at driving center, and he asked me to replace him so i went. Anyway it was a total china environment over there. haha. Unlike the travel agency job. i had to switch to using china accents, which came surprisingly naturally haha. Seems like with exposure to different accents, your brain would automatically adapt and switch to theirs. My china speaking was perfect k..haha. Anyway there was this supervisor called Ace. I like to laugh at his name. Nobody likes him, cos he favours girls and is nasty to guys. He smiles and jokes with girls, and den comes over to find fault with us. I would have had enjoyed job more or even go back to work again if not for him. Made many friends too, a prc called David, a bartender kelvin, and a poly girl attiqa, all were very nice to me, esp attiqa and david who helped me out alot. Thanks alot man, I really appreciated it =)

Anyway, the uniform was really cool, the guys one looks smart. i like the shoulder paddings. haha




Catering was quite an experience too. Now i can emphatize with the waiters/waitresses serving me..haha. It really isn't as lax as i thought, esp with some grumpy manager around. I did quite well that day i think. All i did was spill some sharks fin soup, and pour a glass of red wine on someone's pants. hahaha. The first one wasn't my fault, someone just rushed in and almost collided with me. The latter was.. nvm.. haha. Fortunately i only emptied 1.5/4 glasses, with only 1 glass full spilling onto him. And thankfully the manager didnt notice hahaha.

Anyway, Eureka travels still owes me money. Probably never tasted the fury of fire.

Day Job at travel agency

10th January 2007

Warning: Flaming

2 days ago i had my first part time job, working for a certain Eureca travels (name changed for flaming purposes) company. This marks the end of my all-play-no-productivity period to the productive-play stage. Of course, no reproductive-play at this age.

The Job was from 8-3 and 6-9 at harbourfront cruise center, and the pay was real good, at 8 per hour. Quite an enjoyable experience, even though the company seriously sucks..haha

Much of the time spent was just stoning around, either because we had nothing to do, were waiting for something to do, were not given stuff to do, or were given stuff to do that were really pointless. I reached the cruise center a few minutes pass 8, which is very very punctual for my standards.. Surprisingly, i was one of the earliest ones there! Lol. Nowonder we're called casual labourers. Zongyi was late by more den 30 minutes, and then we waited about an hour for more people to arrive. Read: 1 hour = 8dollars.

After awhile I asked the lady in charge, i realized that we weren't waiting for more people to arrive, because everyone had already arrived. We had no idea what we were waiting for, just stand there stone and wait for instructions, which never really came. But who cares? stand there 1 hour, 8 dollars more haha =D.

There were so efficient in handling their manpower, that for quite awhile they looked quite flustered as to deciding what we could/should/were supposed to do. After some more waiting we were split up and finally assigned duties. We were supposed to direct tourists to their bus carriages, which just meant pointing to the exit on our right, but their instructions were sooo poor, we decided to start directing people around harbour front instead. Singapore cruise center should really pay us for showing people where phonebooths toilets mrts taxis cablecartower and money changers are.. hahaha.

We did that because we subsequently found out that our duty was void because all the C grp tourists (whom we were asked to direct) had already boarded their carriage and were already somewhere else to elsewhere. like wth man. but it's alright.. +8 +8.

After that it was nothing much, we relocated upstairs, where i had to do saigang jobs like carry signposts (which were quite heavy) up from the the storeroom (quite a distance). And the supervisor was also so fickle about the number of signposts he wanted that i had to run up and down a few times. But at least i was granted to privilege of access into embarkation checkin area, haha.

Real enjoyment came when were were given proper roles by the staff of the Artemis, a British ship docked here that was attached to Eureaka travel agency. It was a check-in counter, and we were basically runners to fetch matching cabin cards for the counter staff. The british people were really nice, and it was a pleasure to work for them and not some asdf agency. A good chance to play with fake british accents too. hahah.

released at 3.40+, i went to study for my basic highway code at the topfloor of vivocity, zongyi went pageone bookstore. We reported back at 630 after dinner.

They had moved their counters to another area, a more open and lousy environment. Only 2-4 counters were operating because of the small length of the counter. In front of the counter was right in the middle of harbourfrontmall, with no markings/cordons to direct the tourists as to where to stand. This was made worse by tourists that returned in bulks from carriages, instead of the slightly more trickle like arrivals in the afternoon. The old people had no where to sit, and we had to get chairs for them to sit. (they were almost all elderly)

All this while, the people frm youreka were nowhere in sight. No instructions, no guidance, no supervision. We had to do everythin on our own initiative, they really trust us to do everything huh? The British-Indian ship captain was getting quite pissed off by their absence as well, but thankfully he didnt shift the blame on us, "it's alright at least you tried to contact him". The british had apparently asked the agency for an extra table to set up another booth, but that table never came, and still the agency people were nowhere in sight.

That derrick (name altered) guy would probably still be somewhere walking around with the walkie talkie held to his ear, trying to look important, haha useless guy. Anyway he's this guy whos abt the same age as us, that walks around the whole day holding a walkie talkie (on his shoulder, most of the time). He may look busy, but a little more observation and you'd realize he's actually just walking around. Lol. Quite senior i think, probably related to boss. We should be paid more than him, irritating crap.

Soon after the Indian capt guy told me to go further down to direct passengers into the embarkation check-in area; the passage to the ship. Finally free of nonsense. I had the most fun here, greeting ppl and pointing them directions. Being able to offer them good service attitude is absolutely rewarding, the sense of satisfaction i got was really great =). I realised that im quite cut out for PR occupations, or just the lowly "hello goodmorning/thankyou" jobs. A receptionist/concierge would be fun! Anything that requires ppl services. By entering/exiting the ship so many times, a few of the tourists were already familiar with me, and smiled everytime they saw me. Before one of them boarded for the final time, he even said "won't forget you" and gave me thumbs up. That was like.. rocks.

Anyway what's so hard about providing good service and attitude? Besides me, there were 3 jc graduates like me, zy, and about 8-10 poly ppl. The poly ppl came wrongly attired, even tho we're told to wear white top black pants/shoes, and had to be given agency polos to wear. Attitude wise im not sure but they sure loved to crowd around and obstruct ppl. Almost all of them had dyed hair, and their dress sense is... what you expect frm neighbourhood schools. If foreigners ever have bad impressions of singaporeans, I can imagine who are responsible, lol. Oh well, at least they could speak decent english, not singlish. The jc ppl were properly attired, though they tend to look sloppy. I don't understand their inclination to have their shirts/polos partially tucked out, or their tendency to slouch. Why don't ppl see the importance in dressing/acting smart when working in service sectors? like hello it's a job. They just don't exude the kinda confidence ppl would expect; their posture, actions and the way they talk. even the poly ppl were a little better then them.

At the end of the day, zy told me that the indian guy had complained about poor service in singapore just before of all the things that happened, and that they come to S'pore once a year just to receive this kind of crap. Feel sorry for them man, felt like going up to tell them "hey Singapore's a great place, just that this agency sucks, please don't engage them next time".

Anyway it's a fact that the part time ppl who worked sometime back in 20-24th december or something haven't even got their pay yet. That's already more than 2 weeks ago. Makes me worried about whether id get paid or not.

They better pay up, or i'd arson down their pathetic office.


I was really bored. what do you expect from an unemployed boy? haha

Anyone looking for a creative director? hahah