mrsjono

This time last year, I would have arrived in Beijing, free from stress and enjoying myself with all the time in the world. Totally miss those days!

I was doing my work in the computer lab when a Caucasian walked in. She's very tall and pretty and didn't sound like from the US or UK bcos her English wasn't very fluent. She looked lost and I guessed it's probably her first time using the lab in sde. Well, up to this point I guess rs would probably be saying my kpo-ness is acting on me again, especially when it comes to foreigners. And I'll argue that it's curiousity not kpo, especially how they behave in an environment that is foreign to them but familiar to us.

So this Caucasian approached me for help as she couldn't login. When she stood beside me, I felt like a gina. Westerners usually look older and more matured than Asians even though we might be of the same age. I login using my account and she was really grateful. I directed her to the printing room, held the door for her and waited for her to walk in first. She had this look of disbelief at this gesture of mine. While this gesture could just signify a host-guest relationship, i.e. "This is my school and I'm bringing u around, pls follow me" I guess it could mean a master-servant relationship in her country, i.e. "Subservients holding the door for their colonial masters".

In the printing room, I login to the system for her, released the print job for her, and, no, I didn't use my cash card to pay for her printing of cos. She thanked me many times and said "You're so kind."

Later in the evening after a consultation, I didn't have time to have my dinner. I was very hungry and I was already late for a lecture. The only solution was to get a burger at Mac Donalds. I don't like their new system of printing out those receipts and getting u to wait by the side as it's totally inefficient and a waste of paper. There were 2 girls in front of me and I don't know why one of them went to take the receipt with my double cheese burger order in it and put it in her tray.

So I told her "That's mine" but she ignored me, didn't put the receipt back and continued talking to her friend in some language I couldn't understand. When the burgers came, she grabbed both, gave me the McChicken burger and took the double cheese burger. I was carrying lots of things in my hands, I'm hungry and I'm in a hurry. I was losing my patience and angry. I said again "NO, THAT'S MINE." She had no idea she had messed up the orders and said something which sounded like "I change cos got chilli" and had the insistent look on her face. I couldn't make sense of it and didn't want to know what's going on.

Why the contrast in treatment? Would I still be a kind person if the Caucasian had seen this episode at Mac Donalds? All I can say is, if u need help, I'll help u. But if u'r causing inconvenience to my life at the wrong timing, I wun be tolerant and understanding of cultural differences.

After struggling with the surveys for one and a half months, I finally ended it last Sunday with the help of mb and qh. I'm shy and and I can't speak well so I really hated the whole process. However, towards the end, I found myself getting better and better at it. My supervisor is right, it can be trained. My surveying experience at various locations in Singapore is described below:

My first attempt was at the Registry of Marriage on the eve of New Year's Eve. I got chased away after loitering there for 30mins. My total respondents for that day was a miserable 5. I was very discouraged and demoralized.

Second attempt was at Jurong East MRT. I got 5 also.

Third attempt, I was lucky. It was the first time I got more than 5! It was one of the first few days SMRT was issuing the new ez-link card. So there was a long Q at the MRT station and that was how I managed to get 12. I was pleased with my performance.

I decided to visit a showflat to get home buyers. I went to one at Hillview, closest to where I'm staying. There was nobody at the showflat. I walked in and there were 2 guys behind the counter. I stood there for like 40 seconds before they heard me calling. They were playing on their DS lite. I got 0 for that day.

One day, I was fortunate to have mb and rs to help me. Mb drove us to showflats around Kovan and Bishan. Lady Luck was by our side. We met some kind people. It was a breakthrough, we got a total of 32.

The next day, rs and I went to Nova 48/88. It was damn ulu, located on a hill. I think we're the only ones who climbed up there on foot. Super tiring. Previously, mb and rs were the ones who approached the staff bcos I was too scared. That day, I went up to talk to the agent myself. Agent Auntie Sally asked me whether I'm in Year 1. She said I look "sixteen-ish". Total count that day was 21 in 2 hours. Ended the day with the famous Loy Kee chicken rice at Balestier Road.

Subsequently, I went to Boon Lay and HarborFront MRT stations. I took lesser time to reach my target of getting 10 surveys done everyday.

The last ditch attempt was yesterday. The most interesting. I got mb and qh to help me at Potong Pasir estate, door-to-door. I've never been to Potong Pasir. The lifts are now extinct in our PAP HDB estates. Another interesting fact about Potong Pasir is, there are no Malays. Even the hawker centres do not have Malay stalls. Sometimes we ended up listening to residents' grievances. There was one who was sold away when young, had a tough life and received no education. A geography graduate, now retired and been to many places around the world. An old lady who studied at Cambridge and the war disrupted her studies. A victim of the DBS highnotes who couldn't sleep and was afraid of telling his son. I realised I've improved when I grabbed the opportunity to secure 2 responses at Mac Donalds while we were taking a break after visiting 150 households.

We ended the day watching an insane woman lying on a Singapore flag on the corridor, repeating "Zou seh, lap sap cong!" (早死! 垃圾虫!) Surprisingly, the household staying beside her did not tick Friendly Neighbours as an important attribute. Mb and I were freaked out man.

I watched Half Man Half Tree on Discovery last night and somehow, I just can't stop thinking about it. I went to check out on other shocking stories and there were The Man with No Face, The Tumour That Ate My Face, Octopus Man, Real Wolf Kids, etc. These people have extremely rare diseases that cause physical deformities on certain parts of their bodies. In some cases, it is so severe that they are unable to use their hands or feet which deprive them of earning a living. They have even been labelled as 'freaks' and their only way of earning money is to go on the Freak Show. We should stop complaining life's hard bcos these people can't even lead normal lives. Hopefully advances in science and research can find cures while mankind can do our part in the funding.

This time it was at CCK Lot 1. I was with ht at MacDonalds and we were walking towards the mrt station when we saw this guy with very fair skin, in black shirt, black pants walking around, smiling and talking to himself. Immediately, we noticed something's wrong with him and we walked faster. It turned out that ht saw him before on the train too. I didn't dare to look, dragged ht hurriedly to the station and quickened my pace. It didn't help when ht just told me an incident about a guy stalking her friend late at night. I saw ht turned to look at him as we walked past him. Boy, she's brave. I was screaming under my breath and holding on to her. Thank the heaven and earth, he didn't follow us. But this person looks a little different from the one I saw. He looked younger and his hair wasn't combed up. Maybe it's the younger Frankenstein. Freak there's two of them! Father & son. Shivers.

Sabrina brought a specialty from Yunnan today.

Yak meat (牦牛肉)Yaks I saw in Sichuan

The yaks she saw in Shangrila are mostly black in color while those I saw in Sichuan are all-white in color. I never dare to eat their meat cos they look really too exotic. Domesticated yaks are kept primarily for their milk, fiber and meat, and as beasts of burden. They are everywhere in high altitude places and yak meat is very common, just like how chicken is very common to us. They're just like cows but with lots of hair. She offered me one, it's just a very small piece that comes in a small packet. Can't believe I actually ate that poor fella (above) I saw in Mao county (茂县). Gulps. Taste like the 张飞牛肉 (Zhangfei beef) I bought in Chengdu.