Everything Will Get Boring Somehow

I haven't been blogging very frequently, and strangely my unique visitors have increased from around 20 daily to between 80-100 daily. Strange but true. It's supposedly because of my Bad Romance video review done earlier.

Anyway like I said, I haven't been blogging very frequently. This was the same as during my examinations, when I said that life is mundane at that period of time and there is simply nothing to talk about in this blog other than homework and school.

It haven't changed much now. I thought that I could offer my readers more interesting blog entries as I start work, probably of some funny stuff that my colleagues or myself did, or at least complain about the irritating fuckers (the customers). In the end, I am working as a tele-surveyor. This means I meet no one and I just talk to them over the phone.

So every single day I just sit there and call people non-stop. And right now at this stage the project is at its last stage, the part where most people have accepted the calls already and all is left are just some little fuckers who refuse to pick up the phone.

And so my commission daily was previously a sine curve but is now increasingly becoming to look more like my pulse. The best fit curve for my commission so far is represented by

y = -0.0045x⁴ + 720.92x³ - 4E+07x² + 1E+12x - 1E+16

which looks kinda WTH if you plot it.

And right now I don't know what I'm supposed to say already.

So, erm well I still like my blog template!

*awkward silence*

Also, I also blog at other places. I blog random stuffs at tumblr. and I blog in Mandarin in 無名小站.

Plus you can get live updates from me via Twitter.

Kaching

I went out as usual in the early afternoon. I got off at Somerset and took a short walk around 313. Then I bought a Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks in Paragon and took a walk around Orchard. In the end I went into Kinokuniya and bought Precious by an author named Sapphire. The book was originally called Push (but I can't find that version) and was renamed as Precious to coincide with the movie's name.

I got on the bus 157 at Toa Payoh Interchange with Garry, Wei Jie and Wai Chung whom I work with. It was raining heavily from outside the bus so I quickly squeezed my novel into the plastic bag that held Precious to prevent it from getting wet if my bag got wet in the rain.

I got off the bus, and walked into MediaCorp's reception. I proceeded to get my wallet out to change my identification into the pass. Then I realise.

I left my wallet in the bus.

Apparently while I was fiddling with my books and on I left my wallet at the seat beside mine.

The first thing I did was to call 1800 339 6666, a number I saved in my iPod touch, to inform POSBank that I've lost my ATM/Debit Card which I had got for less than a month. Next thing I did was to go online from my iPod touch (via Wi-Fi) to SBS Transit's website to check up the numbers to call.

I called 6383 7211, for 'Lost and Found Assistance'. I called several times to get back a reply that the phone's engaged. Shouldn't such a hotline have several lines? In the end I called up 1800 287 2727 (SBS Transit's customer service hotline) to tell them I left my wallet on the bus. I was very detailed in my description. I left the bus at around 4:30, since I only took 5 minutes or so to walk up the hill and discover my wallet's disappearance. I got down the double-decker 157 (which leads to Boon Lay Interchange) at Lornie Road, at the bus stop near Andrew Road. So the bus at the time I called the hotlines, was still on Lornie Road since Lornie Road is really very long.

In the end I was directed to 6791 2456 (Boon Lay Interchange), where I spoke to the 'Route Master', which told me he could check the bus when it gets back to the interchange in half hours time. I asked him if he could just call the bus driver but he said the bus was on the highway and it wouldn't be good stopping the bus when it was in service.

Anyway he told me he would get back to me when the bus gets back to the interchange.

Without identification, I couldn't even go to work since I had to get a pass! So I had to get my superior to sign a 'guarantor slip' to let me get a pass without identification.

Anyway I worked. The 'Route Master' got back to me and told me the wallet was not found, to my expectation. I mean, come on, this is Singapore. How can anyone in Singapore be that well-mannered?

In Chinese there is this statement used to describe a very safe place,

路不拾遺，夜不閉戶。

It basically translates to that in this place, no matter how poor everyone is, no one picks up what people have accidentally left behind. Plus this place is so safe that everyone don't even have to lock their apartments.

In Singapore, this is the case:

路必拾遺，夜要閉戶。

Which translates to everyone will pick up what people lost, and it is so unsafe that everyone must lock their doors.

Anyway after work I went to Toa Payoh Police Centre, a 24 hour police station (since police posts close at 10 p.m.), to report the loss of my Identity Card. It was quite a process, describing how I lost it and what I lost.

It's not just about the money I have lost, it is the fact that I have to redo all my cards.

That includes my Identity Card which I haven't even got for a month (I made it after my November 18 birthday), my ATM card which I also haven't got for a month, my Kinokuniya card and my Library card which I haven't even got for a week, my ez-link card which is currently in the extended usage period for Secondary School graduates, my Golden Village card which allowed me to save much money, and my Zingrill (Seoul Garden) card which is basically useless but I signed up cause it was free. Plus I lost my house key and I have to make another tomorrow, and I lost my Picard wallet which originally costs about a hundred bucks? And I haven't even used it for a month!

For my IC, the first loss costs $100 (WTH) and subsequent losses cost $300. Tomorrow I have to do them one by one.

Guess what, I don't have much money in my bank. By "don't have much", I mean less than $500. Cause my pay is project-based and isn't exactly a fixed monthly one, so I don't get it that quickly. And my mum haven't been giving me allowances recently considering I am supposed to be working to earn money in the first place.

Perhaps it would be better to coop at home for the whole holiday in the first place? Then I would at least have over a thousand dollars in my bank left untouched.

It's so annoying that I have to go through this irritating process. What the hell.

Neglecting Work

I didn't go to work on Friday since no one else went anyway, so I went to see the doctor over my bloated stomach and pains. The doctor said its probably just some stomach gas and prescribed me some medicine. Is it me but why do I find that medicine so familiar? It's magnesium tri-something and it has a nice minty taste that I sometimes like.

Anyway after that I went to Suntec. There was this BookFest book fair there. I ended up spending about $50 on several Chinese books after spending almost $70 on English books few days ago at the Penguin Book Fair. Is it a waste of money when you buy books? I find it quite worthwhile to buy books but its still quite a waste.

On Saturday I went to work and got to the reception at MediaCorp as usual. Wei Jie bought Garry along to see if he could work as well, and he was asked to go for the interview on Monday. Anyway I don't believe there will be such thing as an interview on that day, I just started with a briefing and not an interview.

So instead we went out. Had lunch somewhere in Toa Payoh, then went around Bugis, then took a ride to Tampines via the train. Played soccer with Garry, Wei Jie and Muhd but I was tired even before starting the game so after a few scores I went to the side and played The Sims on my iPod instead and then just listened to songs.

At the end when everyone was done, Garry, Wei Jie and I went to Terminal 3's Popeyes to eat. Kinda crappy. I was reading reviews online while waiting and true enough, the more the customers, the worse the food. I ordered a Maxi meal and it was bad. The small drumlets were overcooked, making it hard and rough. The tendons were hard as well and had an awkward texture for the crisps surrounding the meat. The bigger drumlets were better done, probably because it was harder to overcook it considering its thickness. The mashed potato on the other hand was good. I love how an extra touch of cajun spices were added to the mashed potato giving it a very rich and satisfying taste. However the texture of the mashed potato was not very good. It tasted powder-like, as if it came right out of the 7-11 mashed potato machine.

In the end I left for home and had a nice nap in the train.

Sabotage

The week was okay I guess.

Last Friday a bunch of us people went to Karen's house and played Mahjong, a tile game I can never play well. Anyway I also played with her Xbox 360 and I sucked as well.

On Saturday I woke up at about 12++ p.m. and thought that it was quite late and decided to not go for work.

On Sunday I went to the Expo for the Penguin Book Fair. The books were freaking cheap. Like most were either $3, $5, or $8. A rare few are $10. Harry Potter for $5! What the hell. Anyway I bought like almost till $70 dollars, $25 spent on 5 books from the Southern Vampire Mysteries. Bad thing about this was that they books were randomly slot and there were no form of organisation. You just had to walk around and try your luck!

Anyway Monday I continued with my job. Kinda sucks. My commision so far looks like half the cycle of a sine curve. What the. Plus my day yesterday was freaking bad. While on the way to work on the train a (censored for racial harmony) girl was sitting on her boyfriend. Her boyfriend started to stick his tongue out to lick the girl's neck and occasionally suck it too. I was totally grossed out.

Then I got to Toa Payoh and I went to the washroom at HDB Hub. Quite full there. I went to a urinal and the guy beside me started peeping at my Johnson. His face suddenly lit up in amazement. Well, he's not to blame for having a small dick himself. What a disgusting day.

Today I woke up at about 9 a.m. by my alarm. The sun was streaming in from my bedroom's window. Then I saw an Indian man outside. I was very alarmed. Apparently they were repainting my flat. Gave me a shock out of my life. Still, I was still quite wary of them and was afraid they would peep into my house though the window were closed and tinted because apparently you can still see through those grey one-way windows when you are close enough.

I went out and met with Wei Jie at City Hall, who wanted to go walk around cause it was too early for work. We ended up watching 2012, which has released for some time. It was quite an exciting movie, though some ideas were quite fake. The idea behind this movie apparently due to some Mayan calender ending in 2012, etc.. Well see when 2012 comes in just slightly three years time.

Anyway my commission today is the lowest ever! I totally freaked out when I only managed to get 5 people today. Nearing 10:00 p.m., the time my office closes, I started to get the people I called telling me that just half an hour ago (around 9:20 to 9:30 p.m.) someone had already called them to give them an URL to go online to do the survey. They were asked to do the survey in a week.

I was angry. Who the hell was that who called them and ask them to do online? If so, what is the point of me calling these lists of people? This irritating asshole breaking my rice bowl... Anyway I must get to the bottom of the matter and find out what exactly was happening. I can't let people sabotage my source of income.

Aww I Love Saturdays

Went to work, this time earlier. On Saturdays I work from 12 noon till 7p.m..

Business was significantly better, with much more people accepting my calls. Same assignment as usual, but today I call those who are in post-NS. Which means male only. :( I miss the sweet voice of some girls who are much more patient with me.

So everyone I called were male, and first time I get people annoyed. I maintained my composure and stayed polite as always, being always clear-headed and calm. Some people I called were overseas and I attempted to still have them complete my survey. Thus I had to speak really quickly cause I didn't want to bring up their roaming costs. Today I also had to apologise to many more people at the end of the calls; many were obviously irritated. One even asked me to just select 'Agree' for all the personal response questions.

There was also another person who spoke Chinese. You know, some people are bilingual but they just speak Chinese or English a lot. I attempted to translate a few questions for him but I gave up when it came to the personal response questions. It was just too complicated for me to translate. I ended up asking him to allow me to ask in English while he respond in Chinese.

Still, I enjoyed it. I get exposed to more types of people. Not only so, I earned slightly more today. Almost double of what I earn usually because more people are accepting my calls. Anyway I feel slightly guilty for being happy that people are not employed yet. Cause the questions are shorter when they don't work. Then again, they are studying, so its not that bad for me to be happy that they don't work right?

Looks like working on Saturdays is a must-do for the next few weeks. Fun!

Repetition

Continued with the job.

Business today was somehow much better, I don't know why. Got slightly more people completing my surveys. Halfway through I was given another list of people to call. It's under the same assignment but the list was not a 'clean' one, meaning the list have been called a gazillion times to no success.

I was annoyed. Why am I trying that list that no one even wants to try? What the hell is going to happen to my pay?

There was a guy who once accepting my call said

"呃，你好了嗎?" (Eh, are you done?)

I paused for a few second, not knowing how to reply. Then I replied, hesitantly and quite unsmoothly.

"我不是你以爲你在跟他講話的人。" (I'm not the one you think you are talking to.)

The one on the phone paused for a moment too, and finally asked who I am. Then I continued with the usual routine.

I was also given another assignment, about Singapore Idol to 'tag' to my current assignment. It means if I complete a survey for my original assignment I can attempt to stuff another in to the same person.

I failed for every single one I called, because they don't meet one criteria. They need to watch at least an episode of Singapore Idol. Apparently every one I called have not even watched an episode of Singapore Idol.

Plus, I don't know if my original assignment is better or what. All the people I called are polytechnic graduates for years, and so I have to speak English throughout, except some Chinese to their mums and dads picking up the home phone. I want to speak Cantonese! Some of the others are doing another assignment for patients, they speak a lot of Chinese, some English, some even have to stop the survey cause the recipients speak Cantonese or Hokkien. Sounds kinda fun! Downside for them is they get scolded by old people picking up the phone, and their assignment are less paying!

Shall continue working on Saturday.

Working Experience

I yesterday went for a job briefing.

Today afternoon I went to Qixi's house for a housewarming (not really, more of a friends gathering) at the condominium Qixi recently moved into. Just a very normal gathering - ate, chat, sang.

Then Wei Jie and I left and met with Vincent at Tanah Merah train station to go to work together. It's my first day and it's the second or third day for them. I work as a tele-surveyor where basically I call up a selected pool of people based on the assignment I'm assigned and guide them through a survey, being paid by completed surveys. I thought the job is not bad at all. The pay at most lucky days where I have better business is higher than average sales/F&B.

My first day today was quite productive, not an amazing number of success calls, but not bad at least. I wasted quite some time for another assignment where I went down for face-to-face surveys at the reception where I approached those waiting to watch Singapore Idol. Unfortunately, many of my surveys filled were made not applicable since the people filling them up must be Singaporean or at least Singapore PR, but however there were many foreigners as there is a Eurasian contestant I think.

The calling part was much better, other than the fact that I have to hold the telephone receiver to the side of my face for hours. Or else it was nice talking to them, etc..