RUSH HOUR

Tomorrow, i will be going to Suzhou, Shanghai (yup, travelling again)....i finished my exam today...finally...don't ask me how i did, coz i could go on and on and on complaining....let me be short and concise, it was TERRIBLE!!! out of 6 questions, i could only answer 3 of them....yeah, i wrote whatever i could think of (which also means OH OH) well, quantity doesnt mean quality~~~I just told my friend to let me keep the reference material...touch wood touch wood....after exam today, i rushed to collect my mail before i'm long gone...after that, i rushed to meet up a friend whom i haven't seen for ages...i was glad i could finally make it (am sick of the work-dinner-study-sleep type of life already), then i rushed home to pack...and tomorrow morning, gonna rush to IRD (yes, going to IRD AGAIN!!!) to submit my tax return, then gonna rush home to collect things and rush to airport....yup, my life is all abt rushing these days...how depressing...unlimited things to do with limited time...i wish i had doraemon...the stop clock!!! hehehe...yeah, in my dreams...which reminds me to better go to sleep now!!

I'm Doomed!!

I have been visiting the IRD quite often lately...sigh...yup, it's that time of the year again~~~ TAX time...don't you just hate it? With my "upside down" life right now, i really have to cherish every second, every minute in HK to settle my personal matter...be it banking matter (not that i have a lot of savings), settling bills (way to many esp my credit card bills), meeting up friends, shopping (this is the one thing that i want to do the most and always end up not doing)....sigh...and before i leave for my next engagement, i must get my tax matter settled....

I went to the IRD again during lunch to ask about some tax matter and found out tat i have been overpaying tax for the past two yrs!!!! and this time i wanted to make it right...I found out that the my ex co (u know who) didnt take into account my rental!!! Damn!!! and somemore, im so clever.... go and add in 10% of my salary that i have never earned for the IRD to tax me...no wonder i feel weird tat my tax payment is more than my friend's...Damn again...i will try to appeal....then i fast fast called the my ex co and asked them to change the EA form..Guess what??? The HR Director said there's nothing she could do!! not even willing to revise the tax for me!! yalah, i know im just a small change to such a BIG firm, but then the small change means awful lots to me !!! She said it can't be changed coz it's my responsibility to inform them...i said i only received the stupid EA form 2 days ago and somemore on request one, so 2 days after, i come bek and tell her that it's wrong....she said too late!!!! im really upset....it's so much money to me....sighhhhhhhhh...such expensive lesson!!!

Mayb i just have to accept the reality now....sigh...i will have to go to IRD for the 3rd time...this time, to submit a form that i know is not correct, a form that will make me overpay my tax again (but at a decreaseing rate as compared to last time), a form that i know doesn't reflect the true and fair view :( but still i have to accept the calculation....feel so sorry for myself :(

DroooOOoooling~~~

After N days of torture, let me be precise, it's 29 days of torture in India, one would think that the 1st thing i wanna eat is abalone, bird nest or shark fin....guess what, the 1st thing i ate when i got out of india is not those, but bread...ya, you got me right, it's my favourite, KAYA TOAST from ah kun....i had it for bfast, for lunch and for supper~~~~call me crazy, i'm just kaya toast fanatic!!! i remember once i got a set of kaya toast + milk tea + 2 eggs only for SGD0.53 in Changi Airport!! yup, you read correctly, all for SGD0.53 only...can you believe it? that really made my day...it made my grey day seemed so bright, my rainy days seemed so dry...here's the love of my life \(^^)/ (eggs - yum yum with my milk tea) (this is no ordinary toast, it looks simple but yet superlicious!!! once you munch, you cant stop)

Taylor's licking my screen~~~ LOL

YAY~~~

Just reached Singapore this morning at 615am!! I don't know how to describe my happiness...im relieved when i boarded on the plane in bangalore at 11pm :) No more 2 hours traffic jam just to go for dinner, no more culture shocks, etc etc but before i leave this sad place, i still have to encounter one last stupid system in the airport. here is how the system goes: step 1: Checked in at the counter (which took forever and it was congested at the check-in area as well..well wat do you expect...it's india~~~) step 2: Immigration counter (congested as well because the officers took their time to turn on the computer) step 3: lined up for x-ray (congested as well, coz only ONE machine is working for so many airlines!!) step 4: wait in the boarding area (the chairs looks like they have been attacked by aliens....damn dirty and looks like someone shits and pees on them!!!) well, i tried to find the cleanest in the area, my colleague rather stood for 2.5 hours and i found one, but still with pee stain on it.... step 5: after 2.5 hours of waiting, finally they called us for boarding...the indian security stood at the door, checked our luggage tags (for hand luggages, u have to have a chop from the x-ray guy) and checked our boarding pass and passport step 6: just 2 seconds after step 5, another guy checked ur passport and boarding pass again (DUH...duplication of work...no wonder the line was not moving!!!) step 7: waited in the hall because the airplane was congested!! (ppl couldnt get in the plane and i dono why) step 8: finally found my long waiting seat in the plane, and waiting to take off step 9: guess what? we couldnt take off on time due to congestion in the airport (This is INDIA we are talking abt....) in conclusion, india is all about CONGESTION!!! on top of that, the population of mosquitoes in bangalore far exceeds the population of indians!!!

Another side of India - Chennai

(this is the beach...called Bay of Bengal..isn't it beautiful?) I (this is the resort we stayed in...it looks just like the resort we see on TV....breath-taking~~) promised to post some photos for my trip to chennai two weeks ago...chennai is very different from Bangalore, it has very nice resorts and beaches and most importantly, it's much more civilised.... We went to pondicherry for a day after the resort...this is the hotel we stayed in in pondicherry..it's very french and it's very beautiful as well :)

Light

Finally, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel~~~you won't understand how happy i am right now that i can finally tell people that im leaving india....yes, im very excited and anxious and every minute to me now seems soOOOoooo long...just hope that things will work out ok....4, 3, 2, 1, 0!!! YAY \(*V*)/

Banana Thieves

We survived on banana for lunch for the past 3 weeks and for one more week to come...we took banana from our hotel during bfast...there are 4 of us, each of us will take abt 3 to 4 of them from the table...after x days of "banana stealing", they hide the banana from us. HOW CHEAP!!! hehehe....we are long term customers of the hotel, i don't think a few banana will be TOO costly for the hotel....crap, so we had to steal other food...and now, we get CUT fruits on the table....now, that's what i called, indian way of service!!!

How i lived for the past 4 weeksss~~~

印度风味 (Law of India)

After almost a month in India, i have to say, i have the closest touch with Indian culture...the experience? unbelievable~~~ it is a pain to talk to and to work with Indians...why? let me tell you some stories (In the heaviest Indian accent) Scenario 1: Me: I need this urgently, when do you think you can provide me with the info? Indian: No probbbbbleeemmm, it will be ready in 5 minutes. Me: Great. I will be waiting for you. (after N days, the info is nowhere to be seen...so you chase them) Me: Well, is the info ready yet? Indian: Yeah, I will give you by 10am. (clock strikes 10am, then 1pm, then 6pm...the indian is nowhere to be found, so the next day...) Me: Well, where is it? if i don't get it, i will put it in my report!!! Indian: Ok, it's 90% completed...i will give u in 5 mins.... (2 hours later, 4 hours later....still nowhere to be found!! so a finding in the report!!) During external updates with management, it is explained to the FC that the mgt is unable to provide with info..there, the info is just freshly done!!) This is what i called, Indian's strechable time!!! Scenario 2: After 12 hours of not having any solid food, we are so starved that we need to be taken to our dinner FAST!!! we take a taxi, asking the driver if he knows where the restaurant is. He "shake" his head (ie, indian way of saying YES), so we hop into the car....on the road, the driver is always on the phone. Eventhough we are already in the traffic jam, the car moves slower than the jam..we are at 20km/hr!!!! the driver is a call centre....i guess it's his part-time job...so, we yell at him, can you drive faster? we are STARVING!!! so, he increases to 40km/hr...after 1.30hrs (ie 14 hours without food)...he seems totally lost...we ask him again if he knows the place...he assures us tat he knows by "shaking" his head...so he makes rounds...unable to find and he turns and asks us where the location is....Derrr....we YELL at him again, we tell him, "WE ASKED U IF U KNOW THE PLACE AND U SAID YES!!! AND NOW U DON'T KNOW? IF U DON'T FIND THE PLACE IN FIVE MINUTES, WE ARE NOT PAYING U!!!" so he leaves his car, with the key and doesnt come back...we are being abandoned on the roadside...so we take a rickshaw (yes, the one you saw in my previous post) and leave. Indian's translation: Yes = yes, No = yes!!! Scenario 3: After scenario 2, we don't wanna end up with unrealiable taxi driver..so before we leave office, we make a phone call to our hotel to have them arranged a car in advance for us so that when we get back to hotel, we will leave immediately for dinner. us: Hi, we are guest from room xxx, we would like to order a car to leave hotel in 10 mins time. hotel: ok m'am, we will arrange a car for you when you come back. us: NO, no, we want a car NOW and leave in 10 minutes. hote: Ok, no problem m'am, we will arrange a car for you when you come back. us: No, i want you to arrange NOW. Hotel: OK m'am, we will arrange one for you when you come back. us: NO, I SAID I WANT YOU TO ARRANGE NOW. THAT IS WHY I CALL NOW. Ending? well, we got a car in 30 mins after our return to the hotel. this is what i called, Indian's way of service. Scenario 4: My manager wants to leave the hotel at 8am the next day, so she is arranging a taxi with the reception. Her: Hi, i'd like to book a taxi to leave at 8am tomorrow. Hotel: m'am, you can book you taxi at 8am tomorrow morning. Her: No, i want to leave at 8am tomorrow. can you please book a taxi for me to leave at 8am tomorrow? Hotel: yes, m'am, you can do that at 8am tomorrow morning. Her: No, i want to leave at 8am tomorrow. can you arrange for me? Hotel: you can book tomorrow. maybe your plan will change. Her: No, my plan won't change, that's why i plan. This is what i called, indian's consideration!!! Scenario 5: We didnt pay the driver in scenario 2, so the driver went to the hotel and asked the reception to collect money from us (how dare!!!) anyway, the hotel kept pressuring us to pay....we were pissed... us: We are not going to pay him and we told him so...he abandoned us at the roadside!!! hotel: but you still have to pay him for taking you to xxxx road. us: He could have taken us to anywhere and asked us to pay.... hotel: but you at least have to pay him for taking you there... us: well, we don't care, when we hopped into the car, the 1st thing we asked was if he knows where the location is and he told us yes and turned out he didnt!!! hotel: maybe you don't understand indian. that's the way we speak. (We were looking at each other) Us: well, that's how we pay in europe.... In the end? we didn't pay. Indian's way? it's rude to say i don't understand and I don't know.

chennai

went to chennai last weekend...it was "amazing"...as my colleagues like to put it..hehehe...well, for me, it was ok...all i can think of to describe is "wow" and "hot"....our flight was at 6pm on friday....my 1st WOW was, the airport was crowded with ppl...the traffic was d*mn congested at the airport..we even have to queue up to get into the check in counters...and the Q was 2km LOOooong!!! we waited and waited and waited, finally, one Q became 2 Q and 3 etc...ALAS, we fought for our "right" and got in~~~it was a Long process...luckily there weren't much ppl at the counter...after tat, we Q again just to get thru the x-ray section...it was a LoOOoong process as well..oh yeah, the departure and arrival monitor on the wall is monitored MANUALLY!!! usually the monitors we see, they change screen itself when there is too much information..but for this one, they actually do it manually???!! oh dear, we are in the 21st century already and where have they been? :) the airport was quite old and dirty...while waiting at the boarding area, there were two guys missing their plane while they were in the boarding area...don't ask me how that happened, all i can tell u is, "hey, it's india~~~" anything can happen...

After 50 minutes plane ride from Bangalore to Chennai, 2nd WOW..the airport looks totally different from the one in Bangalore!!! we took a taxi for 1.5 hours to a resort...that's my where my 3rd WOW is...the resort is SOOooooooOOOOo nice...it's a pity that i don't have pics...Let me tell u a story (in heavy indian accent), coz my camera battery was dead...i charged it a week ago, that's why~~~we had our seafood dinner by the ocean~~~the next day, we left for pondicherry, which is 2 hours away from where we stayed....i slept all the way there....and when i woke up, i was already in a french-indian colonial...the hotel tat we stayed in was MAGNIFICENT..that's where my 4th WOW is....that place is very french...the next day, we took a short walk around and that when my 1st "HOT" comes in...i was almost BBQ and my colleague refused to take rickshaw~~~well, for them, the hotter ther better...not for me~~~well, although it was tiring and a long ride, i quite enjoyed the journey...at least i knew, i won't travel to india at my own expense..hahah....(.....to be continued)