~ just the two of us ~

Have been asked this question so many times, "So how's Singapore?"…
For those close to me, I will explain to them… the rest.. Just a plain , "OK-lah"….
Well, I wasn't actually prepared coming down here at first.. Everything happened so fast. I didn't expect I would get the job that fast after the one & only interview.

After the Taiwan thing got canceled off (for those who do not know the history, click here and here), my mind just shut off… But at the same time, Singapore was still ringing at the back of my mind. In actual fact, wasn't keen on the interview when heard it was from Singapore. All the same, had a slight push from Jason to go for it and do well in the interview (I can purposely ruin things one ya' know).

All the same, got the job and had to prepare myself mentally to come down here.
The 2 trips up and down here to find for a place to stay, sort of prepared me of what's to come.
And also, hearsay from here and there.. Helped me to "relax".. Hahahha…

Overall, at this point of time writing this blog, I am happy that I made the decision of not ruining my interview. Life here has been great… Didn't take long for me to adjust to life here. Some of the reasons are mentioned below, and the rest, I hope this might be a good reference for those of you who are contemplating to work here. :)

1. Transportation - I don't feel it's such a pain NOT to have a car to move around when the public transport here is good. Have heard of some people who packed their bags and went home in 3 days because they can't stand using public transport. Of course, except if we want to buy big things, it can be a problem for us. Either to go by taxi or call for a home-remover. So far, there isn't a need to because the room we're renting has everything we need. Also, owning a car here can be very expensive!! Basically, if you take a bus, and if it's in the same zone, min. charge is $0.65. The next zone will be $0.87 and so on. All these you can know from the little book or at every bus stop, they will have this whole big list of which bus number goes to which place and the charges and so on. Superbly convenient. Why can't some countries just follow this? :P In short, am OK with this arrangement.

Average cost/ month for transportation : $50 - $80
First time user : Buy the EZ-link card worth $10/card (with $7 for usage) Subsequent top up, min. $2.

2. Accomodation - With the high rental prices going up, up, up, it can be such a pain at times.. Pain in the pocket. :P For us, we were fortunate to get a master - room which is fully furnished (with air-cond, bed, 4-door cupboard, dressing-table, attached bathroom) and most importantly about 10 - 15 minutes walk to work, and about 2 minutes walk to the nearest bus-stop which can take you to town, direct with one bus only. All these, we managed to find through the internet before we came here. For some websites for flat hunting, click here, here, here or simply type "room/hdb flat for rent" in google.com.sg. In short, am also OK with the room. :) comfy & cozy.

Cost/ month for rental : $500 (inclusive of utility bills) + $30 (broadband access, split half with the landlady - only started June)
For first month: We suffered, because we had to fork out 2 months rental & deposit and also half a month for agent fees and remaining days for that month, totaling up to $500 + $500 + $250 + $167 = $1417

3. Bank account - To open an account, you need a minimum deposit of $500. Pengsan. Subsequently, you need to maintain of an average $500/ month, else they will minus off $2 from your account.

4. Employment pass (EP) - This was done for us by the job agency. First, 3 weeks before reporting for work, we came down to do our medical check-up. Went to the panel clinic and get it done. Done quite fast. A day before report for work, went down to Ministry of Manpower to collect the EP. Together with us, we brought our application form (given by the agency), award of degree cert (ori & photocopy), passport-size pic, passport (ori & copy). For more info on procedures, click here. Everything was fast. Don't be weary if you see many people at the office. It's just a matter of minutes before it's your turn. This is what we call efficient! Take note that the EP is valid for 2 yrs, thereafter, needs to be renewed. Also, an EP only allows you to work for that particular company stated in the pass. If you quit and job, you need to re-apply for a new EP.

Cost of Employment Pass: $100/ pass (which was refunded to us by the company after that)

All in all, for first-timers, you need to have cash in hand per-pax of about:
Rental : $708.50
Bank acc : $500.00
EP : $100.00
Misc : $200.00 (to last you till your first pay-cheque)

Total : $1508.50 (or RM 3469.55 @ex.rate of 2.3)

Basically, the only variable here is the rental. If you managed to find a place cheaper than this, total sum will be lower.

5. Food - Basically, this will be the portion that will eat up most of your $$. For normal economy rice of 2 vege + 1 meat it will cost in the range of $2.00 - $2.50 (depending on what kind of meat / fish). For 1 vege + 2 meat the most it will cost is $3.00. (So far, Jason has never gone above $3.00 for this arrangement). Drinks, for teh-si hot, gelas is about $0.90 per cup. (They have very nice ones). Soup (those boiled in the pressure cooker) is between $2.00 - $6.00. The ones we take is like the itik tim soup, sze-chuan soup, water-cress/ lotus root soup is all $2.00 - $3.00. Something we noticed here is that Indian/ Mamak food here is quite expensive. For fried maggi-mee, it's $3.00 (plain). Roti prata (eq. to roti canai) can count 1:1. So for this, we usually will eat back home :) Indian rice is quite eq. to Msia ones too. Bubble-tea here costs $1.00 and above. The usual red milk tea is $1.30. And it's available practically everywhere. And, the pearls are sweet. Of course,, eating better food means more $$. Just like the food that I've listed in my previous posts (check out under label : food), they don't cost the normal $2-$3. However, still able to afford this once in a while. Be prepared to spend >$10 per person if eat at nice restaurants here. However, if consider 1:1 it's slightly cheaper than restaurants in Msia. That also depends on which restaurants. :)

Average cost per day for lunch & dinner with economy rice : $8.00 per pax.

I hope that I'm not being too detailed in this. Anyway, most of you may see this "troublesome" to go through all this.... but for me, I see it as just a one-time thing. Also, from a different perspective, seeing this as a challenge and an opportunity to gain experience, not only career-wise, but also in life. Being in Malacca for all my life has made me sort of stagnant in where I was. It was a great big step for me to come over here, and I hope, this is a stepping stone for me to experience life in other parts of the world too. Ultimately, God plans my next stepping stone. :)

Posted in: chit chat, Life and Living on 30 July 2007 at at 7:24 pm