It was just another day that we (me and my friend) finished a late night shopping and left Mustafa at around 2:30 AM. We happened to board the Comfort Taxi from Little India to Pasir Ris. It was a pleasant journey as the driver kept us updated about the happening in and around Singapore. That's when I felt thirsty and asked the driver for some water. Though he had the intention to give some water to me, he gave us something else ... a water of knowledge.
It so happens in Indonesia, that people who go to Pubs get looted black and white. They don't realize what happened and how it all happened? Its mainly targeted people who have the tendency to dance a little bit between the drinks or probably between the sips, as such Indonesia is famous for all the illegal activities. So when a person goes to the pub, he is watched ... next he is targeted. When they serve the drinks be very cautious as in who is serving it ... They tend to mix something that can intoxicate you ... make you feel giddy ... can make you lose memory (GHAJINI) Next that realize is that you have shared a condo with the laymen in the streets.
The worse one's are when you take the fresh water bottle, they tend to inject them using needles that we never realize that its already contaminated.
Finally he said, why I told you this is there are Indonesian people in Singapore as well. Some drivers belong to Indonesia and are settled here but their attitude has not changed. So beware of such people and don't take water from anyone and everyone. This is not your country India to trust everyone and consider them as your brother.
So that was the answer to my simple question, "Do you have water?"
Now as he finished the lecture we reached our destination. We both were so involved in his "Gyan Session" that we forgot ourselves completely and assured ourselves of being careful. Now I got off the cab and went to collect the luggage and asked my friend to carry rest of the items. After the tiresome shopping and the valuable travel we felt quite relaxed and we exchanged our thoughts. The time was 3:30 AM and the city was half-asleep, I saw a couple of girls stopping the taxi that we traveled for their travel needs. Something struck me that I would meet the driver again ... why ... when ... what for ??? No One KNOWS!!!
Sometime later as we were getting onto the lift, we thought of calling our other friend who was fast asleep at home. It has been a common practice to wake up people who are sleeping that too when they tend to go to the "Deep Sleep Mode" ... (I still remember how Mani used to wake up his cousin after his night shift) That's when we realized that our phones were not with us. We checked our bags, they I remembered asking my friend to collect all the stuffs from the car. So both our mobiles were left behind in the car. Apple iPOD - 3GS and Blackberry Bold 9000!!!
We didn't know what to do and where to go ... I ran ahead of him to see if the taxi was somewhere near the signals. It was a half-empty road but I saw a similar taxi little further. Assuming that to be our taxi I ran faster to et hold of him. As I reached the place the driver applied the gear and by the time he could accelerate I was there in front of the taxi. I stopped him to see if it was the same driver who dropped us a little while ago. But to our dismay it was another taxi driver from the same taxi office - Comfort. I took the number from him and ran to the nearest PCO and made a call to the Comfort office asking them to track the cab. They asked me for the mobile information and our personal information. Once we gave them, they said they would call us within few minutes after reaching the driver of the taxi. Since we didn't have an alternate mobile I had to rush back home to get my alternative mobile. They had tried reaching us in the meanwhile to give us an update regarding the mobile and the taxi driver.
Since we didnot receive the message we were so tensed, so tensed that we started to recollect what wrong had we done??? It might be just a phone, but to think that we have lost S$2000 is nothing easy to digest. In the next couple of minutes I had come down from my apartment and rushed towards the place (PCO) from where I had made the first call. Since it was a long straing road I could see a car parked near the PCO with its lights flickering. I could not resist myself from running harder. I started to thank all the stars and GOD of course when I looked up. Yes I saw the same taxi ... the taxi driver was waiting for us ... He taught us another lesson ... Be Careful, not everyone in this world are like me to return your stuffs back to you ... You must be really LUCKY to have them back.
I called the Comfort office and thanked them as well as the driver. They asked me to about the incident and gave kudos to driver for his genuineness. As we walked back, we thought for a moment ... what if I had lost else where ... well my track record of losing mobiles would have gone up by 1 to 6 ... I should have lost my previous mobiles in similar circumstances and there people made use of the opportunity and here stands a man who has driven back to give our possessions. Well ... well ... It happens only in Singapore!!!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
First Flight Journey Chennai to Singapore
The flight journey was another memorable one as it was the first time that I stepped onto a flight. The thought about the journey in the flight keeps one rolling ... Travel in the Place (new people, new culture, all the movies which had been shot in such sequence), Air-Hostess (let me ask her this 'n' that, let me try to impress her), Food (let me order as much as possible) and Photo shoot (with the Air-hostess, the aerial view, the ambiance)
At the entrance you are welcomed by your most expected "Air-Hostess" and she guides you to the seat ... There were from strange behavior that I observed among the passengers ... Whenever the air-host passes by they would not have realized itself, but when the air-hostess passes by they try and do anything and everything possible to establish a conversation. It would be like they try to impress her (just like the "Hero's" in Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood) They would be Mother-Teresa at times ... else Super Star. I thought what best someone could do to impress them that too in such a small place. I felt it when I was putting my seat belts. Though it was the first time in flight, wearing seat belts was not a tedious task as it was similar to the way that you wear the seat belts in the car. Now I had my 3 sweaters and the 2 jackets wrapped on my lap and I managed to wear the seat belts as per the instruction (the air-host and the air-hostess demonstrate what needs to be done while travelling and at the time of emergencies). As their routine check before take off, they went across all the seats to check if all the passengers had worn the seat belts correctly. Just before she came to our section, the guy on one side asked me to wear the belts tightly ... I replied, it was OK ... But he pushed my jacket aside and started fiddling and started to adjust it ... As the air-hostess approached us, she asked if any help was required ... The guy politely replied, "No thanks, just helping him adjust his seat belt" what an act of heroism and the latter smiled and said "Thank You". Remember "Driving an Auto in the Cycle's Gap"!!!
The Flights "Take-Off" is the best moment of all ... It would be just like a Usain Bolt getting ready for the sprint (best part is, it would be in the slow-motion style) ... The flight moves to one end of the runway slowly, steadily, just like a warm-up session. Once its on the one end it takes a U turn to face the track (well this depends on where the runway is) ... On your mark ... Set (the engine gives the loud noise) ... GO!!! ... just like the 100m race sprint of UB, the flight pushes itself with the maximum power, exhausts maximum energy then just before it realizes that if it continues this way it would hit the wall it gives a jerk like Mike Powell and takes off from the ground and then what it is called "flight" and glides in the air. Every moment you could feel the flight pushing itself upward, screeching the sky and moving into a new world altogether. This is the best part of the whole flight journey and suggest others not to wear any cotton, or headsets to your ears ... (you would miss something very precious), then again if you have acousticophobia then its better to take all the necessary measurements.
Once the flight takes off its just like you go in any other airbus on the roads. Here there won't be any traffic police ... no "take diversion" ... no checking inspection ... no wait for trains to pass by as we have on the roads. But remember you still have the bumpy travel every time you hit a cloud. The AH's give us update every time the flight is changing the direction just to keep us alert. This is another place our hero's become active, when they are asked to occupy the seats at the time of take off ... people take off from their seats to the wash room ... not sure if something else as well takes off :D
The later part of the journey would be more like a train travel ... Some enjoying the night lights, some the darkness, some reading, some fast asleep and the rest merely loitering around to find out the whereabouts of the Air Hostess. Some behave really strange like the passenger next to my seat, standing and traveling and complaining that his leg room was so less. Something noticeable was when couple of them changed their costumes to "Lungi" in the cabin itself. They would ensure that they make it feel like home. There are books about the flight and emergency exercises and exits and some magazines. The lights can be adjusted as per our needs.
Now comes the exciting one, the food & beverages ... They start with the usual starters like the nuts or snacks. I started off with the ground nuts and peas ... Next was the beverages, I was asked "Beer/Soft Drinks"... I said any "Non-Aerated Drinks" ... The crew went to other passengers and started to take their orders and serving them ... Sometime later one of the Air-Hostess passed a cup to this crew, he gave it to me saying, "We serve this only to the Business class passengers" Guess what ... It was a Tender COCONUT!!! It was the frozen coconut water neatly packed, so I asked him for one more, again he went to the other end and got me one. Next following was the meals ... now the timing is when they finish with the starters from the last row towards the front the meals starts. Its a mini trolley with Veg and Non-Veg variety food packets. I had the Non-Veg as I saw the menu for Veg and felt the NV was much better. The only thing they provide extra is water bottle.
As I completed the early breakfast 3:30 AM IST, we were told about the flight status and other information about the weather and forecast. From that moment starts the preparation for the landing. I was given the immigration form and health check for that I had to give it at the time of immigration. Though it was still 3:30 AM IST, I could see the early morning sky as it was the 6:00 AM SGT. The feeling of you being in Singapore starts that moment. When I peeped through the glasses, we could see the blue sky and the sea. The person sitting on the window seat never bothered to see the outside sky, the only thing he did perfectly was sleeping. The veins felt rejuvenated with the thought that you are about to land in a foreign nation.
Once I filled the forms, I was told about the landing ... The seat belts were worn again, so that was the last time we wear them in that journey ... People started to get their luggage's down from the cabins ... Just like a train people started to accumulate their baggage's near the exit ... This is in spite of the repeated reminders from the cabin crew and air-hostess. They say, we have traveled enough and know what would happen. Some even boss around the air-hostess. With all the ionstructions given in between, we headed for the landing ... it was another pleasure to enjoy but not as much as I enjoyed the take off ... the flight glides, swings and falls to the ground THUND!!! skeeeechhh ... skeeechhh ... the brakes are applied and the flights are taken through the terminals where they need to park the planes. Once the plane was brought to a stand-still I felt the fish market scene, everyone pushing each other, pulling the luggage's and heading towards the exit ... It would look more like an emergency exit, people would be so eager to step out, you may think they are offering something for the first 100 passengers who step out. But nothing of that sort was given, except a pleasant "Thank You"from the air-hostess. So that was another dream coming true in my life, traveling in flight ... being the first of all the flight journeys, i remember every moment and cherish them all the way to this blog.
At the entrance you are welcomed by your most expected "Air-Hostess" and she guides you to the seat ... There were from strange behavior that I observed among the passengers ... Whenever the air-host passes by they would not have realized itself, but when the air-hostess passes by they try and do anything and everything possible to establish a conversation. It would be like they try to impress her (just like the "Hero's" in Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood) They would be Mother-Teresa at times ... else Super Star. I thought what best someone could do to impress them that too in such a small place. I felt it when I was putting my seat belts. Though it was the first time in flight, wearing seat belts was not a tedious task as it was similar to the way that you wear the seat belts in the car. Now I had my 3 sweaters and the 2 jackets wrapped on my lap and I managed to wear the seat belts as per the instruction (the air-host and the air-hostess demonstrate what needs to be done while travelling and at the time of emergencies). As their routine check before take off, they went across all the seats to check if all the passengers had worn the seat belts correctly. Just before she came to our section, the guy on one side asked me to wear the belts tightly ... I replied, it was OK ... But he pushed my jacket aside and started fiddling and started to adjust it ... As the air-hostess approached us, she asked if any help was required ... The guy politely replied, "No thanks, just helping him adjust his seat belt" what an act of heroism and the latter smiled and said "Thank You". Remember "Driving an Auto in the Cycle's Gap"!!!
The Flights "Take-Off" is the best moment of all ... It would be just like a Usain Bolt getting ready for the sprint (best part is, it would be in the slow-motion style) ... The flight moves to one end of the runway slowly, steadily, just like a warm-up session. Once its on the one end it takes a U turn to face the track (well this depends on where the runway is) ... On your mark ... Set (the engine gives the loud noise) ... GO!!! ... just like the 100m race sprint of UB, the flight pushes itself with the maximum power, exhausts maximum energy then just before it realizes that if it continues this way it would hit the wall it gives a jerk like Mike Powell and takes off from the ground and then what it is called "flight" and glides in the air. Every moment you could feel the flight pushing itself upward, screeching the sky and moving into a new world altogether. This is the best part of the whole flight journey and suggest others not to wear any cotton, or headsets to your ears ... (you would miss something very precious), then again if you have acousticophobia then its better to take all the necessary measurements.
Once the flight takes off its just like you go in any other airbus on the roads. Here there won't be any traffic police ... no "take diversion" ... no checking inspection ... no wait for trains to pass by as we have on the roads. But remember you still have the bumpy travel every time you hit a cloud. The AH's give us update every time the flight is changing the direction just to keep us alert. This is another place our hero's become active, when they are asked to occupy the seats at the time of take off ... people take off from their seats to the wash room ... not sure if something else as well takes off :D
The later part of the journey would be more like a train travel ... Some enjoying the night lights, some the darkness, some reading, some fast asleep and the rest merely loitering around to find out the whereabouts of the Air Hostess. Some behave really strange like the passenger next to my seat, standing and traveling and complaining that his leg room was so less. Something noticeable was when couple of them changed their costumes to "Lungi" in the cabin itself. They would ensure that they make it feel like home. There are books about the flight and emergency exercises and exits and some magazines. The lights can be adjusted as per our needs.
Now comes the exciting one, the food & beverages ... They start with the usual starters like the nuts or snacks. I started off with the ground nuts and peas ... Next was the beverages, I was asked "Beer/Soft Drinks"... I said any "Non-Aerated Drinks" ... The crew went to other passengers and started to take their orders and serving them ... Sometime later one of the Air-Hostess passed a cup to this crew, he gave it to me saying, "We serve this only to the Business class passengers" Guess what ... It was a Tender COCONUT!!! It was the frozen coconut water neatly packed, so I asked him for one more, again he went to the other end and got me one. Next following was the meals ... now the timing is when they finish with the starters from the last row towards the front the meals starts. Its a mini trolley with Veg and Non-Veg variety food packets. I had the Non-Veg as I saw the menu for Veg and felt the NV was much better. The only thing they provide extra is water bottle.
As I completed the early breakfast 3:30 AM IST, we were told about the flight status and other information about the weather and forecast. From that moment starts the preparation for the landing. I was given the immigration form and health check for that I had to give it at the time of immigration. Though it was still 3:30 AM IST, I could see the early morning sky as it was the 6:00 AM SGT. The feeling of you being in Singapore starts that moment. When I peeped through the glasses, we could see the blue sky and the sea. The person sitting on the window seat never bothered to see the outside sky, the only thing he did perfectly was sleeping. The veins felt rejuvenated with the thought that you are about to land in a foreign nation.
Once I filled the forms, I was told about the landing ... The seat belts were worn again, so that was the last time we wear them in that journey ... People started to get their luggage's down from the cabins ... Just like a train people started to accumulate their baggage's near the exit ... This is in spite of the repeated reminders from the cabin crew and air-hostess. They say, we have traveled enough and know what would happen. Some even boss around the air-hostess. With all the ionstructions given in between, we headed for the landing ... it was another pleasure to enjoy but not as much as I enjoyed the take off ... the flight glides, swings and falls to the ground THUND!!! skeeeechhh ... skeeechhh ... the brakes are applied and the flights are taken through the terminals where they need to park the planes. Once the plane was brought to a stand-still I felt the fish market scene, everyone pushing each other, pulling the luggage's and heading towards the exit ... It would look more like an emergency exit, people would be so eager to step out, you may think they are offering something for the first 100 passengers who step out. But nothing of that sort was given, except a pleasant "Thank You"from the air-hostess. So that was another dream coming true in my life, traveling in flight ... being the first of all the flight journeys, i remember every moment and cherish them all the way to this blog.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Welcome to Singapore
The flight IC-555 took off from Chennai with 10 min delay. Seeing delays up to 6 hours this was nothing in front of them. The journey was fully enjoyed from the take off to the landing. It was around 7:10 AM SGT, as we were landing I happen to see the new place where I was to start a new career. The first thing I noticed was the Singapore river then the runway with all lights lit up. Is this the place that's going to change me??? Is this the place I'm destined for??? No Answers!!!
After finishing the immigration formalities moved towards the checkout counters to collect my baggage. At the airport, I happened to see lots of Singaporean from Indian and most of them happened to know Tamil and immediately there was one song that was on my lips ... Namma Ooru Singaari from Ninaithaley Inikum.
I admired the place for sometime for its infrastructure and then headed towards my guest house. For sometime I felt I was lost as there was no one to guide you as to where to go next? There was an information center, seeing me lost they asked if they would be able to help me. I told them that I had to go to the Eunos Mansion (Guest House) and showed them the contact number of the HR and VP. They gave me 20cents and asked me to use the prepaid phone from there to call one of them and inform about my arrival. It was more like the movie Sivaji, where Rajanikanth stands with a rupee in his hand ... Poo Paathai OR Singam Paathai ... I tried to call my good old friend Arthy ... NO ANSWER, then the HR ... NO ANSWER, so collected the 20 cents and walked back. I was stopped by another person, he said he has a calling card which I can use to make calls for 10$ but it costs only 5$ ... Buy 5$ and make calls for 10$ so 5$ FREE!!!
"Deei Vanthathum Varaathathumaa Yennoda Nethila Yethaiyoo Paathutaandaa ... Usaaru Aiyaa Usaaru" this is the exact thought in my mind. I told him I don't need it and was about to leave. He replied, you Indians won't trust others and won't accept anything that's even free. I had to reply, "Hey Friend, just because it comes for free of cost, its not necessary that I need to take it".
Then I headed back to the information center to thank the ladies there who helped me by giving the 20 cents. I was guided to the taxi stand to go to my guest house. When I went to the taxi stand, I saw a Hyundai Sonata with a LED display on the top reading "TAXI" and some others taxi's with the display as "HIRED", "BUSY". I was waiting and the HS driver asked me if I needed a taxi. I replied "No Thanks" and walked towards the taxi counter asking him, if there would be any other taxi ... The taxi driver didn't understand anything as to why I was asking for another taxi. The person at the counter advised me to take the HS Taxi. I asked him, if there would be any other cheap taxi assuming that Hyundai Sonata might charge high. He said, all the taxi's are the same and asked me to board the taxi. Hyndai Sonata - TAXI - My God, where am I??? The driver helped me with my luggage and we boarded the taxi. I told him the address and zoom he was to the place. First thing the driver asked me was to wear my seat belts, then on it was my turn, I asked him too many questions about the place, driving, climate, route ... etc It was a Chinese speaking driver and had thought that I had come for a RJ position.
The first bike I saw was Bajaj Pulsar, woow our dear Bajaj in Singapore as well!!! COOOL then when I saw the taxis was stunned for a moment, almost all the taxis are either Toyota or Hyundai make. There are even taxis of Mercs and Bentley!!!
It was a journey for about 12 minutes and he charged me 9$ ... I was like from that place till here Rs. 300 ?? Next I thought of calling my people back in India and inform them about my arrival. I had charged for Rs. 400 the previous day and was quite sure that the call would go. To my surprise even the Airtel network got automatically recognised as SingTel. So I made the first call back to India, it was approximately 8:00 AM SGT (5:30 AM IST) and spoke to them for about 2 min and disconnected the call saying will call others as well. Since it was a prepaid card, it gave be the balance saying "Rs. 8.05 left in Your Account" ... I saw the message twice and consoled, convinced and what not ... just to realize that the call made cost Rs. 300 which is Rs. 150 per minute. International roaming is truly International. Later I proceeded to call the HR as I didn't have a clue of the floor or the apartment number. It was Eunos Mansion, its a posh apartment like our Shoba's with all Gym, Swimming Pool and other facilities within the apartment campus.
The I met another person who looked like an Indian, I inquired him about the company guest house but he had no clue. But he showed me a coin booth and gave me few more cents. He had come to Sing for studying and was on his way to morning walk along with the owners. I tried calling my company people and there was no response till I called the Vice-President of my company. Firstly he was shocked to receive a call that early, secondly he was shocked for the reason I was calling him - regd Accommodation. But he was kind enough to provide me a solution and I figured out the company guest house. Now this house has just one key for the main door and the key is kept in the secret place. I took the key from the secret place and entered the appt.
It was a 3 BR apartment (1 Master + 2 Common) fully furnished with A/C, TV, Cable, Broadband ... everything set in place. Luckily I was the only one in the apartment, it was like a dream apartment but missing all my people. Later I had called Albert Anna about my arrival and he said he would visit my shortly. So my journey was safe without major hiccups.
I thought of refreshing myself and get myself settled. After shower thought of taking a short nap for an hour till Anna arrives. The A/c room fully chilled and made my eyes doze off at a sooner pace. Then I heard someone giving me a call on my landline. It was Albert Anna who had tried reaching me for the past 15 minutes. When I saw the time I had slept for 3.5 hours, now you call that a short nap. Slept like crazy in thee A/c room unaware of what is happening around. Thanks to Shruthi (Albert Anna's daughter) who asked him to try give me a ring once again to my landline. He had tried close to 10 times in those 15 min and I was faaaaaaaast asleep.
He guided me to the nearby places and gave some tips for the next days travel. After he left I went to the nearby store to collect a calling card to make some international calls using my landline. I had informed everyone possible till the last balance of that calling card to inform about my arrival. Well. so far didn't find anything so interesting, except that the place was kept clean and disciplined. Everyone obeys the traffic signals and even pedestrians use the Zebra crossing to cross the road, that too only when the singal turns GREEN. So that was the only thing to be mentioned to everyone that I had called.
There were some grocery stores close by, being the first day started to calculate anything and everything in INR. Made some friends at the grocery store and at the hawker centre where I had "Chicken Biriyani" (Singaporean style), my first food item in Singapore. The Biriyani rice was served separately and the roasted chicken separately.
Later in the evening I thought of visiting the nearby places and boarded a bus. Every other person had a swipe card and I had only cash in my hand. I asked the driver to issue me a ticket and he asked me to drop that in the cash box. I asked him for a receipt he said it will generate automatically. But I noticed the machine to be not working and asked him how much to pay and he said 1.40 c ... I had a 2$ note with me and asked him for change ... But he could not understand what I was asking for and just directed me to the cash box. I was confused and asked the bystander for help ... I felt the racism there for the first time, when the person refused to even speak to me ... Looked for a similar skin in the bus, found a happy going couples. Asked them for help and they asked me to drop the cash in the cash box. Since there was no tickets I told the driver that Ididn't have change and gave him just a dollar. Another interesting thing is there is no conductor and everything is handled by the driver. So when you want to get down, you need to press a button that would intimate the driver that someone needs to get down. So that was the first travel in bus - a one dollar travel. All the buses are fit with A/c similar to the Volvo buses in our place.
The first place was Eunos Station, where you have both the bus terminus and the train station close by. I asked for the EZLink card which is used for travel and started to make my travel from there to the places around in bus and train. Actually the bus goes around and around, probably from our front gate to the side gate it would go another 2-3 km and reach our side gate.
The whole of Singapore is well connected using bus and trains (MRT) (Mass Rapid Transit). You won't get lost and even if you get lost call 999 for help. This number is reachable through the mobiles as well. All the bus stops are numbered and the entire stretch of the road has the same name. That's when I realized one thing, that morning Anna had asked me where I stayed and I told him the nearest bus stop read as "Jln Eunos", later I came to know there are more than 7 stopping with the same name stretching for more than few kilometers.
Some important tips for the first timers:
1. Get a SingTel prepaid card when you reach Singapore for mobile connectivity.
2. Collect the EZLink card from the MRT Station (Train station) for internal travels.
3. Have your passport handy always till you get the employment pass.
Wish You a Happy Stay in Singapore!!!
After finishing the immigration formalities moved towards the checkout counters to collect my baggage. At the airport, I happened to see lots of Singaporean from Indian and most of them happened to know Tamil and immediately there was one song that was on my lips ... Namma Ooru Singaari from Ninaithaley Inikum.
I admired the place for sometime for its infrastructure and then headed towards my guest house. For sometime I felt I was lost as there was no one to guide you as to where to go next? There was an information center, seeing me lost they asked if they would be able to help me. I told them that I had to go to the Eunos Mansion (Guest House) and showed them the contact number of the HR and VP. They gave me 20cents and asked me to use the prepaid phone from there to call one of them and inform about my arrival. It was more like the movie Sivaji, where Rajanikanth stands with a rupee in his hand ... Poo Paathai OR Singam Paathai ... I tried to call my good old friend Arthy ... NO ANSWER, then the HR ... NO ANSWER, so collected the 20 cents and walked back. I was stopped by another person, he said he has a calling card which I can use to make calls for 10$ but it costs only 5$ ... Buy 5$ and make calls for 10$ so 5$ FREE!!!
"Deei Vanthathum Varaathathumaa Yennoda Nethila Yethaiyoo Paathutaandaa ... Usaaru Aiyaa Usaaru" this is the exact thought in my mind. I told him I don't need it and was about to leave. He replied, you Indians won't trust others and won't accept anything that's even free. I had to reply, "Hey Friend, just because it comes for free of cost, its not necessary that I need to take it".
Then I headed back to the information center to thank the ladies there who helped me by giving the 20 cents. I was guided to the taxi stand to go to my guest house. When I went to the taxi stand, I saw a Hyundai Sonata with a LED display on the top reading "TAXI" and some others taxi's with the display as "HIRED", "BUSY". I was waiting and the HS driver asked me if I needed a taxi. I replied "No Thanks" and walked towards the taxi counter asking him, if there would be any other taxi ... The taxi driver didn't understand anything as to why I was asking for another taxi. The person at the counter advised me to take the HS Taxi. I asked him, if there would be any other cheap taxi assuming that Hyundai Sonata might charge high. He said, all the taxi's are the same and asked me to board the taxi. Hyndai Sonata - TAXI - My God, where am I??? The driver helped me with my luggage and we boarded the taxi. I told him the address and zoom he was to the place. First thing the driver asked me was to wear my seat belts, then on it was my turn, I asked him too many questions about the place, driving, climate, route ... etc It was a Chinese speaking driver and had thought that I had come for a RJ position.
The first bike I saw was Bajaj Pulsar, woow our dear Bajaj in Singapore as well!!! COOOL then when I saw the taxis was stunned for a moment, almost all the taxis are either Toyota or Hyundai make. There are even taxis of Mercs and Bentley!!!
It was a journey for about 12 minutes and he charged me 9$ ... I was like from that place till here Rs. 300 ?? Next I thought of calling my people back in India and inform them about my arrival. I had charged for Rs. 400 the previous day and was quite sure that the call would go. To my surprise even the Airtel network got automatically recognised as SingTel. So I made the first call back to India, it was approximately 8:00 AM SGT (5:30 AM IST) and spoke to them for about 2 min and disconnected the call saying will call others as well. Since it was a prepaid card, it gave be the balance saying "Rs. 8.05 left in Your Account" ... I saw the message twice and consoled, convinced and what not ... just to realize that the call made cost Rs. 300 which is Rs. 150 per minute. International roaming is truly International. Later I proceeded to call the HR as I didn't have a clue of the floor or the apartment number. It was Eunos Mansion, its a posh apartment like our Shoba's with all Gym, Swimming Pool and other facilities within the apartment campus.
The I met another person who looked like an Indian, I inquired him about the company guest house but he had no clue. But he showed me a coin booth and gave me few more cents. He had come to Sing for studying and was on his way to morning walk along with the owners. I tried calling my company people and there was no response till I called the Vice-President of my company. Firstly he was shocked to receive a call that early, secondly he was shocked for the reason I was calling him - regd Accommodation. But he was kind enough to provide me a solution and I figured out the company guest house. Now this house has just one key for the main door and the key is kept in the secret place. I took the key from the secret place and entered the appt.
It was a 3 BR apartment (1 Master + 2 Common) fully furnished with A/C, TV, Cable, Broadband ... everything set in place. Luckily I was the only one in the apartment, it was like a dream apartment but missing all my people. Later I had called Albert Anna about my arrival and he said he would visit my shortly. So my journey was safe without major hiccups.
I thought of refreshing myself and get myself settled. After shower thought of taking a short nap for an hour till Anna arrives. The A/c room fully chilled and made my eyes doze off at a sooner pace. Then I heard someone giving me a call on my landline. It was Albert Anna who had tried reaching me for the past 15 minutes. When I saw the time I had slept for 3.5 hours, now you call that a short nap. Slept like crazy in thee A/c room unaware of what is happening around. Thanks to Shruthi (Albert Anna's daughter) who asked him to try give me a ring once again to my landline. He had tried close to 10 times in those 15 min and I was faaaaaaaast asleep.
He guided me to the nearby places and gave some tips for the next days travel. After he left I went to the nearby store to collect a calling card to make some international calls using my landline. I had informed everyone possible till the last balance of that calling card to inform about my arrival. Well. so far didn't find anything so interesting, except that the place was kept clean and disciplined. Everyone obeys the traffic signals and even pedestrians use the Zebra crossing to cross the road, that too only when the singal turns GREEN. So that was the only thing to be mentioned to everyone that I had called.
There were some grocery stores close by, being the first day started to calculate anything and everything in INR. Made some friends at the grocery store and at the hawker centre where I had "Chicken Biriyani" (Singaporean style), my first food item in Singapore. The Biriyani rice was served separately and the roasted chicken separately.
Later in the evening I thought of visiting the nearby places and boarded a bus. Every other person had a swipe card and I had only cash in my hand. I asked the driver to issue me a ticket and he asked me to drop that in the cash box. I asked him for a receipt he said it will generate automatically. But I noticed the machine to be not working and asked him how much to pay and he said 1.40 c ... I had a 2$ note with me and asked him for change ... But he could not understand what I was asking for and just directed me to the cash box. I was confused and asked the bystander for help ... I felt the racism there for the first time, when the person refused to even speak to me ... Looked for a similar skin in the bus, found a happy going couples. Asked them for help and they asked me to drop the cash in the cash box. Since there was no tickets I told the driver that Ididn't have change and gave him just a dollar. Another interesting thing is there is no conductor and everything is handled by the driver. So when you want to get down, you need to press a button that would intimate the driver that someone needs to get down. So that was the first travel in bus - a one dollar travel. All the buses are fit with A/c similar to the Volvo buses in our place.
The first place was Eunos Station, where you have both the bus terminus and the train station close by. I asked for the EZLink card which is used for travel and started to make my travel from there to the places around in bus and train. Actually the bus goes around and around, probably from our front gate to the side gate it would go another 2-3 km and reach our side gate.
The whole of Singapore is well connected using bus and trains (MRT) (Mass Rapid Transit). You won't get lost and even if you get lost call 999 for help. This number is reachable through the mobiles as well. All the bus stops are numbered and the entire stretch of the road has the same name. That's when I realized one thing, that morning Anna had asked me where I stayed and I told him the nearest bus stop read as "Jln Eunos", later I came to know there are more than 7 stopping with the same name stretching for more than few kilometers.
Some important tips for the first timers:
1. Get a SingTel prepaid card when you reach Singapore for mobile connectivity.
2. Collect the EZLink card from the MRT Station (Train station) for internal travels.
3. Have your passport handy always till you get the employment pass.
Wish You a Happy Stay in Singapore!!!
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