Day 3

Having my breakfast of Kueh Lapis that my mum packed, I woke up at 7 to prepare for school with the 2 other girls. We didn’t actually need alarms because the street market just behind our dorm provides sufficient noise to wake us all up; from the constant honking to the random voices speaking a foreign tongue.

We headed to class shortly after and had an introduction to Project Management.

After class, we all headed to town with the Chinese students and boarded the bus outside the university. It was bus 702 and 1 ride cost us 2rmb each. Because we were a relatively huge group, it took some time for all of us to board. Due to that, we got barked at because the bus driver wanted us to hurry [with his grumpy face and all]. Customer service has been of increasing importance to Singapore the past few years and I guess I’ve never received such treatment in my life ever before. I was appalled but I wasn’t offended because I figured it would take up too much energy; the same energy that I would need to shop with. The ‘ceiling’ of the bottom deck on the bus was rather low and it halted us from properly utilizing the space that was in the bus. Only the *ahem* short *ahem* ones could get to the back due to the steps.

When we reached the Shopping Mall, [that's what it's called] we spazzed when we saw Starbucks and we couldn't wait to get to Walmart to get our toilet seats. Before that, we walked around the area and saw some pretty nice items and went to check the price out. We totally didn't expect the price to range from 600 to 900 rmb. The brands were rather unknown and it was a turn off. So, the whole group of us unanimously settled on the idea of having dinner at Starbucks.

Since Ms Hock's warning, [that the Chinese hate new notes] I felt a pressing need to get rid of mine. Because of that, I paid for my latte and food with a fresh, crisp 100rmb note and they actually have a machine where they check the authenticity of the money. It's a rarity in Singapore to doubt the authenticity. We're more trusting of each other in a sense and I guess since Singapore is much smaller, it's much easier to eradicate the circulation of fake notes.

The latte was just as good as the ones at home. It's probably because they have to uphold Starbucks' reputation. After having out light dinner and cuppas, we all headed to Walmart to get the things we needed.

The highlight of our day and the trip to the town was when we found the toilet seat. It's located where the stools are. Near the bed sheets and stuff.

I couldn't care less about anything else after we had that thing in hand. Finally, I'd be able to do my business in peace.

Our bill amounted to 308rmb and it probably is because we keep counting it in Singapore dollars. It might be considerably cheap when we convert it to our currency. But having to pay 300rmb at one go, it sort of shocked me.

AND OH, WE GOT CUTE SLIPPERS! [I'm just going to call them snuggies]

We all headed out to board the bus back home. I couldn't help but to notice the people begging for money; on the way to town, outside the shopping mall, on the way back. Old ladies were holding out their containers, giving us smiles. With their clothes all disheveled and faces worn with fatigue, it just tugs on my heartstrings to see this happening. To me, children have to be responsible enough to take care of their parents because they've been taking care of us since we were innocent little bundles. It angers me to think that their children can let them out to do such things - even in Singapore. In fact, it angers me to see this occurrence anywhere. It makes me sad to see what these old people have to do. From my viewpoint, it's like they're living day by day. Not like us where we worry about a test that's going to happen in 2 days time or something. It's like they're lucky to even be living the next day. But then again, you can't be too sure on how real it actually is.

What I have to say is that I'm now more appreciative of how things are back at home because I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get my next meal. Or where to go if it rains. But on the other hand, I wonder what goes through their mind. Perhaps they live life to the fullest because every day is a challenge on its own. They won't know what to expect while we're sitting here with plans to have dinner at a certain time and then shower and stuff. It's like they're focused on one specific goal [to get money to buy food] whereas we lose our focus and tend to think about too many things at one time.

Actually, what it seems to me is that we're covering ourselves with superficial things to a very large extent that we lose the purpose of life.