request for survey

I just received a request to complete a survey from my recent flight experience. I guess they do not screen those requests too closely or are extremely confident that I was a happy flyer.  When your board that airline their stewardesses make sure you know that they were voted the Number One airline.  I am not sure what exactly they are Number One of; that part is not disclosed.   Perhaps my response will alter their standing.

I just watched the Singapore News.  Seems that there has been a review of the political leader's salary there. The recommendation is to cut the Prime Minister's salary by 36 percent and the President's salary cut by 51 percent. The Speaker of the House salary recommended cut is for 53 percent, bringing it down to $550,000.00.  Pretty deep cuts huh?  However, not exactly shabby salaries even with the cuts.  Maybe I am in the wrong profession.  I wonder if there are any jobs over there within that range for an ex pat?

Now time to don the duds and hit the trails to another school.  I'll do the survey when I return to my nest.

I shoulda brought my camera

As usual I should have taken the camera. I could not believe how many parents were at the school this morning sending their first born off to school for the first day.  The trauma was greater for the parents than for the kids. Not very different than at home. There were so many cars and people milling about it took me forever to get to the Head Mistress office. I am sure many parents thought they had chosen the wrong school - thinking that this was now an international school, with me there in the midst. I was not here for the first day of school last year, so did not know what to expect.

I have three new mentees join me this year and one leave at my base school.  We held a group meeting and defined what they want in the professional developments this year.  Also beaming like kids in a candy store when the saw the phonic books I brought back with me.  Even moreso when I told them that more than 50 books will be arriving in the mail soon. (Jeepers I hope it is soon)

Now all I have to do is a repeat of today for the other four schools and then down to work after that.  Looking forward to the task. And, yes I will take my camera tomorrow - but then it will not be the first day will it?

off to work tomorrow

Guess this is a sign of age. I did not go out to get a new outfit for school. Many of the colleagues dashed out to get new duds.  I am looking forward to getting back into a routine, so I guess the time is right.

sure hope I don't have to deal with this kind of driving tomorrow

Short but SWEET Skype

Internet is seriously compromised today in Malaysia. At least where I am it is.  My own source will not load a page, and the wifi I go to keeps timing out and shutting down.

Guess this is a day where face to face is all I will have. Maybe this is because I need to go back home and clean my abode and prepare for work tomorrow.  I am looking forward to work and catching up with everyone there.

As for the Skype, I was lucky enough to have a few words from the new biker and a big grin from the tooth sprouter.  Their mother was the conduit for this joy.  Thanks Jenn

Now sated with Roti Pisang with dahl and a visit with some of the people I love, I will travel back to the house and begin the cleaning.

I stand corrected

Just got a message that I must post here and eat crow.  I will only do so concerning the taxi fare though.

Here it is:
Singapore (as in other countries in the world) cabs have a surcharge
after a certain time (usually after midnight) and then the rate per/km
is also higher. It is expensive. They were not after "the tourist" in
this instance.


I accept this, not happily, but accept it just the same.

I am winning the battle with the 'cold'

Feeling much better than the past few days, so willing to venture out to forage for food.  I am meeting a friend in JB who wants to take me to some different places she has found, so maybe I will actually locate some North American sustenance for the belly on this trip.  If not, that is OK, I need to drop a few pounds anyway.  I really need to find a decent coffee vendor.  After the interlude of Canada coffee it is difficult to get back into thinking the stuff here is good.  Odd, isn't it that Canada does not produce coffee, yet they provide a superior product to the place that actually grows the stuff. Being amid a nation of tea and cordial drinkers might be the reason. I stopped in at Rosmerah for my frozen drink yesterday and asked where Faizal was.  Seems he too took advantage of the holiday season and headed home to his roots in India.  That leaves only one other who I can converse with until his return. But the other guys and myself are pretty good at miming our words, so we should be able to manage during his absence. It was nice to see their broad grins when they saw I was back.

A friend from Canada called me for technical support for some new phone purchase. Those of you who know my technical ability are likely having a good laugh.  I wonder how they feel now, knowing they know less than myself in regard to using and setting up cell phone applications.  For some reason my Blackberry address book looks like a dog's breakfast.  I cannot figure out how it messed up like it did, and have not had the energy to fix it so far.  Also discovered that the Blackberry messenger over here is not a freebie like it is at home. I was delighted to be able to message with Jenn daily but looks like I have to pay for a plan for this function here. That means using the 'old fashioned' method of communication with her - Skype and e-mail!

Why do some people scam foreigners?

I have been ruminating over the taxi ride from Changi airport to Changi Village Resort. This was the hotel I found to catch some zzz'z after the wicked flights back this way. I really must learn how to let go of this sort of thing, but for now, I mutter and plot a revenge that will never happen. A friend had taken a cab from Changi airport to our downtown international taxi stand a few weeks ago and told me that the cost of the trip was SD18.  I took a cab (because in the middle of the night the shuttles do not run) to the Changi Village Resort from the airport and it cost me SD30.  I was in no shape to argue with the driver, but I knew then that he hoodwinked me that night.  The scammer needed to drive half the distance that my friend was driven on her downtown trip. I know this because I had a fair idea of where the resort was and now just checked it on google maps.  Yes, half the distance should be half the fare.  I kinda felt like he was driving past a few places a couple of times, but at 4:30 in the morning I was only interested in ending the journey and trusted that he was driving directly to the destination and that my mind was playing games with me.

You can be sure that if I do this again, I will make it clear that I know the distance and route we are taking.  It makes me sad that I have been scammed so many times just because I have blue eyes and all that goes with that. It is almost like joining a sorority here; once you pass the initiation, the costs change, the rates go down, and you qualify for local 'deals', or shall I say, fair fares. A price should be a price for all.  Anyone who lives somewhere is no more worthy of a different price than another just because they live there. Just because you live down the street from a bistro, should your entree cost less than mine?  I think not. Is a local given inferior cuts of meat to accommodate this price difference? Not likely. Tourists are who drive the economy. Not the locals trying to get more for less. I truly hope that this sort of thing does not happen to foreigners in my own country.

I grow weary of this 'passing the test' before I am an equal.  I must add that there are many here who are not like this. They are honest, fair, and helpful in so many ways. I try to leave a tip for my massage therapist and she hangs on to it until I return for the next massage. She insists on returning it to me. I hope the others can learn from her and many like her.