Unemployment

As my babysitting contract comes to an end in July
i realised that i have been unemployed for more than a year
at least, i have secured this part time job for 7 months
but the reality is i have not being able to find a full time job
in my targeted 1 year

The truth is, there are often times i asked myself,
why do i give up a managerial post to applying for any random jobs now?
Is hard to admit that im not affected when i used to be a manager and now, 
im applying jobs from retail sales to admin asst
Yes, im even looking at being a salesgirl when im 31yo...
just short of being a cashier at supermarket or waitress 

it doesnt help that after a year, 
my french is no way near what i determine as fluent enough for work level
and sadly, i have not even receive a job interview for all the random jobs i applied
at times, i comfort myself that im overqualified,
at times, i blamed the need of being biligual in french 
at times, i blamed myself for starting a career in social service, which is country restricted
many times i wish that i can return to the past and chosen a different career path
at least i will have a higher chance to land in a job now
well, too bad we cant change the past and looking back,
i did enjoy my work experiences, being good at what i do and proud of my achievements

no matter what i do it seems to be hopeless
i cant make my brain learn french faster
i cant redesign my work experience
or why im an asian that people dont think English is my native language?

The idea that asians should be working in supermarkets and restuarants is so deeply rooted here
well, even my father in law asked why i dont try to work in the chinatown
after my education and work experience, i really cant accept the fact
to work as a cashier or waitress in chinatown
Maybe im too prideful or im not desperate enough

Considering that husband is earning enough to put food on the table,
a roof over our heads and for the 2 of us to spend,
i shouldnt be so hopeless right?
Well, i dont dare plan for a kid because we are worried that having a kid while unemployed
means i will be stuck (or happy) caring for the kid and not work for few years minimum
and lets not even talk about the financial constraints...

The future is bleak and i cant see the light at the end of the tunnel... 

代购

Husband and i are really glad that im in good contact with my class buddy, Suzi
although i didnt manage to make plenty of friends in class, 
its great that Suzi and i managed to sustain our friendship after the class ended
I guess partly because she studied and worked in Singapore (she is from china)
and also the fact that we are having similar struggles in paris
the difference is her husband is a chinese living in paris for more than 10 years.
Normally, we will hang out once a week, doing shopping and lunches

All along i know that she is doing 代购 
purchasing items on behalf of friends and etcs to send back to China
Is not an online business  as she informed that sending too much items will result in taxation
so, she only send items back to friends and contacts.
I have long heard about the milk powder scandal in china that affected HK
but i never expect that people are willing to import milk powder from faraway france!
She normally charge a percentage and for each delivery of 5 cans,
she can earn about 30eur all thanks to the falling euro
but when i see the amount of work and time that is required, 
I really wondered whether it is worth it
but i guess its good income for the unemployed wives like us

Since she started helping out at her mil restaurant 
The day we meet becomes the day she needs to buy and send her 代购 items
which totally opened my eyes on how high china's demand is on foreign items
Yesterday, we had our  代购 outing that left me so amazed!

Due to the falling euros, Chanel is increasing their price in April (up to 700eur)
so, her friends asked her to help purchase 2 channel bags
Maybe we chose the wrong chanel to go at the touristy shopping mall.
Despite being a monday and her queuing 1 hour before my arrival,
we were still stuck in a long queue just to enter the store!
The queue was so long that it made me felt that chanel costs only 1eur

Sadly, both outlets sold out the designs that she required and we went to another outlet
which was out of the way and has lesser tourists
we managed to enter the store in 20mins
apparently, the designs she wanted were sold out in france 
and the factory stopped the manufacturing till the price increase
but we managed to buy this design at eur3500!

Since is our first purchase in chanel,
we learnt about how you can only purchase 1 chanel bag in 2 months in frenace
i guess is their way of limiting the quantity of chanel in the world
I dont now whether is the same in the world so please remember to bring your ID 
if you are feeling rich and buying a chanel bag...

Apart from the chanel bag,
Suzi helped her friends to buy clothes from maje at 800eur 
okay, they are really rich in china!
and we went to the post office to send to her friends
I was expecting the usual france post office till Suzi brought me to the specialized chinese post office!
I will say, it is sort of a chinese version of DHL/Fedex
Just with all chinese staff and people are really bringing boxes of items to be send
From milk powder to comestics to chocolates to shoes to shampoo....
practically everything!
Apparently, most sends are 代购 and even taught suzi how and where to buy things in paris

The staff will weight the items for you
wrapped them up for you that you maximise how much to fit into the box
I was amazed at how a pair of shoes can be wrapped up till so small
then, you will do the mailing procedures and pay up
It is not that cheap, for a 3kg box, it costs about eur35!
but i guess the post is earning money that they have more than 1 outlets
and even provide home pick up service

Suzi told me that she charge her friend extra 5percent for the bag a her commission
since it was a close friend (normally is 10percent)
and she earned about eur 150 for the bag
is good money, but i think is rare that someone will get her to buy such high range bag
I was telling husband how suzi earned so much just for a bag
husband replied that if is me buying for my sg friend, be is a close or not close friend, 
i will only asked them to buy the postal and asked for no commission
haha, i think my husband knows me too well...

Anyway, i think 代购 is a easier way to earn a little income
and is not as stressful as having an online blogshop with worries on taxs etcs
Too bad, Singapore is doing well and we dont really need 代购

first dental visit

I have been having this dull toothache for a few weeks
worried that i may have a cavity since i saw 2 black dots on my last tooth
i decided that its time to go to the dentist to check it
and to finally use my newly acquired social security card and husband's insurance
It is always to scary to go to the dentist even after my braces and childhood's scary school dentist
and now is worse, when i cant really converse in french
husband was worried that the dentist extract my tooth when i have no idea whats she saying
haha

Anyway husband helped me to make an appointment at the dentist near home
i was able to do so but im just delaying to make the appointment, haha
yes, you need to make an appointment to see dentist, doctor....
I wonder what happen if people just walked in
Or in case of emergency...

Unlike the doctor clinic, there are receptionists in this clinic
probably because its a clinic with a few dentists
all was going well till the receptionist asked me about husband's insurance
and i had to ask her to explain in english
because it was the first time im using my social security and husband's insurance
added with anxiety of dentist
i really had no mood or patience to try understand her
To summarise, i was to provide husband's information as the insurance is under his name,
i need to pay the part that the mutual pays (after the social security deduction)
and it will be refunded by the mutual (i need not do anything)

Everything was quite quick that i was in the dentist's room in 10mins
The thing is, in singapore, when you ask for cleaning, it includes polishing
so, i indicated i was here for cleaning
but to my surprise, i was done in 5mins!
because she didnt polish my teeth!
apparently, i should asked for both polishing and cleaning!
Thereafter, i just pay the remaining of the fees (9eur) and i was done
a dental appointment completed in less than 20mins!

Although im shocked at how fast the teeth cleaning was, it was painful
i guess dentists takes longer time if they want to be really gentle and careful
The problem is, she say there is no cavity!
So, i have no idea why i have tooth ache???

Well, i guess the polishing can wait till the next time i summon my courage for another appointment

Where is home?

I have been having the strangest dreams
and husband concluded because im missing Singapore

Dream 1:
I was back in my old home in bedok reservoir
and with my mum, we discovered a hidden staircase in the corner of the studying corner
then i realised when i climbed down the stairs
i can be teleported to the basement of a strange pub
or in the middle of city hall area
the rest of the dream was like mission impossible doing something weird...

Dream 2: 
Ioyce and I were at gladdys home 
and she shown us that her toilet is a teleport that we can go anywhere in minutes
then kenny came home and we were supposed to help gladdys hide the teleport from him

Dream 3:
Husband and i were bored and we decided to set up a table to sell things on the street
in front of a tour effiel and singapore flyer hybrid
before we set up, i fell asleep on the chair
when i woke up, it was evening 
i realised we were just selling an alarm clock and few pieces of papers
So, i asked husband why he didnt woke me up
and whats the point of selling these
he told me that it was fine and we should watch the fireworks before we go for dinner

After fireworks, we walked around to find dinner
we ended up in an areas with many kopitiams and hdb flats
and we settled down at a kopitiam with fishball noodles and zi char
then i told husband that we can consider buying appartment here
since there are so many kopitiams where we can get food easily
but i knew that husband will prefer to stay in classical paris buildings and not hdb
husband told me that if we stay in this place
it will be better that we stay in Singapore

Okay, it really strange dreams and i must really want a teleport to be able to travel fast
after i told husband the dream
he felt that Im missing singapore
and to him, the most difficult part of relocation is to miss out on family growing old/up
which i feel is so true!
I cant imagine each year when we return Singapore, the kids will be growing older

When we were still dating long distance,
there were so many times that i wished that i could come Paris asap.
Now, i realised i have so much attachments to friends and family, 
that i wished i can fly back much more
I wonder will there be a day where i feel so settled down in france that my homesick will be reduced
I guess grass is always greener on the other side....

Singapore day 14

As it was the last day in Singapore, we chose to spend time with family
We played the tiring kinect with isaac before he went to school
I desparately wanted to have a haircut
so husband and i left for jurong point where i went for my haircut and husband for some shopping
And we returned home for lunch by my mum
It is definitely great to taste my mum's cooking before we leave!

As shauna was sick, she spent the day at home with us
We got to nap after the good lunch
and woke up to play kinect again with Isaac before he went for his enrichment class
Sister came home early to had dinner with us
and we decided to take a cab to airport so that we can wait for my mum to return
before leaving for airport

again, time to say goodbye and we left for the airport
the flight was well and we arrived paris at 9am...

Singapore day 13 - Alive musesum

Husband felt much better after the medication and rest
and we went for a double date with aven to the alive musesum
i been to 3D musesum in Korean and often shown husband photos of them
or of my family wherever they went to similar musesum
I will think that the one at Singapore isnt really realistic looking
but we still had fun taking silly photos...

After which, we did a little shopping for husband's sd card and his fave popcorns

and left to have family dinner in jurong point...

as usual the dinner was in chaos with so many tired kids but it was a nice end to our trip...

but it was diificult to say goodbye to everyone...

bali day 6 - Kuta

We woke up to had beakfast at the hotel
and realised the hotel was much bigger than we expected!
Since our flight was at 12.50pm, we took the taxi from the hotel at 9.30am
we were worried that there would be traffic jam
however, we arrived in 15mins and had to roam around the airport after check in
I was hoping that we will have 0.5day in Singapore since we chose an early flight
sadly, the flight delayed for 45mins and it was a scary full of turbulance flight
that i was just happy to reach Singapore safely

to save time, we took a taxi back to sister home
and i took husband to the nearby clinic
Husband was impressed by the efficiacy of the doctors in singapore
how there is a receptionist taking temperature, registering
and how one need not go to the pharmacy to buy medication after the visit
so different from paris!

After that, we went to jurong point for some grocery shopping
Despite eating a light dinner so that husband can take his medication before,
i had to tabao long john silver back for my greediness..haha

I started packing my scary looking luggage while husband rested....

Bali day 5 - Kuta

the night before was not easy for husband
he started to complain about ear pain and i thought he had a pimple inside the ear
while he was worried that he had ear infection
but i guessed i was too tired to be woke up by his movement..

Our bus was supposed to come at 1030am for our 2hours ride to kuta
but based on how rides are often earlier
we were well prepared by 10am and the ride indeed came at 1015am
in about 2hours, we arrived at a bus terminal in kuta
and had to take a long walk about 30mins to our hotel
Yes, it was the only hotel that we booked for the trip!
Luckily, i saw the hotel during our night in kuta, so it was easy to find it!
Since the room was not ready, we had lunch at a cafe nearby
and went to the pharmacy to get some ear drops for husband
i had my mee goreng and husband had a burger as he was bored of rice and noodles
we were really happy with our hotel (eur35) - Grand barong resort
that it felt a little sad that we only would stay here for a night!

We were lazy but i managed to forced us to go to the beach
maybe because my skin was bad since the heat rash in singapore
i was getting burnt so fast that husband seemed to be the asian here...
we spent about 1hour at the beach but it was too sunny for me!
well, at least we got the tan to prove we went to bali, haha

We wanted to swim at the swimming pool 
but husband's ear was really painful that we gave up the idea
we rested in the hotel and decided to go for our last body massage
which we totally enjoyed it and felt that we would missed it dearly...

Since we wanted to enjoy the hotel and husband was not well,
we decided to get room service for dinner...
We were short of cash after setting aside money for the airport taxes and taxi
We didnt want to exchange more rupiah and wanted to pay by credit card
but the waiter tried twice and could not do so
finally, we paid with the rupiah that we set aside
and ran to a nearby money changer to change the differences...
Finally, it was time to enjoy the night...

Bali day 4 - Ubud

It was our last full day in Ubud and we started the day slightly later
as it began raining at about 10am and we were unable to visit the monkey forest
We left our guesthouse for the long walk to the forest 
which is actually in the end of the town and took us about 30mins walk
and we took our lunch in a small cafe that was near to the forest
where i was losing count of the number of nasi goreng i had since i arrived

I was not keen to visit the monkey forest
I had visited it and i was a little scared of the monkeys roaming around
but husband was really looking forward to it..
Although no sarong was required, i still wore mine to avoid the mosquitoes
Tourists can buy bananas to feed the monkeys but i warned husband not to buy it
after witnessing how the monkeys climbed on people for the bananas
Yes, i carry my bag in front because i read on internet that the monkeys can unzip bags...

And then, was an incident that got me really angry at husband

There was an art exhibition in the forest but i was not interested to go

as we go down the stairs, right was the ladies

and left was the mens and the art exhibition

husband asked whether i want to go to the toilet so i went

and he walked to the left

since, husband is usually the one who goes toilet often

i assumed that he want to the toilet

after i came out, i sat outside and waited for him

but i didnt see him!

despite many males entering and exiting the mens

i was hot and mosquitoes were attacking me 

but i was more worried whether husband was stuck in toilet

that he fainted or there was no toilet paper

since, we didnt had handphone to contact each other

I could only wait and be worried

After about 20mins, i finally peeked into the mens and realised it was empty

then, i found husband in the art exhibition!

I was so angry because he went to the art exhibition without telling me

while he assumed that i knew since he turned left

I just felt that he was irresponsible to not tell me and didnt even looked for me after so long!

Since i was so angry, we finished the walk quickly

well, we were almost 3/4 done when the incident happened

at least, i felt better after some shopping and husband learnt his lesson! haha

After shopping, we decided to look for a shuttle bus to return for kuta next day

and we managed to find a cheaper ride for eur6/pax

Husband and i went for massage again at another parlor

I didnt want to do full body massage and opt only for foot massage

and husband went to his full body massage but he didnt enjoyed it

at least we still had kuta to continue our good massages!

We had dinner and returned to our guesthouse for packing and rest..