Singaporeans in Paris.

although i have been here coming 3years
i have not joined any singaporean évent here.
Apart from the embassy,
there is a singaporeans in France club
thats organise regular event
eg popian night etcs
but I think is just not in me to search
and miggle with fellow Singaporeans here

every year the embassy organize a ndp celebrations
I'm not even excited about ndp while in sg
I'm definitely not excited about it here
due to the summer holidays
the celebration is normally in Sept.
This year, I decided to ask for the invitation card for the event
since 1 of my fellow Singaporean friend is going
husband was really looking forward
because he was sure food will be great, haha.

oh there was a recommended dresscode
of red and white or traditional costumes
of course, we didn't follow the dress code.
we were late because we had so much errands to do
but people were still arriving after us
I was suprised to see the number of people attending the event.
And it was held in a nice and expensive location in paris...

Apart from the usual speeches,
where no one was paying attention to,
nationals day songs on repeat mode,
there was the lucky draw for a SQ ticket to singapore,
quiz on Singapore to win presents,
free flow alcohol (champagne too)
and of course, buffet of food!

We didnt queue for the main buffer line
because there was a long queue
and looked like it was curry puff, noodles etcs
But we did enjoy munching the small stuff 
that was put on the small tables around
and what the waiters were bringing around,
which disappeared super fast.
So Singaporean to focus on the food..
Oh, they had free flow masala tea too,
which was sooooo good.

We spent some time with my friend
but left after 2 hours.
Going grocery shopping was more attractive
then staying around not knowing anyone else.

I guess if in the future we have a kid
we probably will enjoy such events more
but for now, i think its okay to just stop by
and not spend crazy amount of time there
Well, im not that patriotic i guess.

*Pictures taken from the club's facebook*

Seeing from this side of the world

In Singapore, i admit im not so bothered by world news.
Probably just reading Yahoo news updates 
and discussing at times with friends/colleagues.
Strangely, i became more into news here
because i have more free time,
is becoming 'closer to home' than before,
or because we dont have kids to waste discussions on
and get to discuss all the issues with the husband/ friends.
And i think france has been having so many issues,
it creates endless discussions and topics.
The most common topic will be about the migrants or terrorists.
Although at times i wish it can be view as separates,
its hard to see the distinction at times.

For eg, the burkinis ban in France beaches,
i feel sad to see how bans are used to solvethe matter
when there is definitely more details to be look into.
I know Singapore is famous for its bans and fines,
but we hadnt done ban like this
because of our multi-racial population.
im still shocked by this ban,
at least people around me are feeling the same
im glad that we are all on the same side to agree
that it wasnt the best decision made.
Especially if the decision was to reduce the possibility of terrorists,
or to promote integration in France.

 Next, is the growing numbers of migrants.
Husband and i watched a documentary on the infamous 'jungle calais',
where many migrants are living there 
without adequate resources, eg proper water facilities,
risking their lives to smuggle themselves into UK
by stopping transportation trucks in really dangerous way
that also risk lives of truck drivers.
And not forgetting the lives of local are affected too.
I am sad to know that they are planning to spend millions
to build a wall along the highway to reduce the smuggling,
yet not using the money to build more facilities for the migrants.
Yes, the migrants are not interested to stay in France,
but i think if there are more resources to help them for now,
there will be less clashes between the locals and them,
and at least it will be a temporary solution
than waiting for the perfect solution to end all!

Amidst of all these,
the fear of terrorist attacks has been the hardest to ignore.
I think most people are like us,
trying our best to go on with daily lives,
and not to be crippled by fear
but is definitely harder to do so in real.

Recently, after work,
i was waiting for my train home 
and there was a delay that it took about 15mins wait.
Normally, train comes in about 10mins max.
After i board the train; 
i managed to find a seat and started playing candy crush.
There was a french lady A sitting opposite me,
a man beside her,
and a french lady B beside me.
After the man exited the train, 
Lady A realised the man had left his bag behind,
and to make matters worse,
it was a big sports bag!

Lady A announced that she should alert about the bag
which would stopped the train,
and probably takes another hour before the train service resumes.
So, she informed everyone that she is not doing so,
and decided to change cabin at the next stop
and hope she will make it to her station before the train will be stopped.
Then, she left.

While many people started to think aloud about what to do,
most people like me prefer that all will be well till our station.
Lady B decided that she would check the bag,
while everyone is thinking that she is brave,
i realised that im sitting inside
and wouldnt be able to run if she really found something in the bag.
Luckily, it seems that its really a normal sports bag with shoes etcs.
Well, there could still be something hidden.

I think most people like me,
would just leave the bag where it is after opening it,
which would end up affecting the train services
when the bag would be found by another passenger later on.
Lady B was reaching her stop and she did an amazing thing,
she told everyone that she is alighting
and she would bring the bag with her to the control station!
Everyone was so amazed by her bravery and kindness to do so,
a part of me feels ashamed that im not like her.
But is so hard to know what is the best decision to do
at the moment of the time!

Husband and i had a similar incident of bag.
We board the train and after a passenger left,
she left a shopping bag.
While everyone was thinking aloud about what to do,
a brave lady opened up the bag
and announced to everyone that is just full of smelly diapers!
Well, still was a good news!

Its strange that everyday we make different decisions
based on our past, experiences and personality,
but decisions like these are really hard to be made...

Life as a full timer

Officially, i have started as a full timer for a week!
And, i no longer do much for the operations admin
but mainly deal with accounting and billing,
which surprisingly that i enjoyed it more than operations.
I guess i prefer to be emailing people to chase for data and money,
then be subjected to the stress to answer to clients in real time.
Despite tons of backdated invoicing to be done,
im glad that im in the billing department.

Although in my contract i am to work 35 hours per week,
I have been working much more hours.
Maybe because i am slow in invoicing
or simply there is too much work to do!
Unlike the french who really want to be paid extra
or work the exact hours in the contract,
I think the workaholic in me doesnt really mind the extra hours
and I rather work late to clear my stuff 
then to face it again the next day.

So, im supposed to work 10-1830,
but i normally get to leave office at 19;30
and friday, i stayed till 20:00.
husband think im crazy to be smiling happily
even though i ended work late.
I guess its hard to explain the adrénaline rush i get at office
that really pushes me to work more.

Strange as it sounds,
I hadnt get any monday blues,
as i do look forward to work on Mondays
but i do look forward to Fridays,
I think i burnt enough of my energy from Monday to Friday.

Initially, the thought of a full time office job here
will help me understand the work culture of France
or improve my french somehow.
Yet, everyday when i stepped into the office,
i feel like i left France and is inside the Singaporean working world again!
Because:

There is only 1 french in the office (The boss) -
My direct supervisor is indian, 
my colleagues are from Mexico and india.
Although at times, french is spoken,
everything is done and speak in English.

Speed and efficiency -
I wonder is it because we are in the line of service provider
that requires immediate updates etcs.
Everything has to be done really quickly
and the need to multi-task at times.
There seems to be time limit to complete task
or time is never enough to complete everything.
Hack, my boss dont even like to see us using handphones for 1 second.

American office? - 
Since our main clients are from the states,
I think the way of work is more american style.
And i think the style is quite similar to Singapore offices,
it seems never strange to work late
or even work from home,
which i know is totally not french working style.

Life has changed - 
Not really financially since i hasnt get my full pay.
Day passses quickly and there isnt much time to do nothing
which i dont really miss that.
My french seems to be getting worse
as i felt im using less french then before.
Home feels messier during the week,
weekends are for grocery shopping or household chores.

The biggest change is that:
Husband has become the weekday chef
because im always home later than him! Haha.
I think is still a novelty to hime
that he hasnt start complaining
but i think is good we plan the meals beforehand
that he needs not crack his head on ideas for each day.

Unsure how it will be when my french classes starts
or whether ill give it up for the time being,
At least im still enjoying being a full timer..

Tidying and housekeeping

I was never a neat and tidy kid.

I know I was good at hiding things,

such as dump everything into the drawer

and pretend all is neat and tidy,

concept of out of sight, out of mind!

Apart from my mum's OCD influence,

I think my sister is also quite a neat freak.

As we shared a wardrobe for a big part of our lives,

i remembered that her part will be so neat

and mine is in a big mess

and how she would constantly tell me how to fold the tshirt,

that the logo are all in the side side and direction, haha.

Crazy enough, as i grew older, 

i became kind of a neat freak,

I think it started when i started working,

i love to keep my working desk free of clutter

and everything in order.

I think is due to the work stress,

having uncluttered workdesk always feels good?

At home, I still do have the 'dump everything into drawer" mind,

and once in a blue moon i will pack them well

for the process to be repeated, neat-messy-net-messy...

Since i have moved quite often in my last few years in SIngapore,

I think i picked up skills to organize my stuff in limited storage,

to dump things easily and know how to recognize my esstentials.

Our new home has more storage places than before,

at times i still have my "dump everything into xyz"

but overall, on the surface it looks well organised,

please dont open my drawers! Haha..

i still tried my best to fully use my packing and throwing abilities,

but it doesnt help when i can define husband as a hoarder, haha.

It can be so hard to convince him to donate an old tourist tshirt,

that he cant fit in now, was a gift from somebody,

and looks really ugly - i dont appreciate touristy tshirt style, opps!

When we shifted, we cleared quite a lot of husband's style,

or i try to contain them eg plan to make tshirt quilt,

but having extra storage space and a basement storeroom,

seems to give us both more excuses to hoard stuff!

1 of the way i  tried to maximise storage space,

is to turn roll up the tshirts into the drawer in our entrance.

Husband was amazed and proud

that i recalled him showing people the tshirt drawer,

yes, quite a strange thing to show to visitors...

Although i dont think is the best way to keep tshirts wrinkle-free,

it takes much less space than normal folding method.

Few days ago, husband and his colleagues went talking about the Konmari,

her famous ways of organising home and how she even wrote books on it!

After looking at some photos,

husband told them that our tshirts and rolled 

and is similar to konmari's method!

All the colleagues were impressed that i was following konmari,

but truth is what i did was not konmari's style,

She folds the tshirts instead of rolling them etcs.

and lot more about gratitude towards your stuffs... 

More about konmari:

http://www.marthastewart.com/1106009/konmari-trendy-new-organizing-method

Anyway, husband came home and asked me whether i was following konmari.

I was sure that i dont know who she is,

after googling, i realised i read about her in a blog that i followed!

But i didnt really check out what she was doing...

I started trying to google for more information of her methods,

but it seems what i can find online for free is the standard minimum stuff,

So i got inspired,

I tried to clear my very full wardrobe,

which became fuller because im starting to try get more working clothes,

and was proud to manage to get rid of some clothes

that i was always thinking "Someday I will wear it"...

Then i went crazy and decided to pack the overflowing socks drawer

that were full of socks rolled up in pairs

and always threatening to overflood when i open/close te drawer.

I tried my best to follow konmari's method for socks,

and to my suprise, we dont have so much socks as i imagined!

It was so full just because everything is messed up...

I did managed to threw away some socks 

that dont bring me joy

because they were uncomfortable, very old

or constantly giving me problems when i wore them.

Woohoo!

I was telling husband that i should really do more konmari's style at home,

I think i should buy the book!

Husband thinks that he should never told me about konmari

because i started this "I want declutter mission"

and he will definitely be involved in time to come.

He tried hard today, 

i was allowed to remove 3 tshirts from the drawer

to the box of tshirt for quilt,

well, a tiny good try ya?

I guess if i buy the book and start full force on implementing it at home,

husband will start a forum on how much he hate konmari, haha...

Side note:

At covert garden london,

we visited a nice old toy shop

and bought a vintage looking paper theatre at 20pounds?

We finally set ourselves to complete it today,

and i think it looks really great!

Okay, OCD me put a piece of cling wrap around the threatre,

in hope that less dust will accumulate...

Converting to full time

It has been about 1.5 weeks since i started work
It still feels good to be back to the office.
So, I started training with another girl,
who was from eastern europe,
she speaks french, english and her native language.
What differentiates me from her is that
she really has much more knowledge about geography,
which is kinda important to my job.
Well, at least thats how it made me felt 
whenever the boss tested us on which states/capital of countries.
I guess these knowledge came from her interest in geography
and her past sales jobs in Disneyland..

She seems much younger than me
but we didnt had much time to interact much
because we didnt had time to make small talks at work.
On the first day,
she was searching for a new appartment and need to leave early.
I remembered being surprised that she currently stays at the 16th of paris
which is really the high-end part of paris!
But she told me that its her friend's place and she is just there temporarily.

When i told husband that another girl was in training with me
he told me that maybe the boss would just keep 1 of us
Im like thinking he was bullshitting,
why would the boss kick someone off so early,
when most of the things in training really needs time to be familar.

Over the next few days,
the girl seems to have difficulty to catch up on the work processes
but i wondered was it because all the training was done in English
and really requires lot of memorising.
Thanks to Singapore's training,
i generally managed to pick up faster than her.
She mentioned to me that she really hope to stay in this job
because it was her first admin job
and she does not want to return to be a sales girl.

Normally, i took a train earlier than required,
for fear of trains' problems and be late,
so i am always earlier than her and starts before her in office.
I think it was the 5th day of training on Wednesday,
that she actually arrived early and we had time for small talk.
She told me that she just found an appartment outside of paris,
which i mentioned to her that we visited the area during our home search,
but didnt like the area because the train station didnt felt safe.
She indicated that she would be shifting on Saturday,
and intended to only stay for 1-2 months,
and after this job is stable,
she would find a better appartment.

Although both of us started with the same job scope,
I sort of got assigned to the billing department
and normally had to stay back 20mins more than her.
However, on Wednesday,
i was let off early and she was asked to stay behind.
I didnt think much about it but she was struggling alot that day
and i thought they probably wanted her to practice more.

The next day,
my boss wanted to speak to me after i arrived.
He told me that they had let the girl off 
because she was struggling!
I was shocked because it was only less than a week?
I mean shouldnt there be like a 1 month trial
or even 3 warnings?!

Boss then proposed to me to convert to full time!
I guess they rather i become full time
then to find another part timer and redo the training.
I accepted the offer since it will be the same jobscope,
but more salary and benefits!
And the good thing is full time is only 35hours per week
and macdonalds is just 2mins from office, haha.
So, my first official full time job in france!
Even though is just a 1 year contract for now...

Back to the girl,
I dont know is it because i knew about her plans
and current situation,
that i really feel bad for her.
Husband says that is normal in France
to sack someone early if the company feels that is not working out.

Anyway, going start full time in September!

New job

So, after my babysitting contract ended 
Husband and I thought that I would be jobless 
for a long time since we are not keen for me 
to take on another babysitting job for now
and i dont have much luck searching for another type of job here
so the plan was to wait for the start of my french class
which should start in mid september
Since the classes were suppose to be in the evenings,
i wont be able to work as babysitter too.

Out of boredom i decided to sent my cv 
on a random part time admin asst job in end june
which was posted on an english job website
that have random jobs eg waitress, babysitter...
I got a french reply for them in a week
asking about my employment visa here.
And i was concerned that the email was in french,
but the boss assured me that the job is in english.
after my reply I didnt hear from them for a month
so, i thought i didnt get the job

Surprisingly, i got an another email from them
asking about my employment visa again
and this time an interview was arranged!
I wasn't having high hopes about getting the job
but i tried my best to prepare myself for a french interview
which i did badly once when i applied for a sales associate job.

Thankfully, the job interview was in English!
So basically, is a company that provides limousine
and other high end transport services.
English is the main language as most clients are from US.
The downfalls are im to work mon-sat,
4h/day at a hourly rate lower than my previous babysitting job.
The interview went well,
and i did hope that I would be able to get the job.
I think getting an admin job will greatly help
in my chances to get deskbound jobs here in the future!
The plus point is they are located 20min from my home..

So the interview was in end july,
and i mentioned to them that i will be able to start mid aug.
I emailed them my interest to take the job
on the night of the interview and started the waiting game.
After 1.5weeks of no replies,
i was close to giving up of the possibility of this job.
I decided to email them again just to check for the last time.
And i received a confirmation from them to start the job!
Husband and I are definitely suprised that my unemployment ended so fast..

It had been 4 days since i started the job.
It definitely feels good to be back to office job:
- I get to dress up more often than my usual casual wear
- I start to learn more about french working culture
- I am occupied everyday

Well, im still in the training period,
which i dont know till when,
getting tons of information loaded about this industry,
and starting to see some traits of the people in office.
I guess for the time being, 
im just happy to be employed and eat the humble pie to learn...
and feels like is the first job of my life
all over again... 

London - Day 3 & 4

Day 3
So, after 2 long tiring days of walking..
I decided that we would take our time to relax for our last night
I heard so much about covent gardens
that i imagined it to be much bigger 
and made it the only plan for the day
as it was only open at 12pm for sunday...

We arrived around 1130am and went breakfast nearby
I had the typical english breakfast
while husband had his first eggs royal,
which is similar to eggs benedict but with smoked salmon.

I don't know was it because we walked too much for the past days
i was totally flat batt by 2ish
and also, we had completed covent gardens
While munching on a steak and kidney pie in a church's garden
Husband took up the job to plan for the rest of the day
im so glad that he is always so full of energy compared to me
especially when we travelled
he can also take on my stupid tantrums and whinning..haha

So, we decided to take a bus to the london towers
Normally, we saw many modern double-decked red london buses
and took them often during our trip
However, by pure chance,
our bus to london towers was the vintage double decked london bus!
There was only 1 entrance/exit at the back of the bus
the passengers are separated from the driver's seat
and there was a ticket seller to scan our oyster cards!
Apart from the vintage seats etcs,
we were totally amazed that the ticket seller shouted out the stops,
it totally felt like we are in the 1950s of london.
There was a slight traffic jam near london towers
and we followed the crowd to just hope off the bus
because there was no door on the bus's entrance!
It was really a cool experience...

We plan to go on the street art walk that i saw online
http://hackneypost.co.uk/2014/03/21/interactive-shoreditch-street-art-tour/
and i would be really happy to see banksy artworks
However, i left the map in the hotel
because i didnt expected us to do it
and we rested at starbucks for free wifi and marked the areas on our map
before we walked to london towers..

After london towers, we started to make our walk...
We definitely missed out a number of supposedly famous artworks,
as they can be as small as a sticker on a lamp post!
And on the way, we also bypass the old spieldfields market,
which i read about it online but thought it was out of the way...

Our main street art walk was sort of the arab / hipster area (Bricklane)
Which i think is an area allocated for street art / graffiti
because unlike paris, i rarely saw any graffiti in london
but there areas were full of them!
We managed to find a few stated on the website,
but also discovered plenty interesting artwork..
It was fun trying to hunt for famous artworks
and each of us armed with our own cameras..

We decided to head back to hotel at 7ish
and were really hopeful that we could find dinner near hotel
sadly, the only cafe, which was supposed to be opened, was closed!
We ended up walking further and further away from our hotel
that we were thinking that we may end up having some express pizza etcs
Lucky for us, we managed to find an english pub 
about 15-20mins walk away from hotel
As we really wanted to finish the trip with English food!
We got our fish and chips!

We then stop by an arab / chinese supermarkets
and bought some strange stuff to be brought back.
The day ended with me packing our bags...

Day 4
With our train at 1130am, 
we decided to try to wake up and check out early
We managed to leave the hotel at 9ish 
and with the subway station near hotel reopened
we arrived at the St Pancras with plenty of time..
I wanted to refund our oyster cards,
but all the machines were out of charge
so im supposed to do it via post now, argh
We had breakfast at a cafe in the station 
and it was time to go home...

I think i have heard of many stories from people
how they preferred london to paris
Strangely, i didnt felt that life in London is totally different from here.
Yes, the transport systems and plans are much better
but so expensive.
Yes, they speak english,
but sometimes their accents are so strong,
that i have problem understanding them.
And i do think london has too much modern buildings,
that sometimes i felt like i was in a CBD area.
Haha, i sound like a parisien now trying to defend Paris..

But 1 thing for sure,
The English are much more nicer than Parisiens,
or even Singaporeans!
Husband was always so impressed
when the waiter/waitress took time to repeat our orders
or explain to us how things work
and usually full of smiles!

Once, we were at a pub,
the waitress beside us dropped her plats on the table and floor,
like the normal customers around the table,
I asked husband to check whether any food got on his jacket.
Suddenly, a man sitting beside us stood up
and walked to the waitress to ask whether she was alright!
Wow!

Another incident was during the security check for our train home,
the man at the security belt was so smiley and nice
that he praised husband for removing his belt
and even helped husband to carry his bag off him
to be put onto the security scanning belt.
Never will this happens in Paris, N-E-V-E-R...

I do like that people are nice
but im not crazy to shift to london,
now, i should just try my best to be a non-parisien living in Paris..