this week i get to share an experience that will show what living in Singapore is really like. in order to get around on the buses and trains you need an EZ pass card. when we arrived, the school provided all 3 of us with cards, but after a week our cards were getting low on funds. as such i had to figure out how to put more money on them. so around 7pm i headed out to catch a bus to the nearest train (MRT) station. very uneventful. once i got to the station i found the card balance machine and checked the balances on our cards (the 3 from the school and 6 from the Rogersons - thanks Donna). after getting the balances i had 3 things to get accomplished; 1) get the balance on the old cards transferred to one of our cards, 2) top up (add money to) our cards, and 3) figure out how to get noah a kid's card so he could travel much cheaper. with that in mind, i headed to the nearest counter. i asked the guy at the counter if i could transfer the balances to one card and his answer - "not at this location." i would have to take the train to a different station. ok then, "can i add some money to these cards." the guy told me the only way to add money to EZ pass cards at this station was using a credit card. strike 2. figuring i would go 0 for 3 if i asked about noah's card i decided to leave that question for later. i boarded the train and headed to the next station.
upon my arrival at the next stop (only 5 minutes) i headed to the ticket area. my first stop was going to be at the balance machine - carrying 9 cards makes it somewhat difficult to keep up with which ones have money and which ones don't. surprise, this station didn't have card balance readers. so i hesitantly headed to the ticket window to inquire and about transferring money. again a no go at this window, but thankfully all i had to do was walk across the station to the other ticket window. success - i was able to combine all the old cards into 1 new one. now lets see if i can go 2 for 2. can i top up my other cards here. rejection - NOT at this station. guess where i was told to go to get money on my cards - the previous station. trying to remain optimistic i asked about noah's card and found out that had i brought his passport i could have bought his card. so the lady gave me a form to fill out. once i have the passport info entered i can go back to the station and get noah a card. to be honest this stop was pretty successful by singaporean standards.
now back to the original stop - i had to go back to this stop anyway to get home. upon arrival i headed back to the ticket area and found someone new to talk with. i asked if i could top up my cards and her response - "only with cash at this window." i handed over my cash and cards and having accomplished 2 and a half of my objectives i called it a night and caught my bus home. as i rode the bus i realized that it had taken me almost 2 hours and about $3 for me to accomplish what should (still basing things off of american standards) have taken about $0.20 and 15 minutes.
this is how most things work here. i am quickly learning that nothing is easy to do. ordering food (post to be coming soon), getting to new places by bus, shopping, etc...it all takes patience and understanding - something neither holly or i was overly gifted with yet we are doing OK. it makes every day a new adventure.
enjoying the ride
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This is exactly the type of experience we couldn't effectively relay to people of what it was 'really' like to live there. Doesn't happen every day, but often enough! But, then I had to remember our co-workers and the experiences they'd tell us about in nearby countries -- at least we didn't need a translator and weren't having to pay "gratuities" (bribes) to local law people. Oh, and if you're going to sign up or register for anything there take your green card AND passport. Also, it's good to call ahead (when signing up for cable, etc.) to see documents you need. (We had too many days like yours.)It took us about a year to get used to the 'lingo' (lift instead of elevator, 'set' instead of combo at fast food restaurants), but you'll get it! In fact, now I am having a hard time reverting back and even though we were speaking English there, I can sometimes get brain fog over what word I need to use(and we still use the phrase 'top up' a lot). Feel like I'm reliving it all again in your posts! Good job! Has the mall near the school re-opened yet? When we left they had just closed it for major renovation. There was a Fair Price in there. Because you're so close to the school, I'm sure the other teachers can tell you lots of ins and outs of the area! Be sure to check out the Jurong Water Park (wave pool, slides, and lazy river for .75 each!).
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