First things first… The time in Shanghai is the same as in Singapore… Haha… That seems to be the most common question from a lot of you. So, no more asking that. There is no difference! I sleep and go to bed the same time as everyone else does. The only difference is that the sun rises and sets a lot earlier than in Singapore. And of course… It’s 17d now. Hehehe!!! I use the air-conditioning to warm up my room. HAHAHAHA!
As I’ve mentioned before, there are two domestic helpers in the household. One is called XiaoWang (XW) and the other, I don’t know actually, but she’s older, so let’s just call her LaoWang (LW). Although she is older, but she is certainly NOT more experienced; she was employed after XW and is actually quite a blur lady. She attempted to wake me up from my afternoon nap today and by george it was ridiculously hilarious.
LW [nudges my leg]: KJASNCIWFEFEICNKLENCAENFIEFNCANCEWCENFIWE…
Joey [flabbergasted and semi-awake]: Huh? 你讲什么？
LW [looks amused that I didn't understand her]: IWEURIOWENAVMNAMWECANENAE…
Joey [still flabbergasted and semi-awake]: Huh??? 我不明白你在讲什么.
LW [resiliently]: XVNCBNDBVJHFWEIUERWEUREWNCWECIW…
Joey [realising the hopelessness of the situation]: HUH??? 对不起我真的不明白… [shouting] AH BOY! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS SHE SAYING???
Then I heard footsteps pacing up the stairs…
AB [almost laughing out loud already, grinning]: Mummy is bringing us to Japanese dinner tonight to celebrate your birthday. RobinZekZek is here to pick us up. Once you are ready we can leave.
Joey [absolutely befuddled]: Woah lau, why in the world did you send her to tell me this??? I had no idea what she was trying to say!
You see, LW speaks with an accent so thick you probably need x-ray hearing to understand what she is saying. I guess this is what happens when you’ve worked on a farm for almost all your life. Haha… I thought this incident was quite amusing and I related it to AZ and she said that if she could not understand LW, how could I possibly do it? Then she looked at her son and asked him how he came up with the ingenious idea of sending LW instead of XW to wake me up. Hahaha…
So, I woke up and I got dressed to head for a nice dinner. The first dinner is usually significant. I wore the Zara cardigan and my new pair of Levi’s pencil-cut jeans today. Hehe. I slapped on the BodyShop Seaweed Daily Shine Control Moisture Cream and I was ready to go. (Random thought: this blog feels like an endorsement for the products I use and wear. Heh.) RobinZekZek, my third uncle who is also working here, talked to me about traffic, cars, accidents and getting my driving licence converted while he drove us to Wine Mall. And my my, that place has become quite swanky! It’s due for soft opening soon and I just heard that the company’s official listing date is on 29th Oct. Very exciting!
It was nice to see familiar faces like Allan and Shah again. We got into the car and Shah, being the idiot (haha), said, “Joey, you’re going to hate me for this…” And hands me his iPhone… Sick. Gross. Then he said he got it for 4200 RMB (that’s about S$840). Ah. Cannot covet. Cannot covet. So if I cannot covet, cannot get jealous or envious, then the best thing to do is to purchase it. Hahahaha… Maybe, maybe not. Hahaha… I shall be patient. The rationalising cognition said, “But Joey, you have been using your 7370 for nearly two years already… It’s time to upgrade…” Being an extremely determined person that I am, I did myself proud and thought, “Ya, I concur.” HAHAHAHA!!!
Ok, my wrist is hurting as I type. Those six pills and that plaster apparently did not take effect. And I think that right, if I continue to blog at this intensity and level of detail, I will never get to do anything else, so I think if you’re reading this, you should enjoy this word spree while I am still enjoying this. I am here to be a businessman, not an author. Hehe. Ok, but it’s quite fun blogging in such great detail. Enough for today. I shall go to bed now. First day of work beckons. It’s been a good first day in Shanghai. I miss you, just so you know.
I’ll post pictures tomorrow. It’s quite troublesome.
