Is routine boring?

Somehow, I just feel a little uneasy not to blog when I'm at work. I've got no idea why but I kinda find it easier in the office to express my thoughts into words, into an untitled document in Notepad and finally copied and pasted into my blog. Of course I can only do it at such working hours when I'm all alone and there isn't much calls.


I called my manager today and apparently she needs me to stand in for the midnight shift for one or two more week. Half of me wants to say yes and another half wants to run. I know I've been whining alot about working the midnight shift and that it's unbearable like hell etc, but I'm getting used to it. And it's comforting if I have a routine.


You know, I've always been a guy who doesn't like to admit that he values stability, hates changes and likes living a life on a routine and habits. I know it's nothing to be ashamed of but you know those romance shows and novels, they like to portray attractive guys as those who's a breath of fresh air, mysterious, spontaneous and keeps people on their toes all the time. And then there's these losers who gets jilted for being boring and living a routined lifestyle in which the girls feel they are "trapped".

Okay, but I don't really know how routined (i hope there's such a word) or "habitual" I am. It's not like I must wake up at exactly 10.37am everyday and get into bed at 11.42pm. Or that I must brush my teeth from top left to bottom right all the time. Or that I must be online everyday at 9pm so that I can complete some jobs and rob some people in Mafia Wars, catch some mouse in Mouse Hunt and play Typing Maniac and hope I defeat Yuan Zheng's score.


No, it's not so bad. It's just that I can eat the same food over and over again. Just so you know, I've been eating the Bandito, whipped potato and Pepsi-change-to-Mountain Dew (KFC) for dinner for the past five days and counting. And I haven't include the same cup noodle (Korean La Bai Chai) and Pink Dolphin (Peach Flavour ONLY) that I must drink when I'm working. Not to mention I must shit with something to read or play or else I'll bleed when I shit. (just kidding)

But I like routine. I like it when I know that I'll play soccer every Tuesday and Saturday, meet up with the gang every weekend when the NS slaves book out, work every Sunday and watch the new One Piece anime episode on Monday. And I hate it when something has to change or be cancelled.

Maybe it's really boring to other people. But at least I'm "boringly" happy. Rights.

Herbivorous Men

My left eyelid has been twitching ever since I woke up today. Makes me wonder if it's because I didn't sleep well enough or is it because some terrible things is about to happen. In fact something bad had already happened, I've left the bottle of Pink Dolphin at home in the fridge. Damn. Of course, it's not exactly terrible news.. unless the eye twitching is a sign that I'm turning into a herbivorous man.


I was reading the newspaper in the bathroom today (I like reading while I poop, so think twice if you want to borrow newspaper from me) and I came across an article saying that more Japanese men are turning into herbivorous males and are slowly becoming a majority.

What exactly does herbivorous means? There's the term vegetarian for humans who don't eat meat. So it can't be that. Well there's actually nothing to do with eating habits at all. In fact it's about males who reject traditional masculinity when it comes to romance, jobs and consumption and so on and so forth.

But they aren't gay. They just lack self-confidence, like to spend time alone, like surfing the net, watch porn, play computer games, watch Prison Break and more importantly, passive about pursuing women. Passive about pursuing women... now that strikes a chord with me.


Except for the watching porn and to a lesser extent for spending time alone, that's pretty much what I am right now. Oh dear. What am I becoming?

They didn't talk about carnivorous men though. Though I suppose it's the exact opposite of herbivorous men. I would say all the lechers, paedophiles, perverts, rapists, flirts and possibly all Saggitarius males are carnivorous men. All the deviants here should be locked up together with T-Bag.


But I'm pretty sure I'm not herbivorous just yet. And I'm definitely not carnivorous and so that leaves us with the neutral, Mr Omnivorous. And you know what is the best example of an omnivorous entity?

Like what women always like to say, be it they are angry, happy, sad, excited, whatever


All men are pigs.

Maybe life would be better being a herbivore.

Track and Field Part 6

Oh man, it really ain't easy living a nocturnal life. Your biological clock will be seriously screwed and you'll end up feeling tired all the time. Think it was last saturday (didn't work on friday night and saturday night),and 1 tried to sleep at around 4am (figured it was late enough and I was feeling a little tired). And guess what, I woke up 2 hours later like it's some sort of afternoon nap.


I'm not sure if it's the same for others but I never had the need to set the alarm clock whenever I was taking an afternoon nap (took them quite often last time). It's like you'll wake up automactically after 2 or 3 hours of sleep. The same thing happened that day, except that it happened during the night.

Left me feeling pretty fucked up really. I originally intended to wake up at 9am and ended up short at 6am. So I figured that 3 hours worth of sleep is too good to pass up on and that I should continue sleeping. But I couldn't no matter what I do! I tried to think about boring stuff but ended up finding myself marvelling at how smart Michael Scofield is. I tried to tire myself out by twisting and rolling around the bed only to find myself getting more energetic. And I got so desperate that I actually attempted to count sheeps (lost count at 200 plus).


It was till 7am that I realised that everything I do wasn't working. Wouldn't it be nice that human beings have an on/off button that put us into sleep mode whenever we wish? Well in the end I decided to just wake up and face the brand new day.

Back to how shitty I'm feeling right now. The above is how it all began. Nevertheless, the main entry here is to round up my exciting and thrilling TnF life that I had. Righttt.

Yeah I guess it's pretty obvious that I decided to call it quits prematurely when I was around Secondary 3. I was dying to quit and totally lost interest in training. All because the coaches decided to review their training strategy. They decided to group long distance runners together, short distance runners together and no hopers together.

I've got quite a few close friends in Tnf actually. It's pretty amazing how much people can bond together if they undergo tough training together. People will all suddenly develop a common interest which is to curse and swear at the coach for being such a stuck-up and strict old geezer. And it's funny how some people can curse so well. That was during my first two years when the coaches decided to use a more "general" approach for training.

So we all got splited up. I got stuck in short distance running where everybody was competitive as hell and just wasn't on the same wavelength as me. Others went to long distance and the rest went to "no hopers". Though I wasn't exactly training alone, it felt as though I was and that effectively drained away all the determination I had in me to train.


Coupled with the fact that I got a "stead" (that's what they call it then) and was so besotted with her that I needed to spend time with her all the time, which is impossible if I were to remain in TnF (3 days training a week), I decided to end my relationship with Tnf, though I suppose I could have done it better.

I've actually bumped into my coach a few times in school and I never had the courage to apologize to him for putting his faith in me. I can't exactly describe the look on his face when he saw me, just that it was enough to make me regret that I left TnF over such silly reasons now that I reminicise about it.

Oh well, time flies and it's now more than 5 years since then. And I've decided (say is say lah) to train as intensively as I did then in the coming months to prepare myself for National Service. Wish me luck..


Because I will need it.

Track and Field Part 5

Kenneth called me earlier today and apparently he doesn't seem to enjoy his time serving his country. Well, who would anyway? But yet I'm dying to get started with National Service. Maybe cause 2 years later, everything will revert back to normal and that is when I'll get started on achieving what I've set out to achieve.

Well, speaking of my maiden race, out of the other 7 competitors I was competing with, I ended up 3rd which I'm pretty satisfied with. But being 3rd wasn't enough to secure a place in the next qualifying round. Unfortunately, my timing (13 seconds) wasn't good enough. It can't be helped I guess, coz afterall the people participating in the Nationals are all freaks. Nevertheless, my coach was pretty happy with me.


I didn't have much time to get over my disappointment for the 4x100m C division was next. Strangely, I can't remember anything about the qualifying races. But what I do know is that we made it to the finals - which is possibly the greatest thing I've achieved in my 2 and a half years in TnF.

I remember the baton training though, due to the fact that we practised baton training loads and loads of times. Often people will question what's so difficult about passing a baton from one guy to another. Well, the Americans (Tnf powerhouse) had two 4x100 teams (male and female) disqualified because they dropped the baton. I still remember how shocked the "TnF world" was when it happened.


But what is so difficult exactly? Well, I would say it is pretty tough to get the timing and coordination right. Say the 2nd runner in the 4x100m race. He has to pace himself to receive the baton when the 1st runner is at his fastest, and he has to be fast enough to deliver the baton over to the 3rd runner (before he sprints off). So if the 2nd runner is too kan chiong and run out of the "baton passing zone" before the 1st runner can pass the baton over to him, the white flag will be raised.

There are many ways to get disqualified, but I wouldn't elaborate too much about it. Thus, the only way to minimize the chance for us to be disqualified is via practice and more practice. I was the 4th runner, so I kinda had it easy. What I needed to do is listen for "Up!" and swing my arm backwards with my palm opened, grab the baton as tight as possible once I feel it and head towards the finishing line.

But how can a team not have at least a sprinter in the 100m finals and still qualify for the 4x100m relay finals. I would say it's a combination of luck and more luck that we actually managed to get into the finals really. We barely made it because one of the top team crashed out due to disqualification (dropped the baton apparently) during the qualifying race. And so we sneaked in.

Of course, we didn't have much hope of getting a medal in the finals. But we still had an objective, which is to not finish last. I would rather not qualify than finish last in the finals frankly speaking. And we didn't thankfully, though I think I let my team down. I failed to maintain the 5th spot when the baton was passed to me and finished 6th. But still, 6th in the whole Singapore is no mean feat.

It's sad that I didn't go on to achieve better things when a combination of various factors resulted in me quitting TnF. Though I feel a little regrettable about it, but if given the chance to undo my decision. I still wouldn't know if I would really do so.

Track and Field Part 4

Just as I was about to type out the fact that I'm actually looking forward to work, I got a 10 mins long complaint call. Oh well I'm used to it. Life is never a smooth ride. But that's what makes it interesting, just like how Michael Scofield is facing countless problems in getting out of prison (season 1). I think that guy must have done many sinful deeds in his previous life to warrant such bad luck in his current life. Nevertheless, I'm actually looking forward to work because of Prison Break.




It's hard enduring not watching Prison Break at home which is largely due to the fact that I'm saving all of them to be watched while I'm working so as to make time pass easier. It's just slightly less tormenting than watching 1 episode per week on TV seriously. I believe those who watched Prison Break will agree that it's a show that is hard to not watch. Okay never mind, back to topic.

Back to my TnF story. It's not like I'm Usain Bolt or some skinny bloke from Africa - for there's absolutely no way I'll ever be as good as them.


But still, it is my life story. Yeah so there I was thinking that I'm groomed to be the next long distance superstar that will match the skinny bloke from Africa and running along the field in school on day for training (this happened in Secondary 2). Towards the end of the run, I could hear my coach shout "Sprint!" and almost immediately, I found myself willing myself to make my legs move faster and my strides longer. Though I didn't mean it, or maybe I did out of sarcasm, I said "shiok lah" to one of my pals at the chin up bar area.

Apparently my coach heard it. And so he summoned me and he said

Mr Teo: Jun Ren, do you like sprinting?

Me (thinking it was some sort of trick question, and that there is only one answer): Err.. yeah, why not?

Mr Teo: I'm thinking of training you to be a sprinter. You can run. Do you want to focus on short distance running?

Me (I was still young and only 14 years old, still a kid without much guts): Err.. yeah, okay

And that's how my sprinting journey began.

Truth is, I enjoyed sprinting. You don't feel like "I'm gonna die if I take another step" when you're sprinting as compared to long distance running. All you need to do is conserve all your energy and let it all out when the pistol goes off. I like the explosiveness, I like how your vision blurs out and all zoomed in at the finishing line and I like being fast.

But I hated training. In fact ever since I agreed to be a sprinter, my training intensified. I still remember while the others were running a round through Bedok Reservoir, there I was sprinting up a hill, stop, walk back down to where I started, and repeat. For god knows how many times. And only I needed to do it, this special training. And I got drafted into representing Ngee Ann for the Nationals.

I can't remember where the heats were held, all I can recall is that it's somewhere far away. It's pretty "prestigious", considering that we are required to participate in heats and qualify for the finals that were held in the National Stadium. I was chosen to compete for 100m and 4x100m relay C division.

I was nervous alright. Way too nervous for my own good. When I asked one of my senior (who's also a sprinter how to relax and keep himself mentally strong because he always looks calm and composed. And his reply was "I don't know sia. Actually I also very nervous. Just hope for the best lor." Of course, it didn't help matters.

And there I was, decked in spike shoes (for more grip on the track), blue running attire that reveals more flesh that I would prefer, floppy hair and a 10x10cm sticker pasted on my thigh (can't remember what number it was). I was whisked into the holding area and all the competitors were seated in straight files. I was extremely nervous at this point, no thanks to the aircon and the fact that everybody looks "fast" and intimidating. I can hear the firing of the pistol, followed by loud and fast steps, and eventually ending in cheers. The atmosphere in the holding room was increasingly icy as well, but it didn't last long for my maiden race in Nationals was starting.



I walked towards my lane (can't remember what lane it was), steadied myself on the running blocks, heard the marshall yell "Sediah!", arched my legs and then the pistol went off.
--

I'm suddenly overwhelmed to play PSP. lol.

Track and Field Part 3

Seems like I wasn't able to continue the one post a day thingy. Well, when there is a fabulous book such as The Time Traveler's Wife to read and an equally fabulous show in Prison Break to watch, it is pretty much inevitable that blogging has to take a backseat. Now that I'm done with The Time Traveler's Wife, I can return to blogging. Though I very much would like to blog about the book that I just read, I figured out I should finish up my TnF story first. Heh.

Yes, the Combined School Meet. It's the closest thing I'll ever get that's similar to the Olympics in my entire life I suppose. Unless I decide to join TnF in university, which is pretty much unlikely. The Combined School Meet is an annual thing by the way, and I do think that my school holds the event in a pretty high regard considering that the fact that the other schools taking part are Chung Cheng High, Dunman High and the other school should be Temasek. During my era, those schools are all doing better than Ngee Ann academically wise, but in the annual Combined School Meet, it has always been Ngee Ann that has been dominating. Not too sure about now though.

Adding to the "prestige" value of this event is the fact that it was held in National Stadium - the largest stadium in Singapore. Also, all students of the four respective schools are required to attend the Combined School Meet. Though the amount of MCs tendered in for this event is always unusually large, the attendance is still pretty good for 2/3 of the stadium is filled up. There will be cheers, there will be jeers and there will be girls looking at you.

Or at least I hope. But the more I dwell about it, the least likely there was any considering the fact that I didn't do very well in my first Combined School Meet in Secondary 1. I remember I got chosen to represent my school in C Division (Sec 1 and 2s) 1500m race together with 5 others I suppose. So yeah, 24 people fighting it out.

I did pretty okay in terms of personal timing. But against the likes of the Secondary 2s who had a year of TnF training, there wasn't much of a chance for me and 2 of my pals at all. Afterall, the coach was saying that he put us out there just for us to soak in the experience. And soak it all in we did. I can still remember when I was running in front of the section where all the Ngee Ann people were seated. I could hear the noise level increased pretty dramatically and the effect it had on me was magical. I got an superb adrenaline rush which certainly added a spring to my step. But of course, it wasn't enough for I finished in the middle if my memory doesn't fail me. And the top 3 spots were taken up by my seniors.

Another memorable event that I took part in my first year was my school's annual cross country race. Though I would like to jog along with my friends in the fun run, all the track and field athletes were required to participate in the competitive run. It was held in Bedok Reservoir, a place that I absolutely loathe going but familiar with. I did pretty well considering I was up against people from Secondary 1 to Secondary 5, and ended up being 13th.

I took part in two more cross country competitions, both national level and the venue were Sentosa and MacRitchie respectively. For Sentosa, the biggest challenge was running on sand and there were plenty of uphills and downhills. And MacRitchie, it's simply running on jungle trails. I guess that explains the meaning of "Cross Country" huh. I can't remember what position I came in, and that means I probably didn't do well enough for me to remember.

Due to the fact that my coach decided to put me in the 1500m race and some of above cross country competitions, I kinda thought that my TnF life will be all about stamina, endurance and lasting the distance in long distance running. But thankfully, it wasn't.

--

I can't believe I've got so much crap to talk about my TnF experiences.

Track and Field Part 2

I'm kinda getting used to this nocturnal life of mine already. So much so I agreed to continue this lifestyle till the end of this month, tentatively. I wouldn't mind continuing till the end of August too actually. Oh well, I'll think about it later. Whatever it is, September will be the month I'll get my fitness back to tip-top condition. Just like my secondary school days..

Yes, I was pretty fit during my secondary school days, no thanks to the tough TnF training. Remember I was saying about this Y person? Apparently, he quitted after the first training session, citing that he couldn't handle both basketball and TnF at the same time. So he quitted both of them. Oh well.

Training was indeed tough alright; we needed to train 3 days in a week, namely every Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. On top of that, I've got my NCC to worry about on Saturdays. I had not much of a life actually. Though I had a serious crush on the girl, whom eventually turned out to be my first love, it was all training for me at first.

It takes a hell lot of determination and commitment to face every single training. Well, all our trainings were usually not held in our school itself(lack of space apparently) and every Mondays and Wednesdays were held in Bedok Reservoir. Fridays over at Meridien Junior College/Tampines Stadium. So we had to travel, just to train. Also, it doesn't help that training was hell.

I can still remember how a typical Bedok Reservoir training is like. First, we need to warm-up by freaking complete a round in Bedok Resevoir. Yes, 4.8 bloody km just for warm-up. Most people would be glad to just complete a round. But not for my seniors apparently, some of them were required to complete two rounds. Just for the record, my personal best was roughly 23 minutes.

Our training is usually 3 hours long. So the first hour was simply "warming-up". And the other two hours are all spent on completing drills and whining. Though I can't exactly remember what were the drills we did, but it certainly was no less tiring than the "warming-up".

Friday trainings were more boring somewhat. It's simply training on the tracks that's all. And I never liked completing 5km on the tracks. Too repetitive for me I suppose. But I liked the competing sessions though. It's pretty exciting seeing your seniors battling it out and gossiping about who's faster and so forth. Meanwhile, my coach Mr Teo will decide who will represent our school for the annual Combined School Meet.

I can still remember my first Combined School Meet for it was the day I realised what competition is all about.

--

Guess I'll leave it for another day.

Track and Field

I'm surprised that I'm still continuing this; staring into the computer and trying to form words to make an blog entry.. for the 4th day in a row. Just as surprised when I found out that Leonard blogs and that Daphne joined Track and Field. But I need to blog, or rather I think I should for I believe it may turn out to be one of those things that I'll regret 50 years down the road if I didn't.

But why? Well, it's beneficial on many fronts actually. Firstly, I get to keep in touch with writing though my grasp of the English Language isn't that good. Just a look at my Chinese writing tells me all I need to know about not "keeping in touch" with writing. Secondly, I get to show my inner self through blogging and people can get to know me better... if there are people who are interested. And most importantly, I get to record down my thoughts and feelings of that particular day or moment which I'm sure 50 years later (assuming I live that long), I'll be reading with a smile. In fact, I do smile when I read those entries that I blogged 2 years back. Though it's throughly embarassing, it beats having nothing to help you reflect on your life 50 years later.

I met up with Jun Wei and Daphne today for dinner at Old Airport Road. I thought i was hungry as always and ended up not finishing what seemed like a small bowl of wanton mee. Nevertheless, it was nice to meet human beings after being confined within the four walls of Transcab for so long. We were chatting as usual until Jun Wei asked me how long I think Daphne will stay in Track and Field. Though I don't remember giving an answer, but I do know it takes a lot of commitment to stay in CCA such as Track and Field. Afterall, I've had my own experiences in Track and Field too.

I never thought of joining Track and Field actually. There wasn't any soccer offered in Ngee Ann Secondary, so I was conned into making NCC my first choice. I have to say that NCC did a great con job during the CCA orientation day. Not that I really regret joining NCC actually.

Anyway, we had our first PE lesson in which we were all decked in ugly PE attire. I remember all of us got quite a shock when we were told that we would have to run 2.4km. I was pretty fit then, so it wasn't much of an issue to me and in fact I was already aiming to be the fastest. I've always been competitive, especially so during my secondary school years.

So we ran, and I came in second, beaten by a guy who's supposedly quite famous in TnF. I've always been first in primary school and though it sucks to be beaten, it would have been okay if Y (let's just name the guy Y) was humble. But reality is always harsh and he turned out to be an arrogant jerk. I hated him then (though we aren't exactly on talking terms, but he's now one of my mafia in Mafia Wars, ha), and wanted to be the faster one next time round.

And so our PE teacher (who happened to be in charge of both NCC and TnF), came to talk to a few of us and asked if we would like to join TnF. I didn't take up the offer initially due to the fact that I've already got NCC, and I wasn't sure I can juggle two CCAs and my studies well. Besides, NCC is good training anyway.

I didn't join until 2 weeks later or so I think. And the reason is very foolish. It's simply because Y joined two CCA, basketball and TnF. Being the competitive me, how can I NOT join now?

--

Too much writing already. I needa play some psp right now.

Life as a Transcab Operator Part 3

It's my 3rd consecutive midnight shift in a row over in Transcab and I'll never understand how a full-time midnight staff can endure such a life. Staying awake while everybody is sleeping and sleeping while everybody is up and awake. Thank goodness it's all just temporary but there are still 2 more nights like these for this week. Oh well. Time will pass, it always does.

As expected of being the 3rd most senior staff in Transcab, I've tried out all the shifts already. Morning, afternoon, midnight.. I've been through all of them before. Well, if I have to choose which one I'll rather work, I'll probably choose the midnight shift - only if it's not too many days in a row.

Morning shift is the worst, well for obvious reasons. I've never been an early riser and I have always been sore with the fact that Big Breakfast, Hotcakes and Sausage McMuffins are only offered till 11am. (I'll only get to eat them when I ton overnight/work midnight shift). And I've always felt the old chinese "zao sui zao qi shen ti hao" saying was bull shit. What's the issue as long as I get ample 8 hours of rest? (As long I don't sleep too late and end up waking up with the whole day gone)

The working hours for morning shift are 7am to 3pm. 7 godly am. What time must i be in bed to live a healthy lifestyle? 10pm? Enough said. Even Channel 8 news is shown at 10pm. Goes to show that people are not meant to sleep at 10pm.

I think majority of my time with Transcab are spent during the afternoon shift, 3pm-11pm. I've actually met quite a few people who would rather take the morning shift over afternoon shift. Though it puzzles me sometimes, but it does make a little sense when they say "You can go out after work if you do morning shift, but afternoon shift you can't." Yup quite true, but still not for me, I can't put myself to sleep at 10pm even if I count a million sheeps in my mind.

Midnight shift (11pm-7am) is undoubtedly the best. Most people would choose like say 10am or 5pm as the time they feel most energetic and awake. For me, I would say 2am or 3am is the time I'm most productive. It has always been like this actually. During my 3 years in Temasek Polytechnic, most of the assignments I have are usually done at night when my Dad and Sis are sleeping and when it's all peaceful and quiet. It's usually the time when I feel creative, and yeah, even Letty's departure poem is written around that time.

And most importantly, there are very few calls during midnight shift. Once again, for obvious reasons. So the main problem here is to find ways to keep myself awake for the whole night. Oh by the way, my manager is extremely particular about people sleeping on their job, yeah even midnight shift. It's usually sleep and get sacked kind of concept around here. (In case you're wondering how my manager knows if I'm sleeping, there are 3 surveillance cameras staring at me right now)

And the solution is to bring food, videos and games to work. It's always cup noodles for the food for its simple and cheap. (Though i've been eating the same one all the time, I'm just so boring) and I'm watching Slam Dunk for the video part. Very nice anime, I've got no idea why I left it so late to watch this anime. Jun Wei is right, what have I been doing during my secondary school years? I'll leave that for another blog post someday. And I'm currently playing Pro Evolution Soccer, Become A Legend mode on PSP. Together with the New Paper, these are the "friends" I have that keeps me going through the night.

Oh, and of course blogging. This entry helped me to burn 1 hour today. Pretty good, considering I have plenty of time to burn. What should I do now, read, watch anime or play PSP? Or just mope about the fact that it would be nice to have a girlfriend now. Hmm...

Life as a Transcab Operator Part 2

Hey I've got some great news today. I'm actually early for 3 minutes! Come to think of it, I would like to feel that I'm a person who's usually late when I don't get in the way of others. So what does that mean? For example I'm working midnight shift at the moment, and it's only me for the whole night. So in the event I'm late, someone has to stand in for me till I've reached and it wouldn't be nice to delay someone from going home. Goes to show I do have a consicence afterall huh.

People often ask me how's working in Transcab like and the answer I usually I give them is the typical boring answer of "okay lor". Truth is, it is that boring. To put it simply, it's like talking on the phone with people you don't wish to talk to. So much for taking up Diploma in Hospitality & Tourism Management, I never felt the need to go the extra mile (GEMS) while working here.

So here's how an ideal call's like:

Phone rings (I like to test the caller's resolve by picking the call up as late as possible)

Me: Morning/Afternoon/Evening Transcab (politeness depends on my mood)

Caller: I would like to book a taxi now

Me: Sure where is your pickup location?

Caller: Marina Square taxi stand (I love it when people call for a taxi in places with taxi stands, coz drivers will find them easier and there'll be less trouble)

Me: Going to?

Caller: Tampines

Me: Sure please hold the line for the taxi number

And I'll send them through an IVR system in which when a taxi accepts the job, the taxi number will be given to the passenger in a rather freaky recorded voice. And they'll meet, make love and job completed. But life isn't always rosy and nice and most of the time, I'll get crap calls like these.

Me: Morning/Afternoon/Evening Transcab

Crap Caller 1: Yes. (I seriously hate it when they just say yes. Yes what? Yes WHAT?! Aren't you the one who's calling?)

Crap Caller 2: Hello is that transcab? (Yes I just said Morning Transcab you asshole)

Crap Caller 3: Wei? Ni hui jiang hua yu ma? (Not that I don't like to speak Chinese, but English is easier while calling for taxi booking. )

Crap Caller 4: Can I report a lost item/make a complain? (The worst of the lot)

And there are plenty of people that will just hang up the call after I asked them to hold the line in which minutes later, the above cycle repeats.

I think I shall stop today's entry here and hopefully I'll continue tomorrow. Think it'll be a trilogy.

Life as a Transcab Operator


During the estimated 3 year gap in which I did not manage to publish a single post in this blog, I've had quite a few part time jobs in various places. Though none of the experiences stood out particularly in terms of excitement, one did in terms of the amount of time I spent working. And it's none other than being a taxi operator in a rather small-but-getting-bigger taxi company, Transcab.



If I were to tell people that I'm actually the 3rd most senior staff in the entire call centre, I think most people will be pretty surprised. Well, it is true though. I've been here for slightly more than 2 years and I've worked with plenty of people. But none of them lasted as long as me. I'm not praising myself for being committed and loyal to the company though come to think of it, I actually am. Truth is, my manager did not have much luck in hiring the right people + working here sucks = me being 3rd most senior staff at the tender age of 20.

Let's just look at some reasons why they left intentionally/unintentionally:

• One retired citing exhaustion and became a property agent.

• One got sacked because he was reading newspaper (Though the truth has always been because he diao the lady boss when she walked in. Quite poor thing really, this guy didn't know she was the lady boss.)

• One resigned because her lover made a din at the company's entrance. (This woman is actually married with grandkids and possibly older than my dad)

And many others left because of school/stress/sex scandals.

So why am I still here despite the above colourful reasons why people left? The pay isn't high, it's just $6 per year for weekdays and $7 for weekends. I can't even read newspaper without getting sacked. I can no longer surf the Internet because the management freaking disabled everything. And I have to stare at the computer even if there are no calls!

But people adapt. I may curse and swear when it gets tough, but I do feel that I adapt pretty well to situations, no matter how dire it may seem. One thing that helped is the fact that I'm lazy. So instead of looking for other jobs, I'll just take the shit and get my $6 pay. Also, it helps that my manager is a very nice person and till now she hasn't sacked me despite me being late almost all the time. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I was punctual.

Man, it's quite an uphill struggle to blog sometimes. My stomach is growling, my PSP is whining, my slam dunk is waiting and this entry is actually being done while I'm working. This entry will be continued... soon I hope.