Being a natural born introvert, I have no issue eating by myself. But I admit sometimes I can get a bit bothered about my surrounding when I eat alone. I suppose introverts can be sensitive at times. But during normal days, I try to allocate a lunch-time-me-time where I can enjoy eating with myself. But so far, how’s the experience of eating alone going in Singapore?

 

1. Location matters

 

If you are eating alone in fast food restaurants/ food court/ hawker centre setting, you will not stand out so much because hey, other people do the same. However, in the food court/ hawker centre, you’ll bound to share table with stranger but no fret, strangers in Singapore don’t really initiate conversation. Unless you are unlucky and ended up sharing table with I dunno, friendly Australian or chatty American, maybe? But chances, you will sit together with random Asian aunty/uncle/girl/guy who is also a solo diner in food court/ hawker and they usually don’t talk. 

 

However, if you choose, let’s say Chinese restaurant like Putien or Crystal Jade to eat alone, you are bound to stand out and probably invite a bit of attention from the other tables. But stare can’t kill so if you have a kick-ass don’t care attitude, you’re good to go anywhere. However, it’s hard to eat in peace in a restaurant which is catered for family dining. The portion can be too big for one as well. This is also applicable to Korean BBQ place. 

 

2. Timing matters

 

I find Sunday to be the worst day of the week to date myself. This is because there are limited places for people in Singapore to spend their weekend so every shopping malls/ cafes in town are bound to be crowded on Sunday. I figure the best mall for Sunday escapade is gotta be Millenia Walk. Orchard? Vivo City? Jurong? Tampines? Oh boy, let’s stay clear from this place on Sunday, shall we?

 

Contract job, ah, I’ve never really thought of one until the time suddenly comes when I sign up as contractor in one of the MNCs in Singapore. Since contract jobs are usually advertised by recruitment agency, I kinda had my doubt during the hiring stage simply because I have never go through any recruitment process via recruitment agency before. Plus, I heard that some recruitment agencies can be all talks and empty promises so it’s better to read your contract twice or even thrice to make sure it covers all your risks and benefits. 

 

To cut story short, I signed up for a 6 months contract job and currently halfway throughout my contract. Although I don’t think doing contract jobs for 3 months qualify me to share my experience but I figure I’ll just share it anyway. Do bear in mind that everyone’s experience may differ from one to another depending on the nature of the job, the culture of the workplace and of course, the people you are working with. So these are a few “discoveries” that I found out during my three months at my contract job:

 

1. It has start and end date 

 

The end date kinda makes me feel that I should enjoy my working life day by day because you know it may end/ ends. I guess this is the feeling of someone who has been declared only have a few months of living by the doctor. Oh gosh, live your life like it’s your last day, people. Dark analogy aside, contract jobs generally last from 6 months to one year because the need of contractor usually arises due to a permanent staff going for long leave (such as maternity/ recovering from critical illness) or a one-off project which require more manpower. So yeah, although it’s not wrong to have hope and expectation, but I feel that I should always bear in mind that this contract may end...

 

 2. But that doesn’t mean you can just slack

 

...because words travel. Even though you probably only work at that company for a brief moment, your work ethic and the way you treat your colleague will linger with them for a while (especially if you are extremely good/ lousy). If the nature of your contract job is kinda niche, you may even be more careful in how you behave because well (1) Singapore is small and (2) people bound to know each other even without being in the same industry. Sometimes I wonder if I need to exile myself for a few years to start afresh in Singapore but then again, I don’t think I have criminal record or something which require me to go “into-the-wild”. Plus going into the wild costs $$$, and hence the need to work and voila, we are back to square 1. Ok, just behave. Really. 

 

3. Don’t over-behave though

 

The need to impress is definitely there especially when conversion/ extension is at stake but eventually, your skill is not the only factor the company will consider  upon converting/ extending. The utmost important holy grail of their decision is definitely pointing all the way to the dreadful word of “BUDGET”. Maybe I should start praying for the company to make a lot of money and allocate additional headcount to hire me. Amen. 

 

4. You are technically not the company’s staff

 

Although this may differ from case to case, but generally a contractor is contracted by the recruitment agency and then “seconded” to the company. So don’t be surprised if your annual leave is only 6 days for 6 months contract and 12 days for 1 year contract. And you won’t be entitled to staff benefit from that company as well. So yeah, prepare your heart not to be jealous, ok. 

 

5. People tend to be nice/ ignorant of you

 

The good news about being a contractor is at least you won’t get involved in some kind of Game-of-Thrones political story. After all, you have no power to be in some use/ threat to the permanent staff. In my previous workplace, there’s a permanent staff who is way way way less capable than the contract staff and guess what, the useless dude still there. So I suppose your colleagues would be more willing to teach you stuff (in which they need your help). However, some people may not want to teach you so much because after all you may not stay for good, so ignorance is bound to exist as well. 

 

6. Don’t forget to fill and submit your timesheet

 

Ah timesheet. Yes, you won’t be able to escape this additional admin task. But thankfully, mine’s only need to be completed on a monthly basis. And my salary does not really depend on whether my timesheet is approved or not. However, some contractors are only paid when their timesheets are approved by their boss. So I think it’s very important to check how the salary arrangement is with the recruitment agency. 

After the video ends, the performance started right off the bat with a strong performance of their famous song called Superstar. Selina, Hebe and Ella sounds superb. The girls seem to be in the best condition today. Woot! You are my superstar~~~

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S.H.E. is able to sing a series of upbeat songs without taking a break. I particularly liked this song called Ai Jiu Dui Le (爱就对了). If you have not checked the music video for this song, you should watch it because the music video is fun to watch and it shows a badass Hebe.

You can see how wild the crowds is whenever S.H.E. singing the upbeat songs. They are very good at motivating the mood of the crowd with occasional joke and invitation to sing together. 我們一起唱好不好~~~ (let's sing together, okay?).

I was getting bugged by the usher when S.H.E. sang Ta Hai Shi Bu Dong. Zzzz. In the middle of the concert, Ella allows us to take picture and record their performance though. These ushers really need to chill, it's not like I'm gonna record the whole thing. I won't be able to enjoy the performance that way. Although I guess there is someone out there who is totally gonna record the whole thing and sell it off on the market. But hey, Ella permits. Thanks, Ella!! Muachhh!

The screen shows a pretty red rose when S.H.E. sang Ai Ne (愛呢) which happens to be my concert buddy's favourite song too. Too bad, she could not really sing her heart out because she was having a sore throat today. Not only the performer, the audience needs to maintain healthy condition prior to the concert too. =P

For the finale, S.H.E. ended the concert with their three powerhouse songs in a row, SHERO, Hua You Kai Hao Le (花又開好了) and Mei Li Xin Shi Jie (美麗新世界). 

There was no encore this round in S.H.E.'s concert. Kinda sad about it but overall, I guess I had a pretty much great time. 

Until next time, S.H.E.!

P.S. Hebe is coming to Singapore for her solo concert, If (Ru Guo/ 如果) on 5 March 2016. The venue will be the same, Singapore Indoor Stadium. There are no details yet about the pricing. Too bad I will not be able to watch her as I will be travelling on that day. My friend is pretty much bummed about it too. Hebe, ke bu ke yi change date to 12 March instead? LOL. #whoarewe #twosadfans

A row of shophouses which are preserved in this area. Everything looks neat in Singapore. =P

We took a rest at one of the nearby cafe along the shophouses before giving the lovely sunflower to the birthday girl. The whole area is pretty serene, I love it. =)

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The concept of Malaysian Food Street is for customer to be able to relive the experience of visiting a food street in Malaysia without having to actually fly there. To make the experience even more real, there is a road sign and a rickshaw which is usually used in Malaysia (I guess?).

The stall is also designed in a way that it looks like shophouses inside a building. Let's call it indoor shophouses. #lamecreativity

Expect a lot of people every weekend here. Tourists and locals alike. 

If you are wondering about what to order here, there is a food guide in the form of newspaper so that customers can see what kind of Malaysian food are offered here. They have quite a number of variety to select from KL wanton mee to Penang char kway teow (re: fried kway teow). 

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Unlike its Korean counterparts, the customers here are expected to cook their own food. Since we will need to further wait for the meat to be cooked, we ordered a few appetisers. First up is the sesame sauce salad. I love the Japanese sesame sauce because it goes well with the greens.

We also ordered an okonomiyaki although I kinda feel that the okonomiyaki served at Gyu-Kaku is kinda...thin. The sauces are good though.

My friend immediately said with a rising voice when we saw this item on the menu "WE MUST ORDER THIS". Huh? Okay, okay, let's order this Mushroom Medley then. It is basically a combination of a various kind of mushrooms cooked in butter sauce. Now it does not look appetising yet but my friend insisted that the grill will do magic on the mushroom (I started to wonder if the mushrooms are going to sing soon). XD

This plate is the main star of the day because it is full of what-we-want-to-eat, BEEF. Portion-wise, it does not look a lot for 4 hungry monsters, to be honest.

Our garlic rice was served while the meat is cooking. After splitting amongst the four of us, it looks like we are on a carbo diet. LOL.

Remember about the mushroom medley? This is how it looks like once the butter melts and the mushrooms are cooked. Smells heavenly.

Okay, the garlic rice is definitely too small to share amongst 4 of us. So we ordered minced meat and tofu rice to add our carbo consumption. #heregoesourdiet

Last but not least, we ordered Yuzu and Matcha Ice Cream. Sweet taste in our mouths. =)

Total bill comes around S$50 for one person. I kinda find it too expensive because by the same price, I can enjoy high tea at nice hotels. Although there will not be grilled meat at a hotel high tea though. 

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