Whilst its raining in Malaysia, cold winds are blowing in Newcastle...
Adeline's updates:
"The temperatures here plummeted on Friday and it snowed heavily for 4 hours straight. Snow is magical when you are at home watching it, but not so nice when you are outside. An old man told David that it's cold winds blowing from Norway and Sweden that's bringing snow to the North East. We're one of the first regions to see snow this year.
I am going to miss being neighbours with Europe. Europe is amazingly beautiful and I haven't visited all the other countries. However, I need to save money so that when I come back I can have a substantial amount in my bank. So all that travelling will have to be put on hold. There were good deals on Groupon such as travel to Barcelona or Berlin for GBP 129 per person for two nights, flights and hotel included. It's cheaper than going to London to stay! But don't want to spend lah.
So what I've been doing since Friday is try to keep warm because the weather is freezing. If I go clean my bathroom for 15 mins, I come out absolutely frozen. I usually hide under my blanket or use my hot water bottle (yea, got blanket in the living room). Also we wear socks and slippers and jackets and I wear 2 layers of pants. This house is like a refrigerator now. I can leave food out 2 nights in a row and it won't spoil.
I bet all the insects that I despise have met their untimely demise at the hands of the frost. HA HA, take that pests!"
Mummy's notes: Brr...brr...I am feeling the cold just reading this.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
How to get a job at Sainsbury
Latest update from Adeline:
"Sainsbury's hired me so I'm going to be a General Assistant Band 2 starting from 8 Nov to Jan 5 2013.
Hurray, got a job at last. Thanks for the prayers.
The interview was easy. I had to do a questionnaire while watching a DVD. They gave situations like customers complaining about expired food, asking about food products etc and you have to rank your responses accordingly. I just answered as if I was a super good sales assistant (in reality, I wouldn't think to do those things in that order).
Then I had to do a ridiculously easy maths test (If you had 3 bags of 7 toilet paper rolls, how many toilet paper rolls do you have?) and a personality questionnaire. There were a few trick questions in the questionnaire like "I often see ways in which people can work around the law without actually breaking it". To this, I wanted to reply 'Strongly Agree' because growing up in Malaysia teaches you a few things about going around the law, but I figured that this is a trick question to assess my own personality so I put Strongly Disagree.
Then the second round was answering questions like Why Do You Want To Work at Sains? To which I replied that I like their ethical stance eg fairtrade products, organic stuff, vegetables in season etc.
The manager said my answers to these questions were good (cause I did research beforehand)"
"Sainsbury's hired me so I'm going to be a General Assistant Band 2 starting from 8 Nov to Jan 5 2013.
Hurray, got a job at last. Thanks for the prayers.
The interview was easy. I had to do a questionnaire while watching a DVD. They gave situations like customers complaining about expired food, asking about food products etc and you have to rank your responses accordingly. I just answered as if I was a super good sales assistant (in reality, I wouldn't think to do those things in that order).
Then I had to do a ridiculously easy maths test (If you had 3 bags of 7 toilet paper rolls, how many toilet paper rolls do you have?) and a personality questionnaire. There were a few trick questions in the questionnaire like "I often see ways in which people can work around the law without actually breaking it". To this, I wanted to reply 'Strongly Agree' because growing up in Malaysia teaches you a few things about going around the law, but I figured that this is a trick question to assess my own personality so I put Strongly Disagree.
Then the second round was answering questions like Why Do You Want To Work at Sains? To which I replied that I like their ethical stance eg fairtrade products, organic stuff, vegetables in season etc.
The manager said my answers to these questions were good (cause I did research beforehand)"
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Genneva gold
By now everyone would have read in the papers about Genneva gold.
Yesterday BNM and a few other agencies raided the premises. Well I guess I did see it coming. My friend was telling me about the raids at their Singapore offices and their failure to pay dividends and deliver the gold wafers.
I have no one to blame but myself. Why did I invest in the gold? Well truth be told I wanted to help my sister earn her commission as she became one of its consultant. When she first spoke to me about it, I was not interested. Later she showed me her cheques and raved about the RM2k a month she was getting as dividends.
I thought "why not". After all I get to keep the physical gold not a book or a piece of paper like a gold deposit account.
So I invested a sum of money and got a beautiful gold wafer to keep.
No one should be more surprised than me when I read about the raid. I mean how many banks are going to stand it if their depositors start taking out all their savings and put it in Genneva gold investmenst?
I must say that I did receive 2 months dividends and then the infamous raid happened. I guess the authorities must have basis for doing so.
I hope the authorities resolve this soon and let them carry on their business or wind it up so that the innocent investors can get back their money. Many of them invest to fund their children's education or for their old age so it just doesn't seem fair to leave innocent investors in the lurch.
Yesterday BNM and a few other agencies raided the premises. Well I guess I did see it coming. My friend was telling me about the raids at their Singapore offices and their failure to pay dividends and deliver the gold wafers.
I have no one to blame but myself. Why did I invest in the gold? Well truth be told I wanted to help my sister earn her commission as she became one of its consultant. When she first spoke to me about it, I was not interested. Later she showed me her cheques and raved about the RM2k a month she was getting as dividends.
I thought "why not". After all I get to keep the physical gold not a book or a piece of paper like a gold deposit account.
So I invested a sum of money and got a beautiful gold wafer to keep.
No one should be more surprised than me when I read about the raid. I mean how many banks are going to stand it if their depositors start taking out all their savings and put it in Genneva gold investmenst?
I must say that I did receive 2 months dividends and then the infamous raid happened. I guess the authorities must have basis for doing so.
I hope the authorities resolve this soon and let them carry on their business or wind it up so that the innocent investors can get back their money. Many of them invest to fund their children's education or for their old age so it just doesn't seem fair to leave innocent investors in the lurch.
Myvi is my new baby
Well the RM56,100 car is kind of special.
It has a unique feature i.e. a DVD player with a small screen!
Yes, we have been playing DVDs on it and watching and listening to Joseph Prince preaching in Israel.
Its really cool.
It also has a GPS. So far its not too expensive to maintain - just RM60 for a full tank and it can go up to 300 km. That's all the way to Penang!
I had always wanted to get a Myvi. Somehow getting it in Sept seems so right. Amanda's birthday and our silver wedding anniversary!
I realize that if I don't make use of my car loan now I probably would not be able to make use of it ever again as in 2 year's time I will be 55 which is the date I officially retire from the Bank.
It has a unique feature i.e. a DVD player with a small screen!
Yes, we have been playing DVDs on it and watching and listening to Joseph Prince preaching in Israel.
Its really cool.
It also has a GPS. So far its not too expensive to maintain - just RM60 for a full tank and it can go up to 300 km. That's all the way to Penang!
I had always wanted to get a Myvi. Somehow getting it in Sept seems so right. Amanda's birthday and our silver wedding anniversary!
I realize that if I don't make use of my car loan now I probably would not be able to make use of it ever again as in 2 year's time I will be 55 which is the date I officially retire from the Bank.
How to look for a job in Newcastle's Chinatown
Adeline's job hunting experiences in Newcastle's Chinatown is interesting to say the least...
"In relation to job hunting, I even went around the restaurants in Chinatown, asking if they were hiring.It was a bit nerve wrecking to just go in and ask, but quite interesting. The way the Chinese restaurants hire is completely different from the way English companies hire.
First, if you are Chinese, you already have a chance of being hired (whether or not they already have a lot of staff).Secondly, if you can speak/read/write Chinese, you are a shoo-in. The waitress at one restaurant thought I couldn't speak Chinese and said as much right in front of the manager, but I understood and instantly piped in Mandarin, 'wo hui jiang zhong wen' and 'wo shi ma lai xi ya ren'. Thereafter, I was immediately sat down for an interview with the manager (who was also from Malaysia). So there, bonus for me cause (a) Fluent in English, (b) Can speak Mandarin.
Thirdly, you have to be prepared to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week. Crazy right? The manager of the same restaurant said if you want to earn cash, that's what you have to do. I felt that I am not that desperate to earn money. I will be really unhappy for one thing, and I don't think I can survive standing on my feet for 14 hours everyday, 6 days a week.
And they even offered to train me on the spot! Very different from English companies that go through stage 1: Application, stage 2: Online Assessment, and then stage 3: In-store Interview.
I told them I couldn't do 14 hour days, 6 days a week. So good bye waitressing in that Chinese restaurant.
I also entered another restaurant (both restaurants are places I eat at frequently). They gave me a 'Chinese reading test' to see if I could read off the menu in Chinese. I could only read one character out of 6. So failed the test. Also, I wanted to work part-time, to which they said derisively, 'You can only work till February 2013 and you want to work part-time?' I know la Chinese restaurant means Chinese work ethics but this is not how I envisioned spending my last days in Newcastle (slaving away in a Chinese restaurant), so I said 'Yes, part-time.' Furthermore, I can't even read the Chinese menu, so good bye waitressing in that restaurant.
However, I also learned that there will always be a place for you in a restaurant, if you are Chinese. The Chinese restaurants look out for their own kind. They don't hire white people to work for them because, that's not very authentic isn't it? Chinese hirers are also more straight to the point. No beating around the bush like English companies with the 'Why do you want to work for us?' 'Do you have experience?' mentality *cue polish the company's shoe, saying they have a brilliant rep, and then showcasing yourself as the best one for the job*. Just straight up, 'Can you speak Chinese?'/ 'Can you work ungodly hours?'. No experience never mind, we train you on the spot!
Next, I applied online to work as a Christmas temp sales assistant for Boots Pharmacy. Got invited to do online assessment. Just completed it. If I pass that, I will get called for an in-store interview. Really hope I get this job because (a) It is temporary, (b) The hours are reasonable. I just want a small source of income, not looking to make big bucks before returning. But imagine! Christmas temp also must go through so many stages. This is how the English company works (frankly I don't mind because English companies also adhere to the labour laws and don't ask you to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week. That's actually illegal).
I am not lazy. I just don't want to slave away, when I am already going to slave away as a lawyer back in Malaysia"
Well its my prayer that Adeline gets this job at Boots Pharmacy cos I am getting a bit worried about her dwindling funds!
"In relation to job hunting, I even went around the restaurants in Chinatown, asking if they were hiring.It was a bit nerve wrecking to just go in and ask, but quite interesting. The way the Chinese restaurants hire is completely different from the way English companies hire.
First, if you are Chinese, you already have a chance of being hired (whether or not they already have a lot of staff).Secondly, if you can speak/read/write Chinese, you are a shoo-in. The waitress at one restaurant thought I couldn't speak Chinese and said as much right in front of the manager, but I understood and instantly piped in Mandarin, 'wo hui jiang zhong wen' and 'wo shi ma lai xi ya ren'. Thereafter, I was immediately sat down for an interview with the manager (who was also from Malaysia). So there, bonus for me cause (a) Fluent in English, (b) Can speak Mandarin.
Thirdly, you have to be prepared to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week. Crazy right? The manager of the same restaurant said if you want to earn cash, that's what you have to do. I felt that I am not that desperate to earn money. I will be really unhappy for one thing, and I don't think I can survive standing on my feet for 14 hours everyday, 6 days a week.
And they even offered to train me on the spot! Very different from English companies that go through stage 1: Application, stage 2: Online Assessment, and then stage 3: In-store Interview.
I told them I couldn't do 14 hour days, 6 days a week. So good bye waitressing in that Chinese restaurant.
I also entered another restaurant (both restaurants are places I eat at frequently). They gave me a 'Chinese reading test' to see if I could read off the menu in Chinese. I could only read one character out of 6. So failed the test. Also, I wanted to work part-time, to which they said derisively, 'You can only work till February 2013 and you want to work part-time?' I know la Chinese restaurant means Chinese work ethics but this is not how I envisioned spending my last days in Newcastle (slaving away in a Chinese restaurant), so I said 'Yes, part-time.' Furthermore, I can't even read the Chinese menu, so good bye waitressing in that restaurant.
However, I also learned that there will always be a place for you in a restaurant, if you are Chinese. The Chinese restaurants look out for their own kind. They don't hire white people to work for them because, that's not very authentic isn't it? Chinese hirers are also more straight to the point. No beating around the bush like English companies with the 'Why do you want to work for us?' 'Do you have experience?' mentality *cue polish the company's shoe, saying they have a brilliant rep, and then showcasing yourself as the best one for the job*. Just straight up, 'Can you speak Chinese?'/ 'Can you work ungodly hours?'. No experience never mind, we train you on the spot!
Next, I applied online to work as a Christmas temp sales assistant for Boots Pharmacy. Got invited to do online assessment. Just completed it. If I pass that, I will get called for an in-store interview. Really hope I get this job because (a) It is temporary, (b) The hours are reasonable. I just want a small source of income, not looking to make big bucks before returning. But imagine! Christmas temp also must go through so many stages. This is how the English company works (frankly I don't mind because English companies also adhere to the labour laws and don't ask you to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week. That's actually illegal).
I am not lazy. I just don't want to slave away, when I am already going to slave away as a lawyer back in Malaysia"
Well its my prayer that Adeline gets this job at Boots Pharmacy cos I am getting a bit worried about her dwindling funds!
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