I meet this guy over the internet about 3 years ago. We started by chatting online and know each other well. He is single but living with his Australian girlfriend. He has a full time job but works at home most of the time. I never dare to ask him what exactly his job is all about. Although he did mention to me about trading job, and so i assume that he is a trader. Anyway ,that doesnt concern me.
We meet in person in one ocassion to see face to face ( although we already see each other cam to cam). We meet in Starbucks in holland v, he seems a nice guys, average looking guy , not so tall and soft spoken. He speaks with sense, he laughs at my jokes and i laugh at his jokes. We become good friend after that. We chat online almost daily talking about the weather and everything under the sun. I never dare to bring up a topic about his gf. He knows im working as a maid but that doesnt bother him. Im older than him and he doesnt mind, im just average looking girl and he doesnt mind. Im just glad that there is one person who is not tired of talking to me all these years. When he and his gf goes away for a holiday he tells me to be good and talk when they get back. He tells me about thier trip when they come home.
He allows me to tell story about my work and family. He gives advice if i ask him to, he ask me to have a break if i said im tired.
I sometimes wonder why a educated, young, good looking Australian guy not tired of talking with me.
Sometimes I asked him if he is not bored talking with me. Im not a office girl, i dont have a established career, although I have a college diploma.
When i first came to Singapore in the middle of 90s I thought it easier to come to Singapore if you apply as a domestic helper. My plan is to come here as tourist, apply as a domestic helper first just to have roof and free food while looking for a job that I want.
Unfortunately , that didnt work MOM has regulations about domestic helpers. Once you come here as a domestic helper, you will work only a domestic helper, and you cant change your job!!.
He and his gf are now married but we continue our friendship. Three years on he is still there greeting me when he see me online.
I am grateful that there is one person who doesnt look down to people like me and and im forever thankful.
About Me
- Stranger in a foreign land
- Adventurous, observer,kind, compassionate, generous, Practical, quick learner and hard working.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 21, 2008
Who should wash the car?
There are probably 80,000 filipino maids in singapore and maybe 80 percent are washing their employers car if not everyday, twice a week or maybe once a week. My question is ... is washing car our responsibility? As far as i know we are employed to do housework and childcare jobs but washing cars? Isnt it suppose to be a mans job? Why can't emloyers wash their own car? They sit and sip a coffee or read a newspaper while we wash their cars?For some unlucky maids they are being paid 300 dollars / month for a housework that includes, cooking, taking care of children ,laundry, marketing, ironing, etc. Our work starts at 5 am while our boss are still asleep and our work finish [ if we are lucky ] at 10 pm when our boss goes to bed. Some even work till 2 am sleep for 3 hours then wake up at 5 am. How rediculous is that? Some work for employers relative at day and work at employers place at night , although i have not see anyone working at someones place but i talk to few maids who relate me their situation. Some earning extra but for some they work for free it depends on their employer.
If they want us to wash their cars why can't they pay us extra at least? Or do we have the right to ask for a fee for washing their cars? Can the ministry of manpower can do anything about this or let the employers relax and sit while we wash their cars? How about asking us to rest after we wash their cars. I doubt that... i know some employer who ask their maid to quickly wash the cars so she can feed the baby or go to the market or make the beds or do the cooking or do the laundry or god knows what else. In their eyes maids are not human, maids are machines.
If they want us to wash their cars why can't they pay us extra at least? Or do we have the right to ask for a fee for washing their cars? Can the ministry of manpower can do anything about this or let the employers relax and sit while we wash their cars? How about asking us to rest after we wash their cars. I doubt that... i know some employer who ask their maid to quickly wash the cars so she can feed the baby or go to the market or make the beds or do the cooking or do the laundry or god knows what else. In their eyes maids are not human, maids are machines.
Who should walk the dog
Who should walk the dog? That's the question most maid wants to know. Is it our responsibilty to walk our employers dog? Is it fair to us to walk the dog aside from feeding, grooming while our bosses are setting pretty at home drinking coffee or reading newspaper? In fact they are the one who choose to have dog and not us. Is there any answer for these?
Monday, May 28, 2007
date with the birds goes wrong
I went to jurong bird park yesterday with a group of friends. I went their a couple of times already but the reason of me going their this time is to take a photo of the birds. Photography is one of my favorite hobby, I have taken photos of birds before and I love the color of their feathers. Although I have a huge collection of bird photos in my photo album, theres none in my pc. So when one of my friend brought the idea of going to the bird park last weekend I was pretty excited about it.
When we reach the park around noontime it was all bright and sunny . Only to become cloudy after the bird show. After a brief walk around the park we went straight to the ampitheater to find a good spot in the middle of the canvas canopy. I admired how they perched the canopy in a cave like angle in the heart of the park.
Going in a park with a group of friends is not a good idea after all. Every one wants to go in a different direction. I wanted to go in the lory loft so I can have a close look at the birds and be able to take a close up photos of them. That didnt work because my friend dragged me to the waterfall aviary [ it's a man made waterfall but they did a good job by make it look like the real one.]I managed to take photos of flamingos,pelicans and other birds. Only to find out that all my shots are blured later on. My friend accidentaly changed the setting of my camera when I asked her to take a photo of me. I was really pissed when I found out about it. I will never let anybody touch my camera again. I want my 16 dollars back...
When we reach the park around noontime it was all bright and sunny . Only to become cloudy after the bird show. After a brief walk around the park we went straight to the ampitheater to find a good spot in the middle of the canvas canopy. I admired how they perched the canopy in a cave like angle in the heart of the park.
Going in a park with a group of friends is not a good idea after all. Every one wants to go in a different direction. I wanted to go in the lory loft so I can have a close look at the birds and be able to take a close up photos of them. That didnt work because my friend dragged me to the waterfall aviary [ it's a man made waterfall but they did a good job by make it look like the real one.]I managed to take photos of flamingos,pelicans and other birds. Only to find out that all my shots are blured later on. My friend accidentaly changed the setting of my camera when I asked her to take a photo of me. I was really pissed when I found out about it. I will never let anybody touch my camera again. I want my 16 dollars back...
cats are away but mouse cant play
First of all I've been trying to add a post in my blog, but whenever I start keying words there are always distraction. I spend an hour figuring out what to add first but whenever an idea enters the corner of my mind, there is always the hesitation about the topic that I about to write. Anyway, here I am at last I hope there are no more hesitation and distractions.
I will begin with my family [ boss]who is going away on a short trip to Phuket. They left a couple of nights ago. There were some hysteria and confusion while they are packing stuff that they need to bring. This is not a surprise to me anymore, it happens everytime they go away. Ladyboss will lay couple of dozens of clothes on the bed along other stuff and leave their for hours before she choose what to bring. If they are away for say 5 days she will bring 3 pairs of clothes per day . So you could imagine how much clothes she bring all the time.. She will pack 5 flip flops, 1 sandals , a night shoe [ in case they go bar hopping]. A swim suit must be different everyday. Why can't she just bring one pair and wash it after using it then wear the same the next time they go swimming. She have this annoying practice of fishing clothes in the laundry basket and ask me to wash it because she need to bring it with her. She have thousand of clothes in the closet why she need to bring the one she wore the other day?
The teenage daughter is the same as her mom. Daughter doesnt wear anything other than ROXY for her its the coolest clothes ever. I remember buying her clothes with different brand she didnt ever wear them. What a shame... She too pack 3 pair of flip flops, 3 different shoes one trainers in case they play tennis.So you could imagine the bulk of their luggage. I really hope they wont lose their luggage.
Father and son is easier, they re not as fashionable than the two ladies.
With all the bulks of clothes they packed I could see myself spending 2 days doing the laundry plus another whole day ironing and putting away all the clothings when they come home. I have to prepare myself mentally and physically for that.
While my masters are away, I could have spend my time sippping margarita by the house pool but there is no such luck. I will be spending my time changing the beddings , master room, plus 2 kids room, spend the whole day doing the laundry. Well not physically doing it [ let the machine do the work] but i still need to supervise it and transfer them in the dryer when they are washed. While the washing machine is working I will be hoovering the house as well. We live in a 3 storey house with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, two hallways 1 huge verandah, 1 huge kitchen plus I need to walk the dog. I just wished that before they come home I could manage to catch my breath back.
Bosses are the best boss I ever had. They are not complaining nor asking me to this or do that. My only complain is Why we need to live in this massive house.
Enjoy your holiday guys see you soon.
I will begin with my family [ boss]who is going away on a short trip to Phuket. They left a couple of nights ago. There were some hysteria and confusion while they are packing stuff that they need to bring. This is not a surprise to me anymore, it happens everytime they go away. Ladyboss will lay couple of dozens of clothes on the bed along other stuff and leave their for hours before she choose what to bring. If they are away for say 5 days she will bring 3 pairs of clothes per day . So you could imagine how much clothes she bring all the time.. She will pack 5 flip flops, 1 sandals , a night shoe [ in case they go bar hopping]. A swim suit must be different everyday. Why can't she just bring one pair and wash it after using it then wear the same the next time they go swimming. She have this annoying practice of fishing clothes in the laundry basket and ask me to wash it because she need to bring it with her. She have thousand of clothes in the closet why she need to bring the one she wore the other day?
The teenage daughter is the same as her mom. Daughter doesnt wear anything other than ROXY for her its the coolest clothes ever. I remember buying her clothes with different brand she didnt ever wear them. What a shame... She too pack 3 pair of flip flops, 3 different shoes one trainers in case they play tennis.So you could imagine the bulk of their luggage. I really hope they wont lose their luggage.
Father and son is easier, they re not as fashionable than the two ladies.
With all the bulks of clothes they packed I could see myself spending 2 days doing the laundry plus another whole day ironing and putting away all the clothings when they come home. I have to prepare myself mentally and physically for that.
While my masters are away, I could have spend my time sippping margarita by the house pool but there is no such luck. I will be spending my time changing the beddings , master room, plus 2 kids room, spend the whole day doing the laundry. Well not physically doing it [ let the machine do the work] but i still need to supervise it and transfer them in the dryer when they are washed. While the washing machine is working I will be hoovering the house as well. We live in a 3 storey house with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, two hallways 1 huge verandah, 1 huge kitchen plus I need to walk the dog. I just wished that before they come home I could manage to catch my breath back.
Bosses are the best boss I ever had. They are not complaining nor asking me to this or do that. My only complain is Why we need to live in this massive house.
Enjoy your holiday guys see you soon.
Monday, April 30, 2007
My American Dream
I was introduced to my American employer by a friend who used to work part time with them. They decided to hire a full time maid because they are having another baby [ which i didn't know about] Having been working with a local family for 4 long years, I decided to move into a new invironment. The thought of me getting every Sunday off with my new employer excites me [I manage to get a twice a month off from my previous employer]. Plus the fact that I have no more curfews. My previous employer impose this rule to me that by 5 pm I should be home to cook or feed the children. Some employers have this kind of practice which is I find it rediculous. I use to hear maids grumbling at the bus stop at 4 pm saying how short the time is for them. They wished they could stay out longer and not rushng home when the sun is still shining brightly... I was in the same boat as them so I know how it feels .
The thought of me not going to rush to the bus stop again at 4 pm makes me smile.
I was looking forward to attend every sunday service in our church and be able to meet my friends on weekends. We go to the same church on our offdays.
My new employer is a young couple with 5 and 2 years old daughters. The man is working but works home for some days, he works for an American newspaper as a financial columnist while the lady is a stay home mum.for the kids. He travels for work once in while.
They seems a nice couple when i first meet them. They prefer me to call them with their first name rather than sir or ma'am. Which I felt is more appropiate as our age gap is not that much. I am the same age as my male boss , my female boss is 2 years younger then me. I will call them Pete and Shar [name change to protect their identity]
I have no idea what my work will be aside from helping her to look after the girls. I was given an instruction to focus on the children. Not to worry about cooking , cleaning or laundry.. My head start to get muddled as soon as I start working with them. Shar expected me to be around while she plays with them, so the girls will get to know me.. Fine for me [but not long] . Feed the children when they are hungry not necessarily wait for proper meal time which is breakfast, lunch and dinner. For them meal is a snack..And let them feed themselves which is kind of weird to me [ maybe i used to spoonfeed my previous employers kids ].Naturally food is all over the floor not into the childrens mouth. When I attempt to help them feed them Shar would say it's ok they can feed themselves. Maybe she is trying to teach them to be independent but for goodness sake this kids needs to eat properly .
Every meal time kitchen is a whole mess, foods thrown all over the place. This maybe kind of normal to them but it is killing me.. I am very tidy person and trying my best to keep this house tidy as much as possible but with these 2 throwing food kids is impossible. My nightmare didn't stop there. Once, I was doing my housework when suddenly Shar asked me to stop and bring the girls to the park so that they can play. For goodness sake it is middle of the day and the sun outside is scorching hot. I have to push this double trolley with 2 kids on it in the middle of the day and walked half a kilometer to get to the park. She said she will get an hour nap and instructed me to come back an hour later. I have not eaten my lunch and I had only a cup of coffee and a piece of toast for breakfast and this inconsiderate person ask me to bring out this kids so that they could play and she can get a nap. Honestly, I wished I could protest but she is my employer and I have just started working with them.
Pete is the nicest of the 2, when he is around he will ask if I'm eaten or he will bring the kids out so that I could rest. Of course I wont be resting cos I still have to do some other things at home. With 2 kids throwing everything inside the house, the place obviously needs tidying up if there is a chance. If there are so called messy person Shar is one of them. I'm not sure if she ever know how to clear her mess but I'm sure I have not seen her making an effort to practice it. It makes me squirm by the sight of her used underwear in the bathroom floor. Why cant' she just throw them inside the laundry basket.
My temper is thinning everyday and so as my patient. I tried to ignore her weird behaviour thinking that maybe its part of her mood swings caused by her pregnancy. But one day she makes me snap when she accused me of hitting her eldest daughter. The eldest daughter suddenly cry for no apparent reason [ she does that all the time] . And everytime she does it , she would ask me what I did to her.For God sake I never left a finger to anyone how could she suspect me of hitting this small girl.
One morning while the girls are playing at the backyard I was also there attending to the girls and Shar is just a few steps away talking on the phone [as always]. When suddenly the eldest girl started crying, Shar looked up at me and said " what did you do?" I said nothing, but the girl accused me of hitting her which i didnt do. Shar got up and growled at me like she is going to eat me whole. I said i didnt do anything but she didnt believe me. I raised my voice in protest but she just doens;t listen. I went inside and left the girls with her, I shut myself inside my room and felt so angry. I never get angry that much in my entire life but this time i'm really really angry. I wanted to leave in that moment but wasnt sure where to go. I started packing my stuff in case she ask me to leave. After an hour she came to my door knocking and when i open the door she asked me to leave because she doesnt want to see me again. In a foreign country where you dont have anybody to turn to except your friends what choice can you make. I called the person who intruduced me to my employer and told her what happen. She ask me to go ang ask for an apology to my employer. How can i ask an apology if i know that i didnt do anything wrong with them. And how can I ak for an apology if she wanted me to leave on the moment? Yes, I am a maid but I have my pride and i know deep in my heart that i didnt do anything wrong to be treated that way. In that afternoon I left my employers place and stay in a friends place for a month. Can you imagine because of those nasty employer i was left with no job, no income , nowhere to go....in a foreign country.
The thought of me not going to rush to the bus stop again at 4 pm makes me smile.
I was looking forward to attend every sunday service in our church and be able to meet my friends on weekends. We go to the same church on our offdays.
My new employer is a young couple with 5 and 2 years old daughters. The man is working but works home for some days, he works for an American newspaper as a financial columnist while the lady is a stay home mum.for the kids. He travels for work once in while.
They seems a nice couple when i first meet them. They prefer me to call them with their first name rather than sir or ma'am. Which I felt is more appropiate as our age gap is not that much. I am the same age as my male boss , my female boss is 2 years younger then me. I will call them Pete and Shar [name change to protect their identity]
I have no idea what my work will be aside from helping her to look after the girls. I was given an instruction to focus on the children. Not to worry about cooking , cleaning or laundry.. My head start to get muddled as soon as I start working with them. Shar expected me to be around while she plays with them, so the girls will get to know me.. Fine for me [but not long] . Feed the children when they are hungry not necessarily wait for proper meal time which is breakfast, lunch and dinner. For them meal is a snack..And let them feed themselves which is kind of weird to me [ maybe i used to spoonfeed my previous employers kids ].Naturally food is all over the floor not into the childrens mouth. When I attempt to help them feed them Shar would say it's ok they can feed themselves. Maybe she is trying to teach them to be independent but for goodness sake this kids needs to eat properly .
Every meal time kitchen is a whole mess, foods thrown all over the place. This maybe kind of normal to them but it is killing me.. I am very tidy person and trying my best to keep this house tidy as much as possible but with these 2 throwing food kids is impossible. My nightmare didn't stop there. Once, I was doing my housework when suddenly Shar asked me to stop and bring the girls to the park so that they can play. For goodness sake it is middle of the day and the sun outside is scorching hot. I have to push this double trolley with 2 kids on it in the middle of the day and walked half a kilometer to get to the park. She said she will get an hour nap and instructed me to come back an hour later. I have not eaten my lunch and I had only a cup of coffee and a piece of toast for breakfast and this inconsiderate person ask me to bring out this kids so that they could play and she can get a nap. Honestly, I wished I could protest but she is my employer and I have just started working with them.
Pete is the nicest of the 2, when he is around he will ask if I'm eaten or he will bring the kids out so that I could rest. Of course I wont be resting cos I still have to do some other things at home. With 2 kids throwing everything inside the house, the place obviously needs tidying up if there is a chance. If there are so called messy person Shar is one of them. I'm not sure if she ever know how to clear her mess but I'm sure I have not seen her making an effort to practice it. It makes me squirm by the sight of her used underwear in the bathroom floor. Why cant' she just throw them inside the laundry basket.
My temper is thinning everyday and so as my patient. I tried to ignore her weird behaviour thinking that maybe its part of her mood swings caused by her pregnancy. But one day she makes me snap when she accused me of hitting her eldest daughter. The eldest daughter suddenly cry for no apparent reason [ she does that all the time] . And everytime she does it , she would ask me what I did to her.For God sake I never left a finger to anyone how could she suspect me of hitting this small girl.
One morning while the girls are playing at the backyard I was also there attending to the girls and Shar is just a few steps away talking on the phone [as always]. When suddenly the eldest girl started crying, Shar looked up at me and said " what did you do?" I said nothing, but the girl accused me of hitting her which i didnt do. Shar got up and growled at me like she is going to eat me whole. I said i didnt do anything but she didnt believe me. I raised my voice in protest but she just doens;t listen. I went inside and left the girls with her, I shut myself inside my room and felt so angry. I never get angry that much in my entire life but this time i'm really really angry. I wanted to leave in that moment but wasnt sure where to go. I started packing my stuff in case she ask me to leave. After an hour she came to my door knocking and when i open the door she asked me to leave because she doesnt want to see me again. In a foreign country where you dont have anybody to turn to except your friends what choice can you make. I called the person who intruduced me to my employer and told her what happen. She ask me to go ang ask for an apology to my employer. How can i ask an apology if i know that i didnt do anything wrong with them. And how can I ak for an apology if she wanted me to leave on the moment? Yes, I am a maid but I have my pride and i know deep in my heart that i didnt do anything wrong to be treated that way. In that afternoon I left my employers place and stay in a friends place for a month. Can you imagine because of those nasty employer i was left with no job, no income , nowhere to go....in a foreign country.
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