Thursday, May 22, 2008
SZ10
I'm beginning to like PRC even more. I like the way that the traffic is so disorderly; no cars stop conscientiously at the zebra-crossings for pedestrians and jay-walking is the norm. It is quite the opposite of Singapore. Another thing is the price of food is also slightly cheaper. I had a pork floss bun and a 500ml packet of milk tea from the convenient shop this morning for only RMB5.50 (SGD1.10). I tried a neighbourhood economic rice stall: A huge serving of rice and 2 side dishes with a soup for RMB12 (SGD2.40). The serving was big enough to match the servings I had in Army. There's more! I bought a 24 pack carton (250ml ea) of fresh milk for about RMB 55.20 (SGD11).
Food is good too. Yes, obviously the food here is oily and salty. But you can ask for less salt, which is like less MSG but they still use tonnes of salt. For almost every meal, whenever I look at the amount of oil in the servings, I start to think of surging oil prices. When I taste the saltiness of the food, I begin to understand why so many people want to steal kidneys... Then, after all these thoughts, I think of my hair... Sigh. But if you think about it, my friend and I went to a restaurant selling Hunan cuisine (my favourite here). We ordered 3 dishes with rice, for a total of RMB50 odd (SGD10 odd). Heavenly.
I haven't been to any hairdresser here, but I'm going to visit one this week or next. The normal prices are around RMB30-40, which is reasonable. As a Singaporean, I always have this thought that the sub-standard hairdresser will accidentally nip off my ear or something. Hur hur.
I have been going places, but not shopping places. There's nothing much to shop in Shenzhen. Except fake branded goods. I'm planning to join another colleague this weekend to the Botanical garden in SZ. Then probably ask another colleague to bring us (yes, with the CNP) around Luo Hu (Sell many fake goods and some good shopping stuff).
Speaking of Luo Hu, there's a sort of Bugis Street here located in Dongmen. Basically, this part of the streets are closed (like Xi Men Ding in Taipei, if you've been there) for people to walk. The entire place looks like People's Park. The structures are at least 20 years old and the place is filled with shops selling fake but well-imitated branded goods. Of course, they also sell real stuff. Once in a while you see some people standing by a street lamp with 2-3 puppies leashed - illegal sale of puppies. The puppies were so cute but then you won't know if it's clean. Inside one of the buildings, there's a pet shop with quite a fair bit of puppies. The puppies are so small and cute because they're barely 2 months old. But they look sickly. Either they haven't been vaccinated or they're already sick (the latter most likely) from some infection. It is not advisable to buy from shops in SZ even though they costs only around RMB800 (SGD160) for a Labrador puppy. It is better to buy from a breeder.
Although the things here are relatively cheaper. If gauged by the people's salary, it is not as cheap. My colleagues earn about RMB3000 (SGD600) on average. But is it just nice for the standard of living here in SZ. As most of the people here are from other provinces (SZ is after all, a city of migrants like Singapore), they rent apartments. I saw a video clip of one colleague's apartment. It was a one room apartment with no kitchen at all for RMB800 per month. She would cook in the balcony. If you take away the rent and transport expenses and remittance to her parents, how much would she probably be left with for shopping and savings? Another friend whom I visited, shared with a room mate a 2 bedroom rented apartment. Their beds were on the ground and there was no TV. The place was sparse and everything was simple. Then I think of how fortunate I am in Singapore. Imagine, these people came all the way from their villages to find work in SZ. The one staying in the one room apartment is from Szechuan. Although her family stays in a house in Chengdu (now cannot stay due to earthquake), she still has to come out to work. She's already 38 but from her attitude and behaviour, I cannot help but think that she still has that village mentality: simple and humble (but not so naive and stupid). The friend who stays with his friend in the two room apartment came from Guizhou after graduation at age 21. He's the same age as me.
I think this is what I have always wanted to find out and see for myself how different it is living out of Singapore. I don't think I would learn or pick up anything if I had been shopping or staying in all the time in front of the laptop. I rather stretch my limbs by climbing mountains and explore into other cultures and lifestyles. I simply love the - boring - fishing trip and hearty dinner with my Hakka colleague that I've mentioned previously. We talked so much and I've seen so much by visiting her relatives. I'm looking forward to more of these experiences.
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