Starting work... TOMORROW!

Well, we arrived back in KL Sunday evening and were awfully anti-social since then... didn't even dropped by to say Hi to my parents the first couple of days - more because we are both very very tired - not having slept at all well the last two weeks in SG... so we have been catching up on sleep, rest, and some errands.

Husband quit work as of end October..... and, due to the way the apartment lease was written (a standard in SG), we have to keep the apartment till end-Feb.... We have two of our good friends (a Dutch/Scottish couple) who were coming to SG for a LONG break from Europe and since we are going to be in and out of SG, and will be using our apartment there only off and on (and more by Husband than by me), they will be staying as our guests, and keeping an eye on the apartment for us.

Anyway, early November Husband and I had already made two flying visits back to KL, just loading up our car (and our friends car once) with all our stuff to bring back. Which was already tiring - "flying" journeys when one is actually driving 4 hours there and 4 hours back are TIRING! Then we headed back to KL again on 11th Nov, returning to SG on 15th... we did not actually plan to drive back to KL again - but then, something interesting happened.

I used to have a little red Toyota Sera 6 years ago in Singapore (to see what it looks like, go to Google, and key in Toyota Sera, and check out the images!!). We sold it when I joined my last workplace in SG, since Husband was in the same office building and it did not make sense to have two cars! Well, Husband knows I love that car, and we have been keeping an eye open for one for the last few months... and, believe it or not, on Friday 17th Nov, I got home after yoga, looked up the Malaysian Motor Trader web site, and there was a Sera for sale, at a dealers in an area called Sungai Buloh which is about 30 minutes drive from our KL apartment... so Husband said "Pack up, let's go".. and we did. Packed up the car again with lots of stuff (particularly our bowling balls!!) and drove back to KL on 17th afternoon, arriving at night. Saturday we went to the dealers, and put a downpayment on the car, then drove back to SG early Sunday morning.. in time to make sure that we were back at our SG apartment before our friends from Europe turned up. That was, to put it mildly, an exhausting weekend.

Heniway, 20th to 24th Nov, I was busy with my friend, K, helping out at a conference that she was involved in organising for the National Institute of Education in Singapore. 25th was a birthday dinner for our Irish friend Tony... then on 26th we got ourselves onto the 2.00pm MAS flight back to KL. It landed late - weather was bad over the airport, so the plane had to maintain a holding pattern, and by the time it landed it was 3.30pm. We got home by 4.30pm!

Up early on Monday morning - to go to the bank to get money out to pay for the car, met the dealer with the Sera in tow, at the bank, went with him to HIS bank (right near our bank) to deposit the money, collected the Reg card, the insurance paper, the receipt, and drove the car straight to our regular maintenance people (They are Toyota and Lexus specialists) and have left it there for them to check out and do whatever is required to get it into shape. The body is in good shape, but it is a 16 year old car, so there is a lot to be checked in terms of engine, brakes, aircon, new radio, gear box (it is an auto), lights, overhaul, hydraulic arms (that hold up the gull wing doors), etc. It will probably take about 2 to 3 weeks to get things done, and in fact some parts have to come from Japan and that could take up to 3 months.... It is a silvery grey-blue colour.

We had also left our Lexus with a car dealer to see if it could be sold (actually, another reason was that we just did not want to leave it in the condo carpark as people notice when a car is not moved and they know that the owners are not at home!!)... anyway, interestingly, there is one guy who wants to buy the car, but could only get a loan of RM150K, which leaves him RM20K short that he would have to top up on his own (not counting the RM15K he has already coughed up for the deposit, insurance, etc). Heniway, he is in the process of 'mobilising' his funds to get the cash and that is gonna take a couple of weeks, so the dealer agreed we could take the car back and continue using it... and if the fella gets his money together, well and good... if not, well and good also!! As we would be quite happy either way!

Tuesday morning we went to Malaysian Immigration to put in the application to extend Husband's work permit (it expires on 16th Dec), and we were amazed that it went so smoothly - we got there at 9.30am, and we were out of there by 9.45am. It was unbelievably fast, smooth, and FRIENDLY!.

Wednesday early morning we drove the Lexus to SG, to pick up a painting that we could not fit into our SG hired car (the painting is 1.1m x 1.1m, and approx 3cm thick, not including the packaging) and we just could not get it into the Merc - not into the back seat, and not into the boot either. The Lexus is big enough to take it in though, so we drove in on Wed, picked up the painting around noon, had lunch, then drove straight back out again.

Something really interesting happened when we drove INTO SG. At the Immigration, when I inserted the Autopass card, for my car, into the reader, it showed ERROR. When I asked the Imm officer, he checked, then said..."When did your road tax expire last?" and I said 15th Feb 2006, but I renewed it. He then said, "Obviously you have not driven this car in Singapore since then". Apparently SG programs the Autopass card to reflect the cars road tax expiry. If you enter SG after the road tax is expired, the LTA must check to see that you have renewed your road tax first, and then they update the Autopass card to reflect the next expiry date. So, we got our Autopass updated, and LTA confirmed also that this was the first trip into SG this year for our car and that we have 10 free days still left to drive in SG.

NEXT, we get to Customs, no hassle there, but just as we were about to leave, we got stopped by an officer who tells us that our car has THREE outstanding summons in SG!! We were flabbergasted, as we go out of our way NOT to break laws in SG (or anywhere else for that matter!). Anyway, we parked our car, followed the guy, and he took us to the duty officer who showed us the records for the three summons. Would you believe, the offenses were committed on 18th, 20th, 22nd Feb 2006 - and we both IMMEDIATELY knew it was not our car - as we have been living in SG as legal residents since 6th Feb, and we are NOT ALLOWED to bring a Malaysian car into SG at all!! and, in fact, our car (as LTA had just confirmed) had never been driven into SG in 2006, prior to 29th Nov! So, to cut a long story short, the officer gave us the details, told us who to write to and appeal, and let us through. He also advised us not to pay if we are absolutely sure it is not us, and he said that until this matter is cleared up, whenever we exit or enter SG, we will be stopped again. Enuff said.

Heniway, the last piece of news is that I start work with a major MNC on Friday 1st Dec (which makes it a nice short week), but next week already promises to be a busy one. I will be in Cyberjaya on Monday for meetings, and in Penang on Tuesday for more meetings - all with one of the key customers of the organisation I will be working for, whom I will be managing here in Malaysia.. .

Well, that's our story for now.... I will keep my blog updated as and when I can... but have no idea what my time is going to be like once I start work. Wish me luck :-)