Year of the Rat

Gong Xi Gong Xi!

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year, everybody! May this year be a prosperous and joyful year to us all. BTW, this new year is the year of the rat. My older brother’s birth year animal is also rat, which means this year he’s going to turn 24. Oh my! In three years I’m going to be 24 as well. That scares me somehow. Anyway, Happy New Year!

$700!!!

No! This is not an Ang Pao! *I mimic this pose from www.mygreyworld.com*
Yeah! I’d be sooooo damn lucky if it were my Ang Pao. That’s my first pay cheque! My hard-earned working remuneration. I cost me sweat, blood (yeah, I got many cuts and blisters on my hands and arms), and WEIGHT (Yeah! This somehow sounds good. I lost 3 kgs already). Hahaha!
I got paid A$9 per hour before tax, and that means A$7 after tax. So last month I worked like 100 hours. Te pay is not too much if you compare to McDonald’s, or KFC which pay around $12-16 per hour before tax. Anyway, money isn’t my primary objective for working this time. I was looking for an experience (and a reason to avoid having to return to Indonesia this holiday). HAhahah!
The experience is good. I think I learn a lot. I now understand partially how people manage a store. The cycle of merchandise from ordering until selling etc. I’m kinda slow learner so my boss must have been irritated by me A LOT. Hahaha! I got scolded by my boss a lot of time, but I think his words are acceptable. He does not use rude or degrading words and every scold is based on mistakes, not personal matters.

Chinese New Year Treat

Yummy!!!
Last night my boss (or should I call bosses? They’re husband and wife) got me and some other employees have dinner at their home apartment. She cooked really well. There was Ngo Hiong, Abalone chicken pork soup, Fried noodles, pangsit, and other yummy foods.
It was a nice and warm gather-round we chatted and laughed a lot. My boss even read our hands!!! Sadly the gaps between my fingers do not close tightly. He said that meant I can’t really save money. He also told me that I’m very gullible and too generous. People and my friends might take advantage of me. Duhh…
Seems quite true. You know what I did with my first pay cheque? Of that A$700, I gave A$500 to my family. I gave each A$100 to my Dad, Mom, older Bro, older Sis, and younger Bro. My family told me they don’t really need the money. I just wanted to show my love and devotion to them. You might have no idea that I once planned to give some to charity while actually I should be worried about my low bank balance.

Anyway, I think I need to learn not to be too easy with money. I should really appreciate and value money, and save it to myself.