My Bluecar experience

Hello,

The sharing economy is here. Looking at the mass of bicycles lying all around the grassy patch reminds me of my inability to cycle. However, BlueSg caught my attention. Car Sharing is new in Singapore and being a driver who doesn't have a car to drive, I was attracted to open an account and try their services. But bad press about their cars being abused have made me afraid of driving their car.

But with my fiancee getting her licence, it spurred me to start an account to let me haolian my driving skills to her.

I literally burned a hole in my pocket because i bet against

her passing her licence and lost a Kate Spade to her.

BlueSg

So what is bluesg?

It is just an electric car that you can rent by minute basis.(with minimum of 15minutes)

Sounds cool but still unsure if you would like to open an account?

Steps to Open an account
According to their official 9 page guide, it seemed pretty straightforward in getting an account set up.

- Username/password
- Personal Details
- Driving licence and NRIC photo (confirm easier than the selfie required by CoinHako)
- Payment for your premium membership* (the membership is Free if you register the premium membership before 31st March 2018, but you still need to insert credit card details to charge $0)
- Go to booth to activate EZlink card or use their provided token that will be posted to your address.



But...
Do note the fine prints!!
- It takes 10 minutes to create an account, but approval for you to start driving takes maybe a few days, though mine was approved pretty quickly.  Do make your account in advanced instead of leaving to the last minute.

- You need to go to a car booth to pair your EZlink card within the stipulated period.
I am not sure what will happen if you didn't pair in time.
 

- Free membership for first year but auto renewal of membership is activated! This meant that if you forget to close your account, you will be charged membership fees! And hear me clearly, Close your account, not cancel membership. Basically their 1 week membership is a trial for new users and you need to sign a 1 year membership in order to drive their cars. That is $180 at $15 per month! And if I am not wrong, you need a 1 year membership every time you register!
Last but not least, NO REMINDER FOR THE EXPIRY OF YOUR ACCOUNT.
You have been warned.







































- The touchscreen on the booth is pretty crappy. I kept typing the wrong pin. Do note that when you take the car, you can only type your pin 3x. DO IT WITH CARE!

- You MUST remember which credit card did you charge your usage to. There is no way to check back which Credit Card you charged to other than calling their hotline! Neither can you change your credit card with ease. The only way to do it is to call their hotline.



How it felt driving BlueCar
Quiet, like real quiet until I didnt know the engine is on. I was having difficulty with driving it because I cannot "feel" the car.
The car is pretty weak and small, but really quiet.
The car even rolled back if you are on a slope and you stop on it.
There is no pushing force if the car is not accelerating.

You also get a lot of eyes staring at you, because BlueCar!


The Damage
According to the app, I drove about 43 minutes, which translates to $14.33!


From my experience, if I were to take a ride during off peak hour for 43 minutes, it will cost me approximately $20. So yes, it is indeed cheaper by a bit if we compare to off peak rates. However, the inconvenience is that the parking locations is pretty little and not near to where I or Chew stays.

So yes, it is fun to drive this car for fun, but to use it for commutation will have to wait for it to further set up more spots for returning the car.

Bangkok with Chew

Hi,

People have been asking how is thailand, if it is fun.

My reply is that it is downright boring (for me)

Let me elaborate.

I am literally the slave dog carrying everything, feeding my princess and flooding her with shitload of water. How can that be fun to me?

Glow Pratunam was a pretty decent hotel with nice toilet and clean room. However, it is not a "easy to find" place when you come from the airport BTS. Tell people you are heading towards Platinum Mall or Shibuya Mall. The hotel starts from level 7 of the Shibuya Mall. Once you find that place, you will realise that the hotel is pretty decently located.

Many blogs would advise to take the BTS or MRT as much as possible, and i agree. The jam were horrendous, and taxi fares aren't cheap even if you convert. However, if you are going with a shopperholic who also happened to go to BKK for the first time, i suggest you wear a good pair of walking shoes and start training long distant walking 2 week prior to going there.

Weather is hot and so far, she only thinks Pratunam Market and Chatuchak have good priced item. She thinks that Platinum mall is a tad expensive, although the shopping environment is a lot better. Union Mall was total disappointment. While items similar to Platinum Mall, Chatuchak and Pratunam Market, the price is a lot more steep.
Special Mention to Pratunam Market; walk deeper, endure the heat with shitload of water and fruits, and you will realise that it is the perfect place for ladies.

Food wise, all was well. Street food is a must try, but do drink more water and bring some diarrhea medication. Both of us have no issues with the food, but i cannot guarantee others wont have an issue as the food prep wasn't that clean after all.

Guys shopping? Almost non-existent. Platinum Mall have a section for it, Union Mall have a section for it. But nothing suitable for me personally. But suit making is a good to go item. Their prices are pretty standard if you go to the 4 shops at Armari Watergate Hotel. Bring SGD as they do accept them. 1 suit cost about $220(top and bottom). Google Armari Watergate Suit and you will have many reviews around that area. I personally made mine at Admire.

4 Days 3 night is quite a good length for shopping. Anything more i think my legs will break. But 4D3N meant we didnt cover any tourist attraction, apart from shopping. And having 1 day weekend was my best decision (many markets are only open during weekend, like Chatuchak). But she hoped to have more, so that she can buy even more.

That's all folks! The most useful guides comes from AroiMakMak!!

My Exhilarating 2015

Hi,

2015 has been good to me mostly, and this blog post is to commemorate such a good year, that is SG50 for Singapore, the first time of many things that happened to me in my life.

The year started off being sad as I celebrated being single for yet another year again. However, not long into the new year, I found Chiwawa, the girl who gave colours to an otherwise boring and aimless life. With me being attached would mean lesser time for Dota and Yong Sheng, whom I play NBA 2k15 together every weekend, which is the only activity i look forward to as a zombified working adult.

She wasnt working when I first got together with her. This is a stressful thing not because i have to provide for her; she is fiercely independent, but because she have too much time on hand and i have to deal with a project that was nothing less than a pressure cooker. As every start of a relationship, especially that she is my first, she was my everything. Juggling with work and her would mean that i ended up exhausted physically and mentally, leaving me with no time for any other things, including visits to AWWA, meeting up with friends and doing my own sports and leisure.
Idling is also bad for health. With too much time on hand, she has no idea what to do, and her self esteem suffered very badly, especially when her peers are doing pretty decent while she does nothing for a living.

Things got better as she devoted more and more effort into finding opportunities everywhere, learning new things from reading and surfing the internet. And she finally found her job!

She was my lucky charm. With her around, i felt that i am the luckiest man on Earth. And so i started joining Facebook contests that i have always dismissed as waste of time. It wasnt long before i won something. The first of them all is a pair of computer chairs. Then things gotten more interesting. I won things ranging from Collagen drinks, vouchers, Beerfest tickets to foodstuff goodie bag and even a Diskette, a useless relic in the age of Cloud storage. But my best win is still a Braun Buffel clutch and long wallet which eventually went to mummy and Chiwawa.  I have to apologise to my mummy and lao sis that they have to accede to my requests to go get my freebies as collections are usually Monday to Friday working hours.

Work have not been easy this year. But despite tough times with the project, being there allowed me to get into contact with another group of people that are mostly unrelated to the rest of the company. You see, most staffs that are hired into this project have only ever worked in this project, and have never felt the warmth nor the good working culture of my company. So being there makes me felt like being in a different company. These people are generally nice and funny. They taught me many different things, both technical and soft skills. They also showed some negative examples. 9 months in the project was enough for me as firefighting for a prolonged period took a toll on my mindset and turned me negative. Fortunately for GTAP program, i have a legit reason to move out of it.

In my new department, people are even nicer. they understood that i have been firefighting and they are very supportive of me when i requested to clear my leaves, despite them having manpower issues as well. They are willing to teach, and while they do not give you everything, they would always give you a guiding light instead of letting you chase down the wrong tunnel.
I was also given a chance to attend high level meetings. Such meetings are eye opener as being at the lowest food chain of the company, we are non contributors in the meeting, and will only take up space. However, company doesnt think so and gave us chance.

This year also gave me chance to go overseas with someone to accompany me. Though we only made a major trip, that is Taiwan, we made mini trips like going to Penang to visit her Maternal Family members, and to Batam for a super short birthday getaway. We also have a rolling good time having a staycation at Xiuhui's hotel.
These small experiences were my first, and every time i see you falling asleep, I JUST FELT LIKE PULLING OUT THAT OVERFLOWING NOSTRIL HAIR. LOLOLOLOLOL. okay, i just feel so blissful.

But not all went well.
Some time in May, me and Chiwawa almost met with a fatal accident where a single lamppost stopped a car charging in our direction.
Quarrels still happened.
My regular visits to my old friends have became irregular until to almost none.
Less time at home and seeing popo getting older is also a painful process.
New home have yet to have any positive news as the year ends, moving towards a another new year.
weight wasnt lost.
OT and weekends working became more common.


Well, thats abt it! shall add more when im free!

The epic trip to Taiwan 2015

Hi,

I really think my Taiwan trip is a freaking interesting trip, and therefore I would really want to introduce our itenary in this blogpost.
I do not claim any credit for this itenary as it is done up by my super detailed friend, Alvin Ng.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25169194/Taiwan%20Itinerary%202015.docx


So since we started our trip slightly earlier than others, we explored the area for Wen Quan. And yes, we did found it. It was a pretty comfortable experience, although the place looked like an old children water playground. No photos taken inside, but here is the exterior.


Nearby, there is this pretty epic fishball soup.
And since we explored this place without following the itenary, this place is known as Da Keng, which is damn near the Carton King that we would go on the next day...



this is pretty stupid. we went to the same region twice, two days in a row. The bus ride was nightmarish. the theme park is pretty boring, but if taking nice photos is your objective, this is a good place to go to.

And of course, since we are at Tai Chung, and staying in the midst of Feng Chia,nighttime would definitely be to scout Feng Chia Ye Shi for food and deals. For that, no photos were taken because of how devoted we are to our shopping and eating.

So the last full day at Taichung, we decided to book a van for the 6 of us to visit some Meh meh, building and some flower place. 

The Cai Hong Cun has nothing but decorated graffiti all around the place. While i find the place underwhelming, the history behind the place is pretty rich. An old man who refused to be relocated, started painting his area with weird yet striking graffiti, and ended up drawing enough attention to let him preserve the place and became a tourist attraction.

Pardon my 3 month pregnant stomach

Next, we head to somewhere with flowers. This place is pretty high up and hence it was kinda cold. At first look at the place, we thought it was a natural outdoor flower garden, with the temperature of Gardens by the bay Glass Domes. But as we zoom in into the flowers, we realised that not all the plants there are real. Some are plastic. But i enjoyed the place anyway, as i get to feed some ducks.

The last place is CingJing Cao Yuan, where sheeps roam and eat food off your hands. My suggestion is to get a big pack of sheep food and walk around and feed those hungry sheeps. Although there are shitload of grass all around the place, im pretty sure those sheep food pellets are akin to our titbits because they definitely prefer them to eating those lush green grass.

So after that day, we took a bus to Ri Yue Tan. To be honest, Ri Yue Tan is a place that i will only go once in my lifetime, similar to Ali Shan. 

At Ri yue tan, since 4 of us stay in a different hotel as the other 2, we happened to know that the other 2's hotel have better deals, as well as better services. 

I would suggest you go Mei Jen house if you are able to book it.

Anyway, there is a tour that you would require to buy ticket for the boat ride, and they are selling at 300twd. This is a price that you can try to haggle if you are lucky enough. Some people bought their tickets at 150, some 200. but mostly locals gotten cheaper tickets. 

I would say the island hopping was pretty much dull, apart from 1 of the island with an old street selling amazeballs food, which was mentioned in the itenary.

the dinner at ri yue tan as suggested is this!

The next day, we headed for Ali Shan, and thats the first and last time i go there. because going there is a PAIN and there isnt much to do. if you are expecting to see Ali shan de Gu niang who would serenade you with beautiful voices, sorry. all you get is shitload of trees, that are very pretty as well.

So after 1 day in the mountain, we went down to half way in the mountain. The tea garden minsu is pretty. but no aircon, which is okay, since the weather in the mountain is still quite cold. To me, we could have decided to explore alishan den gotten to halfway mountain to stay, instead of spending the night in alishan. this is because at alishan, there isnt much to do. and neither is there much to do at mid mountain during the night. 

the minsu is expensive, but that is because there isnt any cheap hotels in that region. 

And anyway, the only place we can go in mid mountain is fen qi hu. this place is worth going IMO, because this old street is pretty good to walk about, with some pretty decent food like the epic donut we ate there. oh, and not forgetting the squarish bamboo forest.

After this, we are back to Taipei, which is pretty much all about shopping. At there, we didnt have any photos as it is only 1 night for us before going back. but the rest stayed on, and the itenary also covered some of the nicer place to go in Taipei. 

Taipei is all about ye shi. So do remember to visit all of it, and take it easy during day time. their ye shi closes late, so u can shop till late, and wake up later.

Thats all folks!

This is a wonderful memory, and since i have no permission to post photos of others, i shall only include photos of 2 of us!

My little Chiwawa

Hi,

So my girlfriend and i have been together for almost 5months as of date of post.
And i realised she really loved posts that i wrote about her.

So apart from those adventures we had went through together that I have wrote about,
there are actually even more happenings.

It is not in sequence.

13th May is a special day. It is the first day of work for that stupid girl, after a long hiatus! I was both excited and worried on that day, i remember. I am excited that she is finally having something to do so that she wont suck all of my energies. It would also mean we can meet elsewhere that isnt Pioneer!

But just 2 days after, on 15th May, a reckless driver almost made us game over. Luckily we were protected by gods, who placed a lamp post at the area that matters the most, saving us from an accident.

Temple visits is also something we enjoy. Although im not a very pious person, visiting temples have became a norm. This is also part of the fun dating things we did together. By praying for luck together, we explored various different temples together and hope all gods will protect us when we require it.

We went Chingay 2015 too. That was nothing memorable, but its still a big event that we attended together.

We went Tulipmania together too! That was a 2nd try then we successfully went to the place. The first time we went, the queue was tooooo long. The 2nd time we went was because we were damn early. We first went for Yoga by the Bay. I didnt expect her to wake up. But she did. End up have to go see her stretch like a sea lion -.-
But after that, we went to the 2 domes, which is good. The Tulipmania is actually awesome! Apart from those pretty flowers, they have the theme of Disney princesses and have awesome disney music playing in the background.

I used to dread the weekend, where i stay at home to envy others going out and having fun.
Now i cant wait for the weekends to come, where another exciting story unfolds.

Regards
Benjamin Chai

2 months and onwards

Hi,

So i have been in a relationship for 2 months already(19/1/2015) and i must say, she is godsent.
I do whine a lot about her sucking up all my time and energy because she is currently still searching for a job, but that does not mean I am unwilling to do so!

This post is definitely not a PDA post to share about how much I love her or how much she loves me, but it is to share about what are the more interesting happenings between us, which i hope to document.

- The NTUC FairPrice Shoppaholic
Every.Single.Date.
We will end up at the supermarket for a short walk. Be it JP, Joo Koon, AMK or Toa Payoh. We never fail to go there. But apart from these, we end up at pretty much all other supermarkets in all other shopping centers(Giant, Cold Storage). I guess soon enough, she will start to pull me to Sheng Shiong, and there is one just 1 block away. And oh, did i mention she LOVESSSS Diaso and i have a hard time getting her to leave which brings me to.....

- The NONSTOP Shopper
Now, since she loves to go shopping, it just meant that there are times where i have to shop with her
until i miss my train or we reach home damn late.
So i ended up trying to stop her from her crazy obsession.
By leashing her. with her scarf.
She will run away from me and i will try to throw the scarf that is tied into a small ring over her head to leash her. Upon leashing, i will try to drag her out and we end up like comedy in the shop (Daiso especially) I guess whoever review the security tape would be laughing at this 2 crazy couples always pulling and pushing around the shop.


- The precious moments 
Though 2 months is pretty short, we went through quite a bit of festive season together. Vday and CNY were all in the month of Feb.

* We 上船（NOT 上床) together (RSS ENDURANCE AND NOT SOME EXCITING CRUISE)

* We visited a few temples together (Buddist Relic, Mahabodi and the one that is near Mahabodi, and i want to go Phor Kar See and the Si Ma Lu Bugis temple with you together soon)

* We went for a swim at Pioneer that theme park public swimming pool. (ended up doing stupid stuffs instead of swimming)

* We 荡秋千(with me being the slave dog pushing her fat ass) together at AMK park.

* We walk about NTU and watch stars(our favourite passtime) whenever we have nothing exciting to do.

* We watched 2 movies together so far, and they are pretty bad and end up we both sleep through the movie.

* We took long bus rides and MRT rides together( some are not by choice since she stays in Pioneer and every other places are far from there) This is a precious moment because she will lie on my shoulder and its damn blissful lor.

* We gym once together. it was horrible, but oh well...

* We cooked carbonara together once. Technically, I COOKED IT.

*WE ATE A LOT OF SHIT TOGETHERRRRRR

I think we did a lot more, but I cant remember all of them now.

More to come!!!


Regards
Benjamin Chai