Never Say Never （to a Dishwasher)

When I first saw a free-standing dishwasher at my fifth sister’s place, I thought it’s such a redundant item. 

Although she had six mouths to feed, I felt that washing up dishes was something you could do in a jiffy. One plate takes  approximately 2 to 3 seconds to wash. How much time can a a mountain of dirty dishes take? 15 minutes? Why would you take the trouble to load the plates and bowls one by one onto a machine, buy and use expensive dishwashing tablets, let the machine run for a few hours and run up utility bills and then put the dishes back to where they belong?

However, a talk with an interior designer when I was searching for one made me consider one. He said there were only two them but he said the time saved from washing dishes could be used for other activities. 

What sealed the decision was that if I didn’t include a dishwasher in the kitchen renovation then, I would not be able to have it in future. 

So I shopped for a dishwasher and Bosch had a promotion then. I snagged it at $798. 

However, I had a lot of problems with my scammy ID who didn’t know how to do his job. He didn’t even advise me that having a dishwasher could mean a height increase of the kitchen counter. I am a shortie so a centimetre difference in height could mean the world to me. I was very anxious over it. 

I returned to Courts where I bought the dishwasher and asked for advice. The kind refrigerator sales assistant, Xiao Ming (小明）, helped me figure out a way to reduce the height: he recalled that a customer removed the top cover of the dishwasher and that brought the height down by about 2cm. I will always be grateful to him. 

The dumbass ID still laughed at me about my “bright” and “unprecedented” idea in his years of doing renovation. It turned out that it worked perfectly, except for the big gaps at the sides of the dishwasher, which again is due to the ID’s failure. I guess I should give thanks to God that the dishwasher was able to fit under the counter though. The scammer would definitely demand me to pay for a new set of kitchen cabinets if it could not go in. 

For the first one-and-a-half year, I didn’t use the machine. I was too depressed to cook or do anything except work. I am quite technophobic too so I had this fear that the machine would not work or spoil due to my improper usage.

My fifth sister and her husband were the ones who used the machine frequently when they moved in.

Before my fifth sister moved out, I asked her to teach me how to use it. Then one night, I mustered up my courage to try  washing a plate.

Then I received the divine revelation why people buy dishwashers: the plate cleaned by the dishwasher was much cleaner than a hand-washed one! It’s squeaky clean and squeaky to the touch!

Admittedly, I still don’t use it as often as my sister did, but when I do, I am grateful that yet another chore is being handled by a machine. In Chinese, we call it “解放双手” and this is literal releasing your hands from doing the dishes!

I use it after I bake or after a cooked lunch or dinner. 

Bowls, plates, mugs, small pot covers are placed on the top tray

Wok, pots and pans go to the bottom

Dishwashers are yet another ingenious invention!

My Pretty Mailbox

I get annoyed to see flyers being slot carelessly on my gate. I didn't buy an expensive gate-cum-door for people to slot ugly papers on my gate to look like my house is some warehouse. But I don't want a cheap looking Daiso basket hanging at my gate just to hold those flyers. So when I chanced upon a pretty country-theme  mailbox on Tao Bao, it got me thinking. 

I had a thousand reasons not to put it up, though:

- it’s not practical. The flyer distributers would find it more convenient to slot the flyers at my grilled gate. They probably won't ever bother to use it.

- it doesn’t fit my theme. My place is anything but country.

- I already have a mailbox at the void deck. This is redundant.

- it’s too small for a normal-sized parcel.

- I can’t drive a screw or a nail into the wall. I don’t have the tool, the skill and strength for it. 

- it’s external wall. I am not supposed to tamper with it.

- the mailbox needs two tiny screws to be put up. It won’t be straight. In fact, I don't even know if I'll ever get two screws to fit the two hanging holes of the mailbox!

But I thought about the mailbox each time I logged into the Tao Bao app.

I trawled through the whole Tao Bao app to make sure it was the loveliest mailbox of all.

Then I spent that $20 to stop myself from thinking so hard over it. If it can make me stop thinking and wondering if I should get it, it's money well-spent.

I bought two 3M wall-sticker screws that were tiny enough to go through the hanging holes. 

The mailbox does look slanted though. Oh well, let's not be 'so perfectionistic' - something I often hear from the people around me.

The clever ones know what the mailbox is for

But you will always have the recalcitrant ones

Besides the mailbox, I bought a cute unit number display. My goodness, there were tonnes of them on Tao Bao. I had a hard time choosing. There were classy ones, simple ones and cute ones. I decided to get something that's cute. The motion-sensor light is actually detachable. It's magnetic. I can just pluck it off the plate and charge it when the battery has run out. 

This is how the front of my flat looks like

That's a circular shoe cabinet. It's not a dustbin. 

The bench is metal, not wooden.

The grass mat is from a Tao Bao seller who supplies synthetic grass to the Beijing's Bird Nest Stadium. It actually only cost $15 which I thought was a steal. What caught me off guard was the shipping fee. $57. I ended up paying more than if I had gotten it off Shopee. Oh well, I told myself I would have an Olympic stadium quality grass mat.

Lost and Found (My Handphone!)

 I never thought I would ever misplace my handphone a second time.

The first time I misplaced my handphone was eons ago, more than 10 years ago.

I placed it on the toilet paper roll holder in a cubicle and left without it. When I remembered my handphone, I rushed back and a cleaner told me she gave it to the security guard counter at the management office. I claimed it back without much drama.

After that episode, I told myself this must never happen again. 

Nowadays, all my vital information is in the phone. If I lose it, I lose everything.

Strangely enough, the same thing happened!

I was using a toilet cubicle in the same mall. My hands were busy so I placed my phone on the toilet paper roll holder again. I always remembered that previously, my friend had said it’s very easy for people to forget their handphone after putting it there, so usually I would remember that and would not forget (again).

But I was preoccupied with a little one and was concerned that she could touch the door knob. After that, I washed my hands and left the toilet quickly.

As we left the mall, the sun was scorching so I took out my umbrella from my bag. When I kept the umbrella, I realised that my handphone was missing!

I panicked. I rushed back to the cubicle. There was a queue then but it just so happened that that particular cubicle door was opened. I rushed up to it and was expectedly disappointed. My phone was gone. 

Then a lady called me from behind, “Miss! Miss!”

I turned around and saw this young Indian lady passing me my handphone!

She told me she worked at the mall and was using the cubicle to change into her uniform and found my phone. She was going to pass it to the customer service. 

I was so grateful I thanked her profusely - no shit. You will really thank someone ‘profusely’ when this happens to you. It’s not just a compo gimmick. I felt that she saved my life!

I was so stunned and relieved by my unbelievable good luck that I walked out quite dazed.

Then I returned to the toilet to ask her for her name so that I could write a letter of appreciation to her, to her company.