Chapter 2 (The 5Cs)
After checking-in, Kayla lugged her heavy luggages up into her room. She wished her father was here to help her carry her things. But this was what an exchange was all about right - learning to be independent. Upon reaching her room, Kayla heaved a big sigh of relief. The first sight that greeted her was a spartan room with two beds, two closets and two desks. "This place sure is empty. But I'm sure with a bit of sprucing here and there, it will look like my room back home in a matter of time. And of course, I can't wait to see who my roommate is. I hope she will be nice."
Kayla got down to unpacking her things from her luggage. She found the room amazingly small as compared to her previous room back in London. However, she was thankful that the room came with an air-conditioner as the heat from the outside was killing her. Quickly, she tried to switch on the air-conditioner but it just did not work. Getting frustrated, she was about to stomp down to the hostel manager's office when the door swung open with a Chinese girl standing right in-front of her. "Hi!!! My name is Crystal. And you are ... ?" and the Chinese girl reached out to give her a handshake, like what was usually seen in a corporate office. Kayla found her introduction a bit too formal, a hug would have been warmer. But perhaps because this was Asia, she had to do like what the Asians did and follow their culture. Kalya stretched out her hand and said, "Hi! I'm Kayla! I'm from Manchester. Where are you from?"
"Nice!!! Hi, I'm Rui Min and I'm from Singapore! Oh how wonderful it is to get a roommate from a foreign land. I'm currently a year 3 student studying Economics. I'll just unpack my things and we could catch up after that." And with that, Rui Min started unpacking and decorating her side of the room.
"Sorry but do you know how this air-conditioner works? The heat is really getting onto me." interrupted Kayla.
"Easy peasy my dear, here, you can use my card. You slide the card into the socket, and as the air-conditioner is being used, the money from the card is being deducted every minute. You could help me by topping up the next round since we're going to be roommates. Now press the main button, the air-conditioner should work now"
Kayla pressed the button one more time, and like magic, the fans of the air-conditioner started rolling, and she could feel the cool breeze blowing down onto her.
"Hey, by the way, this air-conditioner card is not the only card which you will need. There are a few other cards which you should get. It will make you life much easier. Do you want to know what they are?"
"Sure, wouldn't hurt knowing." replied Kayla
"So there's this thing called the Cash Card. It's like a card with prepaid cash. You can use it to photocopy and print your notes. I use it mostly for printing things.
Then there's this card which you will need when using the public transport system around the country. It is called an ez-link card. It also works as a prepaid card which allows you to take cheaper rides as compared to constantly buying a ticket on the bus or the train. It will help you to save some time too. The card can also be used to pay for meals at places such as McDonalds.
Then of course, when you set up your bank account, the bank will give you an ATM card to withdraw cash. You can easily find a bank on campus and set up an account with them. There are ATM machines around the campus and it would be best to use a local bank. They usually have more ATM machines around the country.
If you are planning to eat at big food court at the main open space, you will need to get the food court card. They don't accept cash there.
So you know in Singapore, there's this joke about us chasing after the 5Cs - car, cash, condominium, credit card and country club, but here in SUU, you would usually need your own set of 5Cs - Cash Card, ez-link card, ATM card, food court card and of course the one I just lent you, the air-conditioner card!"
"Wow that was a lot of information to take in. But thanks for sharing it all with me. Ok enough about the grown up stuff about cards and administration. Is there anything fun and exciting that you would like to share with me?"
"Do you want to check out the clubs. The ladies night is awesome here. FREE entry for ladies and FREE drinks for ladies!"
"That sounds awesome! I can't wait!"
Glossary
Cash Card - A card with prepaid cash which can be bought from most convenient stores. It is useful for students who need to use the university's printers to print or photocopy their notes. This card is also used by the locals to pay for parking or when driving through an ERP gantry.
Ez-link card - A card use for travel on the public transportation system. It can also be used to be pay for meals at selected fast food outlets. A list of where the ez-link card can be used at, can be found here.
ATM card - There are many ATM machines around Singapore. Hence, it is always good to get an ATM card if you're opening a bank account.
Food court card - Different food courts around the country accept different food court cards as payment. Some food courts accept cash as payment while some do not. It is good to check out the type of card available before purchasing your food.
Air-conditioner card - I personally stayed in a hostel with an air-conditioner in my room. I had to purchase a prepaid card and slot it into a card system for the air-conditioner to work. I would usually top-up the card every two weeks to ensure that I had enough credits for the air-conditioner to work.
"Nice!!! Hi, I'm Rui Min and I'm from Singapore! Oh how wonderful it is to get a roommate from a foreign land. I'm currently a year 3 student studying Economics. I'll just unpack my things and we could catch up after that." And with that, Rui Min started unpacking and decorating her side of the room.
"Sorry but do you know how this air-conditioner works? The heat is really getting onto me." interrupted Kayla.
"Easy peasy my dear, here, you can use my card. You slide the card into the socket, and as the air-conditioner is being used, the money from the card is being deducted every minute. You could help me by topping up the next round since we're going to be roommates. Now press the main button, the air-conditioner should work now"
Kayla pressed the button one more time, and like magic, the fans of the air-conditioner started rolling, and she could feel the cool breeze blowing down onto her.
"Hey, by the way, this air-conditioner card is not the only card which you will need. There are a few other cards which you should get. It will make you life much easier. Do you want to know what they are?"
"Sure, wouldn't hurt knowing." replied Kayla
"So there's this thing called the Cash Card. It's like a card with prepaid cash. You can use it to photocopy and print your notes. I use it mostly for printing things.
Then there's this card which you will need when using the public transport system around the country. It is called an ez-link card. It also works as a prepaid card which allows you to take cheaper rides as compared to constantly buying a ticket on the bus or the train. It will help you to save some time too. The card can also be used to pay for meals at places such as McDonalds.
Then of course, when you set up your bank account, the bank will give you an ATM card to withdraw cash. You can easily find a bank on campus and set up an account with them. There are ATM machines around the campus and it would be best to use a local bank. They usually have more ATM machines around the country.
If you are planning to eat at big food court at the main open space, you will need to get the food court card. They don't accept cash there.
So you know in Singapore, there's this joke about us chasing after the 5Cs - car, cash, condominium, credit card and country club, but here in SUU, you would usually need your own set of 5Cs - Cash Card, ez-link card, ATM card, food court card and of course the one I just lent you, the air-conditioner card!"
"Wow that was a lot of information to take in. But thanks for sharing it all with me. Ok enough about the grown up stuff about cards and administration. Is there anything fun and exciting that you would like to share with me?"
"Do you want to check out the clubs. The ladies night is awesome here. FREE entry for ladies and FREE drinks for ladies!"
"That sounds awesome! I can't wait!"
Glossary
Cash Card - A card with prepaid cash which can be bought from most convenient stores. It is useful for students who need to use the university's printers to print or photocopy their notes. This card is also used by the locals to pay for parking or when driving through an ERP gantry.
Ez-link card - A card use for travel on the public transportation system. It can also be used to be pay for meals at selected fast food outlets. A list of where the ez-link card can be used at, can be found here.
ATM card - There are many ATM machines around Singapore. Hence, it is always good to get an ATM card if you're opening a bank account.
Food court card - Different food courts around the country accept different food court cards as payment. Some food courts accept cash as payment while some do not. It is good to check out the type of card available before purchasing your food.
Air-conditioner card - I personally stayed in a hostel with an air-conditioner in my room. I had to purchase a prepaid card and slot it into a card system for the air-conditioner to work. I would usually top-up the card every two weeks to ensure that I had enough credits for the air-conditioner to work.
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