a day in the shoes of a broke man..

well not the entire day that i was broke.. only the last part.. that was bad enough.

it started out with me withdrawing money from mobil to go to 7-eleven to top up my ezlink card (they don't accept nets for this transaction AND they charge a nominal $0.30 for the service. lame.) and being told that there was a "card validation" error. okay.

so i've got $20 bucks in notes but no coins. They wouldn't break my note unless i purchased something. poof. so i bought a mentos.

got on the 51 to Queensway to alter my jeans (yes i bought another pair cos the previous Levi's one the tailors lost it.. they reimbursed my lah of course..) ezlink card had enough balance to afford me another trip before my balance went negative..

gave the tailors my alterations and went walking around window shoppin' and also scouting for the 050307 gift. had a better idea after walking through certain shops. then i collected my jeans.. paid the fella $8 but not before i tried it and inspected their work.. such shops.. you just have to lah.. they expedited my alterations.. the aunty was still feeling bad for losing my jeans.. i actually thought of going to another tailor.. but they were just plain rude (although they charge $7) and simply would take too long..

the dumb atm at queensway wouldn't dispense any cash (which would contribute to a mini crisis later on..) so i had to settle with the remaining $10.75 to get me to my old house hawker centre.. buy food for me and diana.. and then home. well i only realised i had $9.85 (after the basic $0.90 bus ride from queesway to pasir panjang food centre) when i was at the food centre ready to order a feast to da pao home.. with NO atm nearby.. just had to call diana and tell her that we had to settle for the famous rojak ($6) and some chicken wings ($3) (which she didn't mind.. i'm thankful for her being so adaptable..)..

walked back to the bus stop.. the bus took ages to come.. then i just happen to glance at one of those wooden info board from SBS that we so often ignore.. and i was just looking and thinking about how much i would usually spend if i take bus (using ezlink card.. it's cheaper by the way..) from home to school and back.

THEN my eyes ran over this fairly important detail which on other days i would have readily ignored: Air-Con, Cash, Adult, Below 4 fare stages, $0.90

?!!?!?!! (and guess what? after waiting for so long, the bus finally came.. when i was about to check whether i had enough $$.. so i missed that bus..)

HUH?!

Wah! $0.85 only!! only then did i realise and regret not keeping and valuing those 5 cent 10 cent coins.. Having that extra 5 cent (or not having it in this case) meant I was staring at the possibility of walking all the way home.. not ideal.

so i looked around on the floor hoping to find that elusive 5 cents or maybe even a stray 10 cent coin.. no chance.. last resort.. had to explain to this lady and beg her to spare me 10 cents.. she did. And i got my BUS ride home for dinner with Diana..

best part is.. when i got off and crossed the road to where she was waiting.. there she was.. laughing at me..