A greedy housekeeper doing his "shopping"

Your diligent housekeeper had been wanting to top-up the brochures but did not have the time to do so and since he had mobility today, he decided to make a trip down to the Singapore Visitors' Centre (SVC) to collect the brochures.

Wooh! SVC has got a new facelift. Nice~ He went in there and saw so many staff. Imagine 6 people greeting you "Hello, welcome!" and tt's ony like half of the working strength there. I think the service in Singapore is the best only in SVC. They are paid to serve and smile.
One of the staff approved him and asked how she could help. He told her that he's just here to collect some brochures. "Ok. Sure" was the reply from the staff.

Oh yes, forgot to tell you that the housekeeper, being an experienced brochure collector, brought along a big bag. A bag bigger than any of the ones he brought on previous occasions. He knows he's going to need it.

Zoo, take. Night Safari, take. Bird park, take. Sentosa, take.....take...take...basically whatever he thinks the backpackers' would need he took. And he knows he would need alot of them firstly is because these are the most popular choices of the guests and secondly it will last him some time before he needs to replenish them.

Just as he was getting the hang of it (and i tell you, he was certainly thrilled as more brochures went into the bag), there was this lady who approached him. Looking into the bag and swallowing her saliva, she asked where he is from. She was surprised why he was referred to her branch to collect the brochures. He told her that their website stated that there is no delivery for corporate clients so they have to help themselves the thie HQ or any visitors' centre. Well, the ever understanding housekeeper acknowledged that SVC (Orchard) also gets their supplies from the HQ and that their branch is the busiest among the rest of the SVCs so he said he will get from their HQ.
By then, his bag is already half full, or half empty. Hahaha. The staff then asked what are the other brochures that he would need and she will advise if he can take them as some are running low in supply. He pointed out a few and she was ok. Yes! There he go again...on his spree.
He point to the maps on display and requested to get some but the staff recommend another one instead. The not so beautifully designed and should be quite an outdated one. Why? Because it was not displayed and was kept in the cupboard. The staff then passed him like, 100 copies? And without saying anything, her colleague passed her a slip of request form for the housekeeper. A form to request for brochures. They must have been bitching behind his back before she even approached him. Damn~
Even knowing that they have been gossiping behind his back, the housekeeper still smiled and talked very politely to the staff. High level of endurance huh? +_(*^##!&&^%&^

How can he stay any longer? All eyes must be on him now. A quick "thank you" and he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Woah! F**king heavy. No! Must act as though it's nothing. The way back to the car was not very long but when he reached, boy was he sweating. It's heavy mind you!

The whole SCV must be talking about him after he left. He is sure. He can't be wrong. He is especially sensitive to such things. Haha..The Hive is famous now...or should i say..infamous. Haha

2 x PCs, 1 x OC and 1 x Hulk 

Platoon 2's terrors! 

LTA Tan and wife-to-be on 3rd April 

Boss giving a short speech 

Fun, Laughter, Joy, Smiles, Memories, Friendship

All that and many more.

The Hive had a party last night and it was a success. Although some came and left soon after, the people that stayed had a good time. U bet!

I slept at 4am and struggled to wake up at 7am. Ok ok...i confess. I woke up at 9am in the end. But i did set the alarm at 7am. I swear!
No pay cut for me, would there???

Had a hard time getting to sleep though. Had a really bad headache...even Panadol Actifast didn't help a bit. It cant be the alcohol. The amount i had is nothing compared to the any of the days which we dedicated oursleves to getting really high. So it cant be the alcohol.

What i think it's the hair gel that i am using. I have realised that whenever i have that on for the whole day, my poor head will suffer. William, if you are reading this and is experiencing similar symptoms, please let me know. The bloody company who is trying to kill us is gonna get it big time.

Oops~ Back to the party. I guess we have paid tribute to the man, our boss, our friend. He has spent 3yrs moulding the lives of officer-cadets, officers and specialists during his tour in OCS. Even before he started "spoiling the market of Wing Commanders", he was "spoiling the market" in his previous units. I think he should write a book. I cant think of a title for the book but i guess the book should write about how a good officer should behave, what they should do and what they shouldn't....basically what he has taught us all and more.

Ok ok...the party.....erm....i think the feelings can't be describe in words, especially if i am the one doing the writing. Haha...with such limited vocabulary, poor grammar and monotonus way of writing, you have found the wrong person to maintain this blog. Someone pull in the man!!

(Looking left and right. And left again) Oh well.....looks like the boring blog is here to stay...for now.

--@--First Breakfast-of-the-Day--@--

Ok...the title says it all. Yep, today's breakfast-of-the-day is roti prata (Indian pancake with a Malay name).

No, i didn't make it. Bought it instead. We (Chris and me) agreed on roti prata for breakfast so i had to buy it back. Boy was i having a tough time just trying to get out of bed. Slept rather late yesterday because Chris and Jane were at the lounge and we started talking a bit. They bought 3 photographs from Louis. Yeah...they are the first to make a purchase from Louis. Somehow i felt that I can't sleep before them so decided to keep them company until they left for bed.

Again, we went to SPCA to look for a dog. Every Mon, Wed and Fri they have new "intake" so we decided to drop by to see if there's any one we liked. Saw two small pups (but i do not know the breed. It's cross breed but they did not state exactly) and they were cute. Both were females. And then came the bad news.

The staff mentioned that they are not willing to let shophouse owners adopt their dogs. They have had bad experiences with shophouse owners in the past. What he said was that the owners would buy them and keep them as guard dogs. They will chain the poor chap or cage them up.

Register them under HDB you would say? We thought of that but because the little fella has the blood of some breed that is not allowed in HDBs, no matter how small it is, it will not be approved.

F**k! Next solution is pet shops. Went to a few and saw two that i am interested in buying. One's a beagal-schnauzer breed and the other a cocker spaniel. $500 & $700 respectively. My initial budget was $500 so the beagal was a good buy but the cocker spanial is worth the money cos it's only a few months old and $700 is a snatch, according to Thilak. Oh yes....he is my driver for today...Heehee

Fri i shall bring Boss down to take a look and see which he prefers.

New tuner to rock my days

Last weekend The Hive acquired a new FM tuner. Now i have Venetta, FD, Rod and Glenn to keep me company.

Chris and Jane arrived last night. They had a hard time locating us. Felt so bad when i saw them so worn out when they finally came. Hopefully this does not happen too often.

As usual, i would ask them about their plans for the next day. They hardly had anything planned annd asked me for advice. They are staying in Singapore for 5 days so i guess they would need my help to plan their activities. so, i did my FIRST itinerary planning for them. They managed to go to some of the places and URA was one of them.

Today seems pretty slow. Although i had lots of things to do, i cant seem to start doing anything. I think my greatest achievement was to submit my artwork for the namecard.

Feeling low today...why? Beats me

Just another day

Yes....today is just another busy day. Not that there were customers but it's the daily chores and unfinished tasks that's keeping me so busy.

The brochure stand at the entrance is ready. This time i find it really ugly. I liked the previous one i made. Somehow this new stand doesn't look nice. F**k up! But since i've spent so much time on it, i can't bear to not use it. Let's just see what people will say, IF they would say something abt it.

Let's just share the task list and gather some sympathy yah?

1. Approach martial arts school to discuss on possible affiliation
2. Distribute flyers at the Singapore-Malaysia Bus Terminal @ Lavender St
3. Complete website details for Chris to upload
4. Upload pictures taken with our guests and send it together with website details to Chris
5. Update accounts
6. Pay bills
7. Clean toilets, kitchen and lounge. Sweep and mop floor. Clean rooms.
8. Wash bed sheets, pillow cases, blankets. Iron them.
9. Touch-up postcard designs
10. Print brochures
11. Do up brochure stands (done!)
12. Collect bochures from Visitors' Centre
13. Buy new FM player
14. Buy washing powder, ziplocks, broom, dustpan, etc....(done!went to Mustafa to day)
15. Adjust banner
16. False entry (u must be wondering what this is...secret...ask me if you wanna know. But I doubt i am going to do it cos it's against my principles. But then again...in business you know....hai...in a dilema...)
17. Go forum to market our hostel
18. Buy drawer unit. Buy cash box
19. Design price list for drinks, chips, etc
20. Print price list for washing machine usage
21. Tag all beds
22. Tag all keys (all printing work cant be done cos' ran out of ink. Waiting for my saviour, Louis to return to shop.)
23. Design and print namecards
24. Re-print stickers for recycling bin
25. Clean air-con filter
26. Buy fire-extinguishers
27. Place ad on Classified Ads (done!)
28. Design check-in, check-out box and procedure (was an arow by Adryan. Haha..)
29. Sell off lockers
30. Finish up curtain holders for capsule
31. Check if airport and train station has places for us to put our brochures
32. Purchase database from STA for marketing purposes
33. Paint window (somehow i keep forgetting about that window. It's the only window now unpainted)
34. Paint stairs (talking about this boils my blood)
35. Make more brochure holders (not enough as there are sooooooo many brochures. I want to be another Visitors' Centre apart from InnCrowd. Haha...my idol...)

Think that should be about it. I am just waiting to arrow the tasks to the next unlucky one....haha...or am i the only unlucky one?

Our friends have left....

Mark, Douglas, James, Stine, Anne-Lise, Lee and Elena have all left. Lee and Elena left this afternoon.

Now the place is quiet and a complete opposite from the nights when these guys were around. I have experienced the fun of the hostel. That is to make new friends and make them happy as well. To see smiles on faces of others is priceless.

Well, Stine and Anne, the gals with the cute personalities, left a really funny entry in the guestbook. See the picture.

It's back to the usual chores now...cleaning and cleaning. Tomorrow the owner of Asha Guesthouse (Bangkok) is coming to discuss some affiliation details.

Ok...i am still left with the brochure stand to complete for downstairs. *yawn*.....Goodnight

Entry by the cute Norwegian gals 

Busy day @ The Hive

I wrote an entry last night. It was a rather long entry. Then guess what? There was some error when i tried to publish and *poof* there goes my 15mins of typing. F*c*!

Nevertheless, i shall summarise it now and then continue with today's happenings.

CPT Willie came with his dog yesterday night and i am telling you, it is so darn adorable. Cant describe how i love it. It was very nice of him to drop by and visit me. So touched...Heehee...(Ok, that's about all after i summarise. No, really. I did write alot yesterday night but I can't recall what i wrote. Guess i am too tired.)

After seeing the lovable dog, i was really excited and looking forward to going SPCA after we missed it on Thurs as it was closed. But we couldn't find a suitable dog. Many were big and noisy, making them unappropriate to be brought back. Gotta thank Thilak for fetching me there. He's being driving me around for two days. Felt so bad but i felt the love too!

This morning, the 3 Englishmen arrived. They had booked the beds earlier. Really warm and friendly people. Mark, Douglas and James is what they call themselves. And in the evening, Elena and Lee came. They called two days ago and did a booking through the phone. They arrived earlier then i expected. Easy-going couple but they couldn't stand the heat. Can't blame them....i couldn't either. Just helping them lay the bedsheets made me pespire.

So now, on 12 March 0010hrs, we have 7 people at The Hive. Well done! I am so happy. Seeing the place so lively makes me consoled. This is a good start. So glad....

Oh yes, Mark if you are reading this, thanks for offering to inform Lonely Planet about us. We really appreciate it. If there is ever a chance that you might return to Singapore, do drop by at The Hive. The home-made beers would be on me. No obligations to stay over but just to say hi.

The Hive has made new friends and this has to be archived.

Ok...my mind is blank now. I need to go.....

The Hive's Journey

The Hive's Journey

Ahahaha..today's my turn to housekeep and wow i can blog at our very own blogspot! now i can be the co-author (with dear ol' spencer of course) of The Hive's Journey.

"The Hive's Journey" by Spencer Han, co-written by Adrian Ho and many others still to come..

Well my day's was pretty good..some happenings ard here which is good and well..i stil rem when i stepped in last night, boy was i in for a surprise! the ever-unsuspecting me only saw Boss n Spence standing happily at our counter, grinning from ear to ear..then as i stepped in...lo n behold, there were not 1 not 2 not...but 1,2,3,4,5,6.7 backpackers sitting gaily at the lounge! a good mix of guys n gals too if i may add (well its a lil drama but u get the idea dun u?) pretty cool..pretty cool.. n they were drinkin spence's home-brewed beer too! aniwaez the idea is we are in business..haha observation 1: all the backpackers are europeans..hmm...why no others? dunno..yet..food for thought..

ah...n on the next bright sunny morn i was in for another surprise..not much of one if u actuallin consider that for the past 2 to 3 days we've been having more customers comin to our humble abode..yes, u guessed it: i got MY first customer!!!! *success* he was this malaysian dude who came in n asked if there were rooms. i was like how excited. turns out the guy's on transit and was only goin to stay for a day..thats a cash inflow of $16 bucks..ka-chiiing! well not a lot but a deal's a deal n i got my first..start small aim big..there'l be more to come dun u worry bout that adrian..heh true enough..as i read the mail later on i found that there was a couple enquiring bout availability of rooms for 5 nights..there you have it. as i predicted. All of us do need breaks like that dun we? to raise a lil morale n keep us going..small breaks they may be, but the psychological uplift in spirits shouldnt be underestimated eh? cos it does give us an energy boost to try harder, in the hope for more of the good stuff..haha ok ur prob like wateva....if it makes u happy adrian..*sticks out tongue (be happy its not the finger)*

btw spens..we do need a proper money box dun we? yes we do. ah n that new-n-improvised check-in-check-out system too..cheers

Rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'~~~!!!!

Yawn~~~

No, I didn't just woke up. Got my a** off the bed 7.00am.

No, this entry is not for today if you are wondering. It's for yesterday night...duh~ Haha...anyway...just bumped my head on the guestbook shelf. It wasn't really painful but I had knocked the screw loose. You can imagine how hard the knock was huh? Now i have to knock it back in place. (the screw i mean)

Now...about yesterday night.

Received a call from a Singapore man asking for directions to the hostel. I found it wired but still gave him our address. He called twice trying to figure our how to get here. Xavier was with me so we discussed abt the possibility of a local man asking to stay for the night. We suspect that he could be some journalists on a research. We decided to wait for his arrival and see how we can deal with him...APPROPRIATELY.

Waited for abt 5mins and 'ding dong' the bell rang.
Nope, it wasn't a Singaporean and it sure wasn't a guy. It was two foreign ladies at our doorstep with huge backpacks. Customers!!! Yes!!!

They asked if we had rooms...well of course!!!! We do not have many rooms but we sure have plenty of EMPTY beds. Haha...They took the $16 beds in the end.

Settled the admin stuff while they were giggling away reading our "Things to know about The Hive". Courtesy of Me and my Chief Editor, Wille. They are very nice girls...ahem.

Ealier in the day, a couple came in to ask for beds. They are staying at Hotel 81 and found it expensive. They might stay tonight and hopefully they do. And this morning i received a booking for 3 people coming tomorrow.

Well, i am gonna be busy but will still update this page regularly.

Spencer...out~

This is it~! 

Sense of accomplishment~

Finally i managed to get the brochure shelf done for the upstairs and i have got inspiration on how to make one for the downstairs!! yesh!

Been working on the brochure shelf for the past week but i cant seem to get any ispiration. Did some hammering and sawing but it looks awful.

Then an inspiration came yesterday when i saw my newspaper rack(i did that myself too) so this morning i assembled two shelves and there we go! Something to put the brochures. Now it looks more like a hostel with brochures available.

Then what made my day even better was that two foreigners dropped by and asked for an accomodation. Showed them around and they say they could be coming tomorrow. They are staying at Hotel 81 currently and it is too expensive for them. Before they left, they took a brochure with the Singapore map. Yes!!!!!! It was well worth the effort to make the shelve.

We are in busines!!!

Well....ok...we were in business some time last month.....but we are now better prepared for any one! Try us if you dare!

Ain't is marvellous what a camera can do? 

The beautiful kitchen where my meals are settled 

Resort @ The Hive