A stroll to East Central, London - Tuesday, 4 Nov 2008

When I was in my school days, I used to dread the 2.4 km run. The lack of stamina and the extremely hot weather often cause me to feel slightly out of breath and sticky with perspiration after the run. It is therefore rather surprising that I enjoyed the close to 3 km walk from my house to the Job Center Plus office where I had applied for National Insurance.

The only mode of transport to my destination is via bus. The risk of getting lost (not sure where to alight, drop at wrong bus-stop...) and missing my pre-scheduled appointment with the Job Center and having to bear the consequence (re-dial their hotline to get hold of a customer service officer with British accent to reschedule another appointment) is definitely too much of a hassle for me to handle! I decide to take the safer path - to take bus '11' instead ie, WALK armed with my map! Thank God it didn't rain during my walk!

I reached my destination with ease and ironically was approached by a passer-by for directions along the way. My Singaporean friend (after sharing with her this little happening) commented that I must have look like a local! Haha! Well..thanks to my map, I was able to provide the road directions to the passer-by.

The meeting with the Job Center went smoothly...thank goodness I didn't need to wait too long for my appointment. In fact, I was quite impressed by their operations and process. Very structured and efficient! My meeting with their staff started quite punctually and the entire process took only about half an hour! The staff even ensure women with kids get a place to sit at the waiting area, followed by women and then men if there are any seats left.

Now, I am crossing my fingers the approval of my National Insurance application will be as smooth as their application process... X :D