JAGUN 5: Settling In 2

I was reminded about drinking water in one of the comments. And laundry too. Well I will try my best to guide you in getting drinking water, places to send your laundry and setting up your sim cards.

 

DRINKING WATER

Okay, now. There are 3 ways to get your clean drinking water. The tap water is a big NO NO.

Way 1: Buy those 1 liter of bottles from any groceries shop

You can do this on your first few days but on the long run, really not advisable. It will be expansive. One liter will cost Rs 15, about RM 1.

Way 2: Drink from the dispenser machine provided in hostels

All hostels will have one or two water dispenser machine. This is the cheapest way. All you need is a big bottle for your refill. However, I don’t recommend this on the first few weeks you are there. Your body got to get “accustom” to the water there. Probably you can opt for it after rounds drinking of 1 liter bottles.

Way 3: Order Bisteri Water

This is what most of us do. On your first order you will need to pay a deposit for your dispenser, which is Rs 400 each and Rs 75 for 20 liters water. They will deliver it to your door step. Every time you refill, you will have to pay Rs 75. If say you are not around, they will leave the water outside your room, but I advise you to be in your room because you would want the guy to fix it up for you. So here is the phone no. : 9845072709 

LAUNDRY

Alright, moving on to laundry. I shall separate the guys and ladies one. You can ignore this if you plan to wash your own laundry.

For the ladies

It really depends where you’re staying. Say if you’re in Old Chandrasekhar, New Chandrasekhar or New AC Ladies hostels, there are aunties that will come by in the evening to collect clothes from you. They charge 5 rupees for each piece. If you fear that there might be laundry mix-up, worry not. They will tag your shirts with your room no., and so far I didn’t experience it. It would take 1 to 2 days before you get your laundry back.

If you are in Sonia, Indira, New International or Sharada hostel, you can send it personally to the laundry shop next to Sonia hostel. It just at the corner of the Aka Shop. You can ask directions from the aunties in the Aka Shop. They charge by loads. One load cost Rs 100. The positive thing about this is that you can get back your laundry on the same day you send.

There are also other services for Sharada and New International hostels but I advise not to go for those I didn’t mention here. Reason being, they are famous for laundry mix-up, smelly odour smell left on your shirts, they write your room no. on your clothes (with black permanent marker pen) and they come only when they like which results in you getting your clothes like after one week.

For the guys

I’m not really sure but I tried asking my friend about the service available and I only got 2 answers.

The guys’ hostels are really near each other. Is not like the girl’s one where is scatter everywhere. Apparently the one in the infamous Nehru hostel is the best option. You have to personally send it there. They count by loads too. One load about Rs 100-150.

Another one is called the room service. He said that they will come to your room to collect your laundry. They charge by per month. It cost Rs 500 per month, but he said you have to be careful with this service because they might come collecting from you after only 3 weeks. Anyway, it’s much more expansive as compare to the Nehru one.

There is one more service at Amatyasan but I’m not sure how it goes. 

PHONE SIM CARD

I’m not sure what the arrangement for the orientation this time is. Last year, the seniors where there, welcoming us when we first arrive. Yes, we meet them even before get to we meet our mentor. They were the one that brought us to our respective hostel and were the ones that got us our phone sim card. Since none of us will be there, I wonder will the mentor do our work. Anyway, I shall give you directions if they don’t get it for you. Now, there are few companies to choose from. Airtel, Aircell, Vodafone and Data-DoCoMo. I recommend Airtel, reason being there will be less prank calls.  One thing you should know is that prank calls from the telecommunications company is a norm here. Vodafone has really frequent and annoying prank calls and silly quiz messages. Airtel’s line is also quite stable and it won’t jump into other people lines. Although they say Vodafone has slightly cheaper rates, but really it’s not much of a difference. Since my seniors got us the Vodafone sim cards, most of us are using Vodafone. I’m one of the weird ones that opt for another line. The companies set up service center in the town so just go to the one you prefer, fill in the form, pay up and wait for your activation.

Hope this can prepare you for your upcoming journey. Anything else you want to know, just leave a comment here. I will try my best to help you. Stay strong peeps~!