Today’s the second worse day of the week.
Aside from fighting and maybe ending my friendship with guy best friend Mike yesterday, I had my backpack stolen this afternoon while shopping for shoes in Sogo.
Okay, I was being stupid. I thought Sogo was relatively safe and that shoe lady was keeping an eye with my backpack. Furthermore, it’s a HEAVY backpack which is why nobody would try to steal it in the first place.
Well, they did.
So shoot me now!
Big sigh.
The contents of the bag:
1) NT$3,000 cash
2) NT$5,000 gift certificates
3) Nokia cellphone with all my friends’ phone numbers in it
4) ATM card (which I subsequently cancelled so no way to get out cash), ARC (need to apply for a new one), discount cards, health insurance card
5) The lovely, elegant black qi pao that I was supposed to have dry cleaned and only wore once
6) Rubber shoes since I was planning to exercise tonight
7) All my makeup which is pretty substantial
So overall, almost a NT$10,000 worth of goods.
Admittedly, I was panicking and felt really bad.
My logic was: How can I get home without money and my keys since my roommates are home late? How can I call for help if all my contacts are on that phone? How can I get money if I don’t have the ARC (which is all gone) and passbook (which is at home and I don’t have the keys to get it) with me? And who can I call?
The good thing is, I remembered one of my friend’s number.
The problem is: The only number I could remember was my ex-boyfriend’s. 🙁
Damn.
Damn.
DAMN!
So finally, I realized I had no options and gave him a call.
Fortunately, he was pretty helpful and asked me to come by his office where he lent me NT$20,000 to get by in the next couple of days. He also helped me talk to the HR VP and explain my circumstance and they promised me that they’ll help me apply for a new ARC though it would take some time. Finally, he gave me a notebook and pen to get my bearings back, and served me a cup of coffee from the Nespresso which Jon has been mentioning during his stay here.
After which, I then went to Warner to have some food and proceeded to report the whole ordeal in the police, which was another adventure by itself.
Imagine the scenario:
Policeman: What’s your number and address?
Me: I just moved so I don’t know my address. My contact number is from a cellphone which was stolen.
Policeman: How can we contact you?
Me: You can get my roommate’s number but it’s listed on my cell and it’s been stolen. She is not home yet and I have no keys so I can’t get ahold of her. I can’t show you who I am because all my IDs have been stolen!
Policeman: So how can we file the report without the information?!
Me: Well, I’ll apply for a new cell number tomorrow but for the moment, I can only give you my ex-boyfriend’s number.
So I did.
In moments like these, you’d have to appreciate your ex-boyfriend, who despite being an ass at times, has been very helpful. I don’t know how I could have survived the day and being peniless without him.
Thanks MDQ, if you’re reading this (although you know you shouldn’t!)!
My friend VW was also very consoling by saying, “As the Chinese had said, sometimes bad luck happens because it’s a protection from further and bigger bad luck. So think of it as a blessing!”
Sigh, yeah… except it’s a bit of a ma-fan to run around applying for new documents and getting keys made.
But it does make me feel a TAD better. 🙁
My brother and mom was a bit more consoling. At least for them, I’m safe and money can always be recovered.
Sigh, why does this happen to me?!
Mike, did you just jinx me?!
Aiyo, so guys, learn from my expensive lesson: Be careful of your belongings wherever you may be despite being in a safer Taiwan!
Is this an ominous start to a dire month?!
God, hope not.
Hi, Raven, I’m so sorry to hear about your stolen backpack and everything. I hope you’re ok. I know it’s a lot and probably you won’t be able to get it back. The only good that I can say is at least it wasn’t taken while it was in your possession (I don’t know if it happens there where someone could be held at gunpoint).
The money and the other things are replaceable but you’re not. That’s the point that I was trying to say.
It’s a lesson learned although it’s a little expensive but you’ll get over it, Raven.
You take care of yourself Raven and if you need to vent some more,you can use me as your buffer.
Ciao, Raven! Miss you!
John
bummer! i know when shit like that happens, hate it. i had my passport stolen and visa green card money etc. good thing they found it, everything intact except for the money.
it’s the emotional trauma, man. i hate that. anyway, hope it works out.
u know what they say, bad luck comes in 3’s, so there’s one more 😀 i’m kidding.
hang in there.
oh that sucks!!!! I’m really sorry to hear about that.. I went to Carrefour today and had to run to the bathroom and was nervous about leaving my cart outside with my already paid for items, but luckily nothing happened. It’s definitely a good reminder to be careful even when you think you don’t have to be..
i don’t know if the chinese saying is true or not, but my mom said it to me before too. She gave me a jade bracelet which I dropped and broke while crossing the street in college. I felt so awful. When I finally had the nerve to tell her, she said told me the saying and said maybe it protected me from a car accident or something. I dunno.. so yeah, maybe the events of the day while sucky, turned into something just sucky but not life-changing awful.
Thank you John, I also miss posting at this blog as well. Hope I get more of a change after I adjust in my new job.
Joanh, thanks again for sharing your story, and yes, maybe that is true. So we can put a positive twist to this problem! 🙂
Chekwa, god… I again got NT$3,000 stolen last Sunday but guess am immune to the trauma. Oh well. No longer want to think what comes afterwards. 🙁