Yew Jin's Sometimes Blog

Don't pass Go, but do go to the bank

After all that adrenaline rush of being interrograted by border officers, I got my rental car and got on highway 101. Whoopie. I left the airport at 12:30pm and I managed to make it to corporate housing in Sunnyvale by 1:30pm.

I learnt that when the corporate housing confirmation letter says check-in time is 4pm. They do mean 4pm. As the apartment was locked and I had no where to go, I figured I would go to Citibank and withdraw money from the ATM (you know, the plan)

But despite having no social security, I still managed to open a Citibank account just with my Singapore passport and driving license. Nice. So I got my checking account on the first day in USA, while waiting to move into my temporary housing. I still need a social security number before I can get a savings account, but hey, that's fine by me.

So anyhoo, I am currently living in Sunnyvale, CA, which is one region of Silicon Valley.

"Credit History Required" Really Means

"Give us money and we won't need credit history".

For example, renting an apartment without a social security number means you put up a larger amount of deposit. Getting utilities and gas without a social security number means you place more deposit.