When there's nothing else to do on a Friday night...

From Eons Ago

2009-05-19T22:06:00.002+08:00

My Super Belated Bday Post!

I turned 22 almost 6months ago. As you can see, it was a HUGE affair. I was on magazine covers, billboards & posters everywhere. What do you mean you didn’t see it?! I have proof!

It was such a big event that I even had 11 birthday cakes!

Yes, all mine!!! Move aside, Michelle Chia wedding dessert buffet! Cova’s cake buffet tops them all!

I can’t remember whether this happened before or after Cova, but I also celebrated at Barnacles@ Sentosa with lobster!

Which we literally sucked clean. Special occasion then can eat lobster wor…
There’s more:

These were all really tasty, but portion not enough! Go to Barnacles if:
You don’t have a huge appetite,
You have a rather deep wallet &
You want a chi-chi & breezy seafood dinner by the beach.

My cuties...

Monkey Chocolate Banana cake for the monkey baby.

Birthdays are all about food aren’t they? Maybe on my next bday I shall suggest an activity related activity rather than food related activity. Like a scavenger hunt or group X gym workout!! Haha…that probably won’t draw many guests.

BFF brings me to Le Bistrot !

The menu works the same way as Sage, but French. For a fixed price, we can choose selected starters, mains & desserts. Premium items like foie gras etc will require topup

First, a champagne toast to myself!

And then, the tender-est duck leg confit that has ever melted in my mouth.

Bestie’s prawn dish.

The obligatory chocolate dessert? This wasn’t very good coz we had to make the chocolate milk ourselves & the overly eager BFF literally emptied out all the chocolate sauce into the puny teacup of milk giving us a chocolate induced headache.

Maybe that’s why I attempted to choke her:

But since she gave me earrings I grew appeased:

After dinner we headed to CitySpace, my fav chillout bar…

Aahh…drinks & scenary. It’s not difficult to please me afterall. Happy Bday to myself!

2nd FB Entry!

2009-05-14T10:47:00.002+08:00

I'm back! Thanks to encouragement from my supporter ( i think there's only 1 left!), I've decided to postpone retirement and return to blogging. Goodbye privacy!

Lemme start with photos of my Pangkor Laut Resort getaway, which i've posted on FB. This time, all photos fit within 1 album, and open viewer access given.

Btw Pangkor Laut Resort is an island 20min off Perak, Malaysia. There's only 1 resort on the whole island, making the place exclusive (interpret = monopolized & friggin' expensive!). But it was a very good & restful break.

Cheerios, I'm back!

First Facebook Entry

2008-12-15T17:09:00.001+08:00

Photos of my Boracay holiday have been loaded into 4 photo albums on my facebook profile, complete with usual blog commentary & cheesy jokes. Pictures are private, hence the decision to post them via facebook, accessible only to friends who request to view the albums.

The 4 albums are:
Boracay -- The Beach
Boracay - The Island
Boracay - The Food
Boracay - The Luxury Abodes

Highlights of the trip include:
Island hopping sights & adventures
Fireworks by the beach
Where to taste the best fruitshakes and smoothies.
White, smooth, powdery sands and clear waters
Discovery Shores, the resort.

So, do drop me a comment or wallpost on FB if you wanna view the albums, and do state which album you wanna view.

Randomize!!!

2008-12-09T00:19:00.004+08:00

2mths without blogging has almost made me a retiree. What’ve I been up to? Nothing spectacular I must admit, but I’ve got a chockful of pics stored in my comp from random events. Not enough for full entries, but I’ll put them together and see how this entry goes!

Spring in Laguna Park

10 years ago, I would seize the moment to enjoy these Angsana treetops bloom in yellow flowers for a week, and the entire carpark covered in fallen yellow flowers after that. Now, the trees are getting old and with the estate’s warring en-bloc saga, the trees are just a ghost of their brilliant past.

Looney Tunes come to Parkway!

Bringing out the kid in me! I want life size Tweety Bird to hug me!

I also want to hug these 2 fellas:

My most favourite breeds Corgi & Golden side by side. It must be my lucky day…

Here we have our favourite JRT and Golden at Big Ben’s Place

Dog lovers looking for a dog friendly eatery should visit Big Ben’s pies along Swan Lake Ave. Enjoy wholesome british pies while letting your dogs catch a sip of water.
http://www.bigbensplace.com.sg/

But my most favourite breed of all:

My bb eating ice cream beside Mr Macdonalds in utter nonchalance…

Yum yum?

It’s hard to imgine this is the same guy gobbling ice cream beside Sir Ronald:

Well, my bb has many personalities…I have to keep up!

And then there’s the day he cheats on me by having lunch with 3 ladies!

I know they look cheerier than me with their anime eyes & perfectly trimmed fringes, but I accept his moment of weakness.

O’Darling! Don’t you know, there’s no happiness in being a 3rd party. Or 3 parties in this case.

U will be torn apart, used and cast aside.

Conclusion: I must be having a crappy day. Want more?

Teeheehee! This pic never fails to tickle me! Done using my frames from my ex-hp. I call this Koochi Koochi Man Toes! Oh gosh I’m having so much fun with this entry!

Speaking of fun, what is the bestie doing here looking like she’s having such a ball of a time?

Fixing up the Wall-e toy I bought her. Must help her stimulate her brain sometimes...
There it goes! So clever!

Wind up Wall-e and he goes along the track! We love Wall-e!

And while we play with Wall-e, the couple behind our table with their lewd behaviour.

Couldn't keep their faces separated! PDA is gross & nauseating, and whoever you both are, this photo serves as a “Shame on your behaviour reminder”!!

My Wall-E is staring at me in office with those pitiful eyes & outstretched arms! I’m so gonna collect all the figurines of my fav Pixar animations to line my divider. There’s a guy in office who has the entire Kungfu Panda and The Furious Five lined across his divider, plus 2 Mr Potato Heads! Competition time!

On to more romantic times

The flyer at night

Nice to get on the last ride of the night…there’s no one. You'll get to be the only ones in the cabin. Private!

Though I still prefer the day view coz more can be seen, and also, my night vision sux.

Compare the night view from the Flyer to CitySpace.

Not bad too eh!
Located on the 70th storey of the Swissotel, City Space is the ultimate chillout wine place screaming with romance & a touch of jazz.

Could not capture the pretty glass balls on e ceiling.

Wineglasses as huge as our faces! So cool man, love it!

Timber!!! Mango tree fallen right smack at the front gate of my bf’s house!

A photo for Stomp?

Fash-Bash at Singapore Art Museum
DuchessM's best ever collection.

The necklace I helped to drape over the mirror, much to her displeasure. Was sold ok!

Clay Charm collection

Black & white collection.

It amazes me how 1 person can churn out a whole table of necklaces, earrings & bracelets. My BFF's just pure talent.

The mad crowd behind grabbing Swirl & Baylene collections.

And speaking of collections,

The bf’s fishies, photos lovingly taken by him. *#^$, take photo of fish rather than moi?! Tsk!

This, I reluctantly learn, is called Full Gold. Or Fool Gold, wadever.

Wad u looking at?

Hmpt! Don’t want to face u!

I rather swim with my hubby & 94 kids.

These are Red and Blue Grass. The one behind is actually blue.

I can never remember the name of this one. I’ll call him Greyie.

This, I like, for the deep blue sheen

Dug out old photos from my visit to the zoo 2 years ago and found pics of the now-infamous white tigers.

Who knew one day they’ll get to eat human flesh? But then again, it was not their fault to begin with. They were merely fulfilling the man's deathwish.

Aug, Sep & Nov bdaes!

My current fav people. 2 Aug babies at Ben & Jerry’s Dempsey after a hearty Margaritas’ meal! My wishes to Lynn & John: Happy Bday guys!!! Let’s celebrate our bdays til we grow white hairs! I’m still waiting for a Macdonald’s bday party gal!

When I am rich I’ll buy this bus and send my kids to school everyday in this.
But after my Maserati.

Jen’s bday at Mariner’s Corner@Maritime House.

The whole gang with our men! So rare, that only happens at Chinese new year.
My wishes to Jen: A very exciting year for u ahead, am glad we both have a common big step to take next year! Won’t it be fun to share our big day findings together! (Think u know what I mean!)

Daynia’s Bday bash @Timbre

Big big party. This was half e people, the other half came after I left.

My wishes to Daynia: Thanks babe, for showing me new frens. U are indeed our Master’s clay, moulded & beautiful within & outside. I am amazed at your transformation everytime!

Lastly I wanna end off with newest CHEOKIE ADDITION!!!!

Technically she doesn’t take the CHEOKie name, but she has CHEOKie blood in her! I am an Ah Yee already!!! Isnt little Olivia such a cutieface???

Alrighty mighty! Randomize entry comes to an end! Til e next stock of random photos arrive!

All Ado About Food!!!

2008-09-24T16:43:00.001+08:00

This entry is a collection of pictures of all the calories I’ve been consuming in the past months…No regrets though! There’s lotsa joy in sharing a meal with friends who enjoy the same thing and judging from the lovely presentation of some of the dishes, I would say Food is Art. At least it’s art that I know how to appreciate.

Basil Alcove@Fortune Centre. Supposedly fine Italian casual dining at poorman’s prices. I said SUPPOSEDLY.
Chilled pork knuckle bits in jelly with sauerkraut

What it really tastes like, is jellied ham.

Roast lamb on mashed potato & asparagus with mango chunks on the side

Yea, we ate this pretty little dish sitting on plastic chairs long the sidewalk while people walking by staring…

Miss Clarity Café, Tanjong Katong branch
One of the pinkiest café in the country serving tasty western fare at very reasonable prices. Magazines, sofas, & even board games are available. Good place for group outings.

Roast chicken leg.

Seafood Vol-au-vent for $9.80 and really tasty!
I will return to this café coz the price is very affordable. Main courses below $10 are hard to find. Service is commendable as well.

Onto green green things…
This is macha ice cake from Pasta De Waraku

Pretty to look at and pretty delish.

Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge @ Takashimaya
Green tea pound cake!

Fragrant but not sickening, moist enough to retain all the powdery green tea flavour.

Both of us doing our best “approving mother in law” look…

Since on a Jap theme…
En Japanese Dining Bar @ Mohd Sultan, specializes in Okinawa cuisine

Wagyu beef cubes

Very good proportion of fat & meat.

Scallops & pan-seared foie gras with roe

Tiger prawns with tamago & cheese

Prawn rolled with bacon & leek

This is my fav – Fried noodles with rice & octopus takos. Can u see the bits of rice amidst the strands? It sweet & tasty, not weird at all!

What is this dessert served in a martini glass?

Soya bean crème bruleè!

High on taste, low on calories, I like this stuff!
En Jap good! Every dish was made with quality fresh ingredients and served piping hot.

The Outback @ Millenia Walk

Hugeass onion rings…and that’s all I could remember of the place.

Mimolette@Fairways drive
This restaurant is all about the ambience ambience ambience.

Very dark because must ambience mah!

My Korobuta pork

And so we sip Rosè wine and muse over food that is big on price, low on quantity but blah on taste. After the very unnecessary atas experience we scoot off to….

The Vista Bistro@Playground@Big Splash
And this is what I call FOOD…

Baked potato skins with mushroom & bacon

Cheese springrolls

As you can see we weren’t even keen on staying at Mimolette for drinks or dessert. Good thing too, coz The Vista Bistro was much more comfortable! Leave the atas things to atas people on an atas day!

The 2 August birthday babies

First we make a wish,

And then we blow out the candles,

Then we all eat cake!!!

Enough of food already??? Not yet! Let me share 1 more!

Majestic@New Majestic Hotel
This refurbished Hotel in Chinatown territory now prides itself as a boutique hotel with a star Chinese restaurant to boot. So the foodies go check it out.

Starter - Wasabi prawn, foie gras & peking duck on mixed salad. It’s soo good I went giddy eating it.

You finish taking photo already or not??? Can I eat now?! A hungry woman is an angry woman, especially this one.

Crabmeat fishmaw soup.

Appeased by the starter, her mood improves.

She can even take photo for me…

My beancurd broth with shimeji mushrooms & whole scallop

That’s the whole scallop right there! Lightly fried before dunking into soup.

Panfried ribeye steak

Response?

Roast baby lamb with carrot cake

Response?

Dessert – avocado with vanilla bean ice cream in whole coconut.

Scraping off the succulent coconut flesh with smooth avocado milk shake, it is simply the best.

What a lot of food memories…9 places in 1 blog entry!

Hmmm...what's for dinner?

A long walk

2008-09-16T11:01:00.001+08:00

An outing to the Southern Ridges, the 9km walking trail from Mount Faber Park all the way to HortPark. Of course we didn’t try to complete the whole stretch on our first attempt, but decided that starting from Henderson Waves, the nicest bridge at the point covering almost 2 thirds the distance, will be good enough.

Henderson Wave, I vote this the prettiest bridge. God-blessed weather and crowd on a Saturday late afternoon.

We never walk without our dogs.

Chasey was such a dear today…

Views

Forest Walk, a 1.3km meandering metallic elevated walkway that connects to Alexandra Arch. Very zigzag, and sloping downwards all the way. Imagine walking 1.3km up the slope again…

Dint I mention the entire walkway was E.L.A.V.A.T.E.D…

After what seems like a dizzying stretch,

Chasey wonders which one is rest stop.

Ok lah, let you rest 10 seconds…

And smell Lucky’s bits…

Alexandra Arch

A really short one, the distance of an overhead bridge. Nothing fantastic about it since I pass by it everyday to work. That explains the ‘joyful’ face when I spotted my office building in the distance.

HortPark

HortPark, the Gardening Hub, however was a little more interesting. Spanning 23hectares, this park is a horticulturalist’s dream.

Consisting of numerous mini garden exhibits & playgrounds, this park displays the endless creativity of what anybody’s garden can look like, with a little help from the landscape designers credited at every exhibit.

Really tempting to jump in after all the hot & sweaty walking…

Chasey starts paddling her paws, can u see her movements? She is soooooo cute…

The BF starts to practice his macro & manual focus…

This statue happened to be a very well-endowed half-naked one. Picture the bf standing in front of it snapping away, looking like a perv and in the end he didn’t even take the full statue?!

Plants I’ve never seen before…

Manual focus, finally passed!

A Thai restaurant called ‘KHA’ is located within HortPark.

It has nice outdoor water facing chill-out area

Manual focus again…

Pity after walking such a long distance to get here we were quite tired to cover the whole park. Less photos for you, tat’s all! Go there yourself!

See, Lucky’s tyre punctured already!

We’re taking a taxi back to the car now, no way I’m gonna backtrack 5km! Tata!

Let's go KL!

2008-08-28T11:00:00.001+08:00

KL shopping spree photolog from 2 months ago …I remember KL being all about the city life and great food…I’ve not been there for many years and nothing has changed about that, except it’s definitely updated itself with the times now.

Our ride:

Tried the double decker bus with inflight services like service attendants and meals provided. Not bad, felt like I was taking a budget airplane.

Fahler cheok has space to wiggle about in his seat.

Leg room was ok.

It takes about 5hrs to reach Corus Hotel’s doorstep from Harbourfront Singapore Cruise Centre, the pickup location.

For convenience sake we stayed at Corus Hotel as the bus dropoff and pickup points were there. The hotel is situated in Jalan Ampang beside KLCC, not near the popular shopping Bukit Bintang area.

It was pretty decent, I had requested for a poolside room. But of coz noone used the pool.

Our balcony, a few steps away from the pool.

Fahler & mahler cheok’s room…

The girls’ room…

4 poster bed very romantic…

My 2 very ‘shy’ roomies…

On to serious matters, we go shopping!

The streets of KL

Pavilion is the newest shopping mall, which I felt was too upmarket for my taste.

Other older shopping centres, mid range and just as good…

Am always amazed at shopping centres with ice skating rink. The need for mankind to make everything bigger and better?

Sunway pyramid. U can see the sphinx in the distance as our cab drove away…

1 twin of the Petronas twin tower.

Now I regret not making enough effort to take better pictures…

KLCC, close to our hotel. Architecturally beautiful.

Water landscaping for the pleasure of diners…

The spoils!!!

Lu’s loot and mine.

Not as impressive as the mountain of clothes I got from Bangkok, coz things in KL are more expensive. Must think very hard before buying.

And now, the FOOD…
We fell in love with the street food at the risk of our stomachs. But this simple hawker fare of items on sticks being dipped into boiling stock and then chili sauce enthralled our tastebuds so much!
Step 1: Pick what you want.

Step 2: Dunk into boiling pot to heat it up (mainly to kill germs)

Step 3: Dip into all kinds of dodgy looking chili sauces

Step 4: Eat!

My fav, quail eggs for RM1. In fact, every stick costs RM1 only!

A more touristy place akin to our Newton circus would be Jalan Alor, parallel to the Bukit Bintang shopping stretch.

Long row of stalls selling bbg seafood, chicken wings, satay, noodles and drinks. Local fare.

Here’s what we had.

Weird that the carrot cake in KL has bean sprouts.

Stingray, came without sambal chili. No sambal, no joy to eat.

The iced tea was good though…

Fahler cheok enjoying his coconut…

Baskin Robbins, best ice cream ever. When will it make a comeback to S’pore???

How much did this fondue cost? RM29.90. Compare that to SGD45.90 in Haagen Daz S’pore. Pirates!

Hee…can u blame us???

It wasn’t me! I didn’t finish that all by myself!

Check out the wide menu!

Sugar high…and see all the fats going into my arms already…shucks…

2nd holiday with my friends…always fun to be around with!

I am thinking

2008-08-08T15:59:00.003+08:00

Have you ever, at the end of a workday, stepped into a train, blank out, and then suddenly wonder where you are headed to? Perhaps it happens to some of us once in a blue moon due to fatigue or distractions, I suppose that's fine. As for me, having many such journeys along the east west line, I certainly had such moments, and recently increasing. This left me thinking - Is it short term memory loss, or actually reflective of my current state of life? Embarking on a destination, entering a dark period when things don't turn out as expected, and then start to wonder where it's all heading? The more I dwelled on this, the more I concluded it’s the latter.

At work, I started well, handling & learning many things on a wide job scope. Somewhere along the line, we shifted to a horrid location, had newcomers, reassignment of duties and I'm given let’s just say, a job scope that could be more desirable. Certainly, the learning curve has hit a plateau with increasing clerical functions. For example, while staying late to count tables, chairs and cabinets is tolerable, the last incident of being ordered to buy dustbins for new joiners definitely crossed my threshold. Just when I thought I had been through enough humbling experiences, this one takes the cake. Me measuring my dustbin for comparison of size (and don’t forget colour!) so that I wont buy the wrong dustbin. At that point the urge to apologize to my fahler for sponsoring my costly university education was undeniably strong, and the serious questioning of where I am headed in this role.

In personal aspects, I've got my house and should be happily planning for my future, but to date, nothing has been done. Peers & colleagues my age who already have it all constantly ask when my wedding will be held but they don't realize how awkward it is for me to answer because it’s not within my decision making means. Blame it on the Singaporean culture of securing a house before talking about marriage but it’s too late for regrets too. I'm neither young nor old, single, child-less, car-less and worse, no wedding to plan. My salary barely lasts me through the month. Stuck, that's where I am, in the eyes of some, the worse place to be. Sometimes I feel my insides bleed.

Socially, weekday nights and weekends used to be packed with activities. These days, if I don’t ask anyone out, no one asks me out. I go home everyday, have some dinner, lights out by 11pm. Weekends, after bathing the dog, there isn’t much to do while waiting for the bf to wakeup and pacify his never-ending commitments. It seems I've simply lost the energy to organize activities. Laziness maybe, unmotivated definitely. I wonder what’s going on...

With this blog, I started with high hopes and zest for blogging about anything and everything. I hoped to be successful with readership and fame. I aimed for 2 entries per week. Along the way, I realized that the things people liked reading about entailed bitchiness, flaming and lots of negative tones which I’m not inclined to use anymore. And I have to admit I’ve become increasingly private, hence entries have to be much censored before posting for the WWWorld to see. This is why I don’t blog as frequently as when I first started out and being a blogger trying to be private is quite contradiction to live with. And even as a low profile blogger, I’ve endured comments like “you are so free hor, blog about everything” to “you are so lazy, seldom blog anymore”. Go easy folks, I’m just a fragile little girl…
So what’s next? It’s a challenge I’ll take.

With church, I started by leaving my 5yr long 'home' last year to seek higher spiritual pastures. It's been almost a year and I'm still adjusting to my new place, totally missing the old one, something I never expected would happen. Things at the new place are good, but stirring up conflicts within me such that I’m not yet able to go with the flow very smoothly. Yet again I don't know where I'm headed, but I'll have to wait upon Him and see where His wind blows me next.
I still count my blessings. I know this is all temporary, but how did things up end this way? Why do planned journeys sometimes go sorely wrong? Perhaps it's a wake up call to make things right, or it could be a form of endurance training for better things to come. I wonder if there are others out there going through the same as me? A verse of comfort for us all: “In times of good be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.” Ecclesiates 7:14. He works all things for good, so we just continue walking on! Works for me now.
Well, I will have something to meditate about during my half month's compulsory work break starting next week!!! (The only perk of working in a highly regulated industry). Hope to come out of this rejuvenated and motivated, and have some of my sorrows resolved.

Wild Wild Wet

2008-08-04T22:43:00.001+08:00

An outing a long ago to blog.

One Sunday evening 2 young kids with free tickets to Wild Wild Wet decided to have some water fun at Downtown East.

This water theme park is an adventure of rides and structures for kids.

Watch the big bucket at the top.

When water fills up, it tips over and everyone get a big shower.

I feel thoroughly cleansed.

The big boychild has fun too..

How graciously he slides down…RFLOL

This is the Tsunami ride, however the waves only come every 3hrs or so and only lasts for 30 seconds. At least that’s how long we felt it was, sitting in the floating rings waiting for a wave to hit.

Interesting Singaporean names for rides, basically slide rides ending with humans popping out from a hole.

This is called the Shiok River. A lazy river with too many people. Just sit in a float, let the generated currents push you along and get a slight headache at the end of it.

The river is a rather long ride covering most of the land area for the theme park.

People from outside the shiok river may shoot water at you. Not that you were dry in the 1st place..

Seems quite Shiok for the large kid in orange.

Highlight of the park and the most thrilling ride of all

Freefall for two down that slope…

It’s the heart-leap-out-of-your-mouth-experience, especially for the one facing downwards. The one on the opposite merely stays in the leaning back position, less terrifying. Poor me who chose to be the former position for our 1st try.

For the romantics or the borings, whichever way you choose to view it, take a slow bicycle ride along the elevated track to enjoy the view.

Sidenote: I can’t help noticing there are so many tummies flopping everywhere. Men, please buckup!!!

No better way to end water sports but with a quiet evening BBQ.

Portion just for two.

The lady cooks while the man does what he does best.

Haha…pictures can be deceiving. Cos it was the poor guy who dirtied his hands setting the fire and cooking the food all the way while I pose for picture.

Nice to have a free chalet for the evening with leftover meat, but I still prefer restaurant dining, least I don’t get a 2week long sore throat/cough followed by pulling a rib muscle from coughing too vigorously.

BKK Again & Again & Again

2008-07-16T23:39:00.002+08:00

As promised, here’s the part about our lodging. I booked 2 hotels just in case the 1st one didn’t go well. Thank God I did that. The first hotel we stayed was Baiyoke Boutique Hotel, behind the more famous mothership Baiyoke Sky, part of the Baiyoke chain of hotels in the Pratunam area. Thinking that a boutique standard is Singapore’s Scarlet Hotel equivalent, I booked it without realising I was so wrong.

Photos of the lobby turned out ok,

But it doesn’t matter how nice the lobby is, right? The room is more important.

Far from the boutique standard I expected, the room smelt like last night’s seafood dinner with damp carpeting we didn’t dare to set foot on.

But nothing beat the view we had

Railway track means 2-hourly train passings, complete with authentic “choo-choo” sounds. Thank goodness we were too tired most of the night to be waken by it.

Nice yah? We swear from our morning ‘wakeup’ calls there’s a rooster living there somewhere.

Happy to check out of Baiyoke and into the 2nd hotel at LeBua, State Tower, Silom.

Welcome welcome…ooh nice…

Now we realised how we’ve suffered in Baiyoke Boutique…

LeBua, you had me at Chandelier.

6-star hotel does things differently. When we checked in with the reception, we were brought to our room immediately with the receptionist who ‘checked-in’ with us in the room, showing us everything and how to use the facilities.

Correction, I should not say “room” because what we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite due to full occupancy that day.

Well, I suppose we just had to make do. :P

Kitchen, complete with washing machine.

A surprise for the unsuspecting couple who accidentally selected the option “honeymooning” on the website while booking the hotel. Oh well, free cake is good cake.

A nice supper to look forward to.

Roses on the coffee table.

And chocolates.

It was then I felt this holiday was really coming together now.

The first time I had to shout to be heard because the hotel room was so big.

So that’s the living room & kitchen, now the rooms:

Ironing cum guest room

Masterbed room

Both rooms had attached bathrooms with separate tub & shower areas and Bvlgari toiletries.

There was 2 of everything – TVs, bathrooms, sofas and even balconies - 1 in the living room and another at the masterbedroom.

The view?

Breeze, the alfresco restaurant.

View at night:

All the balconies light up in sexy blue neon at night. Wonder what my neighbors are doing.

We also realized that the Baiyoke observation deck was a waste of time. The same view was right outside our balcony at LeBua.

View at night:

The pool:

With Jacuzzi area.

Thankful. Just thankful for our buffet breakfast with smoked salmon, grilled ham, fresh fruit juices and eggs benedict at the spread. Not to mention freshly ground soya milk complete with crispy mini youtiao. Photos not allowed, pity.

At night, we visit Sirocco, on the 64th floor, to lead the high life, in both senses of the word.

LeBua is also known as The Dome, and aptly so. The dome was visible from everywhere in Silom. Live jazz music from lady in orange on the right.

It’s hard to get camera night settings right!

Upon coming down the nice flight of steps feeling like a star.

Sirocco is a Mediterranean restaurant with a sky bar. While the diners dine and enjoy the view, the drinkers at the skybar can stand around them and look at their food.

Before drinks, slightly happy.

With drinks, very happy. What a sweet ending to my BKK trip.

This time, I left my heart at LeBua.

BKK Again & Again

2008-07-15T15:57:00.001+08:00

Bkk is not only about shopping, some sightseeing is good for balancing out the frantic rushing from one shop to another. For that purpose, we visit Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest building in Bkk, where an observation deck is created on the 80-something floor. Also because we stayed at Baiyoke Boutique, situated behind Baiyoke Sky, it was convenient to go.

Baiyoke Sky is quite grand, pity I didn’t pick the right Baiyoke to stay, but that’s another story for later.

The pool we were entitled to use but didn’t have the chance to.

At the observation deck, which we deviously slipped in for free. That’s a total savings for Bht360.

Ok, by now I think you get the point that Baiyoke is a VERY tall building.

Some boring cultural stuff at the gallery…

The BF has some fun…

Just what I needed for my phlegm…

Cheesy couple shots…

Oh, about the view…here’s some..

And then there’s more upstairs

An outdoor version of the indoor gallery observation deck. Apparently you can buy a dove for Bht50 and set it free here, though I think it might die the moment it flies out into the scorching sun.

The metal ground he’s standing is a revolving travelator that moves round the tower.

The view. Not much different from the gallery a few floors down.

It was so hot the photos looked over-exposed.

Dinner that day at a multi-award winning Thai restaurant called Baan Khanitha, in Soi Ruamrudee, for high quality Thai food in a traditional atmosphere at Singapore price. What a mouthful...

Really good tom yum goong, not too sour & not too spicy. Fires up your appetite.

Tamarind prawns

Thai salad & wrapped chicken.

We had green curry & mango sticy rice too, but no photos. All the dishes tastes so good. At Singapore price, I suppose the food has to be good. If you’re round the corner, I would recommend it for the relaxing dining atmosphere.

Stay tuned for final episode.

BKK Again

2008-07-11T17:16:00.001+08:00

Having visited this famous Thailand capital for the nth time, I wanted to do a brief “highlights-only” entry of my trip but ended up with 120 photos I wanted to post. So much for ‘highlights’, I’ll probably split this trip journal into a couple of entries, also to make up for the lack of blogging these days.

So let’s see where a 4D4N free N easy takes me!

Khao San Road
So many times I’ve been to BKK, but the first time seeing Khao San Road, place of pubs, bars, angmohs and night activities.

Lotsa lotsa angmohs…

There isn’t a whole lot to do here, especially not shopping. Best to come when you’re hungry or looking for a place to chill & have beer, which was what we wanted anyway.

First, we searched for food…

…mini calzone roadside stall!

The satay here is different from SG. It’s heavily marinated and minced, kinda like a mushy sausage.

Chicken, beef & pork, they all taste the same.

But what could never go wrong is – Chocolate Condensed Milk Banana pancake. Somebody bring this to S’pore quickly please!

We find the least sleazy beer place to eat our roadside food and have some beer while watching people get drunk.

Watermelon juice for the lady and Tiger for the man. With what’s left of the most delicious roadside stall fried noodle I’ve ever tasted. Must be all the fish sauce, chili flakes, ground peanuts and sugar that gives Thai food such kick.

Me, greasy from the head & shoulder massage we had earlier in the day at Asia Herb Association. It’s really posh and affordable, I highly recommend.

If you are here over the weekend, a must go place is Chatuchak Weekend Market, a market so huge you’ll probably get lost among the clothes, furniture, accessories, household wares, plants, and animals being sold at the market. The animals! Oh how they tug my heartstrings!

…I want another puppy doggy!

3hrs is the limit I can stay in the sweltering humid environment of Chatuchak. After that, the experience deteriorates in accelerated fashion. On to the next shopping site, city centre Siam.

Typical Siam traffic. What a bugger.

To Siam Paragon for my favourite takeout soup. This time I try black chicken herbal soup and the flawless lobster bisque.

And Food Loft at Central Chidlom for this wonderful banana fritter with ice-cream. Inside the fritter contains not just banana, but chocolate cake, pear & pineapple. How do they make it? Anyway, it tastes lovely and very fine for food court fare.

And then as we strolled pass Siam Centre, we saw 2 phenomenons happening AT THE SAME SHOPPING CENTRE, SAME TIME, in separate atriums.

Thailand’s F4…handsome youths, spikey gelled hair with slick dance moves winning shrieks from every teenaged girl.

VS

“What do those guys have that I don’t have….”

......

At night, we go to the night version of Chatuchak – Suan Lum Night Bazaar. Contrary to the rumormill, this place is still very much buzzing with business and life.

The golden gate of Suan Lum

Rows of endless shopping…

The kinda restaurant surely meant for tourists only…

I rather eat at the centrestage hawker stalls. Yep, the stage with lip synching performers is still there!

Suan Lum is another good place for beers

Beer makes him happy.

To be continued…

Heartbreak

2008-06-24T17:43:00.001+08:00

My dog decided to try to end his life a couple of weeks ago by swallowing a broken rusty needle.

Due to his “vacuum cleaner” attitude towards life, we discovered something was wrong with him after 1 week of constant vomiting. The x-ray result was undeniable, and a surgery was unavoidable. To make the decision of bearing anesthetic reaction and internal infection from the surgery versus him dying from the needle was one of the worse moments of my life. Needless to say, I did not have much choice, it was either take out the needle or die.

The vet removed the needle successfully in a 2.5hr surgery.

It was a broken needle about 3.5cm long.

See it, near the words “Lab Test/X-ray”.

However, the vet noticed complications with his intestines and suspected thread might be stuck in there. However when she opened up his intestines, she could not find any thread.

Poor guy was to stay in the clinic for 4 nights for further testing and monitoring due to his intestinal problem.

He pain, I heartache.

More heartache for me to see this. Both his paws were black & blue from the intravenous antibiotic drip and he did not like his clinic stay.

Shaved belly for the op.

And this is the scar from the op, with stitches attached. Seeing this often made my toes curl. And even more so when I have to wash and apply cream on that area twice a day.

Finally after 5days at the clinic he was released on good (intestinal) behaviour. How happy he was to be home. I could also heave a sigh of relief for not losing my beloved dog so early.

Happy to be reunited with his comfy bed again.

With the lampshade round his head he was so miserable. Under supervision he was allowed to go without it and boy did he miss licking his paws!

He had also lost weight from the ordeal. See, he actually has a waist now.

His fashion accessory for 2 weeks.

Update: Homie is fine now, hopefully he has learnt his lesson to stop swallowing inedible things!

Oh my baby, what will I do without you!

Encore to Big Girls’ Ride

2008-06-04T15:13:00.000+08:00

Ending a scenic experience with altitude, we land on Earth and felt a familiar growling in our bellies. Afterall, it was dinnertime and unlike other girls, we eat!

Wanna make a guess where we went? It’s a place with long long long optic fibre lightings!

I’m so in love with the lights I’m gonna convince the BF to install them over our dining table in our new home.

So…where did we go? A hint:

The lights can change colour!!

Ok, I must be super suaku but ever since I went bankrupt from buying my house I haven’t visited any entertainment spots.

K lah, another hint. The place has a band with a very very big diva. But strangely the diva had a very small voice. Or was it the man who sang? Or was she a man? I donno, I don’t want to go there…

Still can’t figure where we went?

Yeah, we went to The “dwnd” Room spell upside down… drunk before we start drinking eh!

While waiting for food, what can we do? Take photo!

Rose wine arrives, yay! Looks like ribena but is a mix of white & red wine. Interesting, but can’t beat my apple martini

Forgive the excessive flash, but it’s actually an inverted pyramid glass sitting in another glass filled with iced soda, so it’s 2 drinks in 1.

Finally food arrives. Fish & chips, baby back ribs, garlic bread, mash potato, it was all good.

Best of all were the desserts. Warm chocolate cake with ice cream is always a must. Lemon tart is not bad too.

Oops, here we have a bdae girl. Which explains the Flyer excursion and glamorous dinner.

Happy Bdae! May your wishes of “no need to work, have lotsa money and travel the world” come true one day. Don’t we all wish for that on our bdaes….

Big Girls’ Ride

2008-06-02T17:34:00.003+08:00

Anyone who does not know about that big circular structure at Marina Bay obviously never takes the ECP or reads newspapers. It’s called the Singapore Flyer, currently the world’s largest observation wheel offering panaromic and breathtaking views of our city and beyond, and it’s MY turn to ride it finally!

How upclose have you been to the Flyer? The closer you are, the smaller you feel.

Coming out of the carpark, this is what greets you – an unobstructed view of the flyer.

What I didn’t know was occupying the central atrium is a built-in rainforest called the Yakult Rainforest Discovery.

It has tropical trees and shrubs, lush vegetation,

streams,

mini waterfall,

and lotsa fake mountain rocks made of cement.

Lu caught this in between the fake rocks of the rainforest. She does have a bit of a photographer in her!

The rainforest is beneath the wheel, as deduced from the white steel legs everywhere. So when you look up, you’ll see this,

and probably also a view of mini-skirt-wearing-girls.

Bit scary to stand under the wheel.

We take some group photos at boarding time!

Didn't you know that Sat night is Mambo night in the Flyer? Hehehehehe!

This is the cabin.
Once inside the cabin at a low altitude, there isn’t much to do except take photos of each other.

OK! After gazing at my gorgeous friends and I, you may proceed to gaze at the scenery.

This is taken at a rather low height.

Looking around the Flyer,

There are cafes and restaurants within the premises and this is the alfresco part of it.

Marina Bay view.

Amphitheatre.

And a certain death.

It gets exciting as we approach the top.

And a little nerve rattling as we start rolling downwards..

Steep man!

Snapping photos in an anticlockwise direction, there are a few distinct sites which I attempt to classify:
1) CBD

One of these buildings used to be my office.

You can see I’m linking towards the floating stage.

2) The floating stage

3) The IR in progress

Right side,

Left side.

Total. If you want to make your money’s worth, I suggest waiting til the IR is completed before taking the ride. If not, all you’ll see is this ugly mess.

4) Golf course either Superbowl or Marina East

Evening view.
I apologise for the slightly cloudy photos, it rained earlier in the day and the cabin windows were slightly fogged up from the air conditioning within.

5) Tanjong Rhu & the other rich people apartments.

The Flyer is yet another thing they can add to the already swelling value of their homes. Whatever. I’m not jealous. ;P

The ride took slightly over half an hour and it was breaking evening by the time we came out. Just in time to view the wheel in its night colours.

Red

With the zhar bor who is very hard to ask out.

Blue

Orange

Green

White. Gosh I think we were quite bo liao to wait for all the colours…

And we end of with our favourite purple!

Lovely ride, lovely Singapore, lovely friends!

Showflats

2008-04-22T11:14:00.002+08:00

An afternoon at Habitat Forum @ HDB Hub Toa Payoh. The entire 3rd floor of this place is a mock up of typical 2room, 3room, 4room and 5room HDB flats layout. It’s a good place to visit for interior design ideas and a feel of what government flats these days look like.

Starting with 2room flat

If you have ever visited 2room flats in Bukit Merah, you’ll know how unrealistic this showflat is.

No 2room flat occupant will do up their abode like this ‘studio apartment’ feel because they are either very old, very poor or a very huge family with many kids and belongings.

Masterbedroom and the ONLY bedroom.

Even I alone cannot live in a 2room flat…with a wardrobe this small, I just can’t!

Mosaic for kitchen wall??? Try cleaning up the grease between the tiles man…

In case you are wondering why everything is blue, each mockup has a theme….I think blue fits the mood of a 2room really well. That’s how I’d feel living in a 2room flat with a husband & 2 screaming kids!!!

Let’s UPGRADE to 3room now!

This is what greets us as we stepped through the main door.

Booth seats for your dining table, anyone? Cute huh…

1st bedroom.

Masterbedroom.

Notice that the mirrors beside the masterbed is actually a wardrobe on the opposite side!

The opposite side! This created a walkway corridor before entering the room, and also blocking out the attached toilet. Good idea! But no mirrors beside the bed for me….too distracting…

Blurry kitchen…

Mood lifted after seeing the 3room flat now? Let’s see the 4room!

Nice modern feeling upon stepping through the main door.

Shoe cabinets are always good & practical…but mine will take the whole bomb shelter…Pointless shelving on the wall, not my style.

Ah Longs or Man U fans will like the splash of red across the wall while they eat…

Raised platform bed with lights coming from under…am seeing a lot of this, is it the new interior design fashion? Then I must follow!

This is blur because of the glass. Cool yah! The wall has been replaced by glass for this study room.

Masterbedroom.
The black headboard is actually a very nice textured material that extends all the way up to ceiling. Very dramatic.

The bf appreciates…

Built-in wardrobe for masterbedroom.

All toilets look the same, so only 1 is pictured.

Kitchen quite spacious. I am standing in a yard area to take this photo. A yard is good for hanging clothes, washing machine etc etc…I always like practical usable spaces. Which makes me wonder why I bought 2 humungous balconies…

Think the 4room mock up is nice? U ain’t seen the 5room yet!

This is one part of the living room.

This is the other part.

And this is the other other part.

Separated by stringed curtains and wooden paneling. If this flat were a woman, she is alluring & seductive.

Beside the living room, the dining room.

But alas, after spending all their budget on the gorgeous living room, the 3 bedrooms look pretty normal...

Masterbedroom uses same wallpaper as living room.

And I forgot to take picture of the kitchen coz we kept ‘wowing’ at the living room…

I can only imagine how rich the supplier must be to have HDB as their customer…

Anyways go visit! I’m always excited & happy like a child when viewing showflats, but maybe that’s just me…

House Update

2008-04-17T17:09:00.002+08:00

This entry was written 3 weeks ago, however as we were undergoing appeals, I was advised to hold back until we sign on the dotted line. Thus by the time you read this, you would have known that HDB has rejected our loan appeal and I have already gone ahead to sign my financial freedom away.

This is intended to be a full length exposé of my experience with HDB. Those who can’t be bothered or are reading this for the pictures will be disappointed. No pictures today.

HDB selection criteria states that in order to purchase a new HDB flat, the income ceiling criteria at the point of application for the fiancé & fiancée must not exceed $8k. At the point of application, my bf was without a job taking a much deserved break after his previous job hence we met the income criteria. That was early Jan08.

Timeline as follows:
Early Jan08 – We submit online application. Combined income below ceiling.
Mid Jan08 – Bf got offered a job. He accepts, and start date is 21Jan08. From there on, combined income will exceed ceiling.
Mid Feb08 – We are informed of our successful application and told to come down for selection of unit on 4Mar08, with income documents for HDB loan assessment on the same day.
4Mar08 – We head down to Cityview@boonkeng sales office with our income & CPF documents. HDB officers were present to help us with our eligibility assessment. Having explained that our income was below ceiling in early Jan when we applied for the flat and producing the relevant documents like his latest letter of employment & CPF statement, my bf proceeded to sign the statutory declaration of unemployment to prove that he was indeed unemployed in early Jan, making us eligible to purchase a new HDB. Without clearing this step, we were unable to select a unit and obtain a HDB loan. When given clearance by the HDB officers, we went ahead and selected our unit. We paid 5% of the price in cheque.

End of part I. Sounds like a happy ending isn’t it?

WRONG.

Apparently, eligibility to select a HDB flat is not the same as eligibility for the HDB loan. In the perfect scenario that the combined income is within $8k, a couple is able to select a flat. But to qualify for a HDB loan, another set of eligibility criteria exists. First, salary must be stable for at least 3 months. If not, the income is not taken into consideration in deciding the loan quantum that can be dispensed. So, for eg, a husband who has been earning $4k for less than 3 mths in a new job and a wife who has been drawing $3k for the past 1yr will be accessed based on the wife’s salary solely. Which means that HDB deems the combined income as $3k instead of $7k for this couple. Naturally, the less you are deemed to earn, the lesser you can borrow. If the couple’s flat costs $500k, based on the $3k ‘combined’ salary, HDB might only lend the couple, say, $300k and they would have to fork out the remaining $200k in cash & cpf. Pretty tough if they don’t have so much cash on hand right?

If both the husband & wife had stable combined income of $7k for at least 3mths, the eligible loan amount can reach about, say, $700k, which is more than enough to cover the $500k flat. In this case, the couple will be comfortably borrowing $450k (90%) from CPF and paying the remaining $50k through their CPF savings. They will be better off than the $200k upfront senario.

Simply put, if husband & wife earn $0, they are eligible to buy a HDB because they are below the $8k combined income ceiling, but simply not eligible for any loan quantum because they earn nothing. They can, however, pay full cash for their flat.

We fall into the first senario. From the above timeline, my bf has only been working for 1.5months as at 4Mar08. Prior to that, he was without income from 01Oct-20Jan08. For me, I had been drawing a monthly salary since May07. Hence the loan quantum had to be based on my income alone, as he did not meet the 3 month criteria. Based on their calculations, we were left with a $175k cash/cpf topup situation. We are not cash rich, so this is far from ideal. If so much money has be paid upfront, what about money for wedding, honeymoon, furniture, interior design, and perhaps even dinner tomorrow?.

But it’s not as if my bf was going to quit his job before 3 months was up right? In a mere 6 weeks, he will be 3 months into his job. Agreed, claimed the residing officer. Send in a letter of appeal together with a letter of appointment from your HR Dept as proof, he told us. Approval shouldn’t be a problem and soon we should be able to borrow based on our combined income rather than just mine alone. Sounds comforting & reasonable, hence we proceeded to prepare the extra documents for the appeal.

Note that by this time, we had already selected our unit & paid the 5% as an option fee and there’s no turning back unless we want to forfeit 25% of the option fee.

8Mar08 – We return to Cityview’s sales office to submit the letter of appeal & his letter of appointment. Another HDB officer was residing that day. We spent 1hr explaining our case to him. He looked at us in horror and basically told us our chances were slim. This was because our combined income had exceeded the ceiling. He also told us that we should not have selected our flat in the 1st place because we were not eligible. However he will submit the appeal documents on our behalf and pray very hard for us.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Let me reiterate that we had selected a unit on 4Mar08 because
1. The residing HDB officers had given us clearance to do so on that day based on my bf’s statutory declaration & the fact that as at time of application, we were within the ceiling; &
2. Although our HDB loan quantum was pending appeal, we felt comforted that the appeal was a small matter which could be easily approved.

We left the sales office that day feeling confused & misrepresented by HDB. Yet because we had already paid 5%, there’s no way of getting a refund without a hefty forfeit. We kept our fingers crossed and determined to call HDB the next working day.

For 2 weeks after we had submitted the letter of appeal and necessary documents, my bf tried calling the HDB officer EVERYDAY to check on our appeal status but was unable even to reach the forever full voicemail box. We are anxious because there is a timeline of 9weeks or less before the developer requires us to sign on the purchase agreement. We had to settle our loan as soon as possible.

After 2 weeks, we finally received a call from another officer, only to learn that the previous officer had been busy, and, the best part? He was not in charge of our case.

*fume*
I suppose our case was sitting in a pigeon hole somewhere before the next officer comes along and peeps into the hole & decides to take pity on our case.

So this new officer taking over needs another long briefing to understand our plight. It’s ok, we will explain whatever is required. After that, she requested for documents again. Why? Because HDB had LOST our documents while they were left to rot in the pigeon hole during the 2 weeks.

Which leads me to conclude that HDB has no money to buy PAPERCLIPS.

Fine. It’s ok, we have lots of time to fax letters and payslips all day long. Just as long as it helps them get on with our case.

After this round of faxing, she followed up rather promptly with another call for more documents. My bf started his job on 21Jan08. Hence his prorated Jan08 pay was combined with his Feb08 payslip. Oh dear, this greatly confuses HDB because they cannot conclude what his basic pay is! By the way his letter of offer which had already been faxed TWICE to HDB clearly states his basic pay. But that is not enough. HDB required his HR to type a letter stating which portion of his pay belonged to Jan08, and which portion belonged to Feb08.

Which leads to my 2nd conclusion. HDB can’t count very well.

Fine. As I said, we have lots of time to fax letters and payslips all day long. Just as long as it helps them get on with our case. My bf owes his HR administrator a lunch by now.

It is already 20Mar after all this hassle. 2.5 weeks have passed and we barely have 6.5weeks before we sign our purchase agreement. Status of appeal still unknown.

Week of 24March – The HDB officer calls us with good news. She says she has gotten all the information she needs and approval should be given to us soon. Best news I’ve heard in weeks. I thought we finally see closure on this case.

31March – HDB officer calls my bf to say that her “management” has rejected our appeal.

?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I do not believe my ears. Apparently, the 3mths stable pay issue which we initially thought was the main problem stopping us from get the full loan quantum was not the deciding factor. It’s back to the income ceiling yet again. Because our current income exceeded the ceiling, we should not be given HDB loan at all. We should be taking a bank loan. HDB has been very kind to even consider my sole income for the loan quantum.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

What I do not understand is why we were asked to send in letters of appeal regarding the 3 months issue when it was already known right from the start 4Mar08 that our pay was above the ceiling??? Why allow us to select a flat, promise us a concessionary loan and then tell us much later that we can’t borrow the full amount we need, after we had already paid the non-refundable option fee?

Which leads me to my 3rd conclusion. HDB needs transparency in their criteria. Do not mislead buyers into thinking that they only need to fulfill one criteria (3mths) when actually they have to fulfill another criteria ($8k ceiling). I can’t help but feel like I was tricked into buying the flat, which by the way, has a very poor takeup rate til this day.

Why is it that HDB would rather lend people who earn less and have poorer repaying power, compared to people who earn more and have higher repaying power?
Here we are telling HDB that we have more combined pay to repay the loan with lower possibility of a repayment default, but no no no! HDB only chooses to believe that we earn way below the actual and refuse to lend us more money.

What is the logic here??????

So what if we exceed the ceiling? Can’t they simply cap our loan quantum based on the income ceiling of $8k? That will be more than sufficient to allow us to borrow & repay. A cap of $8k will allow us to borrow way above the cost of our house. Besides, HDB only allows a 90% of purchase price loan quantum, so the loan amount works out to even lesser. It’s not as if we want to borrow millions anyway, just 90% of our flat purchase price!

If you were a commercial bank, would you rather consider a higher income client or a lower income client to sell your home loan?

Which leads me to my 4th conclusion. HDB needs to relook at their eligibility criteria for loans. I would like to suggest putting some BRAIN into the criteria for a start.

The HDB officer added that this case has been highlighted to management who does not want the auditors to catch them, hence the case has to be rejected. Bear in mind that we do not know who the ‘management’ was, and were not allowed to speak with them either. With such a laughable excuse given by them, at this point, we knew our case was a lost cause and reluctantly agreed with the initial loan quantum based on my salary. As she was working out the sad figures, I realized that she readjusted the loan quantum to be $20k less than agreed and explained that this is because I cannot use my lifestyle allowance as part of my basic pay.
I clarify that my lifestyle allowance is not an allowance, it is just a fanciful name my company gives to a portion of my pay which I contribute CPF and pay income tax in the the same manner as my basic pay. If my company wishes to split my pay into 10parts, is only 1 part considered as my basic? Besides, there’s nowhere stated on the website that such allowances are not taken into consideration in the loan assessment. However, it's my word against HDB’s and the giant always wins in the end.

$20k over 30 years of installments is not a huge amount, but to fork out $20k at once means I say goodbye to my wedding banquet plans. So dear guest, don’t blame me if your first course at my wedding dinner is a bowl of water instead of crabmeat & fish maw soup. And if you are seated at community centre hall instead of hotel.

*fume*

So we’re now left with almost $200k cash & CPF upfront situation. Less off our $30k first time buyer grant, it’s still a hefty $170k. We haven’t been working many years to accumulate $170k in our CPF; hence the cash outlay will be very heavy. This leaves us with little choice but to surrender our existing CPF investment, which can be very lucrative if kept to term, but barely breaks even if surrendered now. Anyway, what choice do we have?

Week of 31Mar08 – We enter into a mad rush with our respective insurance agents to surrender CPF investments back into ordinary account. This rush is required because once the HDB loan letter of offer is generated, the CPF funds are locked in at a specific date, so even if the investments are released, if it is late, it cannot be used to offset the loan.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Which leads me to my 5th conclusion. All we ask for is a few days to allow our funds to be released into CPF, considering that you LEFT & LOST our documents for 2.5weeks, agreed to grant our appeal and then take it away from us, you can’t even give us a few days to release our funds? So so cold....

I am so tired by now, and enough is enough. Besides, I need to spend time making arrangements to sell my kidney and perhaps half my liver to raise funds for my flat.

Despite my rather unpleasant experience with HDB, I acknowledge that the final liasing HDB officer had spent a lot of time & effort on our case and consistently showed us patience in spite of our lost tempers. I do not blame her for the outcome as I know that certain rules however ridiculous are beyond her control. Nevertheless she has tried her best to ‘test’ some of the rules for us and I know that she has done her best. Her service level is decent.

16 Apr – The day we sign on the S&P agreement and cut a humongous cheque. If I could pawn my material possessions to pay for this, I would. But whatever, it’s a closure of some sort and a fresh start for my bank account. This has gone on long enough and I end off with a final conclusion:

If you are rich, don’t buy HDB. If you are poor, make sure you are ‘poor’ in accordance to HDB’s definitions, which is sometimes not transparent. So take a risk if you want. If you are neither rich nor poor, don’t buy anything.

Happy Bdae Fahler Cheok!

2008-04-02T21:09:00.001+08:00

Self explanatory entry on Fahler Cheok’s bdae dinner at Aston’s Prime 2 weekends ago. Always wanted to see how different and ‘upmarket’ it was from Aston’s Specialities. Lotsa food pics to judge for yourself!

Prawn cocktail….freshest crunchy prawns I’ve had in quite a while.

The bf can’t wait to devour ‘em prawns!

Mum’s minestrone. So thick you can treat it like gravy.

Caesar salad.

The bro-in-law’s USDA grain fed sirloin…

Mac and cheese! Sides are served separately in bowls from the main courses and are $3 each.

The bf’s USDA grain fed ribeye.

Served with Baked potato and sourcream.

Roast chicken…this was good!

Fries so chunky & good that half was gone by the time this photo could be taken.

My salmon. Medium rare. I love the ‘outside cooked inside rare’ texture in salmon and I must say Aston has done a great job on this one.

Inside still rare!

Codfish…Cod is cod and cod is always good.

2 slabs of ribs for the bday boy. Fahler Cheok is so cute. He ordered ribs because the menu promised that the meat will fall off the bone. And it did live up to its promises!

The end result of our meaty dinner!

And time to cut cake! Nostalgic cake hor!

I was just wondering why the candles look like a mini atomic mushroom cloud and then I realized the someone’s oily fingers had smeared my camera lens. That explains the misty effect!

Fahler cheok is soo cute and handsome!

Have a blessed healthy bday fahler! Live forever!

My House

2008-03-22T12:18:00.003+08:00

This is CityView@Boon Keng, HDB’s latest DBSS (Design Build & Sell Scheme), an impressive trio of 40 storey blocks, boasting a total of 714 units, with breathtaking views of Singapore’s spectacular city skyline. Welcome to the forefront of public housing developments, or rather, welcome to the start of expensive public housing.
The price range is as follows:
3room: $349,000 to $394,000
4room: $523,000 to $597,000
5room: $536,000 to $727,000
The price range exists due to floor area size, level (the higher the more expensive) and the view (Singapore Flyer view or Kallang Sports Hub view).

When it was first launched, the bf & I applied for it online in the name the of fun, together with 10,000 applicants thinking, “what the heck, we’ll probably never get a chance.” WRONG. We were balloted for the 1 round of selection.

Be careful what you ballot for…

So we went for our selection appointment & got to see the showflats.

Upon stepping into the showflat, a huge balcony equivalent to the size of the entire living room greets us. With planter ledge & timber floorboards, it’s resort syle meets city chic.

The planter ledge. Can’t decide between growing plants or leaving it to collect a pool of stagnant water for mosquitoes yet.

Not my personal choice of home décor. Please agree with me that is NOT nice.

Imagining myself chilling in this balcony…I think I can live with it!

Will surely get one of these chairs…it’s so cute!

And one of these lights…so lush & so boutique hotel-ish!

All units come equipped with quality wall and floor finishes, built-in kitchen cabinets, cooker hood & hob.

These will be here when we move in, so there’s no need to find contractors, bargain, get cheated, and have a few migraines in between. Just move in your pots and pans.

A mini yard. Good for dog pooping and stuff..

There’s also a maids room and bomb shelter which we didn’t picture here. Both are kinda small but useful storerooms.

Common toilet

It’s ok, nothing to shout about.

The master bedroom toilet is nicer though. Ledge is useful for displaying an entire counter-range of bath products.

5room flats usually have 3bedrooms; 1 master bedroom and 2 other rooms. This is one of the bedrooms.

I like what they’ve done here – platform with soft lights from below. But I probably won’t need a queen-sized bed in a room other than the masterbedroom. This room is good for walk-in wardrobe or study room purposes.

By the way, all units are furnished with built-in wardrobes within all bedrooms, as well as air-conditioning systems in the living/dining and bedrooms, though not photographed here, but if you look carefully, u will figure where the wardrobes are.
This is another room:

Don’t know why they keep putting beds into the showrooms, izzit to show how spacious the rooms are? I aint’ moving in with 4 kids yet ok!

Finally the highlight – Masterbedroom!

An optional layout is possible for the masterbedroom. The mini study wall can be broken down to expand the room such that the wardrobe can be pushed back. This helps to create more space. Only for an extra $2k.

Yes, the masterbedroom has a huge balcony too!

Hmm…nice spot for viewing the kallang river & sports hub!

Errr…also for peeping at the neighbour’s night activities?

Well, showrooms are always made to look nice, but it’s the layout that we like, especially the big balconies, the fact the flat is in move-in condition, exept for minor interior design works required. And the plus-est point? Location location location. Boon Keng is only 3 mrt stops away from Dhoby Ghaut, and the mrt is just downstairs.

So did we select a unit in the end?

Yep! This is the one! The biggest 5-room layout at the highest possible level available. All the floors above 17 have been taken for this unit.

We’ve also paid our option fee of 5%. However, we seem to have some run-ins with HDB on our loan eligibility (too complicated to elucidate here) & it’s not yet known whether our appeal has been granted. There’s a chance our flat will be taken back by HDB. Full refund of our 5% is not known either. Whether we have this flat in the end or not will lie in God’s hands. I am faithful for good things. Hence the unsettling entry title which I hope to amend soon.

Sweet Brownies!

2008-03-04T21:18:00.001+08:00

Sweet Brownies!
Heart-shaped brownies from www.eposh.net

So cute I just had to order them.

Stumbled upon this shop from Dhoby Ghaut Xchange, the secluded shopping area inside the mrt station that noone visits. Except me I suppose.

Taste test – overtly sweet, but comes in great flavours like peanut butter jelly, marshmallow, cinnamon, M&Ms, walnut etc. A great gift for small parties. Comes in normal square shapes too, for a box of 10. Instant perk to any dull day.

New eyes

2008-03-03T21:51:00.002+08:00

If eyes are the windows to our souls….

Let’s just say I bought myself longer curtains!

What’s a vainpot to do to make herself happy? Attach dead people’s eyelashes onto her own! Hehehehe.

Doesn’t last forever though. This pic is for keepsake before they all drop off one by one. For natural longer lashes, visit your nearest beauty parlour. Expensive but addictive indulgence.

Shucks, I've just found another way to spend money.

Vday 2008

2008-02-26T14:04:00.001+08:00

I wish I could say “Aiyah, valemtime day, celebrate what, old couple already lah, everyday see each other not enough meh! Buy flowers waste money!” But this is not the case for me. Though I am way past marriageable, I’m not fortunate like other girls to celebrate their 8th or 12th year with their bfs or husbands. I’ve only known my other half for 18months so this is our 2nd Valentine’s Day together.

SO HE BETTER SHOW ME THE FLOWERS OR ELSE!

It’s the basic thing an attached unmarried lady deserves! I know these cost triple for Vday, but since it’s the only occasion I receive these, it’s the price he has to pay for not buying them on other days. If I get these enough on normal days, I won’t need these on Vday. Make sense?

So guys, think about it! If I were a guy, I think it’ll make much more dollar wisdom to buy these on other days so when it comes to Vday, my gf will suggest that I don’t have to get her flowers since I had just given her not long ago. That way, I save money & make gf happy at the same time! And score extra points for sending flowers out of the blue. Did you know that receiving flowers on non Vdays mean so much more than on Vday itself?
So who says romance cannot be practical as well?

Dinner at undisclosed location, but I will disclose the present exchange part:

Expresso machine for the coffee junkie. Can make cappuccino too! See the frothed milk!

22inch LCD TV for the blogger.

With PC input! Can watch TV & use computer at the same time! The good bf has taken pity on my new room arrangement where I have foregone my in-room home theatre system and decided to get me this perfect solution to all my TV-less woes! Now I can surf net & switch over to TV whenever I feel like it. And compared to my 19inch monitor, 3 extra inches makes a LOT of difference. For one, everyone on my new monitor looks like they’ve put on 3 extra inches too, due to the widescreen. ;P

To me, this gift beats any generic thoughtless pair of earrings or pendant in a little box. Thanks bf!

Happy Vday to all! And to all my friends, happy Friendship Day to you!

Backlog

2008-02-25T14:49:00.002+08:00

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

This must be the most late CNY blog entry to ever be posted. Way past 15 lunar days! I have been really really really busy with work and things that I am giving up a sat night out just to stay home to type! But the truth is, I love blogging. It helps me to look back at what I’ve done and how far I’ve grown, from my wilder, ruder days to hopefully a more matured (but still interesting!) attitude towards life & the happenings around me. It is my desire to blog as often as possible, and I am not retiring anytime soon!

Can anyone tell me if their CNY deviated from the usual customary mass relative-visiting, angpow giving/collecting, mad-feasting, lo-heiing, gambling and some more mad feasting? That’s how mine went. And I’ve got some of it captured here.

As far as 4 weeks before CNY, these red capped containers start appearing in every bakery & supermarket in Singapore, seeping their way into every Chinese home and onto my coffee table. Pineapple tarts, prawn rolls, crackers and cookies of every type (peanut, almond, walnut, cashew, cornflakes etc ) fill these red capped bottles. At every house you visit, the host opens the container, shove it in your face, saying something to the effect of: "Try lah, my mother-in-law’s sister’s neighbour’s grandniece handmade this, very nice!" even though you’ve already overeaten at the previous house you visited. But because it’s in your face and you feel bad to reject someone during cny, you put a piece in your mouth and on goes the vicious cycle with the next bottle. After the second day, I developed a phobia of anything with a red lid.

That’s homie feeling sick after gobbling too many kueh bangkits thrown at him by visitors. Dogs cannot eat new year goodies!

Kingston come my house to 拜年!

CNY this year is different, as my uncle has started to live-in with us. After 17 long years away, (we used to stay together til I was 10), 舅舅 is finally home again and I am glad. He has always belonged here, no matter where he went.

Chilling in the living room… 2 grumpy old men.

Now fahler cheok has company when he watches TV.

Touching moments aside, let the feasting begin!

Best lo-hei in the world made by mahler cheok. I don’t exaggerate, but when mahler cheok makes something, she always makes the BEST.

Huat ah!

Mahler’s best fried beehoon with best chilli sambal…

Satisfied customers of mahler cheok’s cooking.

And then it’s time to re-unit with Wii! Repeat of Xmas 2007 but this time with photos!

So there’s the TV, with some silly rabbit Wii game going on,

And then there’s the ready participants…

At first, they try to follow instructions closely,

But then after a while, anyhow whack lah!

Change player and repeat the last 2 steps!

And then watch how intensely they play!

I can’t even get a still shot of those wii-motes! They must be shaking those at 100rps or something.

It is quite funny to see people play Wii. Here’s the bf at the side trying very hard to keep a straight face.

So that’s my CNY2008. At least it’s all the pictures I have. How different was yours?

Birthdays

2008-02-05T17:32:00.000+08:00

January is a busy month for me. Both BFs (boyfren & best fren) share the same birthdate and both require my attention. To be politically correct, I spend equal time with them and bring them to equally good (but different!) places on separate days and do personalized things for them. Let’s see how each turns out!

The boyfren’s bdae:
Looking spiffy in his Raoul bdae shirt.

Venue: Relish @ Cluny Court, opened by the owners of Wild Rocket on Mount Emily

This chic eatery serves fusion burgers matched with spunkily named beers

A pink killer for the gentleman.

Unlikely suspect…

Appetiser - Seared tuna salad. However, Mezza9’s version wins with its fresh and chunky texture.

Lamb pita burger

Grilled tofu Portobello burger with tomato chutney – this is good. You can’t go wrong with Portobello mushrooms.

His medium well lamb pita was too bleedy…

So that’s Relish. Although they have interesting burgers like tofu burgers and Ramlee burgers, the fries are not as good as they should be, considering it’s a very important side dish to go with a burger. Verdict: Nice atmosphere, but not necessary to re-visit.

Personalised gift:

Kasalanda’s handmade tiramisu! Isn’t it pretty?

Happy Bdae bf! U be nice and good this year ok?

By the way, apologies for the blurry pics..taken from my iphone.

Yup yup! I finally got an iphone after dreaming about it since its release in US…wanted to devote an entry to it since I bought it 2 mths ago but I got bored of it before I could blog...that’s gadget sassy me!
Perhaps I should spice it up with phone crystals? The old crystals from my short-lived Samsung phone was transferred to my monitor coz I can’t bear to throw them away!

Nice???? Ah Lian right! I like!

The iphone is a better media entertainment player than a phone. As a phone, its functions are way too basic, and lotsa of additional functions have to be installed by the user. Even then, it’s not a 3G phone. But as an ipod, the clear big screen and sound quality makes it a pleasure. Websurfing using wifi is a breeze with its huge screen which toggles horizontally & vertically with its sensory orientation. There are loads of reviews out there which will beat my comments anytime, so I’m not going to delve into the details. Let’s just say I’m glad I bought mine before the Apple made parallel imports illegal but I’m also glad to sell it to anyone interested. I’m a true blue gadget freak…on to the next new gadget!

Now now…doesn’t this look cool…. Bang & Olufsen's Beosound 6...yumyum..

Forgive me…I digress...
Next!
The Best Fren’s bdae:
Venue: Dim Sake Bar @Goodwood Park Hotel

DuchessM is excited. Frankly, so am I. Who would have thought that Japanese Sake & Dim Sum could make such a chi chi match?

Tri-partridge – Hard boiled quails eggs coated with sesame and seaweed flakes

She thought it was ok..

Steamed fish with sweet mango and herbs

Lobster and scallop kadaifa

Xiao Long bao shooter, deepfried yam scallop & hargow. At Dim Sake Bar, you don’t need all 3 items in a dimsum basket to be the same. I love this idea.

Xiao Ding Dong in action again.

Verdict: Great place for chic dining and drinks, food is decent, but more suitable for tiny appetites, or very deep pockets, if you keep ordering tiny dish after tiny dish in a bid to fill up your tummy.

Personalised gift:

A customised photo calendar!

This masterpiece is the result of sleepless nights of gathering all of the besty’s photos and putting them together for her 12 months of self adoration.

It’s much nicer in real, coz these photos were taken from her poor quality hp camera.

Everything from the arrangement of the photos, down to the backdrop, is designed by moi.

Please don’t mistake me for a creepy stalker…The large number of photos is accumulated from 10 years of friendship (or should I say hardship kekeke) with this girl…. But honestly, she’s the only fren of whom I have plenty of photos.. 2nd most photos would be my other fren Madam Puey, who led me to the idea that calendars can be customized.

My tears, sweat and eyesight at hours of peering in the computer to make this.

Ending off Nov-Dec08 with pics of her jewellery line. I am proud of my creation as much as she was touched to receive it!

Blessed bdae duchie! God’s blessings over you!

Lastly, to my 2 most favourite people: may 2008 bring you joy in your hearts, blessings in your life, and God’s protection over you. I love you and you! XOXO

New addition!

2008-01-30T17:54:00.000+08:00

After a month of consideration and thought, the bf finally brought home an Australian Golden Retriever on 5Jan. A couple had decided to give up their Golden to make way for a baby coming. Whilst I make no comment or judgment of their decision, let me say, if I were ever to have a family, my dogs came first and they won’t be the first to go.

So anyway, one man’s loss is another’s gain, and the decision to accept Kingston (I wonder why he was named after a thumbdrive) is one not regretted yet. Here’s a list of photos to prove why.

At his old home’s void deck. Doeful eyed and wondering where he’s going.

New house. We marvel at his beauty & size! Being imported from Australia, he is larger than local breeds. Makes the other 2 dogs (Jack Russell & Maltese) look like gerbils beside him.

See what I mean…even his paw is as big as a man’s…

Foot longer than a man’s…

And his head is bigger than mine.

Despite his sheer size and weight, he is as gentle as a prince and such a well behaved soul. He is meek, obedient and sweet, yet retains all regality as a true Golden. All other dogs in the house pale in comparison and all attention is turned to him. Definitely he has replaced Lucky as the alpha male:

Lucky has been reduced to a cabaret dancer…

Showing the world his Alpha male assets.

He took some time to get used to his new home as he was shy of new places like the kitchen and upper floors of the house. But with encouragement (and lotsa treats), he was soon comfortable.

And most importantly, comfortable with his beaming new owner, who has sacrificed much sleep to watch him through the first few nights.

Don’t know about you, but when my dog perches his head on my lap, I feel like I want to give him the world.

Think my bf feels the same way…I should do that to him, and then ask for an Omega watch. Hmmm…

We took him to a secluded park for an unleashed run with Homie and he behaves ok…as long as the park remains deserted…This fella is so friendly he’ll run after kids and other dogs to play with them, not knowing that his size can be overwhelming to others.

But with a face like that, who can resist loving him???

Big man with a puppy face…can u believe he’s already 3?

He’s sooooo handsome I’ve ‘adopted’ him in my heart already!

Watch Kingston play tug-o-war with Chasey, the Jack Russell, whom he is now firm friends with. When he first arrived, she wouldn’t be seen anywhere near him, but recently, they were seen licking each other’s faces.

Check out the mini ‘stare-off’ session midway. They can go on for hours at this. Turn on your speakers coz it comes with funny growls!