After a long three years wait, we finally got our keys to our new place. The view from the balcony makes it all worth the wait.
But before I go into more pictures, I must first make my new house huat huat! And what better way then to roll ong-lai (pineapples)!
The next step is to check for defects and get it rectified. Renovation will follow thereafter. Without the luxury of time and the energy that I have when I did the renovation for our first house, I actually find it pretty stressful this time round.
So many things to research on, consider, compare and decide. We decided to engage the interior designer that did our first place as we find him pretty responsive and friends whom we recommended him to all have good feedback about him.
Let hope all these results in a great home to look forward to.
This week has been a life changing week for me. And I believe it is the same for all Singaporeans. Our founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew passed away on 23 March 2015, 3:18am.
The media have been broadcasting documentaries about him, his powerful speeches, his tireless work, his decisive actions, his undying passion for Singapore, his vision and leadership, what people say about him, etc. It was like the whole history lesson of Singapore and Mr. Lee presented in high dosage.
It just struck me that this Singapore we have, this stability and peace, the job I have, the roof over my head, the family I build, the education I received, and everything I have blindly taken for granted would not have been possible if not for what Mr. Lee and his team of pioneers did. Here's an online article which I thought was a good read for our generation might not know: What our generation doesn't know about Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Having born and lived in times when Singapore was already on stable tracks of progress, it is easy to overlook what how much Mr. Lee has done and sacrifice to get Singapore to where we are now. A small and new country, with no natural resources, migrants with no sense of belonging, and with only a strategic location has its upper-hand, it wasn't really much to begin with.
And yet in half a century, Mr. Lee transformed it into an advanced first world country, where people of different races lived together in harmony, where everyone receives education, where they try to give everyone a roof over their head and opportunities to blossom. And a country that other countries envies and applauds.
But what really changed me was learning how selfless Mr. Lee is, in his pursue to make Singapore better. I believe every moment for Mr. Lee has been thinking about how to make Singapore better. And when I learnt how much Mr. Lee has sacrifice to always try to make the Singapore we have now better, I appreciate, treasure and now want to guard and build on what he has given us.
Sadly, it takes this unfortunately event to wake me, and I believe many other Singaporeans of my generation, to really drill in the fact that what we have achieved should never be taken for granted. In fact, we should try our very best to make Singapore even better, just like how Mr. Lee have done. This is really what SG50 should be about, recognising how far we have come and cement why we need to fight whatever difficulties we face to make our country a better place for our children and future generations to come. I feel the unity of Singaporeans this week, and a proud sense of belonging.
One of Mr. Lee's many famous quotes was "I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. Theres nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.".
We moved recently. We took a week off work to pack before the move and even then, we were still packing and sealing the boxes when the movers came. My advice for those moving soon: Pack early, sort early, throw early.
Thankfully, we had Tok Kong Movers helping us with the move. I asked for quotes from three movers whom were recommended by friends and their quote was the cheapest. By how much? Well the most expensive mover quoted me almost double the price. But to be fair, the most expensive movers did have value-added services (like packing services) and special carton for clothes (so your clothes will not crease that badly compared to packing into normal boxes).
Tok Kong Movers on the other hand are your usual mover. They will come for assessment of the items to move and give you a quote for the move. After you confirm them as your mover, they will provide the boxes, masking tapes and a roll of bubble pack. What I like about them is their flexibility and their service that wow us.
Our move involve packing two-third of our stuff to Extra Space for storage and the balance to my parent's place.
Extra Space storage filled to the brim.
Usually moves that involves two places are more expensive but the quote David (the sales executive) gave me was tok-kong. And when I needed to add a third location one day before the actual move, he was happy to do it for us for a nominal fee (even when I highlighted that it will involve a long flight of stairs).
On the actual move day, their bigger lorry was not available due to gearbox issue and they had to make do with a smaller lorry. My whole move took longer then it was suppose to be as they needed to make more trips to complete the move. But they remained professional, cheerful and positive throughout. We felt bad that they worked till 8pm to complete our whole move and gave them a bigger angpow.
So if you are looking to move, I highly recommend the sibei tok-kong Tok Kong Movers.
Got a special email invitation to sail with the Republic of Singapore Navy in January and the first thing that came to my mind was, can I bring Xavier along?
This year marks a year of celebration for Singapore as its our 50th year of independence. Woohoo SG50! It is also the 50th year since the formation of our Singapore Armed Forces. Woohoo SAF50!
SAF50@Vivo kicks-off the year-long celebration with awesome display of military hardware, exciting stories to share, fun activities to engage in and special performances. One of the major exhibit is one of our Landing Ship Tank (LST), the RSS Endurance.
Hence you can see why I was so excited when I receive the invitation to sail on one of Singapore's biggest warship. But I wanted to bring Xavier along, to share this special experience with him. After a few emails, Xavier is clear to go too. Time to apply for my leave.
This trip is like a mini treasure hunt for information about life in the Navy and what's it like to sail in the big ship. There were a number of navy officers who takes on the role of ambassadors to bring us on a tour of the LST and explain various aspect of life in the Navy. Colonel Thng, 191 Squadron Commander, encourage us to ask and find out more information these ambassadors.
One of the terms Xavier learnt quickly is "Heads", which stands for toilet on the ship. He had to visit the Heads fairly often. After several briefings by the various commanders, we are ready to "slip off".
Bigger ships like the RSS Endurance has got bow thrusters to help the ship to turn. But it still need help from the tug boat to turn before we could set sail.
On the other side of the naval base lays the Formidable-class frigates, read stealth ships.
As we sets sail, we begin our tour of the Great RSS Endurance. Here's several of us engaging the ambassadors.
The main gun on the RSS Endurance is this 76mm Oto Melara super rapid gun. The ship also have "medals" painted on for each international mission it completed.
Spotted several different kind of ships when we were sailing. Ships on their way to delivery new cars, ships carrying many containers, ships carrying natural gas, even sampans with fisherman.
RSS Endurance has room to land two Super Pumas or even a Chinook. She has one of the Super Pumas secured on the deck level.
The ambassadors spoke fondly of their love for good food during their deployment in the open sea and how much they appreciate the cooks. Their cooks are trained at Shatec and are able to wipe out delicious food, even local delights like Bak Kut Teh and Hainanese Chicken Rice while in rough sea. They took us on a mini tour of the kitchen as well as the area where they have their meals.
Next we visited the Bridge. This is where the crew set the course and navigates the ship. We were told to keep our volume down as the crew needed full concentration to navigate a narrow path as we approach Vivocity. The blinking lights, the digital display, it almost felt like a computer game.
Next they showed us where the two Fast Craft Utility (FCU) are. The big area allows the crew to store their supplies for long mission, or to bring down the helicopter if needed.
As we approach Vivocity, we were out at the landing deck taking pictures of the surrounding. It is not often that you get an opportunity like this to take pictures from different angle.
Xavier was fairly hungry when we docked hence we didn't check out the booth while they are setting it up. But below are the information for the SAF50@Vivo.
Held at VivoCity from 12 to 15 February 2015, the SAF’s three Services (Army, Navy and Air Force) will come together for an experiential display of military hardware, stories and special performances. For more information, visit www.saf50years.sg.
You can ballot for tickets to go onboard the RSS Endurance, or take a ride out to sea on the FCUs too. There are also several performances available at the event, guest appearance by the crew from Ah Boys to Men 3, and several contests going on where you can win prizes so do check out the website for more information.
Xavier and I would like to give a big thank you to the Singapore Navy for inviting us to this truly unforgettable experience. In fact, Xavier been talking about the trip to his classmates non-stop today.
It's kid's birthday celebration that makes me realise how fast the kids are growing up. Xavier celebrates his 6th birthday, Spidey style.
We told him beforehand that this would be the last time he will be celebrating his birthday in school. Understandably, he was super excited about his birthday. The birthday cake design has went through countless changes. He finally settled on Spiderman for this school celebration.
As it was his last school celebration, we decided to upsize his cake to 3kg to cater for the whole school. Lucas wanted to blow the candles on his cake too so he celebrated together with Lucas.
His classmates have something extra. All of them turn into Spidey and friends. Ha.
As usual, we have our own family celebration over the weekend. Something small, something cozy. Lilian ordered food from Lee Wee & Brothers. They are perfect for small parties.
Xavier choose Batman for this birthday celebration. Kids nowadays are so fortunate, having getting two cakes per birthday.
Took a few group shots and save some happy memories. Happy 6th Birthday Xavier.
