Nothing Done again

Once again Uncle Ah Soon had not kept his promise, he said he would start work on wednesday but nothing have been done...
i am begining to lose patience wif him ... make promise but cannot keep, i dun like this type of people... grrrrh
nvm i will give him another week, still nothing done then i gotta call and demand an explanation from him...

Surprise surprise

yesterday was a great day for me... hehe
Tot that i would only get $500++ AWS but in the end i got $1200++ hehe about 1/2 a month pay lor...
but after "distributing" it, not much left but it certainly help lor... cos i repaid all my credit card bills, use $300 for China trip and gave $100 extra to my parents... hehe and another $500 i saved it liao...
Think this $$ kind of "saved" me, cos there are still alot of unpaid bills ahead.. like SP services lah, the remaining sum owed to bridal elegance, and the lunch expenses after ROM(this one is a real headache)...
oh some "upgrades" have been done to "monkdees manor" liao hehe

Wow time really flies, I've been in SiemensVDO for 6 months already.. to be exact it's 6 months and 2 days haha...
still no confirmation letter yet, but according to my fren, it's becos the HR manager is not in office so no1 to sign the letter haiz
Actually my workload is still considered 'light' cos most of the time i am still surfing the net and toking to dd...hehE
Recently just got "drafted" into a project... just implemented a change in the modules, and solve some bugs all well within the planned schedule hehe so i can still relax now haha
but dunno why these few days suffered a minor pimple attack...too stressed over work? unlikely mah mabbe stress over housie and $$ thingy more likely or stressed cos need to find new ways to kill time in office? haha got a few pimple-lets underneath my ears and around my chin... ouch... just bought a tube of OXY10 yesterday hope can kill them all...

Been raining heavily here in Singapore ...wet wet

Rainy Sunday

today rain the whole day...
Morning went Bedok FC to have breakfast, dd wanted to eat wanton mee but uncle say no have liao so i bought prawn mee, but then dd say she dun eat big fat yellow noodles... haiz didn't know leh... but in the end she still ate abit lah...cos most of it in my plate ... hehe

dd yucky noodles


later watched "Eragon" at Marina Sq then started dd's shoe hunt, combed suntec, peninsula plaza and peninsular Shopping center, finally found a suitable 1 at Queensway shopping but quite ex, $150...(mine only $100 also columbia brand) hope can last long long...the rest of the shops either dun have dd's size or dun have the model dd like. one at peninsular Plaza lagi best, got 2 shoes of different sizes in same box... so dd cannot buy that cheaper one...

Had lunch at Funan center before setting off for Queensway...

food at funan
dunno wat's it's called liao

always in the middle

dunno why but i/we feel i am always "in the middle"...

studies: average only (so in the middle)
Work : pay is not too high and not too low
dd's car: not very cheap but not the most expensive
flat price: not the cheapest, but not the most ex also
flat location and design: always average...
flat condition: bought a RP flat in the end, renovation is not that fantastic but neither is it tat bad yet, RP flat meaning it's the middle between a new and a resale flat also...

anymore middle?

reformatted my computer

Reformatted my computer, downgraded my graphics card...
everything is gone...starting afresh... hehe

Is it possible?

Heard that my fren and gf managed to save $2000 every month... is it possible?
Here is the breakdown of his expenditures:

Fren:
take home pay : $2380

food during office hrs: $60
Transport : $100
Give Parents : $400
Personal expenses : $320
Saved : $1500

Fren's gf:
take home pay : $1680

food during office hrs: $??
Transport : $??
Give Parents : $300
Personal expenses : $??
Saved : $500

total $2000 every month... Wahhh i am so envious... try as hard as i can can only squeeze out $1200.. $1200 sometimes also difficult cos dunno why every mth sure got things to make me spend a few hundered dollars extra one... hard to budget...
I am trying to save as much as i can liao but cannot leh still cannot match him still so far behind... dd and i can only manage to save $1400 at most monthly... haiz
i feel so sad, worthless... sobz sobz

New Budget for 07

Haiz GST gg to increase again, MRT fares also increase, but my salary no increase...
next year is gg to be tough with extra expenditures coming in... here is my new monthly budget...

Total take home: $2159
Give parents: $300
Transport: $100
SCC : $80.5
Handphone: $50
dd's fund: $1200

Left: $428.5

if CPF comes asking me to repay study loan, even with min payment will be around $200... so will only be left with $228.5... meaning only can spend $50 evey week (dunno can make it or not)...
sorry dd i think resturant trips will be very rare in the near future...

no UNI$

haiz didn't read the T&C of UOB credit card properly tot i can get UNI$ by charging to my UOB-Singtel VISA..turns out cannot grrrh.. wasted...

weekend updates...

Tiring weekend,This weekend did just a few things, but left me very tired... aches everywhere...

Main activity for the weekend revolves around house cleaning... The others 1st....

Sat: Afternoon, went to fetch dd back frm her rebonding session at orchard then went to Pasir Ris to look for Ronnie's kibbles but there too ex so didn't buy... happened to pass by ikea Tampines...wah there real packed man also never go in. Went back to
take ronnie walk walk...wanted to catch "Happy Feet" but cannot find a suitable time...

Sun:went for stanchart 10km run in the morn... gotta wake up at 5am to take the 1st train to CityHall...after run went to look for dd, Had Roti Prata at the coffeeshop in Ghim Moh, tot can eat wif dd but she said she eaten liao, then brought her to expo to work, told her if too sick then dun go but she insist on going, after that went home to had a quick Maggie Mee lunch, after that to my market area saw that the hardware store is still open to buy scrub and broom (those for water one) from the hardware store...
then went to finsh some unfinished biz at housie, went home to bathe and eat dinner then again went to Expo to pick dd back home, had 10 sticks of pork satay (org plan was 5 for dd, 5 for me but dd said she sore throat so i finished all 10), after that went home and then to work again today ... ...

tried to blog at home, but computer throwing tantrums keep shutting down after 10mins...Grrrr

House cleaning:

sat: started house cleaning activities, brought alot of barang barangs there but then didn't buy pails, brooms etc... cos intend to buy at JW, bought broom, and 3 pails (Small, medium, Big) at Pioneer Mall then carried a big pail of water up from the carpark to begin cleaning activies, then walked to NTUC fairprice at JP to buy cleaning solution (cos it's a little bit cheaper than at Giant cos of the offer),wanted to buy "ajax fabuluso" but ended up buying kiwi kleen cos it's cheaper but found that the fragrance is not lasting compared wif fabuluso (mum using it at home), also bought a scrub, sofix parquet care, and UIC softscrub... Also bought a camel active t shirt while at JP, $5 only... hehe

all this walking to and fro take up alot of time started cleaning at 1230, using only a rag+water wif kiwi kleen...clean until 2pm... then gotta walk back to MRT to fetch dd...only managed to clean a portion of the ceramic tiles at living room...

Sunday:
went housie again at 1:30... cleaned the floors of the following areas:
1)living room
2)all 3 bedrooms and study room...+ a layer of sofix parquet care
3)kitchen
4)balcony (worst!)

Took 3 big pails of water (so gotta go down 3x and carry 3 big pailful of water up)

yet to clean (floors):
1)2x toilets
2)service balcony
3)shelter (i call it storeroom) hehe

also fixed the window grilles in bedroom 3...
took me 3hrs to do all these...130-530..

stil got those small small things haben clean like window grills, doors etc...but those shouldn't be as hard to clean as the floors...5yrs of stains on the floors...

After nearly 5hrs (1.5+3) of cleaning later, housie is finally clean... not very clean but clean haha some areas.. arms and neck aching now but i think it's worth it ... the whole place do seems 'big' to clean for 1 person but i think it will be degrade into the same state previously (before sunday)... need to clean so throughly...

have some pics but gg to post later hehe (still incomplete)...

after the tough work, went to 'reward' myself wif some 'ice'(fruit cocktail dessert) at koufu pioneer mall...yum yum...

yeah! i am a home owner

Yeah very happy, got my own house, gg to start to turn it into a home soon... hehe how i wish i can transform it into a nice cosy home immediately and live in it wif dd...

but cannot do this, no $$... also need careful planning... cannot gan cheong.. hehe

happy... happy...

Updates...

some updates since my last entry...

1) my fren dun wan to tok to me and another other fren, why? cos he suspects us of sabo-ing him and his "target" gal (conclusion after discussing wif my 'other' fren)... I can swear i never do anything other than tease him...
after all, these are all part and parcel of guy's talk mah... dunno what he is angry abt.. the alleged sabo incident happened last weekend, last weekend i was damn busy where to find time to sabo him...?? siao one.. dunno when he will b angry up to...anyway heck care him... my brother dun wan to tok to me i also like that... i only scare dd dun tok to me.. other ppl heck care lah..

2) got the keys to my new flat at JW st 65 on saturday liao hehe...

3) Finished the "open door" session on sunday...

dd's mum dosen't seems happen dd say the reason are:
1) The flat not good
2) Location too far from city
3) Too big for the 2 of us
4) To rush to buy
5) Alot of things need to be fixed

In conclusion, her recommedation is to buy a smaller resale flat near town...
I think her comments are not fair lor, mabbe we were wrong not to consult them (and my parents) before we go make the booking cos we are after all a chinese family mah parents also protective. My parents were at 1st also unhappy but later they also accepted it and in fact became quite happy cos my dad was scare that the housing price keep going up dunno whether we can afford our own hse or not... but it has been proven we could(HDB had approved)but it also left us wif little CPF $ lah...

ok now my pt of view:
of all the pts listen i can only agree wif (4)... size wise i feel it's ok, alot of things to be fixed? got meh? HDB will fix most of the things for us liao mah.. so in actual fact there's not much stuffs to be fixed. some we can do ourselves also...except mabbe the kitchen cabinet lor...tat one mabbe need to rebuilt the top portion and add a drawer to the bottom part.. dun think that will be more than $1k lor...

dd mum wans us to adopt her 'recommendation' then she will be happy but have she considered our views? not everyone like to live near city or small flat...
me for example, I DEFINITELY won't like to live near the city, i would happily scarifice the convienence of city living to a cheaper and bigger space further away.. what's so good abt city? get closer to noise, jams, pollution? sorry lor i dun like to go city only go there when i have to...
i think dd's dream is to have a bigger living space, wif our financial powers now, i think at most we can only buy a small small 4rm flat (which is near city) which is abt wat we paid for our present bigger flat... wat for right? she wan us to listen to her, but did she considered our views? if she cannot agree wif our decision at least must respect ours..like we respect hers..

Jurong west is not bad also... alot of amenties can be found nearby and there are shopping centers which sell most of our needed stuffs. No need to go down city often and join in the "big squeeze". somemore flats in city area are so cramped together there's no much "natural breeze" and space between apartments... Furthermore in future i think our family size will increase one so the present apartment will not be that "big" anymore...

I think my future MIL shld learn frm my mum, wat she say is "we(my parents) like no use, wat's most important is te 2(dd and me) of us like". Don't try to impose ur ideas on us...

anyway i am an easily satisfied person, i am very satisfied wif the flat (bright, windy, suitable size). now my only worry is dd dun like... tat's why i ask her many times before key collection if dun like can back off and lugi $2000. I dun wan us to quarrel in the future of of these... if she dun like te flat, no pt buying rite? both of us must like...

we could have opted to buy one in sembawang,seng kang or other places..,flats more beautiful,newer and of cos less things to fix but we didn't cos that would be too far for either our our parent's place.. now JW is ok, cos it's relatively near to either of our parents place.. 25mins bus ride frm boon lay MRT to my home, 15min MRT ride from boon lay to dd's home... if seng kang or sembawang i think need at least 1 hr...


watever the case, i've decided to build up my new house into a home asap... hopefully by the time it's done up, it'll b a simple, nice and cosy place...
see my midas touch...

Working = rich?

Have not been happy wif my family lately... dunno why my parents always associate working with being rich... since i started working, they are expecting me to contribute more and more to family expenses... I am already trying my best.. but to my dad(esp) it always dosen't seems enough...it dosen't help that my 2 younger brothers are simply "bo chap" and use electricity (play computer games all day) like nobody's biz...I guess it's because they are not paying for it that's why they dun feel the pinch...My elder brother lagi worse..earn more than me but still very stingy... always giving excuses and trying to "siam"(run away).

I have no qalms if i give my parents some money, because i am wat i am now because of their efforts... but my mum always expect me to give $$ to my younger brothers which i dun like... like my youngest brother is gg philipines for some ODAC activites and the $200 airfare is paid by my dad, which leave the daily expenses there yet to be paid... my mum wans us to give him $$ for his trip... though she is not asking alot but i feel this is not right... cos he still receives pocket $$ although it's now school holidays...cannot use that $$ meh?? how come still must give him pocket $$? somemore whenever he wans to buy things my mum would ask us all the elder brothers to "help" him... if we refuse she will give him the $$ herself...problem is very often the stuffs he bought is those that he can do without lor... mabbe use 1x then throw 1 side... or those very extravagant stuffs...
why can't he use his own $$ for a change? i feel my mum is pampering him too much, he is rebellious, vulgar, childish and ill mannered and a bit "ya ya"... why have it become this way? all because of my mum pamper-ism. Throw him outside i dun think he can last for a month...

My mum will always say "he no work, so have to give him $$"... but tot he is still receiving pocket $$? so when it was our time who give us pocket $$ other than our parents? not fair right?

mabbe my mum(and dad perharps) also dunno the "burden" i am carrying now, cos she is not paying it and dunno the fees we gotta pay... The preparationg costs for ROM and other costs for the house all amout to quite alot... Since working, i've been living a very frugal life ... most of my lunch are of the $2 type... i think my brothers spend more on lunch than me most of the time... I've not had fast food for very long already... dunno when they can understand working doesn't always mean rich... working doesn't mean u ought to be milked dry...

I think my 3rd brother is already begining to understand working does not mean rich since he started working temp... after deducting this and that he can take home only around $500 every month.. (he tot he can take home $1k)

Haiz haiz haiz

Hot, hot, hot

Wah these few days Singapore's weather is terrible, morning VERY HOT, then in the afternoons become cloudy and then in the late afternoons/evenings, it will rains...WAH!!!... almost the same pattern everyday...
People out there pls drink more water and take care of urself...these type of weather will get sick easily...

nice lyrics?

歌曲：两个人
歌手：陈慧琳 专辑：你不一样

你说你要存钱带我环游全世界
我叹口气问那还得再等几年
你亲亲我我推开你说著讨厌
手却乖乖在你手里面

你说别的女孩你都不敢看一眼
我问你是不是怪我管你好严
你拉拉我我背对你假装冬天
又不小心笑成了春天

两个人的世界像个玻璃小宇宙
管它外面刮风下雨爱里有晴空
不看不听不问不管周围的种种
我只看见我在你眼中

(music)
你说别的女孩你都不敢看一眼
我问你是不是怪我管你好严
你拉拉我我背对你假装冬天
又不小心笑成了春天
两个人的世界像个玻璃小宇宙
管它外面刮风下雨爱里有晴空
不看不听不问不管周围的种种
我只看见我在你眼中

两个人的世界像个玻璃小宇宙
管它外面刮风下雨爱里有晴空
不看不听不问不管周围的种种
我只看见我在你眼中

不看不听不问不管周围的种种
我只看见我在你眼中

Just some tots...

Received news that my elder brother is job hopping again.. this time to Shell... Quite happy for him cos whenever he hops, his pay will increase (somemore shell is such a big oil corporation), hope that he can contribute more to them family (so that my my parents will not ask more frm me hehe and i can have more for my future house)... but i think it's gg to be difficult lah... though my brother earns much more than me he is damn stingy... he is only generous to the 'gals' he is interested in... always kena 'chop' by them...

can't help but envy him for getting such a high pay ( shld be around $3.5k-$3.7k) after only 3 years of working... but i think i shouldn't harbour such tots at least for now cos i am still only a fresh graduate, should b more down-to-earth and learn as much as i can else i would be like one of my colleague(freshie also) keep complaining how low we are earning and how much his frens are earning outside blah blah blah...
now is the time to learn as much as i can... later on in my working life the skills will be useful...but i do can do wif a bit of cash injection now... hehe

but i think god is fair lah... for my bro, his luck is in his job as for his love life, it's not that good... all his 'love' are gone one after the other.. as for mine, we managed to survive 7+ years together liao hehe gg to get married (ROM considered?) somemore... so in this sense i put one over him yeah! hehe wat i lose out materialistic-ly, i got it psychological(in my love life) so can we say we are even? same same lucky?

FOr me my luck is just average lah think just like the lines on my palms, an almost str line... not many big waves and such... cannot buy things at their cheapest(but not at their more expensive ), so-so academically (still manage to get my degree, at least never fail), so-so rank in army (not an officer but still a non-com hehe), have a dd (though sometimes we quarrel but i think we are still lovey dovey). average starting pay in my job ...

listed down so much i think i am not that unlucky also.. hehe

2 more wks... home ideas?

so fast 2 more weeks to Nov 25... the day we are gg to HDB to collect the keys to our apartment...
looking forward to that day hope there will be no more surpises(bad ones, good ones ok haha) nor hiccups ...
Alot of things to be done and decided...pondered over the activation of utilities but then after much deliberation decided against it.. cos activating it, SP services will start to collect the sanitary and refuse collection fees frm me liao even though i am not using their service...the monthly $80.50 SC&C fees is enough to kill already... Arghhhhh...

Anyway have been browsing through blogs/forums/websites looking for people who had renovated their houses..trying to get some home ideas mah... some renovations are indeed very nice but the price?? ah hem... for me i would be looking at something simple and nice... easy to maintain and at the same time save some $$ for other things... we are really on very tight budget...Haiz quite admire those rich fellas who seems to have tons of $$ for marriage..
I mean given a choice, everyone would like their homes to look best right?
but i think there's no pt in making ur homes look like posh hotels/resorts lor... cos in the end u are gg to be the one cleaning and maintaining it... too elaborate and complicated wah i tell u cleaning is a headache...

been thinking of false ceiling also.. actually see no pt to make 1 but then think again, those false ceilings bordering the sides of the ceiling then with those lights looks quite nice... (hehe) esp wif the TV below... haha

Next is the kitchen cabinet... the prev owner abandoned it to us ... not very nice i would say but it's still in good condition so in quite a dilemma whether to change it or not.. mabbe if got spare cash then change lor.... tentatively decided like this...

AH boss assigned me to the SYMC radio project... actually they still in the requirements stage now dunno whether will be busy or not...but i think soon gotta start working OT liao... just afraid that it will affect my china trip in Dec... No! anything but that!..Pray Pray...wun burn my shutdown...

Luckless? u decide...

Was lamenting to dd abt my fren's appearant luck when he told me he got a q number for the Sembawang Green Ballot...
Thinking abt myself, i think i am not blessed wif much luck..., most of the things i've acomplished are mainly on my own effort,
1) No Rich parents to help wif wedding
2) Always cannot get Cheapest Deals (luckily not the most expensive either)
3) cannot get many As in my degree whereelse others just simply bleeze through (no luck or no brains?)
4) Failed in the JW 987/986 balloting?

not much help frm Mother Luck..sighz mabbe that explains why I am still so poor.. haha
mabbe the luckiest thing for me is to hav met and be wif dd..always very fun and happy when we are together

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10201p.nsf/WPDis/Buying%20A%20Resale%20FlatStatistics-%20Average%20Valuation%20by%20Town%20&%20Flat%20Type?OpenDocument&SubMenu=Statistics

see here... JW flat is among the less valued in singapore, on average an executive flat is around 320k.. meaning 40k more ex than wat we paid... meaning that what we paid is not the 'best' deal... it's the same wif the car car thing .. haiz..
Nevermind, as wat dd said, luck is not infinite, it will run out one day... i think god is fair, u have it(luck) now, u will not have it later... I believe our time will come...
I think the reason we go buy the house(even if it's not the cheapest and the best design) is that we are both desperate to move out and be together... At least that's the case for me lah..always dreamt of owning my own hse and be wif my love ones... so that's why when dd told me to go apply house, i went... hehe

Anyway i dun mind working harder and pay more $$, not getting the best deal all all these craps, nevemind we cannot get a house with the full-length window also.. what's most important is that the one sleeping (and let me hug hug to bed) next to me is dd.. the one who accompany me to watch TV is her...accompany me for every trip and holding my hands till old is her... I am contented...I feel i am one lucky guy already

Credit Card Bills

Wah I think next mth's credit card bill is gg to be enomous for me...
Here's the breakdown:
1)$208 - Book ROM room
2)$26 - ROM Filing notice
3)$26 - NTUC income Travel Insurance
4)$113 - Winter Time

Future Expenditures
5)dd's P Ring - $800(??)
6)Wedding Bands - $1200 (??)

Total: $2373!!!

Still some more bills yet to pay
1)HP bills -$50(??)
2)SC&C Bills -$241.50
3)China Trip -$1700 (?? dd say she contribute another $500)
4)Cash to bring to china - $300 (??)
5)Dinner for Meet-the-parents session - $300(??)
6)rest of the $$ for ROM package - $288

KaoZ!!!!! *FAINT* how am i gg to get so much $$??????
hmmm...

thinking.... gg to be quite poor this mth

Dilemmas, dilemmas

alot of things for me to think tis recently...renovations, ROM + actual day photography package..blah blah blah... now haben hold customary, just ROM already alot of things to consider liao

Been reading many forums on HDB renovations recently, think it has become one of my past-times liao... read quite a few horror stories of how things went wrong and the owner had no $$ to dismiss the present contractor & engage a new contractor. I think planning is very important...

Then also how much to renovate the hse? For me personally i feel that just simple simple can liao.. no need much renovations, just the basic ones will do no need to do until fancy fancy lah..engage wat Interior Designer (now commonly known as "ID") to design until got some theme(Zen, modern,modern Zen..) in this way, it's cheaper and easier to maintain also...but of cos simple and have to be nice also lahat least when i step into the hse, i will feel cosy and not puke... haha
dunno wat dd think... it's a good thing that our unit is already floored...cos i read from a few articles that the flooring alone cost almost $10k(dunno wat tiles) cos it includes dunno wat treatment with some chemicals... also dunno lah
but i think the actual thingy gotta wait till we got the keys then can decide..(then can have a better picture mah)
I mean everyone of us wans our own "perfect house" right? a simple design might not be "perfect" thus i think it also depends on how much we are able to compromise... Think there's gotta be a balance between dream & "reality"($$ of cos)...

hmm, now i think i noe why my dad prefers Bukit Batok, been observing the area(cos it is my jogging route now) hehe... i think Bukit batok is one of the rare places in singapore where u can look out of ur window and see hills, where else in most other HDBs, u see only the adj or opposite HDB flat... haha those wif good views have all been sold to pte developers and developed into condos(wise move by the govt right?)
not gg to be much scenic HDBs soon lor

Next is the ROM + wedding photography thingy... been thinking abt it for quite sometime, actually not very keen on ROM photography (cos it's just a 15min thingy) but then dd insist so if i can do it then just let her go take lor... i noe it's every woman's (almost) dream to be a mei mei xin niang... take pics on every significant occasion... Just thinking whether it would be worthwhile to take on a wedding package cos calculating it can save a few hundred dollars... but then there's also a risk that their service will not be as good in 2/3yrs time... or they make u pay deposit but they close shop or dun honour the package after sometime...

Haiz, life is full of dilemmas, lotsa decisions to make...