First Step to our Abode

Yeah we finally gotten our keys! Now the renovation can start. Hopefully we can get the place done up and handed over before the wedding. It's been very tiring journey for the past six months and even more to come till June. I really have to thank Meimei for organizing all of this. I would never have been able to take so much stress on the planning. I'm marrying an amazing lady.

We start our search with a few simple criteria, one it has to be a mid to high floor. Preferably we can find a one with a bigger floor space than the shoe-box units in the new estates. Corner unit is a must, we cannot stand having a window looking out into the walkway. And lastly, it must be affordable. The market is getting heated and flats were transacting at sometimes excessive prices but we didn't want to burden ourselves with a huge housing loan.

So our hunt took us from Bedok to Bukit Batok and finally we settled on Tampines. The flats in Bedok were going for ridiculous prices. The cash over valuation on a simple 4 room 30 year old flat was going from $20-30K. The going rate was even worst for 5 rooms at $50K. And that's for units that are un-renovated.  The ones in good condition were attracting even more premiums. After several months of hunting we gave up, we just couldn't afford any unit in Bedok.

Thankfully we chanced on a 5 room unit in Tampines. At 126 sqm, it's one of the larger units we have seen. Though it has weird inlets and design, I had a vision of how we could reno it into a good layout the moment I took a walk through the place. It had an added bonus of having 4 good size bedrooms which translated into the possibility of having a study room. This is an ideal place, and at $23K cash over valuation of $385K, though still on the high side, was something we were willing to fork out. So long story short, this became our first home.

CNY 2010

Chinese New Year this year was really mellow. It isn't what it used to be. But wait why am I complaining here . . .

I've always dread having to go visiting for the 2 whole days of CNY holidays. It's more 'work' than holidays and at the end of it, I'm more drained than ever. It's like washing the 2 days of holidays down the drain. I meet people whom I only meet once a year and the same topics are always being discussed and talked about. It's so fake it erks me.

But as the years go by, many of the granduncles and grandaunties have passed on. And with them, our scheduled stops at their place to bid them happy new year, longevity and prosperity. This year we only went to 2 distant (in my case) old relative's place. One is my Grandpa's younger half sister and another is his older sister-in-law. We completed the visiting all on the first day of CNY.

But why am I not feeling happy? Funny . . . ok I know. I'm a slut. When I have it I hate it, but now that it's gone I miss it. Phhhffff. Now I am reminiscing about the 'good ole days' when we would run all over Singapore to visit. *facepalm . . .

I know it's not the ang pows I miss. I think it's more of seeing the finite-ness of life that bugs me and makes me consider my own.

Will You Be My Valentine? 2010

Valentine's Day 2010 happen to fall on Chinese New Year. And as that was the case, I didn't organise anything or any gift for Meimei. I cheaped it out and assumed the Bday gift was included as the Valentine gift >.< What I didn't know was that Meimei had a special surprise gift for me!

I've been generously dishing out hints that I would like a 10 CD box set of oldie songs for a gift. Though we bought it together, what surprised me was that I didn't expect to find it in my car on Valentine's Day. Meimei and sis had to board a plane for Indonesia on the 13th and she messaged me to check the car. Somehow, she managed to sneak in the gift unnoticed!

It was such a surprise that I was grinning ear to ear after grabbing it from the car. *kiss Thanks Meimei, I love the card very much!