I wanted to mark this occasion because it's been a long time since we were able to sit together to have dinner on a Sunday. We have a new maid at 406 to look after XY so everyone could sit leisurely to have a proper meal unlike before when we were rushing here and there.
I like eating together as a big family. And I'm sure there are many more to come.
First servicing at Tan Chong. A comfortable place with high tables and chairs with power points for people like me who have to work but didn't apply for leave :-p No sense to do so when I have to work at night.
It was a short wait and I was done by noon. Nothing much for the first 1K servicing except probably to check on the essential gears and parts.
I never thought this was possible but it is now. There is a new Fairprice Finest in the basement of Century Square and there is a bar inside. It serves finger food from the cooked food takeaway stall. I see constant stream of people coming here to drink wine and beer. But there is always an open spot at the bar counter so this is now my go-to waiting spot for Sundays when I'm alone and waiting for kids to finish Berries tuition.
It's been 2 years since my Tinnitus started. I think I've handled it well by not letting it affect my life and mood. It hasn't been easy because I can't hear properly on my left ear. But thankfully Meimei has been very patient with me, always repeating when I cannot hear and not showing any ounce of frustration at all. I think that in itself really helped me.
In some ways it does however affect my work. I regularly have to ask my colleagues to repeat themselves. Sometimes I try not to ask so as not to do it so often that they become irritated. This is the biggest concern because they may not be as sympathetic as Meimei. And we definitely need this job for the family.
Meimei recently contacted her company's doctors and was referred to Nuffield Medical at Wheelock Place. We went there for a consultation and it cost a good $900+. I was referred to an audiologist to fit a hearing aid. As expected there wasn't anything the doctor could do. If there was I would have found a sure way of addressing it online. This is an ailment that tortures millions of people worldwide. If anyone found a cure, they would be a billionaire.
So we met the audiologist at Novena a few weeks ago and went through another hearing test which was much more comprehensive than the normal ones. The chart below shows the test outcome. The red line and circles are results for my right ear and blue cross for my left. As I understand it, if it falls between 0 to 20 it's normal. There will be deterioration in everyone as we age but given my age, the fall off at 2K and 6-8K is not normal. The bold T represents the estimated frequency of my Tinnitus. Based on the chart the audiologist was able to diagnose that I cannot hear certain syllabus of sounds like ch and sh clearly. Hence I am 'missing' parts of words which then inhibits my ability to interpret the words heard.
Guess I'm glad we figured out more. It seems there is a slight improvement as compared to my test at SGH 2 years ago. So the earring is slowly recovering but am unlikely to ever recover totally to what it was before. Plus there is the Tinnitus which is not going away ever.
So anyways I received my hearing aid today. It's a mid-range one that set us back $5800. But hopefully it helps me hear better. I opt for the Behind-the-Ear type. I'm not sensitive to others seeing it. In fact I rather people know I have a hard time hearing so they understand why I ask them to repeat themselves.
The audiologist says he thinks we can cure my Tinnitus. I'm not hopeful but willing to work with him. I fitted one from Re-Sound which has a Tinnitus manager function that fits white noise through the speaker. This is suppose to help my brain slowly hear that there is always a sound and stop making its own. It's a long process and may take months or years. Eh well I'm not ambitious to think I can be cured. I just don't want things to deteriorate. So I'm giving it a good go at it and see what comes out of it, if any.
阳阳 is interested in video games like me. I think it's a guy thing. 萱萱 likes to play Pokemon go and Mini Sago but oddly enough she has no interest whatsoever on the handheld Mario game. Which is not a bad thing considering they are not going to fight over it. Maybe that's why 阳阳 wants to play it, since he knows 萱萱 isn't going to try and wrangle it from him. Hmmm. Regardless of that I need to watch him closely so he doesn't over indulge in gaming at the expense of his studies.
Meimei has devised a new ingenious game to play with the kids called "High, Low, Buffalo".
So you have to describe a high point, low point and a random thing that happen in the day. I think it helps the kids to think about their day and put it into words. Especially the low points.
It also gives us an opportunity to listen what is making them sad or angry during the day. As they get older, this is definitely important we keep tabs on their feelings and emotions.
I liked it a lot because it can replace the guessing game which I don't really fancy playing before night. They get all excited and then complain they cannot sleep. At least with High Low Buffalo it's just recollecting the day and kinda gives a closure to the day and they can go to bed.
Staying Awake
萱萱: Is it ok we stay up ourselves a little later? Because now is only 9, usually we come in at 9 something but today 8 something so I’m still not feeling tired
Meimei: sure just don’t stop me if I fall asleep ok? I’m using all my energy to stay awake now
阳阳: if you stay awake can we play guessing game now?
萱萱: no Justin mummy is too tired to play guessing game
阳阳: but she has energy to stay awake what
萱萱: ya but if she finished her energy play guessing game that means she have no energy to stay awake and will fall asleep!!
Digging My Nose
阳阳: I dig my nose a lot…. At night… I only dig when the sun goes down *wakakakkka crazy laughter
Meimei brought the kids to the Jewel Changi Kidztopia a few weeks ago when I was in Bangalore. It's a smaller playground but closer to home. The kids had so much fun that they have been begging to come back to it again. So today we did and XY came along too. They had a blast as always and were playing the full 2 hours. Thankfully lunch time came and we were able to exit for a meal.
Is this outlet better than the Marina Square one? As an adult I would think the Marina one had more variety and different play. That said, the kids didn't look to be worse off here and had so much fun too. And since it's as fun, Jewel offers more restaurants and amenities. I could easily drive everyone back home on a wimp. So yeah we're probably going to come here more often between the 2 outlets.
The volume increase button on the steering wheel doesn't work when the car has been under the sun. I know this because I tested it in the mornings and it was working just fine. But when I drive the car home for lunch the buttons would not work. It works if I was parked at home under the shade.
So long story short, it doesn't work when under extreme heat. I wonder what else is being affected by the heat. I guess it's the risk of buying electronics designed by engineers that focus on bigger countries in more temperate countries.
I highlighted this to the sales representative and he assured me that they will fix it on my first servicing appointment. Oh well, let's see what happens.
This is common amongst Japanese make MPVs with 3 seats across the 3rd row. It's usually more like a 2 and a half. I'll say the Serena's back row is already what I would consider a tad more spacious. But when you fit a baby seat which has bulk, the middle seats becomes very tight.
I've only seen 3 individual seats in a continental brand. Unfortunately Japanese cars tend to go for the light and destruct to absorb philosophy vs tough is better concept. Well at least Yeeyee and Nyama only takes the car once a week when we go church.
Once XY grows older and can sit without constant supervision, we can then move all the kids to the back and the adults will claim the middle row. That's not too far off ... time passes too fast!
Today we welcome a change of guard for our ride.
The COE for Cat A dropped to $65K in early January and everyone was in the showrooms shopping for a new car. It coincided with the Singapore Motorshow and I suspect the dealers all came together to hold back on their bids to drop the COE prices and generate the interest.
Regardless I was intrigued when I saw it so I quickly search for MPVs models in the market. Lo and behold, amongst the authorised dealers, Nissan and Opel were the only ones with a 7 seater that can fit our family. Toyota has the Sienta but that is not a car that can fit 7 pax no matter what they say on the advertising. Same thing with Honda and its Freed.
We eventually landed on the Nissan Serena e-Power 1.2L. It's a Cat B car due to its power and the COE was at $85K. I kinda did some mental calculations and coupled with some educated assumptions, I decided that the COE was not going to fall much further. We placed a deposit for a 6-bid non-guaranteed package on the 2nd visit and then waited.
The sales representative finally message me that they have secured a COE for me 2 weeks ago at $97K. Everyone was excited but also sad that we have to give up the Caddy. It was a great vehicle with lots of utility and space. But its time we change to one with a auto-door.
So here we are today at the showroom to collect our new Serena and say goodbye one last time to our trusty Caddy. It has served us reliably and I have no complains of the car. Hopefully the Serena will live up to the same durability and grit.
萱萱 kept asking for a birthday party and was not taking no for an answer. Thank goodness she has a patient and loving mother who tries her hardest to make her teens fun and memorable. Since it was at home, we couldn't have too many of her friends over so we made a rule for only 4 guest and their parents. It was still pretty fun without too many people crowding the whole apartment. I liked how we were done in 4-5 hours and we could do some cleanup before dinner.
Happy Birthday 萱萱! Stay beautiful, kind, good-mannered always!
For a couple of years I've been using Meimei's hand-me-down chair. It was a good full leather from IKEA 14 years ago and never flaked. Unfortunately the tilting mechanism was faulty so it's tilted forward slightly and your butt will slowly slide forward like if you are slipping down the chair ... slightly. I was ok with it but its now time to change to a better one.
We were at IKEA to find a bedside table and happen to chance on this. We bought it immediately on checkout. It's definitely not going to last more than 2-3 years before the fake leather starts to peel. But oh well I guess it gives us a chance to refresh it.
萱萱 is notorious for not drinking enough water. Since young she would just take tiny sips of water and need to be nagged before she takes another tiny bit. Today we discover a trick to get her to drink without all the pushbacks and complaints.
Xy took 萱萱's water bottle and tried to feed her water. Because it's her favourite baby cousin 萱萱 obliged without hesitation. And Xy keeps going back to 萱萱 to get her to drink and it keeps going. Wonderful! So all these while 萱萱 is just bullying us when she refuse to drink haha.
