Staycation @Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay

To celebrate XY's birthday Meimei and YeeYee had booked a connecting room at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay. It's not a theme room but just as fun. Key was to let the kids have a chance to stay out. They spent the whole trip in the playroom at the hotel. Because it was just a day we didn't pack their swimming suits. Both kids were disappointed about but we reminded that we have a holiday trip coming up.

The rooms were spacious and well furnished. They had a bay window in each room where the maids could sleep so all was perfect. I couldn't squeeze in the 2 bedder so we booked another single room. 

Replacing iMac With Macbook

It's been on the cards for a while but I was lazy and keep pushing it right. I could no longer update the OS on the iMac so the writing was on the wall for more than a year now. It's not like the iMac is broken, on the contrary it's still working fine. Except that it is starting to slow. Deliberate obsolescence by Apple maybe? I'll never know. But anyways since I'm back from US and have a few days off I decided to take the plunge and switch out the iMac for my M2 chip Macbook. I have 2 monitors lying around in the storage room so I took one out to do a clamshell mirroring setup.

It's working pretty good. Didn't have to spend an extra cent as I repurpose stuff on the desk. I was planning to buy a new Windows PC if it didn't work out but now I've saved $2-3K for another holiday!

 

Food At Cincinnati

Tried a couple of new places this trip. Found a nice Japanese restaurant with sashimi at a good price. Also a Mexican restaurant where I could get soup and rice.

Sleeping On The Sofabed

I just can't get a proper night's sleep on the bed. It's way too soft and sinks in at the middle. And the aircon always blows directly at the bed. I think it's a thing for guest in hotel rooms in America but I can't stand it. It gives me a stuffy nose and I can't sleep. 

So I had to devise an alternate sleeping arrangement ... hence the booking for the sofa bed just in case of situations.

This is perfect for what I needed. A harder backing so I can keep my back straight and my lungs open instead of constricting from being bend. The only trouble I have is having to put all the pillows and bedding back where it's meant to be every morning. But its worth the hassle ... I need good sleep to work through the day.

I "Broke" My Door

Came back to the hotel after a long day and as I close the door I hear a loud bang. I thought it was a gunshot right at the entrance of my hotel room and was frantically checking myself to see if I was shot. Thankfully I was unhurt and it took me a while to realise that the top hinge of my hotel room door has been dislodged. No wonder it felt funny this past week when the door seemed misaligned and wouldn't close properly.

So I had to wait for maintenance to come fix the door before I could do anything else. Thankfully they have one onsite even though it's already 8pm on a Friday night. I was prepared to switch to another room for the night if they couldn't fix it.

 

Book Hunt @Barnes & Noble Kenwood Towne Center Cincinnati

Love love love bookstores, especially the big ones. Meimei sent me on a book hunt and I gladly obliged. I just get lost in a bookstore exploring the different genre of books. It brings me back to my young days when I would be a gleeful kid running amok in the bookstore haha. Meimei couldn't find it for a reasonable price in Singapore. The listed price here is a fraction of what it would cost to have it shipped to Singapore.

I tried to find the book but the place is just so big that I couldn't locate the right shelf for it. I made sure I checked online that there was the book before I came. There was a Barnes and Noble just 2 minutes from the hotel but didn't carry this. Eventually I had to enlist help of the staff to find it.

Work Travels: 2 Weeks In Cincinnati

Traveling again to Cincinnati for a workout. This time it's for the project replan. It's been 3 years now since we started the 3rd iteration. Unfortunately the software is simply not ready for what we need it to do so everything just gets delayed.

I would prefer we gather in Bangalore but it seems they want to take turns so the US based folks don't always have to be away from family. There is a plus side though having it in US ... you can limit the number of participants to truly the ones that we need instead of having the entire army of people in the room. 80% of people in the room are typically there without contributing a single input. I think it's a cultural thing where being present is important. So I'm glad we limit it to the smallest number of representative for each stream and get it done.

Packing is easier this time since we are past the cold winter months. I picked a Saturday morning flight so I can reach there by Saturday night. The only down side is that we arrive on Saturday night and Hertz is not open when all the other brands are. The first leg is a direct from Singapore to San Francisco, then Denver before reaching Cincinnati. The one proper meal I had was lunch during the layover at San Francisco. It wasn't anything to shout about but at least it's tastier than whatever they were trying to serve on the flight.

I upgraded to the Volkswagen SUV for this trip. Because it was not Hertz I had to get insurance as an extra add-on ... I received an email from the the company's travel desk to do so.

I booked a nice room with sofa bed this time at the Marriott. I still think the next time we are here I might just switch to staying at the Hilton Homewood Suites. I lost my Platinum status so don't have access to the lounge breakfast whereas the Homewood has daily breakfast included for all guest. Much better deal really and I don't have to drive out everyday to get food.

And not to forgot the essential travel item, a bottle of nice cognac from Changi duty free so I don't have to spend crazy prices to get a drink at the bar.

Love Letters: How Does A Bee Go To School?

 

Kiddos Apr 2025

Only a few pictures this month. I've been in the office for a whole week as we have guest. It's been difficult to get pictures of 萱萱 since she is very conscious of photos being taken of her. I may soon have to put my blog on total private setting so as not to trigger her strong opposition to having any of her pics online.    

Elixir Haul #27

 

New Iphone 16 Plus

Bought myself a new phone today. I've always been receiving the hand-me-downs from Meimei and am perfectly fine with it. But Meimei needed spare phones for the kids so makes sense for me to buy a new one and pass on my old one. I was initially thinking of the pro max but it seems excessive for what I need the phone for. Which is primarily to play simple games, take photos, whatsapp, net surfing. So we landed with the 16 plus which is $300 cheaper and that went to the Apple care. Still an expensive buy but I think it's worth it. Smartphones have become an essential part of everyone's life in this day and age.

Reading Is An Entertainment

I try to cultivate their reading interest. Many talented kids get their skills from their parents, but I don't have any specialities to share. So the best I can do is give them a fighting chance with reading.

They seem to have found that reading can be an entertaining activity. But it takes constant reinforcement of this to make sure it sticks. Plus lots of $$ to buy them books to sustain the interest. I'm all in on it so we may need more bookshelves in the future haha.

Stuck On The Ceiling

This is probably something silly that is a 真传 of Meimei.

萱萱 had noticed some flying creepy-crawlies in the bathroom when she was showering and decided to spray water all over the place. Meimei mentioned that the water was all over, even outside the shower cubicle. 萱萱 described to Meimei that since the water didn't work she decided to throw toilet paper soaked with water at them. Unfortunately, one of the tissue bomb got stuck on the ceiling and hence she had to confess to her silly deeds.

When Meimei was sharing the story during dinner today, YeeYee couldn't stop giggling. She must have been having flashbacks of silliness from Meimei in her younger days :-) Well it's not lost ... our daughter has obviously taken on the mantle to keep the tradition going hahaha.

 

Buying Books For Kids

My parents had a rule when we were growing up. We have a blanket approval to buy any story books we like. So every time my parents brought us to a bookstore we would each grab one. They were very generous with books since they are not very educated and don't have the time to guide us through our homework. It's their way of "helping" their children. Years later I understood the intent and goodness of this. And I hope to give our kids the same experience of the joys of reading ... especially in this day and age of digital gadgets.

Spent a good $140 getting books for both kids today. It's a lot but the excitement they have on their faces  is worth it. And totally priceless when they read them. Meimei did think about buying the books online but I insist we do this at the bookstore so they get the right experience. 

I'm not expecting this to pay off but just wanted to really give the kids the goodness that my parents did for me. And if we are lucky, it will become a good experience for them too.

萱萱 @Heartbeat For School Swimsafer Programme

Meimei was at the polyclinic today so decided to drop by the swimming pool to spy on 萱萱's swimsafer classes. It seems Nyama was there too so they got to gush at our little girlgirl's swimming classes.

萱萱 should do pretty ok for these classes since she has already passed them in the private classes we sent them for. I can't imagine how difficult it would be for kids that never had the opportunity to swim before this. Swimming is a life skill like cycling so Singapore mandates every kid have the chance to learn it. It's a good initiative.