Monday, June 30, 2008
Yeah yeah, we have confirmed our honeymoon to Bali yesterday. Initially we wanted to have our honeymoon in Tokyo as there was some promotion by SQ for two to fly. On top of that we will be able to stay at Dear’s company hostel when we are there. Hence we will be able to save a bit for the trip itself while the only expenditure that we have to fork out will be for our food and transportation.
While search for our renovation contractors, we realised that cost of the renovation is pretty high. We will like to hack a lot of things in the house as its old. With more work required in the house, the cost is definitely higher then expected. In addition, we have our wedding which is up and approaching. That will cost us a bomb too. With so many upcoming events which require a substantial amount of funds, our trip to Tokyo has became a dream which cannot be fulfilled at the moment. We prefer to renovate our home to the best that we like it to be and go for the trip another time. Hence we started searching for alternatives.
We chanced upon Bali as we wanted to go a place where we can really rest and relax after the wedding. Hence we decided to go to a beach resort. In order to try to reserve our cash, we decided to try if we could redeem our mileage which we have accumulated over the years. When we redeemed the mileage we were unable to redeem for both parties at the same time as we have only sufficient mileage individually for only one return trip. Hence we had to sit in front of the computer with phone in hand and started clicking together hoping that we will be able to get flights together. Finally we got the same flight and even managed to choose our seats first. Fantastic!
Now it is only left with booking of the hotel. We have yet to confirm which package that we will like to book with the Hard Rock Hotel.
Labels: Holiday, wedding
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Dear participated in the recent Project Discovery 6 from the 13 to 15 June 2008. This time they walked all the way from Sungei Buloh to Pasir Ris Park within 3 days. Thus they covered the entire Singapore by foot. As Dear was had always taken part in such events with Touch, they made him the Team Leader of one of the teams for the walk. As he is always maintaining his good health by exercising, they naturally made him the leader for the more athletic members for the event.
The first day, they started off at Sungei Buloh and ended at Raffles Institute, which is near Bishan. That is a lot to cover for a day. If memory did not fail me, they cover a distance of 35 km. I do not remember the rest of the journey but they passed thru MacRitchie Reservoir, Bishan Park, Kallang River, East Coast Park and finally ending at Pasir Ris Park.
At the end of the second day, everyone was physically exhausted. Some of the participants even developed blisters on their legs. This was no different for Dear. He developed a blister on his toes. A check with the Podiarist, whom Touch has arranged on the second night due to large no. of them having blisters, showed that it was fine for him. They just paste a plaster or tape over his blister and he was fine to go on.
The end of the 3 days, Dear was really exhausted and he looked burnt! Hahaha. However I am proud that he was able to accomplish the trip without much problems. I am sorry Dear that I wasn’t able to participate in the event with you, I will try to participate whenever its possible.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
We will be going for our first HDB appointment this coming Friday, 27 June 2008. I am a little excited and scared. This is a huge investment where most or all our savings disappear. In preparation of the appointment, we started to get our documents ready. While reading the document which informs us what we require to prepare, I read that we need to pay the stamp fee or somethings like that. This fee is approximately 3% of the sale price which we are paying for the house. How much is that??? $8850!! That is a lot of money. I hope that we do not need to pay cash at the moment for that fee, hopefully we can use our CPF to make that payment.
With further reading, we also realised that we need to pay a CPF HS Premium as we will be using our CPF to pay our loan. That is about $120 annually. Oh my...... Paying and paying and paying. Where can one afford to pay for so much things at a time?? We have been working for a while and we have some savings. What about those people who does not earn as much as us? What about those people who are young??? Its really really not easy to own a home to call your own.
I also finally pushed myself to contact the Fengshui Master that my friend has recommended. After talking to her and the date was set to view to house on 20 July while the review will be on 6th August. Its a little late but her schedule is fully booked. Wow, there must be a lot of people who purchased house and wants her to view the place. Hopefully the house is a good one for us with minium amendment required. *Fingers and toes crossed*
Oh, I forgot to mention that I am currently using my office laptop to write this blog. My office has finally decided to issue us the laptop to replace the slow computer with CRT. The laptop is a Dell Vostro 1400. Its a pretty good laptop and I almost wanted to buy it together with the company as I could get a good deal, but with the on going payments which I need to make for the house and wedding, I have to forgo the deal. With the laptop, it means that I need to work from home this way. Sigh. This may be a good thing too since I have a lot of paper work to do but there is no time for me to go back office to do them.
After the meet the parents session two weeks ago, we decided to head over to Chinatown to check out the things which we need to purchase first. We chanced upon the first store as we saw the large xi wordings hanging at the front of the store. They practically have everything we need from the face basin, lamp, tea set to the basket for GDL. They also have the xi stickers which we will need to stick on the oranges or wherever we want to. There were a total of 4 shops but one of them owned by an Aunty who keep asking ask to buy from her. We did not purchase anything from her as we did not drive that day. The items were also pretty bulky and heavy. So I want to drive over and we purchase the items then. On the other hand, its still early, I plan only to purchase the items only in August as we will only need them in Sept. This will solve the storage problem. Kkekek
We still have a lot of things to plan and prepare and schedule. We will have to get our butts into doing them fast. I am still dragging my feet to do these things...
Labels: house, wedding
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Finally we have gotten the meet the parents session between both of our parents over and done with. Both of us were so nervous that day when they were suppose to meet up. We wondered if they were to come to blows with each other. Haha. Maybe we have a fantastic imagination.
Well, things went pretty smoothly that day. When Dear's parents arrived, we all sat down and starting chatting. They then hitted off by chatting about the various renovation works which was done in my house especially the kitchen. Both Dear and I wondered if they remembered the actual aim of this meeting when they all went into my kitchen to take a look.
Finally they started chatting about the things which each family will like from each other. Its a lucky thing that both our parents did not want complicated things and wanted only the basic things. For my side my parents only asked for the following:
16 Oranges
2 Bottles of Sparkling Fruit Juice (My family does not drink hence asked for none alcholic things)
16 Boxes of cakes for relatives
Front leg of a pig (Replaced with red packet)
Ping Jin
For his family, they asked for the following:
Basin
Piss pot
Lamp
12 Colour threads
Sicssors
Measuring Tape
Tea Set for AD
Towel
Its a lucky thing that the things that are listed are not tough to find. All these will be send to the two families on the 7th Sept which is the 8th of the 8th Lunar Month. We will have to do the An Chuang that day too. His cousin as told us to just do it ourselves since we do not know who should we get to make the bed. We will also need to get a set of red bedsheets for that day. Oh dear...... We need to go shopping soon since its the Great Singapore Sale. I am sure there will be sale for the bedsheets.
The date for the food tasting has also set to be on 5 July. Oh my, it seems to me that I do not have much time left. I still have a lot of things that is undone........I will also need to find my transport for the day. Yes, the bridal do have vehicle for us but it is with a fee of $500. I wondered since it will be cheaper to rent a car and drive it ourselves instead. Why don't we rent a mini cooper since Dear loves it. Hehe. We will check the prices out and some of my friends have given me contacts for it. Hmmmm......
Labels: wedding
