Bcos We Want to go JB: Day 1

It was an impromptu thought - let's go Austin Height! So we did!

Daddy Lim and I took leave and picked the kids after school. We had lunch and tabaoed lunch for the kids. The intention was to head to JB directly. 

Our only rule to the kids? No taking off of shoes in the car. Lol. Many years back, we did a similar trip. Daddy Lim and I almost fainted in the car when the kids decided to go shoeless. It was so bad. Lol. 

We chose a good timing and there was barely any Q at both the customs. We booked 2 nights via Airbnb, at Manhatthan, some blocks of apartments right smack in Austin Heights. It had been a while since we visited Austin Heights but GPS was good. We found ourselves at an ice cream joint.

Our airbnb was nearby. The instruction to check in was easy. Go to the mailbox room at Block A, retrieve the key. I was tasked to do the easy assignment. 

The only problem was that the mail room lighting was dim and my old flower eyes cannot read the numbers on the number lock. I tried torchlight before using the camera function. I must have took a while that the security came in to check on me.

Then I had to register our carplate number, color and model. I draw blank and decided that the best way is to take a picture. Hoho. 

This is where we would spend our 2 nights. 

We didn't linger for long and decided to explore the vicinity. 抓娃娃... 

This pack of biscuits is very expensive. Hoho. 

Only Daddy Lim had some luck. This is his life's 1st ever claw machine prize. 

I was happy with the pinball machine. 

Our next adventure was the escape room even with a paika. 

I think we did lousy. Lol. I was exhausted towards the end of the game and I am not the only one.

At least we worked up an appetite. Korea BBQ dinner! So many 小菜！

More food... 

We finished everything and left with a super full tummy. Hoho.

On the way home, the kids happily bought sweets, including these cute duckies, that they said taste so bad. Lol. 

Other than the kids benefitted from the snacks, so did Mochi. Big pack somemore! We saw a pet shop with super cute kitten and puppy. 

We were tired. It had been a long day. When the night was still young, the lights still blinking and flashing in the shops below, we decided to turn in. Lol. We are tired people. 

Mummy Lim

Gunther's

Yday, I got to attend a dinner with the big bosses. With big bosses, there will be fine food. 

The dinner was at Gunther's. This is the kind of restaurant that I have never step foot in. I don't think this is considered as fine dining but it is definitely classier than what I have experienced before. We are talking about cavier and white truffle. The white truffle is in season (usually only for 2 to 3 months in a year) and the big boss wants to eat white truffle. For me, I eat and benefit only. 

I don't even know if I have eaten real truffle in my life. I am quite sure the truffle fries that many places sell are fake truffle oil. I have no idea about the differences between black and white truffle (are there any others?). The colors? 

These are the big boss' favourite restaurants and he usually does the ordering for sharing. His choices are good. 

The appetisers are: 

This cold angle hair pasta with cavier and truffle (of course) is so good. 

This was followed with this white truffle with bonbon (filled with cheese). The cheese was mild and not overpowering. 

Lastly, we had this onsen egg and white truffle. 

The egg yolk oozes out and a pity that I am not a fan of onsen egg. 

I thought we were done and could jump straight to dessert but no, we still need to have the main course. Thus, I opted for this tiny scallop. It was so good. I ended up slurping up the olive oil left behind. Lol. 

It was finally time for desserts. I forgot to take pictures.The deserts were so good too. 

I do think that the good food is wasted on me. I can tell that the food is really delicious but many other food are delicious to me too. Hoho. I also wonder, how can people (like my big bosses) who are used to such good food ever get used to commoner food. Hmmm...

The dinner ended at 10pm. I am exhausted for the week. It had been long days and late evenings for the past week. I need a break. 

Mummy Lim

Inefficiency in Efficient Singapore

Whenever I have foreign colleagues relocating to Singapore, I will tell them that despite Singapore being an efficient country, there are 3 industries that are very inefficient - the Government, the banks and the telcos. Not the online services, but when the online services failed and one is required to physically turn up at the branch/ shop/ agency, one can start to roll eyes.

Bcos we live in such an efficient economy, any inefficiencies is hard to tolerate and irk us extra. I unfortunately had to encounter one. 

Daddy Lim and I have a joint bank account since years back. For some reason, the (only) atm card and online banking are under his name. While all the banks had turned to digital token, this bank is on physical token. I think it is only recently that I saw on the website, requesting users to register for the digital token. 

I have been the one accessing the online banking for the account. Daddy Lim has zero idea on what is the login and password. I know that the physical token will run out of battery and to get a new token, one has to visit the branch. I have tried to register for the digital token, only for the website to prompt that my mobile number is not registered. 

This bank account is rarely used. If it is not bcos the physical token has prompted low batt, I would have procrastinated somemore. I called the holine, only to be told that I needed an atm card in order to register for the digital token. The atm card (under Daddy Lim's name) is probably tucked somewhere in the house and we cant find it (for now). As such, he too, is unable to register for the digital token. Zzzzzz. We needed to do something or risk unable to access the account when the physical token finally died. 

We headed down to the branch this afternoon. We were told that we needed to make new atm cards and I would finally be able to get my own ibanking. However, a counter staff has to assist us and the Q (18 pax in front of us) is a 1.5 to 2 hours wait. What??!! 

What choices do we have? Luckily, we have plenty of errands to run, including having to send a snail mail. Who still does snail mail now? The last I bought a stamp for local postage, it was 22 cents. Now, it cost 51 cents. That is like a 100% increase. 

We eventually got the bank stuff done and that was really a 2 hour wait in q. Goodbye to physical tokens. 

I hope I don't have to go down to any of the physical shop/ branch/ agency anytime soon again.

Mummy Lim

Done with EOY

Zaky finished his last paper on Wednesday and didnt have school on Thursday bcos it was marking day. Nana is taking her last paper - Listening Compre, today. She was upset that SST teachers are so lazy that they needed a school day for marking. Why can't they do the marking during the weekend? 

Yday, she realised and gleefully told me that she has no school on Monday and Tuesday bcos it is Higher Art paper on Monday and marking day on Tuesday. Ah... NH teachers can be lazy but not SST teachers. 

While Nana's EOY only officially ends today, celebration has started early. She had Emaths P1 yday and said that there is nothing much to study (for it). She totally dismissed LC. 

On many occasions, I saw Nana studying but something seems wrong bcos right before her physics and chemistry paper, she said that she had so much more to study for these 2 papers. She totally gave up on Chinese. This is the 1st time that she is taking a full Chinese paper in O levels format and she doesn't have a clue on how to study for the paper. Cue to look for Chinese tutor. 

As for Zaky, he claimed that he had studied. On occasions that I was wfh, each time I opened his door, he was gaming. He insisted that I just caught him at the wrong time. 我有这么准吗? It is OK, I told him that his EOY results will tell me and decide how many tuition he needs next year. Hoho. 

Nana went out for a feast with her mates yday. Korea BBQ wor. 

Then managed to sneak into a NC16 horror movie. She said that she had been saving for weeks for the splurge. 

She came home and told us how scary the movie was. So much so that she asked to sleep in our room. Zzzzz..  何必呢? By the time I had tucked Zaky to bed, Daddy Lim and Nana had occupied the bed. So I took Nana's mattress. She had been sleeping on the floor since she broke her ankle and moved back to her room. 

I was nicely settled in her room but didn't sleep well. I woke up several times in the night bcos it was so cold and I was wondering in my half asleep state why it was so chilly in her room. I was also too lazy to move and turn off the fan. It was only in the morning, when Nana came into the room, that I realised that I didn't turn off the aircon and the fan was on full blast. No wonder. Lol. 

Moral of the story? 

Nana, pls don't watch horror movie anymore. Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Hopefully the Last Trip to India this Year

I think I have traveled a little too much these past 2 weeks. 1st, it was a short work trip to JKT, then a weekend cycling trip to Kukup. After 1 day's rest, I flew to Mumbai for the rest of the week. Mumbai is no fun and I hope that it is the last one for this year. 

It was the same 7 40am flight. I had so much time to burn at the airport, that I contemplated coming to the airport later the next business trip. I travelled with a colleague this time and she was just reaching the airport when I was queuing at the gate. 

I was hungry for bfast. 

And happily watched 2 movies bcos there were new selections. I beat myself after that, bcos I had a long day ahead and should have caught up on sleep. 

When alighting, my colleague told me that her luggage didn't make it to Mumbai bcos she checkin too late. Her luggage will the night flight to Mumbai and would hopefully reach the hotel at the end of the day. Ok, let's stick to reaching the airport early. Hoho. 

We had a busy day, retuning to the hotel late in the evening. Mumbai didn't feel so scary with companion. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant; I would usually order room service when I am alone. While waiting for dinner to be served, we were offered free Indian appetisers. 

This is something puri (I think). 

Totally no idea what this is called. 

Dinner - comfort food. 

I was welcome to the room. 

The next morning, I woke up early for the gym. 

And a nice bfast. Though the selection is a tad limited, especially the no-veg option. 

One of the unusual things that I did this trip was the campus recruitment. I got to visit VJTI Mumbai, the University that took in the top brains in India. Competition is damned stiff every year. 

The campus is about a 100 yo and in a dire need for repairs and maintenance. I felt like I have travelled back 50 years in time the moment we walked into the campus. The lecture theatres are open air and the tables and chairs are wooden. 

We had a late lunch. I had the dosa and it was super good, much better than what we have in Singapore. This was followed by filtered coffee. It tasted like our kopi. I wanted to take pictures and the staff intentionally tarik the coffee for me. 

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The rest of the trip was uneventful. As usual, I was happy to head to the airport for home. 

I should have skipped dinner but I was greedy. 

Finally, touching down in Singapore on Saturday morning. Home sweet home. 

*finger crossed* next Mumbai trip, next year ok? 

Mummy Lim