1st Jakarta Business Trip Done

Business travel has started. This time, there is no CNY dinner or celebration; it is pure work. 

Jakarta is always easier compared to Mumbai. I got a comfortable 9am flight out and on SQ some more. I kept to my ritual to buy myself something at DFS. It was quite tough - the rate that I am buying makeup and skin care far exceeds my ability to use them. In other words, I am traveling too much. Lol. After much browsing, I got a lip balm. Hoho. 

There wasn’t much time left and it was soon for boarding. 

It was an almost full flight and I got a middle seat. Thanks to my Elite Sliver status, I managed to board 1st and got myself nicely settled in. I comforted myself that I would at least get to use the arm rest, the privilege of being seated in the middle. 

Then, a bulky Indonesian man flopped in the seat on my right and took my armrest! MY ARMREST! 

 

Then, whenever he fidgets, he invades into my airspace. Sob. At least the passenger on my left nicely kept to his seat and space and let me have MY armrest. 

The Indonesian man fell asleep before we took off and was jolted awake when the stewardesses went around for safety checks. I quickly claim back my armrest. Lol. 

The flight was uneventful. I had my bfast and caught a Korean movie.

Like how my Jakarta trip would start, I managed to check to the hotel and change before walking across to the office. It is the all familiar Ayana Midplaza hotel. 

Lunch was a Starbucks sandwich, which I munched and only finished at 5pm. So dinner was coffee and the airplane bun that I tabaoed. 

The hotel bed was huge, linen smooth and I had 4 big and fluffy pillows. Hohoho. I hit the gym the next morning at 6.15am and there were already a few people working out. I was eager for the gym bcos I wanted to use the elliptical machine. 

This has always been my quick and “easy” workout bcos I could play my candycrush and get distracted, thus the workout doesn’t feel that hard. That are many types of elliptical machines and this is the common type that I am super used to. Recently, Fitness First changed their elliptical machine and the replaced ones are super hard and painful to use. I missed my elliptical machine.

I had calls and then rush off to the site office and didn’t have time for bfast but bought a sandwich from Lawson for lunch. #ootd 

This is Nana’s baggy jeans that she wore over the weekend and I took it for the trip to save on laundry. 

The traffic was merciful and took slightly more than an hour both ways. This was even when I left the site at peak hours and it was raining hard. Heng ah. This time, I was hungry. Dinner! 

The routine repeated on the next 2 days but I had time for bfast. 

The kids were very envious. 

My outfit for the 2nd day site visit. Still Nana’s jeans.

This morning’s bfast. 

My flight was at 7pm and I left office at 4pm for the airport. When I was packing to go, my colleagues were surprised that I trusted Jakarta’s traffic much more than the Indonesians and didn’t buffer more time. Ya, I think I am crazy too. Hoho. 

While in the taxi and inching forward in the traffic, I started checking if there is a later flight, just in case I miss my flight. Don’t have. The taxi driver asked me for my flight time bcos he said that the traffic was bad and that he would try to hurry. My gan cheong level went up a notch whenever he tsk at the bad traffic. Lol.

I made it on time and was surprised that I had enough time to work on a task while wolfing down a teh and butter kaya toast. I was hungry and cannot tahan until the flight dinner ah.

The flight home was uneventful. I had the aisle seat this time and respectfully give the armrest to the middle passenger. 

Dinner! This time, I caught a Chinese movie.

I must have spent too much time browsing and deciding which white wine to buy for Daddy Lim. Or majority of the flight passengers were transiting. I arrived at the belt to see my lonely luggage. Lol. 

That’s it! Jakarta done! 

I have this feeling that the next business trip will be taking place really soon. Hmmm… 

Mummy Lim

Project Rio - 3D Round 1

We will likely be collecting our keys in May 25 and then start our renovation. We had signed on with Starry Homestead several months back, after spending many weekends visiting and speaking to IDs. 

Why Starry? The ID - YJ and his assistant V, paid us a lot more attention. Rather than just the usual concept, quotes and TALK, they made the effort to show us visual (though many pictures could be easily found from internet) and even put together a mood board. Effort siol. They both look young but YJ has his picture and some of his works on the company website. This gives confidence; some of the other IDs whom we spoke to were not even mentioned anywhere on their Company website. Lol. 

We had several rounds with YJ and V, listening to their suggestions and also throwing ideas that we heard from other IDs. One very useful one, from a very seasoned ID, is to save on hacking the kitchen and bathroom tiles but to overlay and then use the $$ to overlay the whole house flooring with vinyl to achieve a consistent mood. I didn’t know that tiles can also be overlay too. This is only possible if the existing tiles aren’t in too bad of a condition and overlaying can only be done on 1 layer (on tiles). By the way, we didn’t go with the seasoned ID despite his fantastic tips and experience bcos he is quite old school and kept insisting that we listen to him. 

The visit yday was to look at the 1st draft of 3D drawing. We are allowed a total of 3 drafts. The overall concept would be 奶油风 but Daddy Lim also wanted splashes of colours to break out of the monotony. I leave the color and concept to him. I am more concerned about space planning. 

This is how the IDs visualised the end product. The wall and shoe cabinet leading to the living room. This is what we pay ID for - that consistent look and feel throughout the house.

The dining area, living room and a peek of the kitchen. The original idea is to have my work station where the painting currently is.

The kitchen and the tall unit shelving. The door leads to the yard area, where the rubbish chute, laundry baskets and washing machine would be tucked. 

The walk-in wardrobe in the MBR. This used to be part of the MBR toilet, which would have been huge previously then. The previous owner had already craved out part of the toilet to create this walk-in and we benefitted from it. This meant bigger space left in our MBR to manoeuvre.

The kids’ bedroom.

The MBR toilet.

Lastly, the common toilet. 

Very creamy right? Lol. 

There isn’t much to be done in the MBR, and I am thinking of a loud colored chest of drawer for now. 

One of our new requirements is to move the dining table somewhere else and create a new corner for the musical instrument. I am hoping to contain them in one area neatly. I duno how long this musical craze will last for Daddy Lim and the kids but their guitars, amp, wires and what not, are spreading their territory messily in our current place. 

I didn’t like the tiny doorway to the kitchen too. It reminded me of the old school 3 room HDB kitchen. The original thought had been an open kitchen concept but I think budget constraints lead us where we are. I also dislike the creamy look in the kitchen. While Daddy Lim has always favoured light shades, I like dark, thus the ability to better stains. The revised plan would be to see how to better “open” up the kitchen and to turn the cabinets into an impactful shade of green/blue. 

We also spent a long time discussing about the kids’ bedroom. We had wanted to build their beds onto the bay window to utilize the bay window dead space. However, the 3D drawings made the room looked really small. We started exploring inbuilt beds, inbuilt study table, wardrobes onto platform beds. The story is to be continued, for the kids to state their preferences. 

For now, it looks like the cost is mounting. While we decide to knock this or that, build this or that, I hear the ka-chings. We unfortunately didn’t have a lot more to wriggle in our budget. There are still the furniture to buy. Let’s work hard to save $$. Hoho. 

Meanwhile, for keepsake, some pictures of the current place.

Living room.

Balcony.

MBR walk-in.

MBR.

Common toilet.

Kitchen yard.

Kitchen.

Dining area and walkway to kitchen.

Kids’ bedroom.

Kitchen toilet.

Bomb shelter.

Mummy Lim

1st Mambo 2025

Our last Mambo date was many, many months ago, back in August 2024. Then life got busy and Mambo only happens once a month. 

After a long break, it is definitely time to go shake some booty. Hoho. It was supposed to be 4 of us but Auntie SRN had to drop out at the last minute bcos of flu. We have a new kaki this round - Auntie R.

Auntie R has missed the dancing scene for many, many years. It is time for us to introduce her to what she has missed. 

We agreed to meet at 10.30pm. I watched a reel that says that if a 40 something is still out after 11pm, he/she must has taken a nap. Ya, I did just that in the afternoon after my morning ride. Hoho. The 2 aunties met slightly earlier and had a drink at Warehouse. I arrived to find 2 humongous soju drinks. 

They must be very thirsty. 

We lingered and also tried to finish the drinks. With a very full tummy, we headed to Zouk at about 11.30pm only to find a fairly empty club/ dance floor. We were reminded of our youngster days where we entered clubs before 8pm to take advantage of the free entry. Young people now only start partying at midnight. I would be in bed on normal days at 10pm. 

The club did turn more crowded as the night progressed. At about 2.30am, Auntie R was more than ready to go home, I was pleading for another 5 mins, 10 mins. Auntie R needs more training. The next round!

We still look very alive at 3am. Not bad!

Nope, we didn’t go for any supper though my tummy was starting to growl. Supper is not for old people. 

I made it home at 3.30am. My feet hurt, my knees and back were aching too. The day after Mambo is always pay back time. It is like my body punishing me for forgetting that I am in my 40s. Hoho. 

Just that I needed to get used to a new exercise, I think I need to get used to dancing again. Next Mambo pls! 

Mummy Lim

1st week in ACJC

Nana reported to school last Wednesday and it was orientation for the rest of the week. She of course had a blast and had quite a few fellow NHians for companion but also made new friends quickly, especially those in her Orientation Group (OG). One thing for sure, there are many more good looking teenagers compared to the nerdy boys in NH. Hoho. 

She bought new uniforms from school on Thursday, didn’t try them and found them too big. Zzzz. We had to bring her to Bibi & Baba to exchange during the weekend. Oh yes, it was also Bibi & Baba during my time too. The uniform is still the same but I thought the material for the skirt seems thinner. They didn’t have the required size for the blouses and she had to do the exchange back in school.

Anyway, I waited to today to post bcos I had finally compiled all the different “looks”. Hoho. She was still in her NH uniform on Monday bcos she needed to do the exchange for the blouses. Full uniform is required on Monday and Friday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, she had her orientation Tee and she hand washed it.

On Thursday, she had her PE tee. It is still the same bright yellow shirt but dri-fit and not cotton anymore like in my time. 

Finally, in full uniform today. 

When we know that it is ACJC, I told Daddy Lim that I will go dig out my JC pictures that are hidden deep in the storeroom. I did! Me when I was 17! 

Grew out my hair when I was in JC2. 

I told Daddy Lim that I would take a photo in Nana’s uniform too but hasn’t done so. Hoho. 

Orientation is over and it is subject combi submission and CCA trials this week. ACJC is super flexible with their subject combi and Nana is opting for Physics, C Maths, Economics and Geography, which is almost the exact combi she wanted if she had gotten into EJC or SAJC. The only switch was Physics for the originally planned Chemistry. While she has more interest in Chemistry, seniors and tutors told her that Physics is relatively easier at A levels. 

School is still very lax until the subject allocation is finalised. The students are to attend lectures as per their preferred subject combi, but tutorial and the other H1 subject classes have not started. 

It is a different story for Zaky, who complains that his school days are now ending in the late afternoon almost everyday. He was struggling with his project work just this week. It had been a while since I saw him work so hard. Haha.

Fighting! 

Mummy Lim