Mugging has Started

Time really just flew by. We are now in March and Zaky had finished his WA1. I had been hearing Zaky whined about the heavy school load and how his school ends in the late afternoon every school day and it is killing him. To add on to his pain, he has started his A Maths tuition in end 2024 and I had just added on Chinese tuition. Zaky seems to be struggling with his Sciences and I am waiting for him to tell me if he needs help with Physics or Chemistry. 

Zaky is under the same Chinese tutor as Nana. He had his 1st lesson 2 weeks ago and surprisingly, the tutor said that his foundation isn’t too bad. I asked if he is better than Nana. The tutor in turned asked if Zaky is as hardworking as Nana. Ok, GG. By the way, he failed his Chinese WA1 and just had his 2nd tuition yday, the tutor now said that while he learns quickly, he has also forgotten a lot of the simple vocabulary that he has learnt in the past. Zzzzz.

I think he is struggling, such that he had asked if it is ok for him to go poly instead of JC bcos he is so sick of studying and thinks that poly has more hands-on curriculum. Hello, poly also needs good O level result to go to a good course leh. In Poly, also need to study hard to go NTU/ NUS ah. I am not heartless. I just don’t buy his arguments that he needs to relax during the weekends and too tired during weekday evenings to do work/ revision. I duno when to step in but probably will at some point when it seems to get out of hand. 

Yday, there was some parent engagement session in SST at 8am. I wanted to go and signed up. However, it was raining so heavily when I left the house at 7am. I figured that I will be late when I arrived in SST and then will be late for work when I leave SST for office. In the end, I skipped the session and headed to the office instead. Lol. It is mentioned that the briefing slides will be shared later. I will read that instead. Hoho. 

I think I didn’t miss much. From the parents’ chat group, the most important point is that majority of O levels syllabus will be taught in Sec 3. Sec 4 is mainly for revision leading up to O levels. Zaky, fighting! 

It had been a month since Nana started JC. She has gotten her desired subject combination and bcos she opted for hybrid combination, taking up Econs and Geography, her days are stretching late too as Arts subject classes are usually later in the day. Her school year barely started and she has asked for Maths tuition. Not long after, she has requested to start Physics tuition too bcos she didn’t understand what was taught. When I checked with Nana last weekend, she said that the full curriculum has started and showed me her packed time table. Nana, fighting! 

Nana said that she will be taking her H1 Chinese exam at the end of JC1. If passed and satisfied with her result, she can then drop Chinese in JC2. Her Chinese tutor said that the H1 Chinese syllabus is pretty similar to O levels and that Nana wouldn’t need tuition. During her Chinese class yday, she asked me if she needed to work very hard for Chinese and how much the Chinese result affects her A level results. That is a story for another post. 

ACJC has a parent engagement session this evening at 6pm. I thought I should attend, given that we are new to JC school life. The students are invited but not compulsory. Nana happily skipped the session. I took the MRT and walk the familiar, yet unfamiliar walkway to the school. 

About 30 years ago, I walked the same walkway every weekday morning for 2 years. Then, there was no mobile phone and no covered walkway. It was a dark pathway with the road on one side and a lot of trees on the other. Today, it is nicely sheltered and bright, with new buildings replacing the plot with trees. 

Several years back, I had the chance to visit ACJC for Sunday service, when Faith Methodist Church was undergoing renovations. It was nostalgic. This visit, it continued to bring back many memories. 

This was my classroom! I think I had the same classroom for both years.

The briefing was conducted in the auditorium. It is the same! 

The best seats are at the sides, where the railing is - best bcos it is the most comfortable to doze on tired mornings during assembly. Hoho. 

The session started online and with a prayer led by the pastor. That was nice. This was followed by the staff introduction and the principal’s speech. It is the usual school history, motto, values, etc. What I did hear is that the A levels today is very different from our times and a lot more difficult. Ikr. Lol. 

There is even a theme verse for the year!

The session went on and on. I got bored and read my story book. Hoho. The key takeaway? The key dates and university admission score. 

Finally, the session ended at 7ish. The parents were invited to meet their form teacher - I don’t even know which class Nana is in. Hohoho. I left. 

The most interesting part of the visit? When I was leaving the school, there was a signboard at the entrance and a big chicken was perched on it, enjoying the view. Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky’s Bike Sold

When Zaky outgrew his kiddish Trek mountain bike quite some years ago, we bought him a 2nd hand Triban 100 hybrid bike. He was still fairly little at that time and was barely tall enough to handle the XS bike. It was a decent buy for $100. 

Over the years, he rode it occasionally. Initially, only during family rides, which are really rare, to riding more frequently in the last 2 years with his classmates. He has definitely outgrown the bike in the last few years but he insisted that he liked the bike and that it is ok. I bet he looked like a circus bear on a bike. Lol. 

Zaky still insisted that we keep the bike even when Daddy Lim passed him the roadie. Sadly, he only rode on the roadie once but that doesn’t change the fact that he is now too big for the hybrid. 

Both Zaky and Nana’s hybrid bikes are kept in the corridor and they are collecting dust. With the impeding move, I have decided that we will let go of Zaky’s hybrid. He didn’t object. 

I listed it on Carousell for $70. There are other Triban 100 listed at a higher price. 

There were queries almost immediately, asking on condition, etc. Sold! $70! 

The bike is seriously in a super dusty and dirty condition. Daddy Lim pumped up the tires, cleaned up the bike a little. There were quite some scratch marks. The buyer didn’t complain. Heng ah.

It is such good deal, to think that we had it for so many years and the depreciation is $30. Hoho. Daddy Lim is also happy bcos the buyer PayLah him and he pocketed the proceeds. Hoho. 

As I was looking through the blog for information of our cycling journey, I saw this.

I cannot help but make Zaky do this. 

Hohoho. 

Mummy Lim

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