11 Apr 2012 – Repairs & Repaint

Aug 1999: bought this HDB 3 room flat for S$170,000 and renovated it. After nearly 13yrs, the kitchen ceiling is spading and needs repair, the floors and walls have hair-line cracks and need a new layer of paint. Have also decided to get the bathroom a new layer of paint on the floor and walls. Considering what people are now willing to pay for this flat, over S$400,000 is really crazy, would not be able to afford to buy it now!

And we are talking about public housing! so imagine the price of private condos in SIN…!!

Tue: went shopping at IKEA for a few things, like a bracket to place the microwave. Of all the days to shop, there were problems with the systems. Had to wait for over half and hour so that the cashiers can reboot their registers. Even with the long lines and wait, the crowd was civilised and chocolate was passed around to humour us 🙂

Have to live with this mess for a few days. There will be workmen doing the job here, unlike in Norway when I had to do most of the painting! So let this be 2012 spring cleaning! Expecting visitors from Bali this weekend, HKG and Goa next week. Then to close and shut down for the summer. Am considering to spend Thanksgiving in the USA this year. Tickets have been booked to fly off 4 May heading to OSL first.

Spring cleaning is all about personal satisfaction. It is the time of year that triggers homeowners to revive their home and renew their lives – Peter Walsh

9 Apr 2012 – New Toy – Acer Aspire S3

Sat: Easter presents to myself, no chocolate or eggs but an ultra slim, 13mm/0.51″ slim and ultra light at less than 1.35kg/3.0lbs are really the ++s! 13.3″/33.8cm LED Screen with the embedded lithium-polymer battery lasting up to 7 hours. Will probably take me forever to figure how to use it! Wonder if there are ultra instant instructions?? But it sure looks elegant and so much lighter to carry 🙂

Tkx to Leonard for helping to choose and for loading up this new toy. Including an external DVD drive and a wireless mouse all for S$1,198. According to Leonard, my high-tech guru, it is time for this new notebook after having the old laptop for nearly 4yrs.

Congratulations and good luck to him for a new job. Refreshing ginger tea and crayfish salad@TCC /Funan***after a whole day of fun shopping… 🙂 🙂

Sun: tkx to Les & Ivy for chicken rice & yummy veggie Easter dinner@Boon Ting Kee/River Valley Rd***

http://www.boontongkee.com.sg/

Yeah my first blog posting on this new toy and quite a novelty with a cordless mouse! Did it, but has taken more time with a smaller screen compared to the previous laptop. Anything new does take some getting use to…

Eventually I found it had been working all along-but didn’t show anything on-screen until it had the first full-page of text. I inserted 30 new lines, and suddenly my toy said ‘hEllO woRlD’. An hour later I understood alphabet shifting rather better – Graham Nelson

6 Apr 2012 – to paper lingerie!!

This trip wraps the KCH trips for this year now that the family property Jalan Reservoir has been sold with the main bulk of the shares distributed and company into liquidation! This 3.39acres/147,688sq ft prime-land has been in our family for the past 4 decades and now it is time to let go.

Saying goodbyes to the trees was not that easy. Fate had its way that it was not meant for us to develop this and who knows when the new owner will start bringing the bull-dozer in? Rumours have it that there are plans for luxurious condos and self-service apartments…

I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues – Dr. Seuss

Grateful to be able to spend some quality time with bro Lawrence. Arrived Mon evening and headed to the Rotary dinner and talk by Mr Soo. Tkx for including me with the fellow Rotarians@Telang Usan Hotel, which is owned by one of the Rotarians. Lawrence had the Nasi Goreng Belacan/Shrimp Fried Rice and I had the Ayam Masak Merah/Chicken in Oyster Sauce, both tasty.

http://www.telangusan.com/

Tue: Thai food lunch with Lawrence & Mabel and Chuan@Absolute Tribal 喜悦***/Hills Shopping Mall by Pullman KCH Hotel. Interesting decor, a pillar of coffee beans and drift wood!

http://lifemixx.com/absolute-tribal-in-hills-shopping-mall-kuching.html

Dinner@the.Dyak****excellent tribal food. Tepus Suring/wild ginger, Petai Gulai Kechala/bitter nuts, Manuk Lulun/chicken cooked in bamboo. Their Tuak/rice wine ice cream is to die for! Yummy organic food with no MSG. Tkx to Kenson for dinner who also is in KCH for a project. Pix with Lawrence & Mabel, Kenson and Vernon, the owner. Seems like both K & I have this place on the top of our list!

http://celestialdelish.blogspot.com/2011/12/thedyak-restaurant-in-kuching-sarawak.html

Wed: a morning drive to view Lawrence’s properties followed by museums. Was fortunate to view different displays in all the 3 different buildings: Fossil Wood, B/W photos of the Baram & Tinjar and the intrigue interior painting in the main building.

A sentimental walk to Jalan Reservoir which is just behind the museum. The trees there were not the kind that would turn to fossil wood even if left untouched. But all trees are beautiful, especially those that can grown strong!

Taiwanese lunch@Xian Ding Wei Restaurant***鲜定味/Spring Mall with all the Easter setups! These colourful pix were taken with all my grandchildren in mind.

https://foursquare.com/v/xian-ding-wei-鲜定味/4d0c6758be6d6ea8c00dffb4

Midin & seafood dinner…

Thu: morning walk by the river, Carpenter St, Main Bazaar with the contrast from the White Raja times to the shop houses. No disrespect to the dead and Ching Ming month is ongoing. Nowadays, not only can one can get laptops, credit cards etc, even umbrellas and lingerie all made of paper to be burnt to the underworld.  What next…

Delicious local kolo mee breakfast@Sin Min Joo***with Lawrence and his lawyer. According to the locals, the half hour long line is worth waiting! Lunch with Chuan and tkx for the drive to the airport. Wishing him and his lovely family the very best of luck for their futures.

Appreciations to my KCH family, Chuan, Kenson and the others who crossed this path for all their hospitality and company.

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating.

1 Apr 2012 – with a new addition to the purple generation!

Sat: belated bday celebrations for niece Pat and grandniece Elizabeth/Beth, 2 weeks young and the new additional to the purple generation born on the same day as her mother on St Patrick’s Day. Beth is # 22nd from the purple generation (LAM Tin Yue’s branch) and one more due in Jun this year for this generation… to my knowledge just one more for 2012 🙂

Happy 75th Bday to sister Jo.

The Yeows must have the smallest pet aquarium with mini shrimps and fish, app half and inch/1.2cm in size! David being a good photographer has filled a wall in their apartment with lovely pix.

Appreciations for including me in their celebrations with yummy dinner. Denise in Brisbane/Aus, do not freak out, the fish-head Assam curry is delicious, same goes for yam-ring and the rest of the food. Two sinful bday cakes, chocolate and strawberry.

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week ahead if I do not have the chance to blog for next week!

No Apr Fool… getting ready to ride the Tiger again (for the 3rd time this year) bound for KCH tomorrow 🙂

Apr Special Dates

2 Apr – Happy Bday Marianne HUSTAD

4 Apr – Happy Bday Richard YUNG

6 Apr – Good Friday. Happy Easter

8 Apr – Happy Bday Torill WISTNER

12 Apr – Happy Bday Peggy TAN

15 Apr – Happy Bday Lynne ONG/MICHEALS & Aileen KOH

17 Apr – Happy Bdays Anne STENSETH, Sharon KOH & Sara LAM

21 Apr – Happy Bday Gilbert CHAN

22 Apr – Happy Bday Ike BOROWSKY

29 Apr – Happy Bday Stanley LAM

30 Apr – Happy Bday JohnWT CHENG

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me – Chinese Proverb