Farewell 2009, And Good Riddance!

In trying to keep up with tradition by reviewing my resolutions from the year gone by, here's a review for resolutions 2009 . I'm sure everyone's heard me complain about what a lousy year 2009 has been for me already and its no lie. It has been seriously bad from alot of angles.

But without going into the negatives and focusing on the positives instead, it has been a year of learning, reflection and growth. If anything, 2009 probably marks the year that I focus on becoming a better person within, realising what the priorities of my life are, and trully valuing the value of money. And that definitely is a silver lining to take away from 2009.

This year, I've added a pass/fail marker at the end of each reso.

So without further a due...

1) Eat Healthier
I would like to think that this has improved. But the reality is that it has stayed status quo at best. Mcdonald's Monopoly promotion in the 4th quarter seriously didn't help one bit. There were at least 2-3 days where I had fast food for all my meals then. And I never won anything with those stupid property stubs. FAIL

2) Improve Level of Exercise
This one was going well until April during one of those indoor futsal games when a clumsy opponent fell and somehow channeled all his body weight to his shoulder, which collided with the side of my knee. I was lucky to get away with just a sprain, given all the rupturing noise, but it was aggravated once more several months after, thereby rendering my competitive soccer career over. I now settle for Saturday pick up games with old friends for my weekly exercise. Oh, and I haven't been to the gym in 2 months. FAIL

3) Spend More Time With Family
I think this one should pass lah. I really do party much less (about once a week at best) and spend more time at home. Even though the entertainment room hasn't become reality yet. It is a good thing to do. PASS

4) Make More Money From Investments
Whoa. This one I have to bravely raise up my hand up high holding a white flag and admit that I failed. Spectacularly somemore. Almost everything I invested in turned to dust. It wasn't pretty at all. All I can hope for is that 2010 will be better hopefully. Else, I will also be trading alot less, just to be safe. FAIL

5) Less Alcohol Consumption
This is somewhat tied to point 3. Since I party less, I obviously drink less. Less alcohol is also better for me, and it looks like this will continue into the new year :) I've still got several cans of Tiger and Heineken from 2008 if anybody wants! PASS
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Well I won't go into any economic analysis this year (even though I was pretty accurate last year!). Instead, I strongly recommend everyone to read the Top 10 Outrageous Economic Predictions by Saxo Bank! Although I don't think this year's predictions are as outrageous as last year's ($200 oil, Ron Paul for President anyone?), they are pretty interesting nonetheless.
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That's all folks, as we wave goodbye to 2009! Me and the wifey will be heading to Marina Bay for the countdown later tonight to celebrate the new year IN STYLE (and with a bang!). Let's hope we have fun!

Happy 2010!

The Final Countdown

Ok, we've decided that we're almost definitely gonna be spending New Year's Eve (NYE) somewhere in the Marina Bay area. Probably Butter Factory, but given that the whole damn place is gonna be so crowded, we have another friend's party we can hopefully pop by which is pretty near the area.

Lets hope we all have a great time at the Bay!
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Here's a little number crunching for fun:

Assuming me and the wifey manage to save up at least $100,000 within the next 3 years when our HDB constraint is due, coupled with another $100,000 in our CPF, we would then be able to afford a nice private home with a budget of up to $1mio, where we take an 80% loan from the bank.

For a $800,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.7k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $700,000 loan, monthly repayment is 3.2k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $600,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.8k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.
For a $500,000 loan, monthly repayment is 2.3k/mth, assuming 4% flat rate, for 32yrs.

Given that our humble little Sengkang flat can fetch $2k a month in rent, it means that we can almost use solely our CPF contributions to pay the rest of our instalments.

Time to start saving!
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Oh and I watched that Sasha Baron Cohen movie, Bruno yesterday evening.

Gayest shit I've ever seen man. It was tough sitting through some parts and some other parts I was laughing like mad. I don't think I can ever look at Ultimate Fighting Championships the same way ever again. Hahaha!

Siglap - Almost 20 Years On

Almost 20 years ago when we moved into the area, this whole place was a sleepy town.

I was finishing up with primary school going on to Dunman High School (while it was still at Dunman Road). Parkway Parade was the newest shopping centre on the block. Katong Shopping Centre was still quite hip. There was a small little bus interchange sitting on the land where Victoria School sits. There was no Siglap Centre.

Siglap back then was just some place convenient for a quick bite at one or two coffee outlets and thats about it. The row of shophouse restaurants where Pizza Hut is located was the newest outlet back then. Now its almost as nice as Holland Village, and so much less crowded. And soon there's gonna be an MRT station?!! I guess we have to move back someday. :)

Was back this morning for some good ol' Ampang Yong Tau Foo at the coffeeshop beside Siglap Centre.

The food here has hardly changed. You're kinda spoilt for choice between some pretty awesome chicken rice, fishball mee pok, or this. For personal reasons, I only eat the Ampang Yong Tau Foo when I'm here.

After brunch, we walked around abit. The junction of East Coast Road and Siglap Road is like the new power junction with so many new changes. Its been renovated quite a fair bit and its alot more pedestrian friendly now.

The coffeshop selling the Yong Tau Foo is on the left of Siglap Centre, kinda cropped off on the left of the picture. Siglap Centre has surprisingly kept its anchor tenants all these years even though business hasn't been all that good. Mcdonald's, Cold Storage and Guardian.

Was telling the wifey someday I'll have a nice little store of my own on the 2nd floor, which nobody patronises. Haha. The new development on the right is gonna end up abit like Siglap Centre's newer cousin. We actually wanted to see the showflat but it wasn't opened yet. Still that didn't stop us from behaving like young millionaire investors (they're everywhere these days) getting psf quotations and floor plans from one of the eager beaver agents hawking their wares at the entrance of the development. It's not gonna come cheap - $1,300 to $1,500 psf.


Beside the new development is the old shophouse stretch signalling the beginning of the restaurant belt. Starting with Pizza Hut, it moves on to Lemongrass, KFC etc etc, tons of eateries all the way down.


Then directly opposite is another little building with lotsa eateries and POSB as anchor tenant. Obviously they noticed that UOB opposite them has been doing so well all these years and decided to move closer to the junction. POSB used to have a huge-ass branch further down the road.


Here's the stretch down East Coast Road leading to the rest of the eateries. Lotsa good stuff and I could go on and on but I'm tired liaoz. Haha. As if to highlight the familiarity of the place, we even bumped into my brother!

I love Siglap! One day must move back here!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Its that time of the year again. Haiz, how fast time flies. Suddenly its Christmas all over again. This year there seems to be a more Christmas-sy feel thanks to our trips down to Orchard Road. Really quite happening over there with the crazy people mountain people sea kinda crowds. Festive decors and entertaining displys all round. In fact, we did quite alot of Christmas shopping this year (rare indeed), mainly for myself :P

Bought myself a new handphone! Nothing really fancy except that its got a 5 megapixel camera! Damn happy playing with it. Initially I thought that there was something wrong with it because the camera wouldn't auto-focus. Luckily the wifey sorted that one out for me hehe.


Here's a sample picture.

That's me and the bros at TWC at Ion Orchard last week. Neat eh?

Sigh. Ever had the feeling like you just can't seem to do things right no matter how hard you keep trying? Even after sampling different ways to solve them they just keep popping back at you. Totally sucks big time. I dunno what am I to do.

Avatar & THAT X'mas PJ Party

Just back from watching Avatar. Its the best movie I've watched all year. So good that I think I might watch it again once more (maybe the 3D version this time!). Although the plot's alot like The Last Samurai or Pochahontas, the graphics and the effects were well worth the $11 in the theatre. I wanna have an avatar too!

Yesterday we had a X'mas pyjama party at Simin's place. I guess I wanted to spice things up abit so we went to buy a proper shocker of a getup for myself to wear. I'll just post my best picture of the night below and the rest is up to all your wildest imaginations. :) It was a blast!



Friday was on leave playing golf at Tering Bay. Had a great game. I think I'm really improving!

This whole long weekend would've been the best all year if Manchester United weren't thrashed by Fulham 3:0!

Its Christmas Time In The City

Took a walk down Orchard Road last night. Its been ages since I've done that, but this year's lightings looked pretty bright coupled with the opening of several shopping centres like Ion Orchard, 313 Somerset and Orchard Central, so decided to try a walk from Orchard MRT down to Dhoby Ghaut MRT. Quite a big feat by my standards.

Was pleasantly nice, all the bright lights. In fact, the new shopping centres actually are the brightest and most well decorated. Almost look like the casinos in Macau. Tons of people all over the place though. Felt like it was already the Christmas weekend already. There were a ba-zillion people taking pictures with the Christmas decors along the stretch as well as watching the various street performances. Driving would've been even worse. The traffic was literally crawling at a snail's pace.

Was a nice walk nonetheless.

The bummer of the night had to be watching the new cartoon Planet 51 at Lido cinema. The movie totally sucked big time. Lousy plot and not funny at all. Pui! Go watch Zombieland. Its much much much better!

All I Want For Christmas is a GPMG

Is this not the coolest toy ever ever ever?!

Comes with its own ammo box too!

Brought to you by Nerf.

Wifey had to drag me away else I would have bought it at Isetan...

Sigh.

Broadway Beng: Jiak Liu Lian

Went to watch the 4th installment of the Broadway Beng series last night with the wifey. Really hilarious and entertaining! I think tix are still available if anyone's interested. We watched a Saturday evening show and it wasn't sold out(maybe like 80% full?).

Still the musical's tailored towards locals and appreciation of Hokkien is a must. The old couple sitting beside us looked absolutely morbid while everyone else was laughing hysterically at the skits(probably didn't understand a thing), even with subtitles.

Best bits were the 10-min version of Les Miserables, and the local rendition of Chicago's Cell Block Tango.

Go catch it if you can!

BRPS Pride

Just back from the BRPS SAC meeting which oddly enough, was held at Ramenten at Far East Plaza(maybe we were all trying to act young).

As with most neighbourhood schools, our overall grades have gone up, with the exception of English and Chinese. And one of the students broke the record for best PSLE score this year! 273! Think it broke Shangzhou's record way back in our year.

Go BRPS! Whooooot!

The Long Leave

On leave all week. Yet I feel like going back office to clear some emails perhaps. Its boring at home all alone after awhile of cleaning up and packing up. And there's only so much Facebook and computer games I can play. Monitor the share and fx markets...

Went to the dentist yesterday. Ended up having to do a filling on the back of my two front teeth. Now they feel kinda weird. Luckily everything still looks normal. Guess I have to heed the doc's orders and floss more from now on. $210 bucks man. Lucky can claim. Phew.

Should be going back to office tomorrow before going for the BRPS SAC meeting at Far East Plaza. What a weird place for a meeting to share PSLE results. Haha. Hope they did well this year to compliment the better performance by neighbourhood schools.

Meeting Tsen Yeow/Thomas on Thursday for dinner, since he's back for a one week leave like myself.

Friday is the department Strategy meeting. Sounds like fun. Hur.

Watched The Twighlight Saga: Newmoon on Sunday. Super kiddie show although I kinda enjoyed it, since I never read the books. The wifey read the first book and didn't find this very exciting though. It's always the case that the books are better than the movies. I dunno why. But still its nice the watch a visualisation after all. Go Team Jacob!