Monday, May 26, 2008
Except that I emptied my junk mail folder like on Friday.. today it has crept up to 364 (
update: 390 by 4pm). Thank goodness for GMAIL.
I just spent the whole weekend loling about (walking aimlessly around malls, got my nails done, read some books, slept, knit, laze, etc)... until I got so bored I bugged HY out of his sofa and korean drama series until he didnt know what to do with me. He had to entertain me with my endless banter of nonsense.. answer my stupid questions to what was going on in the korean drama series (why is that guy evil? Is this now a triangle love? Who is in love with who now? Whe he doesnt like her? why is she crying? why is HE crying??) and etc.
*heh* I wonder if my daughter would be like that as well.
I kinda think HY regretted that he listened to me saying I "didnt want to go anywhere or walk anywhere tiring or go to town". Cos going to town will exhaust me and will leave him alone for at least a couple of hours of peace so he can at least concentrate on his korean drama series.
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We've had someone over interested in buying our current unit that we are renting the other day. So before the property agent and the prospective buyer came, we cleaned the place.
Honestly, I dont know why we even bother.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Have you all seen the latest Indiana Jones movie lately? I saw it at 12am on a Friday night. Seriously? I dont know what's going on with the aliens and stuff. Only after HY explained to me on certain aspects AFTER the movie, only then I got it. (0_0)
I didnt know I could be this
slow. I must be too uncomfortable to sit in the cinema for 2 hours long cos throughout, I was kinda shifting in my seat cos my butt is too sore from the weight I'm carrying. Not really concentrating on the movie. Oh well.
The next movie I wanna see is Made of Honour. But I'll wait for the DVD for that. At least we could pause for toilet / snackie break and I could cuddle my pillow while watching.
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Gosh.. for a post that is titled "No new updates" ... this post has been long and boring enough. ;) Well at least I am still alive and growing happily fatter by the week.
Labels: Random
Friday, May 23, 2008
Call to 'teach' women on polygamy raises heckles
THE discussion on problems afflicting the Syariah Courts caused a ruckus after Ibrahim Ali (Ind – Pasir Mas) called for a campaign on the concept of polygamy to be taught to all women to end such problems.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic Affairs, Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, fielded questions from the Opposition on delays in settling Syariah cases with Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR – Ampang) saying it was “very painful” for a woman to have to go to court three separate times to settle a case.
“A woman has to go once for the divorce, once again for custody and again for property division. It is extremely painful for them.”
Fuziah Salleh (PKR – Kuantan) then asked if Syariah Court counsellors were qualified, pointing out that she had received numerous complaints about how the woman was always blamed for everything.
“They are not counselled but given 'advice.' And every time, they are told that the woman is to be blamed. If it is a family problem, they must be patient. If they are beaten up, they must also be patient,” she said.
As Ahmad Zahid was about to answer, Ibrahim stood up to say that such cases would not stop happening as the population was increasing and divorces were taking place daily.
“Such problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy. From a preventive point of view, what about doing a big campaign so that women can accept polygamy?” he asked.
Ibrahim said women did not understand that when they were pregnant for nine months, or had “problems” when they hit their 50s, their men still wanted to “have fun”.
“So the man wants to marry again, and the wife gets jealous and asks for a divorce.”
This caused Zuraida to stand up and say that a gender approach was very demeaning.
Ahmad Zahid agreed, saying: “That man is a male chauvinist.” To this, Ibrahim giggled.
When Ibrahim said that it was allowed from the Islamic point of view, Zuraida hit back and said men must be held to blame, too.
When the House finally calmed down, Ahmad Zahid said although prevention could also be looked into, what was important was to take care of the family.
From http://www.thestar.com.my/.
Doesnt it make your blood boil? This is funnier than reading http://www.thesuperficial.com/. I wonder if this is what he experience when his wife is pregnant for 9 months or have "problems" when they hit their 50's.
Labels: In todays news, Random
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Read this in The Star newspaper today:
School uniform sexy, says
group
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform
worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital
sex.
"The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it
becomes a source of attraction," National Islamic Students Association of
Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.
"It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it,
whether or not they like looking at it," she said, calling for a review of
uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.
In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays
as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools
have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or
pinafore.
They may also wear a "baju kurung" and a headscarf is
optional for Malay students.
Munirah said that "covering up" according to Islamic
precepts was important to fend off social ills, including "rape, sexual
harassment and even premarital sex."
"This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an
extent, even prostitution," she said.
"Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and
protect women from any untoward situations," she said, suggesting that girls
wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment.
However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism,
with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure
men.
"This is the source of the problem, where we can see that
schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them,"
Munirah said.
"This could see them getting molested, having premarital
sex and all sorts of things." – AFP
WADDAHECK? I think what the society needs to do is to educate the immoral people instead of blaming the dress code. I thought the uniform dress code was set up by the nation eons ago? Its not like the girls are wearing bikinis to school. If they want, please make better and thicker blouses AND make it affordable! I think the school uniform is modest enough. Even though we implement burkhas as uniforms, there still will be immoral people around preying on students! And then the whole hoo ha again. Aiyoh.. when is this going to stop leh?
Labels: School uniforms
Monday, May 19, 2008
I'm so going to miss my current place.. but I have to move. But we've found a suitable place! We've put down a deposit and all, and hopefully it comes back positive. Hopefully the landlord wants us! Yay! I dont have to stress looking anymore. Its a little further to the MRT than what we've intended to be, and a little bit wee out of the way, but its OK.
Most importantly its something to come home to and waaay better than the other places that we've seen.
We're moving (please please landlord approve us we are nice people!)! I'm already deciding what color curtains to put up (heh)
Labels: Rental in Singapore
Pregnancy can sometimes overwhelm you. You grunt when you get up. You bloat with water. Your face is rounder.. generally everything is rounder.
It can make you feel like a whale.
Even buying pregnancy clothes doesnt help. It feels like you are wearing a TENT. So how get over this feeling of whale-ness?
Dress up your hair. Being pregnant doesnt mean you are exempt from the general rules of hair-keeping. Dont like your face round? Style your hair as such that it slims down your face. Of course, you are not permitted to do chemical treatments to your hair. Ask your friendly stylist (that you trust) on how to maximise your hair potential without chemical treatments.
Put on make up. Studies show that if you looking good makes you feel good. Enuff said. Cover those eyebags that was a result of getting up 10x a day to pee or to switch positions throughout the night.
Get a new.. whatever that makes you happy. In my opinion, I cant buy nice Jimmy Choo shoes because my feet bloats. I cant buy nice Zara outfits cos I'm a whale. So I'm looking forward to buy the safest bet anyone can buy during pregnancy (besides food ~~ I'm on a restricted diet)..... a BAG! I'm looking around online and in the shops to find the best price for a designer bag to make me happy. Getting to look at it makes me happy. Getting to own it in the near future makes me even more happy and distracted from my whale figure. I'm still hunting by the way. *heee*
Labels: Pregnancy
Friday, May 16, 2008
With the property market so hot nowadays, renting a unit at a reasonable price is NOT easy. Its like going for a war. Whenever we are going to view a unit we have to strategise Strategise and STRATEGISE! We talk about scenarios and how are we going to respond.
Like the current unit we are going to view today, is reasonable, near and quiet. The only thing is that its quiet.. so it doesnt have much amenities.. hence cheaper than the rest of the areas around Singapore. We really liked the place, so this is how our conversation went:
HY: We will say we can move in mid June or early July, only if the landlady insist if she wants tennants immediately, then we will try to talk it out
Me: If the place not nice how?
HY: Not nice then find another place la. If the place is nice we put in deposit straight away.
Me: If got alot of pple view the unit?
HY: We go there early. Viewing 9pm? We go at 8.30pm. Call agent. We are HEEEERRREEEE.
Me: WAHLAO.
I've viewed so many units with ridiculous demands and expectations from the land lords. Such high price but far away, bad condition, unfurnished and plain STUPID (the kitchen does not have kitchen cabinets, walls are cracking, Its not easy to find a flat like my current condition with many built in furnitures, although my current unit is quite gloomy.. its convenient and most importantly, renovated!
I'm so going to miss my current place.
Labels: Rental in Singapore
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
When I go blog trawling, there are alot of things happening around me.
There are people travelling around the world, doing loads of arty farty things, taking beautiful photography, etc.
Makes me wonder.. how about me? I would love to do these stuff.. if only.. i had the energy and time to do so. Problem is, whenever I do have time, I have no energy, and so I rest so that I can actually function on my normal work day. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on something. I always say.. there is always time.. but as I'm getting older, I'm getting more and more impatient. I need an outlet. Thats why I took up knitting in the first place. However, now its really going nowhere as I'm just too tired to focus. I cant sit for long and I get uncomfortable even when I sleep. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Aye. I'm getting old. I wanna do stuff but cant. Makes me wish I could take 6 months off doing nothing for the first month or so, and the rest of the months doing what I really like. How Hubby Yap? Can sponsor or not?
Labels: Random
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
We were planning to go back to KL during the "peak" season and we couldnt get any bus tickets back. Ok so.. we couldnt get any
comfortable bus tickets back because now that I am expecting, we have to sacrifice abit on cost for comfort. So we deliberated on air tickets. Although it takes roughly about the same time as the bus (checking in, security checks and all) at least I'm not confined to a seat for 5 hours.
Since they opened the flights between Singapore and KL to the low cost carriers, we've got more choices (??). Look what I've found:
Air Asia ... everyone can fly (click for a larger view):
Total cost for 2 adults:
SGD660 (yah I know you fly from KL cheaper.. but hello? I need to get back from SG not KL?).
Tiger Airways (click for a larger view)
:
Total cost for 2 adults:
SGD591.96
And the winnah is:
Japan Airlines (click for a larger view) via
Zuji:
Total cost for 2 adults:
SGD450Note that all of them travel during the same date.
So ladies and gentlemen, please do not be fooled by cheap "SGD9 / 16 / 100" air tickets offered by low cost carriers. They have hidden charges such as "admin fees: SGD50" etc etc. If you look at JAL's offer, even though their air tickets cost higher, they are quoted as SGD 150 return tickets. So please do check Zuji for offers first before you commit yourself to buying "low cost" air tickets.
The low cost carrier tickets are cheap at certain dates that are off peak and they have weird timings. If you dont mind those, it would be great. But really, the low cost air tickets are NOT REALLY low cost for this case. I would rather pay JAL and get an economy class treatment with drinks and proper seating and pillows for my own comfort for LESS.
Labels: cheap air tickets
Monday, May 12, 2008
There is a packet of Lay's Sour Cream & Onion waiting in the pantry cupboard to be eaten. I am so tempted to eat them up (the whole big packet yes..). But something stopped me.
The dreaded WATER RETENTION. I dont want to wake up on a Friday morning, especially when I'm due to meet a partner for a scheduled meeting looking like
a puffer fish *POOUFFF*
Na-AH no way.. I shall just whine in my sleep.
Labels: Pregnancy
Friday, May 09, 2008
Ok so these are the baby knits I've knitted the past month:
Baby cardi
Baby dress
I had way too much yellow yarn. But they are adorable right? I sewed on some buttons on the cardigan. I dont know how old she will be able to wear them... but I cant wait
Labels: baby knits
Thursday, May 08, 2008
These past few weeks we have been house hunting, finding the right price, place and time. Its not easy especially if you are currently renting and waiting on tenterhooks to be kicked out (our landlady wants to sell the flat).
Most future landlords would want IMMEDIATE move in. For us, we still need time to move out of our current place (that would mean spillover of rents between the two places), tidy the new place, etc etc. We technically cant move yet.. cos our rental agreement is not up... but if we dont find or look soon enough, we might be out in the streets with our belongings with no where appropriate to stay. *dillema*
We viewed a flat today. It was really nice. The price is right and the location is ok. But the thing is, the rental market is so hot, loads of potential rentees were there. So we all ended up filling up forms as "potential tennants" and the landlords will take their time to look and see who they like and obviously offer more. I pray hard we can get this flat on the terms we want. The only thing is that this flat doesnt have airconditioning.
*sigh*
Labels: Rental in Singapore
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
How fat she has grown, how big her belly is, how many inches extra her bum has expanded, how round her face has become.Please dont tell, guess, ask and dont say a word. I feel hormonal enough.
=END=
Labels: courtesy, Pregnancy
Monday, May 05, 2008
Firstly, the news of the increase in GST hike from 5% to 7%. Then the news of property boom. We were lucky because really affected by the mad selling property boom, mainly because my landlady was gracious enough to keep the rental down and didnt want to sell the flat just yet.
Now, since the news of my land lady wanting to sell the flat away, we are busy looking for a new flat. We've scoured online and newspaper classified ads. And its really disheartening to see that people are really taking advantage of the situation to hike up the rental market for a reasonably nice fully furnished 2 room
flat (ie 2 bedrooms, 1 hall, 2 bathrooms.. not those types with a hole in the ground, kitchen) to $2,500 (not even near MRT or town area). Its crazy. The asking price for the whole flat? $300,000. Valuation by the government for the same flat? $260,000. Loan only gives 80% of the valuation. The total cash that you have to fork out? $92,000. You tell me, how to afford a place here?
Now the increase in rice which in turn also increased OTHER costs... (go figure). These little bit of things add up to one BIG headache. Added with the fact that I'm currently expecting. We are not earning mega bucks in Singapore terms. We are here to save for a future. At this point, we are thinking whether its still viable to actually work here at all, when half of my salary goes into rental and the increase in costs. I'm wondering if all foreigners in Singapore is thinking of the same thing (for those whose rentals are not paid by their companies, and all middle class income earners). I'm wondering how companies keep up with paying their expats' rentals for them to stay in condominiums. Some of them costs above $3,000 - $4,000 per month.
I've come accross forums where there are people complaining about this fact and some nasty commentors asking us foreign workers to play far far away. Hmm.. maybe we should then. ;) We'll see how Singapore will float after this. Otherwise, why would they promote foreign talent anyway if they dont really need us?
Anyway, since the scarce of affordable flats, more and more Singaporeans are looking towards resale flats... and they themselves also cannot afford it. Ironic isnt it?
Labels: cost of living, Rental in Singapore
