Day 59 of the 60DWCC - Dinner at JCube Foodcourt

As it was already 5.30pm by the time I finished the last bit of my scheduled work for the day, RK and I quickly took a bus to Jurong East to meet up with THL to deposit some cash (mostly from RK's CNY red packets) at the POSB ATMs outside the CPF building.

There was quite a long queue but it was nothing compared to the one I saw last night at Jurong Point - can you imagine some 50 to 60 people in front of you queuing up to deposit cash? What kind of horrible nightmare is that??

After we are done with the cash deposit, we make our way to JCube. We checked out the food court at the basement to see if it was already packed. To our delightful surprise, the foodcourt was only half full so we had our dinner there. We order the pepper lunch from one of the stalls and since it was having a discount, we ordered 3 set meals for only $6.90 each. It is not everyday that you see such delicious deals. :D

After dinner, we walked over to West Gate for THL to grab some breads for breakfast. After that we walked over to JEM where THL bought herself a piece of neck wear. After that we took a bus home and ended the evening watching the Korean drama again. :D I guess we are truly addicted to the Korean drama already, aren't we?

Transport Expenses: $3.74

Bus Rides:
Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to Jurong East => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09
Jurong East Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Daily Afterthoughts:

One more day to go and we are at Day 60 of the challenge already, time really flies, doesn't it? As the days gone by, the urge to quickly get another car diminishes and for now, I will really want to see if there is really a true need to get one.

My mum's health has gone downhill since last 2 years and if I had to get a car, it would probably be for the convenience of fetching her for her many medical appointments at NUH and SGH every other weeks.

Day 58 of the 60DWCC - Rushed Errands and Shopping at Jurong Point

As RK has tuition this evening, THL and I arranged to meet up at another coffeeshop nearby to have our dinner. After we send RK in for his tuition, THL and I took a bus to Jurong Point and we were kind of a rush since we only have 90 minutes before we have to fetch RK back from his tuition centre.

And guess what, there was not a single bus going to Jurong Point for a whole 17 minutes and by the time we reached Jurong Point, 30 odd minutes have passed. THL and I had to split up and rush through our errands and for me to buy a few things from the DIY shop. By the time we meet up again at Popular Book store, 80 minutes have passed and we have less than 10 minutes to travel back to fetch RK.

After we hopped on the next bus home, I had to send a SMS to the tuition teacher to inform her that we will be late in fetching RK. We manage to fetch RK but we were 15 minutes late.

We spent the rest of the night watching the Korean drama after RK has gone to bed.

Transport Expenses: $4.98


Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Boon Lay Interchange to Home => $0.83

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL & I) => $0.83 x 2 = $1.66
Boon Lay Interchange to Home => $0.83 x 2 = $1.66

Daily Afterthoughts:

We were rushing against time this evening and it is always during such moments that the thoughts of getting a car flood my mind. Yeah, with a car, I would have saved that 17 minutes waiting for a bus. How efficient and time saving.

But 10 minutes later, it dawned back on me that I would have spent 17 minutes inside a car looking for a parking lot inside Jurong Point during peak hours like this evening. So what difference would it made owning a car,the logical part of my brain shouts reasons back? As we are always so used to our personal comfort zone, once in a while we should really get out of it and experience something difference and see how we fare. Feeling like taking up the challenge like we are doing now? :)

Day 55 of the 60DWCC - Day Out at Suntec City, Marina Square and Raffles City

Lunch at Suntec City - Food Republic

The 3 of us stayed at home the entire morning doing our own stuff. At noon, we set out to Suntec by taking Bus 502 directly to Suntec City. We had our lunch at Food Republic - the newly opened food court at Suntec City. The food there while expensive, the quality is well above average.

After we filled our stomach, we took a stroll around the newly renovated Suntec City as well as the newly open Giant Supermart. We even stop by the small scale Asian Art gallery at the 2nd floor.

After that we walked around Marina Square and had a short teabreak at St Marc Cafe. We had a dessert and a drink each.

The Long Walk

After that, we walked through the long stretch of City Link and reached Raffles City. A place that we have not visited for ages. We walked around Robinson and around some of the shops at the basement floor.

We had dinner at Grandma's restaurant. The food there is nice but overprice in our opinion. 

As it was already quite late already - we took a cab home after walking around Jason Marketplace. 

Transport Expenses: $28.07

Bus Ride:

Bus 502 to Suntec => $2.37 x 2 + $0.88 = $5.62

Taxi Ride:

From Raffles City to Home =>$22.45

Daily Afterthoughts:

Although food and transport expenses for the entire day are well above the average days, it was totally worth it in my opinion. We traveled to new places today (Raffles City and City Link, some new areas in Suntec City) and had some reasonably acceptable dessert and dinner. Most importantly we have enjoyed each other's company and without the nagging car expenses at the back of our mind, we were able to thoroughly enjoy ourselves today.

Day 52 of the 60DWCC - Final Round of CNY Shopping at JEM

Although THL and I have declared that there is nothing else we will need to get for CNY, there is always something that we will buy whenever we do window shopping.

After we do our last swiping of credit card, we had lunch at HANs. The food wasn't really nice today but it is bearable for our already hungry stomachs.

We took a feeder bus home after that. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some light touchups. As we were too lazy to cook, THL and I went down to a nearby McDonalds and bought back dinner.

We spent the rest of the evening watch TV shows and the all popular CNY countdown variety at 10.30pm.

Transport Expenses: $2.91

Bus Rides:
Feeder bus to Jurong East => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09
Feeder bus from Jurong East to Home -> $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Daily Afterthoughts:

The ultimate challenge that we feared most is tomorrow. The first day of the Chinese New Year. As we do not know what kind of transport challenge we will get into, we are all hoping for the best tomorrow.

Pray for us...:D

Day 51 of the 60DWCC - Another Round of Shopping for CNY Goodies

Today is a pretty routine day. Apart from me tying up some loose ends from the spring cleaning done a couple of days ago, there isn't much thing to write about.

As for evening time, after sending RK to his tuition class, THL and I made another trip down to the nearby central to check out more CNY goodies. We were also trying to get a new dustbin for the kitchen too, but too bad we did not see any that suits our need and taste. :)

Although we have declared that we have enough CNY goodies already since we do not really have that many visitors to our house during CNY period, we still ended up getting a few more - just in case. :)

The rest of the evening was spent watch the last episode of the TV drama from Channel U namely Served Hot.

Transport Expenses: $4.78

Bus Rides:
Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Boon Lay Interchange to Home => $0.83
Home to Nearby Central => $0.83 x 2 = $1.66
Nearby Central to Home => $0.73 x 2 = $1.46

Daily Afterthoughts:

Wow...9 more days and the 60 Days Without Car Challenge will officially ends. Will we get another car soon after that? Well, while the temptation to quickly grab another car is there, much considerations have to be taken this time round. Moreover we are still keen in waiting for MAS's latest ruling on car loan and percentage to be loaned to come out. So while waiting for that, we might go browse around for a few models that we are earmarked so far.

And who knows, we might just grab another one if the bargain is superbly good. :)

Day 48 of the 60DWCC - Reunion Dinner for the 3 of Us

Sunday morning is the perfect day to laze around in bed. The 3 of us woke up around 930am. After breakfast, we resumed our spring clean activities until late afternoon. We took a nap after having lunch cooked by our in-house chef (THL). :)

THL and I decided that we should have our reunion dinner today instead of waiting until a few days before the CNY eve. Most of the kitchen chef would have returned home (foreigners) and local ones would have taken leave to do their last minute CNY preparation. So what's left would be those relief chef whom the skills could be sub-par compared to those full-time chef.

Therefore THL and I decided to have our reunion dinner early. We took a bus to JEM and we had our dinner at Ambush -a casual European dining restaurant. You may be wondering why are we not having our reunion dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Well, since there is only 3 of us, it does not really matter what we eat for reunion dinner. It really doesn't matter what we eat so long the 3 of us are together.

After the dinner, we bought some necessities from NTUC before taking a feeder bus home.

Transport Expenses: $3.64

Bus Rides:
Home to Jurong East Interchange => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82
Jurong East Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Daily Afterthoughts:

Actually the 3 of us do not really to have reunion dinner because we are practically having dinner together every other day. :) But since it is a once a year event, it is still heartening that we go out somewhere as a family to enjoy a good meal together.

To many more good and memorable years ahead!

Day 47 of the 60DWCC - Evening Out at IKEA

As it was a Saturday, we woke up late. At 10am, the 3 of us have breakfast at the coffeeshop near our house. THL and I took a bus to Jurong East Central after sending RK off to the tuition centre.

We have not been to Jurong East central ever since we sold the car. Although there is nothing in mind that we wanted to buy but we still ended up buying some brushes for the toilet and a floor mat for the kitchen.

THL and I started another round of spring cleaning after fetching RK back from the tuition centre. It was not until evening time that we finished the planned spring cleaning activities for the day.

We took a bus down to Alexandra after washing up. We had dinner at Alexandra food centre before walking over to IKEA to get some stuff (e.g. Kitchen push cart) that we have on our To-Buy list.

As one of the items purchased was heavy and bulky, we have no choice but to take a Taxi home. Thank goodness it was already out of peak hour and therefore the cab fare was only $14.40 upon reaching our place.

We ended the night catching up with our Korean drama (DVD version).

Transport Expenses: $20.84

Bus Rides:

Bus to JE Central => $0.73 x 2 = $1.46

JE Central back to Home => $0.73 x 2 = $1.46

Home to Alexandra => $1.47 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.52

Taxi Fare:

IKEA to Home => $14.40

Daily Afterthoughts:

Today is another instance whereby it is more useful and convenient to have a car than to take public transport. We would have been in a drastic situation had IKEA not provide the shoppers with a Taxi stand. We would have to carry our heavy stuff and walk out to the main road to either hail a cab or to take a bus back home carrying our heavy stuff. 

As the distance back to our home is not exactly a stone throw away from the nearest bus stop, it would have been very tiring to carry the heavy stuff all the way back home. Or what if the weather turned bad on our way home and we have to wait for hours for the rain to stop? Owning a car in such cases would have help us avoid such pain points but then how often do we find ourselves in such all-bad-cards-in-a-row situation? 

Once in a while...I reckon.

Day 46 of the 60DWCC - Another Spring Cleaning Day

After my morning run and breakfast, I began the spring cleaning work for both our living and study room. Besides spring cleaning, I also moved some furniture around to make the house more space efficient. The moving of those super heavy furniture was indeed back-breaking but I manage to get them moved single-handedly. A round of applause for me, please.

After getting the furniture moved, I started to spring clean and get rid of junks that have been lying around for months, if not years. I stopped at around noon and start to make preparation for RK's return.

It was another afternoon with me doing my work and RK taking his afternoon nap. We met up THL for dinner at Jurong Point and we bought a few items off our To-Buy list. We took a bus home after that.

Transport Expenses: $3.89

Bus Rides:

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83

Home to Jurong Point (RK and I) => $0.83 + $0.41 => $1.24

Juroing Point to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Daily Afterthoughts:

I was surprise how much real estate was reclaimed inside the house with the proper placement of furniture and throwing away of unwanted junks. We probably moved in too much junks from our old house few years ago. Yes, I was also shocked that some of the junks have been with us since we moved in 3 years ago and we have not used them once. 

Do you have lots of underutilized junks at home? How often do you get rid of them?

Day 42 of the 60DWCC - Pre Chinese New Year Spring Cleaning Tasks

With CNY being about 11 days away, I reckoned that it was time to draw up a list of spring cleaning tasks. Although we have been doing weekly housekeeping and cleansing chores, there are things that we only do once a year like clearing of junks and white elephants inside the storeroom as well as   cleansing of windows around the house among other things.

• Washing and cleansing of standing fans
• Clearing of junks from storeroom
• Cleansing of windows around the house
• Shifting and moving of furniture around the house
• Clearing and sorting of Music CDs, DVDs in and around TV console
• Clearing of junks from Kitchen cabinets
• Clearing of unwanted clothing from our wardrobes
• Clearing and sorting of RK's toys
• Clearing of cobweb from the ceilings around the whole
• Removal and dismantling of unwanted and spoilt furniture

The above list does not include routine activities like vacuuming and mopping of floors, washing of toilets and mirrors etc.

The 3 of us did not go anywhere today. THL came back home after getting dinner. We will be making a trip to IKEA over the weekends to get some items.

Transport Expenses: $1.66

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Boon Lay Interchange to Home => $0.83

Daily Afterthoughts:

THL and I are looking forward to the ultimate challenge that is coming our way - the inconvenience of not owning a car during the CNY period. While it may not turn out to be as bad as we would think, we are already mentally prepared that it is going to be a tough ride especially if the weather becomes unfriendly during the CNY period. We are keeping our fingers crossed. :)

Day 41 of the 60DWCC - Chinese New Year Decor Shopping Spree (Part 2)

As the amount of CNY decor we have got is somewhat lacking, we decided to visit Chinatown today to buy some more as well as to continue our traditional practice (THL and I have been doing that over the past many years) of visiting the CNY stalls at Chinatown every once a year.

The 3 of us left the house early since it is a Sunday and it is fast approaching Chinese New Year. We had breakfast at Wendy's which is located underneath the Jurong East MRT station.

After breakfast, we took a train to Clementi station and took a connecting bus to Chinatown. Upon reaching there, we first went to OG to shop for THL and RK's clothing. We bought a pair of shoe and a few clothing for RK. THL also bought herself 3 pieces of upper wear. 

After we are done with OG, we crossed over and started our CNY stall tour at Pagoda street. We bought a few sets of CNY decor as well as some fries and drinks from McDonalds. 

After we have finished our annual "Tour of Duty" at Chinatown, we took a bus back to Clementi central. We had lunch at the Japanese restaurant at CityVibes.

After our late lunch, we took a train to Jurong Point. We had a bite at Durian Empire before leaving for home. THL cooked some light stuff for dinner and we spent the night watching some TV shows.

Transport Expenses: $15.43

Bus Rides:

Feeder bus to JE => $.073 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Bus from Clementi to Chinatown => $1.35 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.28

Bus from Chinatown back to Clementi => $1.47 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.52

Bus from Boon Lay Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

MRT Rides:

Train from JE to Clementi => $0.83 x 2 + $0.41 = $2.07

Clementi to Boon Lay => $1.17 x 2 + $0.58 = $2.92

Daily Afterthoughts:

Since we have started taking public transport, we have the chance to visit quite a few new places which we normally would not visit had we still own a car. It is through these many bus rides that we have started to discover many interesting shops and eateries around Singapore. Now that the 3 of us have gotten used to taking public transport, there is a very high chance that we will continue to take public transportation even after the 60DWCC. We will most likely continue to go car-less unless the MAS make positive changes such that car loan can be serviced over a long period than the existing 60 months as well as for the car loan percentage to go beyond the existing 50%.

Day 40 of the 60DWCC - Chinese New Year Decor Shopping Spree (Part 1)

With the Chinese New Year approaching, THL and I have been wanting to get some nice looking and auspicious CNY decor for our house.

After having our breakfast at a town central which is very near to our place, we began our hunt for CNY decor. Many of the shops are already selling these CNY decor and without careful comparison of the pricing, there is a high chance that you will pay a lot more for the exact same CNY decor. In fact, we actually fall victim to this. We bought this very nice CNY decor from one shop at $4.80 and found out that the exact same decor sold at another shop down the road was only $2.00. OMG!

During these CNY period, there are always some dishonest shops that are out to make a killing jacking up the prices of their CNY related decor and product. Such shops will usually the ones with very little customers and if you are in a hurry (like we did), you will most definitely fall prey to their jacked up pricing and pay a lot more for the same decor that is sold at a nearby stall or shop. If you can afford the time, it is always advised to do a price comparison across a few shops. These items have not standard price so it is up to the shop owner to set their own price.

We stayed at home the rest of the day. THL cooked lunch and we spent the afternoon watching some TV shows and DVDs.

We had reunion dinner with THL's family in the evening and we took a bus home after that. The coffeeshop that we have our reunion dinner was super packed. This is because the food from the Zi-Char stall is really good and since it is fast approaching CNY, a lot of Kiasu families (including ours) will want to have their reunion dinner early so as to beat the last minute queues.

Transport Expenses: $8.68

Bus Ride:

Bus to nearby Town central => $0.83 x 2 + $0.36 => $2.02
Nearby Town Central to home => $0.83 x 2 + $0.36 => $2.02
Home to Street 91 Coffeehop => $0.93 x 2 + $0.46 => $2.32
Street 91 Coffeehop to Home => $0.93 x 2 + $0.46 => $2.32

Daily Afterthoughts:

The weather has been very nice over the last month and it has make doing the 60DWCC a lot easier than I thought. The worst nightmare for me when it comes to talking public transport (talking about taking bus here) is having to battle against the adverse weather like hot scotching sun and ain storm that is so heavy, even having an umbrella will not prevent you from getting wet.

So yeah, I am glad the weather has been friendly to us over the month and I hope it will continue to the end of the 60DWCC. :)