4 Weeks Post 60DWCC - Another Week of Drama Serial Marathon

Since we completed the Korean drama serial a couple of weeks ago, life has not been easy for THL and I. We have been watching the "repeat" (currently being aired on Channel U) of it from time to time to help reminisce certain parts of the drama series. Well, this week, we have been hot on the heel of another Hong Kong drama serial 功夫状元 and it seems like we have got past the Korean one and we are now in love with the HK one. LOL!

Day 82 - Saturday

It has been a while since the 3 of us take a long distance bus out to malls that are far away. The term 'faraway' has never sounded so right before when we were still a car owner. This is because we used to be able to easily reach the furthest end of Singapore (think Changi Airport, Pasir Ris) within 30 minutes (on average) by car but now that we are taking SBS buses, it could take as long as 2 hours (includes transferring over to connecting bus or train) to reach the same far flung destination.

Anyhow, we took a feeder bus to Jurong East for brunch before taking a long distance one to Parkway Parade. We have not been to Parkway Parade since we sold our SUV and this is our very first trip there by bus. Wow...it was honestly quite feat by itself since the entire journey was almost 75 minutes. If not for it being an air conditioned bus, the 3 of us would have threw up and lost consciousness along the way.

Few hours later, after we are done with our retail therapy at Parkway Parade, we walked out towards Katong 112 and again we spent another hour there doing our "rounds". When it was almost dinner time, we began to slowly stroll along Joo Chiat road looking out for special or new restaurants/coffee shops to have dinner.

After close to 25 minutes of walking, we chanced upon a coffee shop that sells porridge as well as a huge varieties of cooked food. We decided to give it a shot since we were already hungry and the food looks really delicious.

We were glad we ate there as the food was really nice although it was a little expensive. After our dinner, we continued our exploration around the vicinity and we got lost after a short 30 minutes. We had to re-trace our steps and walked back to the junction near the coffee shop where we had dinner. We then waited 20 minutes for a bus that took us to Kembangan MRt station. From there we took a train to Pasir Ris and then switch over to one that headed all the way back to Jurong East.

We alighted at Jurong East and took a feeder bus home. After we washed up, THL and I continued our pursue of our new love - the HK serial drama 功夫状元. :D

Day 83 - Sunday

Today is another stay home Sunday and THL was kind enough to make the 3 of us both breakfast and lunch. The entire afternoon was spent watching 功夫状元 after we are done with the usual household chores. The 2 of us went out for dinner around 730pm.We bought dinner back for RK.

Needless to say, we again devoted the remaining part of the evening watching 功夫状元.

Day 84 - Monday

THL was down with stomachache early in the morning. While she blamed the dinner we ate last evening at Joo Chiat road, she was the only one that had it. Anyway, she went to see doctor and was given a medical certificate to rest at home for a day.

Complaint from RK's form teacher

The teacher called when I was about to start my daily work and she informed me that RK has not been doing the Math homework and corrections that were given to him weeks ago. She suggested making him stay back after school to have him finish up everything and I agreed. It is time RK be held responsible for his actions. Time for him to grown up, ya?

At 2pm, THL and I went for lunch at the food centre before heading to RK's school to fetch him. I continued working on my project after fetching RK home. With RK doing his homework and THL resting, I was able to fully focus on my work. :D

But my happiness was short-lived as it was dinner soon and with THL cooking dinner for us and RK was pulling my hair and playing his role as a doctor to give me a "health checkup" every 15 minutes. Sigh...

Day 85 - Tuesday

It has been a rather productive day for me and I was able to finish my work around 4pm. With more than 2 hours to spare, I spent some time playing with RK.

THL and I bought dinner home and we spent the rest of the evening watching 功夫状元 with RK watching his favorite Youtube video using my iPad.

Day 86 - Wednesday

Today was another typical day at home. I helped RK revised through his Math worksheets and workbooks in the late afternoon as he is having Math test the next day.

The 3 of us met up at JEM for dinner at CookHouse (Foodcourt at the 6th floor of JEM) before sending RK off for his tuition.

Day 87 -Thursday

Another day spent watching 功夫状元 in the evening with THL while RK indulged himself watching Youtube video.

Day 88 - Friday

RK and I meet up with THL at Jurong Point for dinner at 615pm. We had dinner at MOF in celebration of both RK's forthcoming birthday as well as our 11th year anniversary. RK had his great serving of sushi while THL and I had Spaghetti and Japanese Ramen as our main dish.

After dinner, we bring RK down to a provision shop to get some chocolates and sweets as gifts for his classmates.

RK slept at 10pm while THL and I continued our pursue of the 功夫状元 until 12 midnight.

Transport Expense (Day 81 - 87): $31.91

Day 82: $13.80

Bus Ride:
Home to Jurong East => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 =$1.82
Jurong East to Parkway Parade => $1.82 x 2 + $0.58 = $4.22
Joo Chiat to Kembangan MRT station => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82
Jurong East to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

MRT Rides:
Kembangan to Jurong EastStation => $1.77 x 2 + $0.58 = $4.12

Day 83: $0

Day 84: $6.91

Home to BLSC => $0.73 x 2 = $1.46

Taxi Fare:
BLSC to Home = $5.45


Day 85: $1.66

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

Day 86: $3.74

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to JE Interchange => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09
JE Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82 

Day 87: $1.66

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

Day 88: $4.14

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to Jurong Point => $0.83 + $0.41 = $1.24
Jurong Point to Home => $0.83 x 2 + $0.41 = $2.07

Total Post 60DWCC expenses from Week 1 to Week 4 => $114.67

Weekly Afterthoughts:

We are definitely spending more time at home compared to few months back when we were still owning a car. Although we are no longer spending a lot of time outside aimlessly seeking retail therapy these days, we are still traveling to far away malls once in a while.

The total transport expenditure of $114.67 (lowest ever in the history of 60DWCC) from the past 4 weeks after the 60DWCC is enough to suggest that we should hang on to taking the pubic transports for a while more. :D

3 Weeks Post 60DWCC - Planning and Booking a Family Trip to Hong Kong

2 weeks have quietly slipped by before I realize it is time to update the 60DWCC blog again. For our family, the first 3 months of the year are usually packed with family events, birthdays, anniversaries, CNY, Valentines and so on. Hence it can be quite a challenge to 'find' time to write when we are 'swamped' with so many DVDs to watch (ha!), family to-do lists and so on. By the way, I have run out of excuses and so here goes...

Day 75 - Saturday

Saturday Morning Run

I went for a run this morning. No, I do not usually run on weekends. But I find that it was necessary as I have had too many 'good food" over the week. It is so easy to overeat these days without even realizing it when there are so many luring food temptations going around everyday.

Change of Family Tour Destination

We had to make a another trip to my parents' place due to the fact that the flight vacancies for March have sold out for most ideal tour destinations like Hong Kong and Taiwan. In view of that, we have decided to change the trip to June and instead of going Taiwan, and we have decided to go Hong Kong. THL and I will start to source for June HK packages beginning tonight and we will try to secure the best possible Free and Easy package.

After having dinner at Carl Junior at Jurong Point, we went back home to start working on finding the best online package for Hong Kong for June.

Day 76 - Sunday

THL and I spent most part of the day hunting for good online bargains for trip to Hong Kong in June. As we wanted to take SQ flight, stay at 5 Stars hotel as well as having good accessibility to the MTR station, it was really quite a challenge to finally shortlist a couple few packages that fit our criteria.

We spent the entire day at home with THL cooking both lunch and dinner. In order to get the best possible deal, we have decided to wait a couple of days before booking the tour as there may be price changes during weekdays.

We ended the evening re-watching a Japanese thriller DVD - DeathNote - Part 1.

Day 77 - Monday

Today was a pretty routine day with me performing all the weekly household chores and working on my projects. I also spent some time monitoring the prices of the Hong Kong deal on the website that we intend to book from. As the pricing did not change, we decided to wait for another day and see how it goes.

We watch Deathnote - Part 2 in the evening after our dinner.

Day 78 - Tuesday

I rented some DVDs home today after getting lunch back. To my dismay, instead of going down, the price of the Hong Kong package went up by around $450 today. It was truly unexpected, THL and I regretted not booking it over the weekend. Sigh... THL and I decided to take the risk and wait for another day.

After our dinner, we watch one of the rental DVD - Gravity. It is a relatively new show and it has grabbed many awards and while there are only a few casts throughout the show, the storyline and script were superbly written and in my opinion, it would have been well worth the money even if we choose to watch it in the cinema.

Day 79 - Wednesday

Dry Spell 

It has not been raining for a few months since last December and the weather has gotten very humid. RK and I were feeling hot and sticky even with minimum mobility around the house. It seems this dry weather will persists until late April.

The price of the Hong Kong did not change today and we decided to book it before another round of increase happens.

We spent the evening going through the Hong Kong pictures that we took when we were there in 2010. RK was only 4 and the half years old and it was fun looking back at some of the happy moments that we shared back then.

THL and I also planned out some places of interest to visit when we bring our family there in June.

Day 80 - Thursday

I had dinner with THL at KFC today with RK waiting at home. We bought back RK's share after that and since it is a Wednesday, RK went for his tuition after dinner.

THL and I begin one another drama serial from Hong Kong - 功夫状元 this evening. It was an old DVD package that we bought a few years back and we forgot about it. The starting part of the show was slow and boring but it does get a little better as the show progresses. 

 

Day 81 - Friday

RK and I took a bus down to Jurong East to meet up with THL for dinner at Food Republic - West Gate this evening. This is the first time we are having dinner at the branch in West Gate. 

After dinner, as usual, we walked and shopped around to have with the digestion before heading to get some necessities from NTUC at JEM. We took a bus home after that.

THL and I continued our watching of the 功夫状元 after RK hit the bed at 10pm.

Transport Expenses (Day 75 - 81): $18.67

Day 75: $8.39

Bus Ride:

Home to Bt Panjang => $1.27 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.12

Bt Panjang to Jurong Point => $1.31 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.2

Jurong Point to Home => $0.83 x 2 + $0.41 = $2.07

Day 76: $0

Day 77: $1.66

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

Day 78: $1.66

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

Day 79: $1.66

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

Day 80: $1.56

 

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Lakeside to JW Blk 502=> $0.73

Day 81: $3.74

Lakeside to Home => $0.83

Feeder bus to JE => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09

Feeder Bus from JE to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Weekly Afterthoughts:

Although the trip to Hong Kong for the 3 of us may set us back by about $2k, it is still worthwhile amount of money to spent as it is a once in a lifetime trip to finally have the chance to go on a oversea holiday with my family. Moreover the amount of transport expenses that we have saved from not owning a car have more than pay for the entire trip itself. 

 The 3 of us are looking forward to the Hong Kong trip in June and I will be sure to blog about it when I get back. So stay tune, ok?

2 Weeks Post 60DWCC - A Week of Sinful Food & Melancholy Mood

Another week flew past and here we are still trying to shake off the melancholic mood that grabbed us ever since we finished watching the Korean Drama.

Day 68 - Saturday

Family Day at Bukit Panjang

As THL has to work till 1pm today, the 3 of us met up at Jurong East after I fetch RK from his tuition centre. We had lunch at Lot 1 before taking a bus down to visit my family.

We were there for a few hours. THL and I went to shopped around Bt Panjang Plaza at around 5.30pm and we bought dinner back for the entire family. There were discussions about making a family trip to Taiwan during this coming March school holidays.

THL and I will go source for some packages and we will see if it is feasible to go in March. We took a bus home and continued with our beloved Korean drama after we washed up.

Day 69 - Sunday

Shopping for Taiwan Tour Package at Chinatown

The 3 of us left the house early to catch a bus to Chinatown. There is actually no direct bus to Chinatown and thanks to THL, we ended up at Bt Merah Bus Interchange and had to take another connecting bus to Chinatown.

We had lunch at Yoshinoya (at Chinatown Point) before starting our hunt for Taiwan tour packages. To our disappointments, the pricing for Taiwan or any other destinations for that matter have already gone up and we reckoned that it does not make financial senses to pay a few hundreds more just to hop on a plane in March.

We collected some Taiwan brochures and we asked for pricing for Jun and we were done for the day. Hurray! After that we took a bus from Chinatown to Tanah Merah MRT and took a train down to Bedok Mall.

After hearing our friends talking about it for a while, the 3 of us finally paid our visit to this latest mall in Singapore. While it was not as good as we thought it would be, the varieties of the shops there still took us a couple of hours to browse through.

As for dinner, we had it at Pho Street - a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was quite delicious and the prices are within reasonable range. After dinner, we took a long train ride back to Jurong East and took a feeder bus home.

Despite the tiring day, THL and I still manage to catch an episode of the Korean drama. LOL...

Day 70 - Monday

A Short Retail Therapy at JEM

Today was a typical work day with usual routines. At 545pm - RK and I took a bus down to Jurong East Interchange. We meet up with THL at JEM for dinner at KFC and we shopped around. THL and RK bought a cake and we took a bus home after getting some necessities from NTUC.

Day 71 - Tuesday

Sinful Dinner at Kushinbo

Yeah, we had this sinful dinner at Kushinbo - Jurong Point and the 3 of us ate our full during this close to 3 hours meal.

THL and I had spoilt our stomach silly with snow crabs legs, prawns and Sashimi. We even managed to grab 2 plates of the hourly special food which was a half lobster drenched with black pepper sauce. THL and I were up to our neck with food before we decided to call it a day and foot the bill.

As we were too lazy and to full to walk to the bus interchange, we took a cab home. Such is the hidden cost of a meal at Kushinbo. LOL...

Day 72 - Wednesday

Reporting sick at Polyclinic

Thanks to the last night's dinner at Kushinbo, THL's stomach went on strike this morning and she had to take medical leave today. We took a bus to the JE polyclinic (our virgin trip there as we are huge fans of GP clinics) and upon looking at the huge pools of people there, we sighed and thought it was going to take forever.

But...to our surprise, the queue numbers went around fast and before we knew it, THL has seen the doctor and has collected her medications. All within 90 minutes. Yeah...it was that fast. And guess what, there was even a payment kiosk near the entrance for THL to pay her medical expenses.

The Korea Drama frenzy ended...

Since THL was on sick leave, the 2 of us managed to finish up the Korean drama series. Yeah! Finished watching after close to 7 weeks of consistent watching.

The melancholic mood stuck the both of us hours after finishing the show. It was the kind of sad when it is time to bid farewell to some good friends. As we may not be watching it ever again, both of us were in a somewhat melancholic mood for a few days...hoping that there will be a season 2. Wishful thinking on our part...:D

Day 73 - Thursday

Dinner at MIL House

After RK wakes up from his afternoon nap, both of us took a train down to THL's mum place for dinner. I have always enjoyed having dinner there as the food was always simple but delicious.

After dinner and an hour of chit chat and catching ups, the 3 of us took a train back to Lakeside and took a slow stroll back home. Nice...

Day 74 - Friday

Weekend Mood at JEM

The 3 of us meet up at JCube and we decided to have korean food for dinner at the Kopitiam foodcourt there. Nope...it has nothing to do with the Korean drama that we finished watching few days ago. Feeling sad again as I wrote this...:)

After dinner, we shopped around and I bought 3 pairs of new socks for my morning runs. The current ones are already worn out and it is time to retire them. We had a drink and a piece of fattening dessert (Raspberry Cheesecake) at Coffeebeans to enjoy the rest of the evening before taking a bus back home.

Transport Expenses (Day 68 to 74): $49.00

Day 68: $9.63

Bus Ride: $6.86
Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to Jurong East Interchange (RK and I) => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09
CCK to Bt Panjang => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82
Bt Panjang to Home => $1.27 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.12

MRT Rides:
Jurong East to CCK => $1.11 x 2 + $0.55 = $2.77

Day 69: $17.44

Bus Rides:
Home to Bt Merah Interchange => $1.55 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.68
Bt Merah Interchange to Chinatown => $0.93 x 2 + $0.46 = $2.32
Chinatown to Tanah Merah MRT => $1.51 x 2 + $0.58 = $3.60
JE Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

MRT Rides:
Tanah to Bedok => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82
Bedok to Jurong East => $1.81 x 2 + $0.58 = $4.20

Day 70: $3.74

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to Jurong East Interchange (RK and I) => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09

JE Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Day 71: $8.52

Bus Rides:
Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Home to Jurong Point => $0.83 + $0.41 = $1.24

Taxi Fare:
Jurong Point to Home => $6.45

Day 72: $1.46

Home to Polyclinic => $0.73 x 2 = $1.46

Day 73: $4.47

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

MRT Ride: $3.64
LS to PN => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09
Joo Koon to PN (THL) => $0.73
PN to LS => $0.73 x 2+ $0.36 = $1.82

Day 74: $3.74

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

Home to Jurong East Interchange (RK and I) => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09

JE Interchange to Home => $0.73 x 2 + $0.36 = $1.82

Weekly Afterthoughts:

Wow. The transport expenses for this week was a hefty $49. While it is a huge jump from last week, it is still within reasonable range as we did quite a bit of traveling this week. We have been to Chinatown, Bedok Mall, Bt Panjang and not to forget we even took a cab home on Tuesday after our sinful meal at Kushinbo.

So, all in all, this amount of traveling expenses was expected and it is so insignificant when compared to that of owning a car.

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 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 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!