Day 54 of the 60DWCC - Another Run at Chinese Garden

Morning Run at Chinese Garden

Yeah, I know what you are thinking, who would go for an early run on the second day of the Chinese New Year, ya? Well, RK and I woke up early and since we would not be visiting anyone so early in the morning, we thought why not go for a run as there will be fewer people and hence more fresh air for us. :D

As usual, we began the run near the canal nearby our house and we run all the way to the Chinese Garden, stopping a few times for RK to catch his breath. Once we are inside, we alternate between walking and jogging for the rest of the journey to the pagoda.

Enjoying the Cool Morning Breeze on Top of the Pagoda

Yeah, both of us went up the Pagoda again. Wish THL was here with us, she would have enjoyed it. Well, at her current state of mentality and fitness, such rigorous exercise may not be suitable for her. Anyhow, we enjoyed the morning breeze high up in the sky and we stayed for almost 30 minutes before making our way back to the ground floor.

Taking a Break at Japanese Garden

We jogged and walked for another few hundred metres before stopping at a very windy shade at Japanese Garden. There was a few photographers flashing their expensive camera trying to snap picture of a kingfisher that is resting on a piece of white colored rock.

RK and I took a break. I lied down for a bit to enjoy the cool breeze while RK entertained himself by throwing some small pebbles into the nearby pond. I wonder how many fishes he has killed within that few minutes. :)

We catch a MRT home as RK was obviously not in the shape to run back to our house. We bought breakfast home on our way home.

THL Cooks For Her In-Laws - Was it a Disaster?

My parents and sister came by our house around 4pm. While RK and I were entertaining them in the living room, THL was in the kitchen whipping up dinner for us. THL prepared Spaghetti for us all. Was it nice? Well....my mum finished the entire plate including the chicken drumlets. She could hardly walk after that due to bloated stomach. Hee...

 Nice CNY Movie at Jurong Point GV

After the "sumptuous" dinner at home, we finally reached Jurong Point. We waited for a while before we were allowed into the cinemas. The movie was quite entertaining and funny and my whole family enjoyed it.

We took bus home after that movie and we catch a little bit of the Korean drama that we have been watching after RK went to bed.

Transport Expenses: $5.23

Bus Rides:
Home to Jurong Point => $0.83 x 2 + $0.41 = $2.07
Jurong Point back to Home => $0.83 x 2 + $0.41 = $2.07

MRT Ride:
Chinese Garden to Home => $0.73 + $0.36 = $1.09

Daily Afterthoughts:

54 days have passed since we sold our SUV and the 3 of us have certainly gotten used to taking public transport for our daily traveling needs. The only thing that we (especially RK and THL) have not gotten used to is that we have to wake up so early in the morning. I am considering whether I should bring RK to school by taking a direct bus (6 stops) to school on certain days of the week so that he could catch another hour of sleep? Perhaps...I may go for a trial run soon....

Day 38 of the 60DWCC - Another Unproductive Day

RK comes home early every Thursday thus I am essentially left with only 4 hours of working time after I am done with my morning run and washing up activities.

While it is convenient to let RK attach himself to the Internet or Youtube for the entire afternoon when he is home, I do not feel comfortable with it at all. First of all, he may spoil his eyesight over prolong exposure to computer screen.

There is also a high tendency for him to get addicted (which I suspect he already is) and lastly God know what else he may get exposed to other than watching Mr Bean and some animated cartoons. There is a high chance he may get exposed to "X Rated" stuff unknowingly.

The adult filtering feature is not foolproof and let's not forget RK is an extremely smart kid. I suspect he may already know his way around all the Youtube settings. Moreover cyber crimes are at its all time high now hence I definitely want to ensure that RK is clear from such stuff at his current age.

Therefore whenever he is with the computer, I will have to occasionally check on him to see how he is up to. Apart from that, I will usually talk to him about what he learns in school and allowing him to tell me some of the interesting stuff in school. As THL has a dinner date with her colleagues this evening, I spent the entire evening with RK. We had dinner together, played some online games together, remember the Fireboy and Watergirl game that I told you about. Well, we did play a little bit of that. And of course we did watch some of the Mr Bean animated series too.

Although it was a unproductive day for me, it is well worth it as I was able to spent some quality time with RK. He is at the age where he needs a lot of attention from the parents and I will try my very best to spend as much time with him so as to add in some memorable memories to his childhood. :)

Transport Expenses: $2.99

Home to Boon Lay Interchange (THL) => $0.83
Bus to Taman Jurong Food Centre => $0.73
Taman Jurong to Home (THL) => $1.43

Daily Afterthoughts:

Ever since we sold away the SUV, the amount of outdoor activities with RK has gone down dramatically. I used to bring RK down to West Coast Park or Chinese Garden to play Frisbee or soccer and ever since we went car-less, such activities have been shelved. In view of that, I already have plans to bring RK out for more running or hiking activities whenever my schedules allow.

Day 35 of the 60DWCC - I Love Mondays

Ever since I left the corporate jungle, I no longer hate Mondays. Why?

Mondays no longer symbolize as first working day of the week. No, not to me anymore.

I have began to love Mondays now. To me, Monday now means I have more personal time to do my own works, at my own pace and speed. No more bosses (some with bad breath) breathing down my neck, no more nasty soon-to-be 8 years old monster attempting to pull me away from my desk whenever I sit down to work. No excited wife shouting for me to come watch that very nice Food Variety show featuring the must-eat Rojak from Dun-no-where road.

I love Monday. In fact I love each single weekdays of the week. They represent peace and quiet. Yeah, 6 to 8 hours (depending on what time RK comes home) of pure Nirvana.

Really. Seriously. Allow me to say it one more time, I love Mondays.

No more Monday Blues.

P/S: No, I do not hate weekends. Weekends are meant for relaxation and shopping, or just lazing around at home. I have no problem doing that. In fact, THL and I are experts when it comes to that. Just lazing around...and Oh...the picture below is not an actual presentation of us by any stretch of the imagination.

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Today is a typical Monday. Spent 6 hours doing my own works, attended to RK when he comes back home. Had some personal time again when he takes his afternoon nap till 6pm.

THL and I met up and we bought dinner home. Ended the evening watching another of the DVD I rented. Nice.

Transport Expenses: $1.66

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

Daily Afterthoughts:

Our beloved SUV was really an assert to me when I was still a member of the Cubicle Nation but ever since I left the rat race empire, the SUV quickly became a "Family Taxi" mostly used for ferrying and fetching both THL (to and from company transport drop off area) and RK (to and from school). I have to admit it was a huge waste of "talent" to have used it as a "Taxi". In fact, if I were the SUV, I would have felt insulted and would have wanted to hang myself.

In order to make up for it, we used to drive out at the slightest opportunities and many a time we found ourselves just roaming around the expressways aimlessly. It was a pure waste of petrol ($$$) and time in my opinion and it was an overkill to have got a SUV in the first place.

Lesson learnt, next car, if there ever will be, would definitely be properly utilized. I promised.