Day 50 of the 60DWCC - Both RK and THL Took MC Today

THL and RK did not feel well early in the morning. RK was down with running nose and THL had a sore throat. Both of them went down to see doctor at around 930am.

Today also spells the last leg of my spring cleaning journey. Cleansing of the indoor and outdoor windows was a tough job and I am glad I got it over and done with. Since THL and RK were not feeling well, I had to do most of the spring cleaning myself.

THL manage to cook us lunch despite her illness. We watch a few episodes of "Run for Money" show in Youtube and took a nap together in the late afternoon.

THK and I went down to buy dinner and we also manage to get some more CNY decor and we also rented a few more DVDs to tide us over the CNY period. :)

Transport Expenses: $0

Daily Afterthoughts:

Now that the spring cleaning tasks are almost completed, THL and I made a resolution to not collect or bring home any junks for the entire year. Will we succeed? No one knows but I do know that old habits die hard. :)

We will see what happen next year.

Day 49 of the 60DWCC - Reunion Dinner at Ding Tai Feng

I did another round of spring cleaning today - singlehandedly. Hurray. Yeah, it was another tough day but at least we are almost done with our spring cleaning tasks.

As we had reunion dinner with my family this evening, RK and I took a bus to Jurong Point to meet up with THL. She was already at DIng Tai Feng restaurant when we reached Jurong Point. The reunion dinner started shortly after my parents and siblings arrive. Although the service at Ding Tai Feng was a little slow but the food was nice.

After dinner, we walked around Jurong Point before leaving for home. My family took a cab home while we took a direct bus back home.

Transport Expenses: $4.19

Bus Rides:

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

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

Jurong Point to Home => $0.83 x 2 + $0.46 = $2.12

Daily Afterthoughts:

Today was a short day. Time always passes by quickly when we are having a good time. Anyway, the real challenge is days away and we are really looking forward to it.

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 44 of the 60DWCC - Spring Cleaning Kickstarted

After my morning run, I decided to postpone my daily work till afternoon and kick-start the spring cleaning activity in the morning. This is mainly to avoid having RK around in the house when I am clearing unwanted stuff away.

After 5 hours of hard work, I managed to clear and clean up the kitchen dining area and it is not cleared of unwanted junks and is sparkling clean. :)

I resumed my work after I washed up. RK came home at 1pm and he was surprised that I was able to clean up the dinning area of the kitchen when he was not around.

*Please note that the below picture does not remotely represent the current state of our kitchen or dining area.

After our dinner, THL and I took a bus down to a nearby central after sending RK off to his tuition class. We bought some CNY goodies and 2 sets of Korean DVDs. After that, we took a bus home and fetch RK home.

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:

I never knew it was so tough when it comes to making a decision to throw away unwanted stuff that lingers around the house. Besides being emotionally attached to those junks, I believe it is also because we do not want to throw away things that we think we may need it in the future (which usual never happen).

Clearing away junks is a lot easier when there is no one in the house to challenge my every decision to throw away junks that have not been used for a long time. Just think about it, if that piece of junk is already lying there for the past one year, there is very slim chance that we will ever need it again, no?

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. :)