Panasonic Camera DMC TZ15

Big SIL was taking family pictures in my house with her camera and was not happy with the outcome despite numerous trial. In the end, I have to use my TZ15 to take the family pictures for her. Then when the big group of cousins came and took pictures of the whole group using my camera and theirs concurrently, they were surprised that pictures in my camera looked much better than theirs from the screen. The lighting effect were shown in my camera and not in theirs. Definition is also much better. My camera is a much older model than theirs. Last year when I used this camera with the tripod, the extended family portrait turns out very well. However this year, I relied on my maid to take the pictures and a lot of it turns out blur due to her hand shaking. Overall, this is a very good camera with a fabulous screen except it's a bit bulky compared to the pocket size.

CNY 2011

Third Day of CNY 2011, Big Bro In Law is extremely happy. It's the first time he invited all the siblings to his house since I knew him 20+ years ago. It's a very special day for him as it's the first time since his family split about 18 yrs ago that he has all the 3 girls with him for CNY. K and I are happy for him. We counted, it was around Aug that we got in touch with the girls (all because of facebook) and invited them to dinner. At that time the girls were not interested to meet up with him. He has this habit of scolding without even realizing. We are glad to see him so happy today. No more scolding and happily snapping pictures of his 3 grown up girls.

Paint the Wall

After painting the whole house using Nippon Paint Services, I found a fantastic website. . . "www. Sherwin-Williams.com". The colour Visualizer is easy to use. You just have to download your property picture and digital paint the house. The program is very user friendly. Wish I search for it earlier then I wouldn't need to spend so much time to decide on the colour.

This is my second paint job with Nippon Paint. I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome except for the living area. We used to have Tangerine on the feature wall. This colour is very striking and create a postive, active and lively mood. I certainly would not mind having this colour again. However, for the sake of changing the look, husband suggested to go for an alternative colour for the feature wall. It took me quite some time to decide on the new colour as no other colour seems to be able to de-throne the Medifresh Tangerine orange colour. Both the colour consultation and the paint applicator suggested using the Champagne colour. When the job was done, I wasn't used to the Champagne colour on the L shape wall. It has a more brown tone and the mood is totally different, more stable and no longer as lively.

I thought I would change the colour on the smaller wall to white so as to brighten the Champagne colour. The painters are supposed to come late morning today to do it. Luckily, I found the Sherwin williams website before they come. I can download my picture and digital paint the wall to see the effect using their program. After exploring their colour visualizer, I'v decided to keep the Champagne colour on the L shape wall. It's a much better option.

Maid 'Offered' us her balanced food

Jan 26 2011. The painters were busy painting the house. I had to leave the house at 12pm to pick up the youngest boy from school and to send him for enrichment class. No one will lunch in except for maid herself. I'v told the painters that I'll only be back at 3pm and they bought their own lunch. Evening time when all the painters were gone, I told the maid to prepare dinner for us (she, myself plus 3 boys as daddy is out of town). She said there's no need to do so. She had cooked 3 cups of rice, a plate of breaded chicken breast and fried chicken wings for her own lunch. As she can't finish the food, we can eat that for dinner. The ingredients were purchased by me and she had not inform me that she'll be using the ingredients to cook her own meal.

Nevertheless, since she's a long serving maid (3 years), I didn't question her. I repeated my request to cook warm rice for the family. The rice remaining from lunch can be used for fried rice the next day. For the dishes, I bought a roast chicken and I just needed her to warm a can of campbell soup and a can of peanut plus the remaining chicken she cooked for her lunch.

Comes 27 Jan 2011. Youngest boy will be home for lunch. I asked her what did she plan to cook for lunch for him. She said steamed rice remaining from last afternoon and cook a tofu with bean paste for him. I was annoyed but kept my silence. Comes dinner time, I asked again, what would she be cooking for the family. She replied a dish of kailan vegetables (no meat) plus plain rice. I asked what happened to the packs of frozen meat and chicken in the freezer, she said they are frozen and not ready for cooking. When I questioned her why not use the remaining half pack of chicken wings she opened for herself yesterday and which was left in the refrigerator, she gave a short reply "OK".

I used to think that she's always helping me to save money by cooking little for us and the children. Now I know I'v not been conscientious in keeping stock of my fridge's inventory. In 3 years, I paid for 2 home trips plus passport renewal (as she was a transfer and left 2 yrs passport validity when she joined me) and higher than stipulated pay. Very disappointed she treated us this way.

How much do we need to retire in Singapore?

When planning for retirement how long should we assume our life expectancy? Till 80, 90 or 100 yrs old?

How much medical fees should we budget for if we are covered by shield plan that require payment of $4K + 10% deductible?

Should we still budget for car expenditure or do we have to switch to MRT? I still like to have the car till I can't drive.

How about yearly vacations?

How about domestic helper?

Pressure Rice Cooker and Brown Rice

This is my new Pressure Rice Cooker from Philips model HD4763. It's a fabulous helper in the kitchen. The brown rice cooks in 47 minutes + about 10 minutes wait time for pressure to be released before the rice is ready to be served. The brown rice is soft and fragrant. You can smell the sweet brown rice aroma while the rice is being cooked. I saw a lot of such rice cooker in Korea but this is the only one available in my Singapore. The non-stick inner pot make it a breeze to clean after each use. However, I would very much prefer to have a stainless steel inner pot as well due to the potential health hazard from using non-stick pots and pans. I think the coating on the philip inner pot is not tough as the Japanese brand rice cooker. The demo rice cooker's inner pot was badly scratched- probably done by people to test the toughest of the coating. Rice can be washed in Tiger and Zojirushi inner pot but not this Philip rice cooker's inner pot. I wish Philip will overcome this shortcoming on the inner pot.

Temple at Seoul

I like this temple. It's just opposite the Coex mall. There were lots of chinese writings around the premise as well as trees. I like the persimmon tree near the buddha. There were lots of big persimmon on the trees but they were too high up. Those on the lower branches had been "harvested". The Buddha statue is tall and majestic. I stood there for quite some time to make all my wishes.

Safe in Seoul

The whole family is so relieved that Seoul is safe. We were there from Dec 1 to Dec 5 2010. Initially we thought that with the North Korea bombing, we would have to stay close to the hotel vicinity in case war broke up. We were surprised that life is as usual in Seoul. Lots of people can be found at Coex mall, Lotte world, Dondaemon, Nandaemon, Insodong , subway stations and Tech mall. The hotel was busy with lots of foreigners. We explored Seoul by subway. The Koreans are helpful in giving us directions. I like the BBQ meat. We tried one at Dondaemon and one at Insodong. The Japanese meals at Coex mall (both stalls) are delicious and reasonably price (39K to 42k Won for family of 5). The ginseng chicken and the big dish of spicy chicken were average though. I bought the honey ginseng slices for Won 24k each box from a shop at Nandaemon. The promoter spoke perfect mandarin. The Hyundai mall had a promotion and selling at about Won 26K. I would have preferred to buy from Hyundai if I knew there was promotion. Though it's a little more expensive, at least you get what you paid. One of the box of 6 yrs old honey ginseng slices I bought was swopped for a 4 yrs old honey ginseng slices. Overall it's a pleasant trip.

Travel Insurance to South Korea

I bought the MSIG travel insurance for the trip to Korea with a bank a few days ago. The bank officer called me today to inform that she has debited my account for the premium (not sure when she did it) and she'll be sending the application to the insurance company for batching. I told her I'v no understanding on the "batching", all I need to know is whether debiting my account means that my travel insurance has been processed. She said yes but the insurance company needs to batch. I'v purchased travel insurance online all the while. I'm taken aback by the hassle I'v to go through by buying direct with the bank. Now my concern is will the travel insurance covers us with the war between North & South Korea.

School Bus Driver

Yesterday we passed by a school bus driver (van type) near Farrer Road. The vehicle was on the fastest lane but the driver was driving at about 30 km/h. Cars were trying to overtake him and he was also trying to move left to the slower lane. When we passed the van we saw to our disgust, he was talking on his cell phone. Luckily, there was no students in the bus. I remembered the boy who was thrown out of the school bus at Yio Chu Kang. I hope school bus drivers are constantly reminded to drive their passengers safely. Our Children are in their hands!

Travel to South Korea

I bought the sweet deals air tickets for the family to travel to Seoul. With the tension between the North and the South, I'm worried my airfare money will be down the drain. Singapore Airlines advised that if I cancel the tickets I'll not get my refund as the fare class does not provide for cancellation. If I were to reschedule, the charge per person is S$30. However, how to reschedule if I don't know when it'll be safe to travel there. Singapore Airlines advised me not to worry for now and to check with them on the status at a later time as currently there's still no travel alert yet. Please let there be peace and please don't let me loose money on the tickets.

Safe to travel to South Korea?

I'v just bought tickets a few days ago for the family to travel to Seoul and news just broke out that North Korea bomb South Korea at the border. Is it Safe to travel there now? I was told by Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there's no travel alert yet, they are monitoring the situation. Hopefully, both parties resolve their conflicts amicably. We all look forward to the trip and most important a peaceful world.

Golden Beryl-Heliodor

This is the Natural Heliodor that came home with us today. It's also called Golden Beryl. Husband and I got it certified by a reliable Gemological Institute. The weight is 23.86 carats, 21.13 x 22.3 x 11.92 mm. There are fine particles under magnification. Gemologist told us that from his experience and observation, this gemstone had not been heat treated. However, he did not state this fact in the report because the equipment only detects heated treatment done at 1000 and above degrees. Beryl can sometimes be given heat treatment of about 200 to 300 degrees to enhance their colour. For my stone, he is of the opinion that no heat treatment has been done. However, though he is positive that the gemstone is not heat heated, he didn't put it in the report as he didn't have any equipment to confirm his conclusion. He said for sure there was no radiation done else he would have stated it in the report.

B3 accepted into SAP School

Friday was a nervous day for B3. He was being interviewed by the school's principal. He was very frightened. Fortunately, the Principal was very patient with him and approved his transfer into the school despite him being so quiet. Moving to a bigger and more established school and having to study higher chinese is quiet daunting even to myself. Luckily B3 is mentally prepared for greater challenge and we'll be revising the chinese during this holiday.

Dirty Carpark

This is the carpark at Little India's buffalo street. We went there a few days before Deepavali at around 10 am. There were plenty of carpark space but rubbish were strewn all over. When we collected our car at about 11.30 am, a foreign worker was seen sweeping the floor. However, by then there were more cars in the parking lot. Obviously, garbage underneath the car will not be cleared off. Such dirty carpark is an eye sore but fortunately it's a rare sight in our country.

Citrine Turn out to be Glass

What an eventful Friday. Husband and I dropped by a Gem store at People's Park to look at the big Citines. We asked and was assured that the Citrines were genuine unheated stones. The shop owners were very friendly and we ended up purchasing one of the piece. We happily brought it to the gemologist for testing of any heat treatment done to the stone. To our horror, the yellow stone is a piece of glass. Due to the crowd at the testing center, we waited about 3 hours before we finally received the report. When we brought it back to the store, the shop owners explained that those Citrines were purchased from suppliers and they had no idea that the stones were glass. They offered to exchange this item for another stone but Husband declined and preferred for a refund instead. We got back our money but we pledged to donate them away to World vision , pocket money fund plus probably one other charity.

New Phone Number for B2

Requested a new mobile phone number for B2. It took effect today. Selected the number using QMDJ . The meanings of the number are blessings, help from mentors, opportunities, prosperity and bliss.

Jam caused by $1 receipt

It's 4.30 pm. We decided to have an early dinner at Sakae Sushi Festival Market. There's always car park available except for the few days before Chinese New Year. However, there's an usual Jam today. Cars backed all the way to the road outside the mall. While the rest of the cars waited for the jam to clear, a few of them including myself had alighted to check out what's preventing the mercedes from getting passed the car park barrier . To everybody's shock, the barrier did not malfunction. It was lifted up and cars can drive through and enter the car park. However, the E200 Mercedes with a 3 digit car plate number which looked like a bid number, refused to drive through. I heard that the driver insisted that she will not drive through unless the machine print out the receipt for her. The receipt will entitle the holder to a $1 rebate at NTUC for purchase above $100. People were frustrated with her. The queue got longer and after 10 to 15 min 3 security guards still couldn't get the machine to print out the receipt for her. Annoyed drivers started offering her $1 to stop inconveniencing the rest. She refused and insisted the receipt must come from the machine. In the end someone insisted that she had to reverse her car out of the entry point to wait for her receipt. To do so, a few cars had to reverse and make way for her to get out. Drivers casted her a disgusted look when they drove pass her.

Myasthenia Gravis & Tensilon Test

After a few hours of Tensilon Testing, the doctor suspected that B2 may have Myasthenia Gravis (MG) which causes his droopy eyelids. The doctor cautioned that the result is not 100% conclusive and he needs to review the findings and the video recording done during his Tensilon Testing.

B2 was often sick since he was one month old. He had asthma, colds and allergic to dust mites. Maybe he could have inhaled too much cleaning chemicals from the various household detergents too. He used to eat lots of fast food and frozen prepared food. From Pri 4 to Pri 6 he ate lots of nuggets sold at the school canteen.

I searched through the website and found this site useful: http://www.alaskawellness.com/mar-apr00/mg.htm

I have taken a photo of his eyes this evening and I shall try the recommended natural remedies and monitor to see if there is improvement.

The recommended remedies include

* Colon and liver detoxification

* Fresh fruits and vegetables

* Limit meats, gluten, exclude refined sugar & flour

* Vitamin, mineral, herbal supplements

* Purified water

* No or reduced cleaning chemicals

10 pm he started with the 10 days cleansing program. I shall monitor the amount of fresh fruit juice and multivitamin he takes for the next few days. Hopefully B2 cooperates with the change in diet. I hope to see his eyelids lifted up.

Tension Test for B2

B2 has to be warded into KK to do a tension test for his eye lid. His eyelids had drooped down a lot over the last few years. He had seen the eye doctor at TTSH who think that it's normal for him to have a droopy eyelid since mum has also lose some of her double eyelid. The doctor made this conclusion despite me telling him that mum's eyelids started to droop after 40 while B2's eyelid started drooping since 12. Angel, please help KKH doctor to find out the problem with B2 and treat him.