最好的已经在眼前

All along we been wanting to upgrade to a bigger house by taking advantage of our 2nd chance to apply for new flat from HDB. We balloted umpteen times only to get disappointed repeatedly. Refer to my posting about our recent failed HDB balloting.

I been researching the typical layout of a 5 room flat and all 5 room flat also have 3 bedrooms same as 4 room flat. The only difference is the bigger living room area which a part of it can be partition to be a study room and a bigger kitchen. 

What I like about our current house is the convenience. Located just near to a Lrt station with covered sheltered walkway and only a mere 5 mins ride to the mrt station and a 5 mins walk to the nearest shopping mall with ntuc. Our daily commute and grocery shopping is a breeze. Neighbours are nice people similar profile as us who are young families. There is also a good ranking primary school nearby within 5mins walk which potentially is our target to enroll our gal in future. So actually why are we even thinking of moving? 

The only thing which I don't like about our house is the layout as there are quite a lot of wasted space in the kitchen and master bedroom due to odd corners. Therefore I always got a feeling that we are lack of space. 

However, one day when I was walking past a new estate, I observed that the 5 room flat also has 6-7 window panels including the study room which is similar to our house living room area. Currently our living room has 6 window panels which is quite spacious. Therefore with that in mind, I keep thinking how can I take advantage of that to add more space to our house? 

Then suddenly an idea came to me that I could do up some partition too in our living room to convert a part of it as study room area. In this case we could free up one more room for our gal. After some intial design draft using sketchup, this idea is doable without much compromising to our original living room space too (because currently there are a lot of wasted space due to a big built in cabinet at the living room which is underutilized).

However, to make it possible, We got to hack away the big built in cabinet which is a waste. So I got to think through this how best to reduce wastage when engaging this home improvement project. 

As for the kitchen, there are limited ways to improve its capacity due to its layout. Therefore I got no choice but to stick to it. Perhaps I can do some minor renovation on the kitchen sink area or install more shelving. For our oddshape master bedroom I also intend to do up some redesign so as to free up some space for storage too.  

Therefore if this home improvement project can go through, it will free up more space and we need not buy a bigger flat just for that extra 18sq ft area. Not only we save on the cost of paying a hefty resale levy, we need not go through the anxiety of hoping to sell our house at a good price but would be difficult as all buyers would want to buy at bargain and now it is a buyers' market. This home improvement project if goes through might increase our house value in future too. 

That is why I said 最好的已经在眼前. The best is already with us. Sometimes, we tend to under appreciate the good things around us but actually they are there all the time waiting for us to discover its value. 

But of course I will not rule out the possibility to apply for balloting if the launches are in a good location which must be even better than our current house. 

So now after sorting out my thoughts, I got to rake my brains how to realise this home improvement project (HIP) at a reasonable cost and reducing wastage to the minimal. 

The Partial Solar Eclipse - 9 March 2016

This morning, we managed to catch the partial solar eclipse action at the comforts in our house by just looking out of the window. 

I managed to buy a solar eclipse transit viewer at the Science Centre last Saturday for the event today. Initially I thought of going down to Science Centre this morning to look at the solar eclipse as they would have the equipments for safer viewing. But that would be too much a hassle as Jurong is too far from my house. So we viewed the solar eclipse through this transit viewer by taking turns among ourselves. 

The solar eclipse view was amazing! It was as though the moon was eating into the sun. At the mid of around 8.30am if not remembered wrongly, the sun was almost covered by the moon and the sun look like a thin crescent moon. Too bad I don't have the appropriate settings to take the picture of the solar eclipse. I only managed to take a picture by covering my phone camera lens with the transit viewer, however it doesn't show the effects of the actual solar eclipse. It only showed a golden ball out of the darkness. 

My failed photo taking of the solar eclipse

Anyway, it was an eye opener for me as this is the first time I witnessed a solar eclipse. Same for my gal, she got to see the solar eclipse for the first time through the transit viewer.

The sun light was especially glaring during the solar eclipse and I was so worried that my gal might accidentally look at the sun without the transit viewer. But the good thing we view it at home is the settings are more controlled so I could just quickly move her away after she was done with watching with the transit viewer. 

The transit viewer is very useful as it allowed us to view the solar eclipse safely without hurting our eyes. I will be keeping it for the the next solar eclipse which will be in 2019. Till then. 

Cross Island Line ~ Development Vs Nature

Recently there was some debate over the Cross Island line, click on the link to read more about the news.

Source of picture from http://forums.sgtrains.com/showthread.php?tid=2411

From the map in the news, The Cross Island Line will connect the east end Changi to major stops Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Sin Ming, Bukit Timah, Clementi, West Coast, and finally Jurong Industrial estate. 

Noticed that this Cross Island Line totally skipped the central CBD area. In the existing East West Line, it connects the east to the west end by going through the central CBD area like City Hall and Raffles Place to facilitate people commuting for work or leisure. The CBD stops also act as the interchange to the North South line too. 

However through the years, the government had developed other industrial parks or regional centres in the outskirts like Tampiness Regional Centre, Changi Business Park, Jurong Industrial Park, Woodlands Regional Centre and etc. I think the focus in the upcoming line is to ease commuters who are staying in the north central area, east, northeast and west to be able to commute more easily to these industrial parks and regional centres without jamming the central area.

This serves as a backup as well in the event if the EW line breaks down and also to cater to the increasing population target I think. Therefore this Cross Island Line is a strategic important project which if implement, will really helps in the way we travel. 

However one controversy of this project is the possibility of going under through the nature reserve for 2km which could have a "moderate" impact to the environment based on a latest environmental impact assessment (EIA). Another possibility is to skirt the reserve instead of going under through it but that might require land acquisition, and add 6 minutes to travel time.

While I applaud the decision of the government to develop the MRT lines to improve the travelling time of commuters, but I felt that should not be at the expense of our natural environment. The central catchment area is an important green belt for Singapore. One of the major factors why Singapore is not as polluted as other countries despite our intense urban development is thanks to our forefathers' foresight to develop Singapore as a Garden City, where people lived together with the nature by having greenery all around our housing estates, business centres and even highways. 

In Singapore, we could still see the blue sky (except during the haze period), but that is not the case in other countries. Keeping a blue sky in Singapore is utmost important to our future development and existent. I foresee that in the future, having a blue sky is a rarity that people will want to flock to the land which could provide blue sky and fresher air for survival. Air and environmental pollution is getting severe which is causing global warming, and there is no turning back unless we human beings changed the way we live now. 

Therefore preserving the nature is the most important agenda for our future in my humble opinion. It only takes a short few years to construct the line but at the expense of moderate damage to the nature reserve which might take hundred over years to restore or perhaps never. 

The cost to go underground the nature reserve is $2 billion lesser than skirting around the reserve according to the news. It is also less hassle to acquire land as it will affect owners who stay on the affected area. 

Therefore, from the way I see it, this is more of a cost issue. That extra 6 minutes travelling time is not the main deciding factor, I think. I believe no one will even notice about that extra 6 minutes when it starts operating. But saving that 6 minutes might endangered those wildlife on the land which could caused much suffering to the nature. The opportunity cost to the nature is too high to be ignore.  

So now it is a fight between saving $$ or saving the environment. Do we want to take the easier way but at the expense of our future environment or take the more challenging route but preserving our nature for a better future for everyone including our children. 

I hope our children will continue to see the blue sky. 

Quoting from the book "如果地球被我们吃掉了"

最后只剩下钱，可是钱又不能吃。

只剩下金子，可是金子又不能用来呼吸。

In the end, only left money, but money cannot be eaten. 

In the end, only left gold, but gold cannot be use for breathing. 

Ting Ting wrote her very first letter today

Key Board Magic @ Choa Chu Kang Library

Ting Ting meddling with the keyboard during the lesson

I've been pondering whether to enroll our gal to piano lessons for quite some time. As a young child, I was fascinated by piano. I remembered I budged my parents to buy me a keyboard so I could play music and self-learnt myself how to play it with one hand. I did not attended any music lessons and I kind of regretted it. 

Although that was my childhood interest, but this is not the reason why I am considering to enroll my gal to piano. Developing her temperament and her show of interest in music is what really prompted me to consider. 

As a single child, she was used to people pampering her and putting her in the centre of universe. Therefore I hope by learning music, it can somehow develop her temperament especially discipline and patience. Also, I felt that she has an interest in music too. When I borrowed nursery rhyme books from the library, she was able to sing almost all the songs in the book. In addition, when I played a tune on the keyboard, she was able to recognise the song and started to sing along too. In addition, as she was left handed, I felt there might be an advantage for her to learn piano too?

Although I am keen to enroll her to piano lessons, but the lessons are not cheap too. I need to be very sure that this is what she is interested in before I spend my $$. 

I came across this program "Key Board Magic" conducted by the library which is free. I felt that this is a very good opportunity to expose her to music learning and I quickly registered for it. Although the venue was at Choa Chu Kang library which is quite far from my place, but the opportunity to expose her to music is too good to be missed! 

It was an one hour lesson where the teacher taught some simple easy keyboard notes and taught the kids how to play a simple song. It was a fun and good experience in my opinion. 

However, I noticed my gal seems to be irate during the lesson. She don't seems to be able to follow the lesson and was restless. The teacher was teaching the kids to use their right hand to play the keyboard. As she was left handed, it seems that she had difficulty coping with her right hand. 

The first music exposure lesson seems to have dismay results. But I think it could be due to the timing as the lesson started at 1pm which was her nap time too. So it might be she was tired and couldn't focus well which resulted to her feeling restless during the lesson. I am not too discouraged by it because when we reached home, she immediately brought out her small keyboard and tried to play on it. Therefore I think this seed of music has started to implant in her mind, so it is now up to us if we want to water and sun it so that it can grow. 

At least now I know there might be some constraint for her to learn piano due to her left handed preference. So I need to do more research if this is something of a concern to learning piano. Timing of the lesson is also important as preferably the lesson should be in the afternoon after her nap or early morning if I will to enroll her in any lessons. She might be still too young to learn piano at age 3.

Review

I think this Key Board Magic lesson is a very good head start. The lesson was interactive and fun. The way the teacher taught the class was very lively and managed to instill interest to most of the kids. Therefore I would highly recommended parents to enroll their kids to the lesson as a head start or testing if their kids are interested to learn keyboard or piano. 

Rating: 5/5 

Verdict 

I think I better not enroll her to any piano lessons yet. However, I will continue to look out "Go library" for similar lessons to expose her to music. Until she is ready - when she shows that she can focus, concentrate and keen interest, then that will be the time I will enroll her to piano lessons formally.  

Omni Theatre - Earth, Moon & Sun (Digital Movie)

We watched the Digital Movie "Earth, Moon & Sun" at the Science Centre Omni Theatre yesterday after we went to Choa Chu Kang for our activity since it was on the way. 

We managed to catch the 4pm show and the experience was great! Although it was not the first time I watched a show in the Omni Theatre, but it was the first time we watched it with our precious gal.

As she was fascinated with astronomy recently, I thought that it will be good to expose her more into this area to gain better understanding and could sustain her interest too. 

Originally, I wanted to watch another show "One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure" which may be more suitable for her, but it only had one screening at 2pm during weekends and we missed the timing. I felt that this "Earth, Moon & Sun" show is also appropriate for her since it looks relatively kids friendly. 

As it was the first time our gal watched a show in Omni Theatre, she was so fascinated that she kept exclaiming "Wow!". Although the show was a short 30-35mins, but she was able to keep her eyes fully focus on the screen for the whole period without fidgeting (unlike her daddy who falls asleep even during the short 30mins....). When she saw the different planets appearing on the screen, she was pointing excitedly on the planets which she knows. She was also amused by the coyote (The character which appeared in the show which acted as the introductory figure) and when I asked her what she liked about the show, she immediately replied "I like the coyote!"

It was a relatively simple and easy to understand introductory show to astronomy for kids. It showed how the sun, earth and moon works and how they are related to each other. It also explains why a solar eclipse takes place which I felt is just timely for the upcoming solar eclipse. I think the show is educating and entertaining. Although 30mins for a show seems short, but it is perfect for young kids. Watching it in the Omni Theatre with the large screen and 360 degree view gives it a "Wow" experience for kids too. Highly recommended! 

Astronomy ~ It all started with Jupiter!

Since young, I've been very interested in astronomy especially planets. It always fascinates me how other planets look like and if there is any possibility of life besides Earth.

Few weeks ago, when I was at the playground with my gal one night, the sky was exceptionally clear and I could see quite a number of stars. I downloaded this app called "Skyview" and scanned the sky using the camera function which showed me the name of the stars and the constellations. It was an amazing app and highly recommended!

When we went home, I used the app to check out a bright star which was right up in the sky outside our bedroom. I wondered what is the name of the star as it was not blinking, and the shape looks irregular. And it turns out it was Jupiter! My gal curiously asked me: "What is this Mummy?". I showed her the planet and told her what was it. To illustrate better, I showed her a picture of the solar system with the planets using my iPad. She was so fascinated with it and I was quite surprised that she showed interest in the planets.

Last week I borrowed some kids astronomy books at the library about the planets and started reading to her. She was so interested in it and kept asking me to read to her repeatedly. Within a few days, she is now able to identify all planets and their sequence to the sun! When I asked her which is her favorite planet? Her answer was "Saturn! Because it got rings around it!". She even told me that when she grow up, she want to be an astronaut and go to space! I asked her if she will bring mummy along? She immediately replied "Yes!". Well, that really warms my heart....

Tonight, we learned about the Big Dipper. She was able to point out to me which set of stars belongs to the Big Dipper and where is the Polaris (North Star) from my iPad video clip! That is really amazing, to me.

To keep up to her interest, I am planning to bring her watch some astronomy show at the omnimax theatre at the science centre during the weekend. I also intending to bring her watch the upcoming solar eclipse (with safe settings) which is a rare occasion. I am so excited that finally someone share my interest and that special someone is my precious little gal!