‘My ASEAN Adventure’ @ Discovery Centre + Army Museum + Star Gazing @Science Centre!

It was a non-stop action on Friday. 

Asean Passport @ Discovery Centre

We went to Discovery Centre first which was located at Joo Koon for the "My Asean Adventure" activity. I think it is important for my gal to know which are the countries in Asean as they are our neighbours. 

However, Joo Koon is very far away from our house as it is located at the end of West line, so I got to make the trip worth by visiting all the nearby places. 

Discovery Centre is located around 10 mins walk from Joo Koon MRT station. It is not really near to the MRT and quite a distance away. It was my first time to Joo Koon area and I felt the air around there smelt strange. Maybe it is near to factories or industrial buildings which emitted the pollution into the air. 

The Discovery Centre is located on a big plot of land with a big lake in the centre. That area is quite scenic and nice. However, there were not many people there that day. I guess it's because of the "ulu" location. 

We started off with the art and craft activity of making a lotus flower. My gal enjoyed and focused on making the lotus flower throughout the activity. 

Making lotus flower

Next we went to the Asean adventure venue. We took the Asean passport from the counter before heading to the Asean activity venue. 

It was located in an event hall showcasing each Asean country specialty and items. We need to complete the puzzles in the passport about each Asean country before we could get stamps on the passport. After completion, we were given a 3D puzzle of a building which she could colour it with coloured markers. 

Not a bad activity but more for older kids or adults. Anyway, I tried to show her each Asean country flags and explain to her some of the unique things found in some countries. Hopefully she can learn from it. 

I felt there's nothing much to see in the Discovery Centre. However they do screen latest movies like Angry Bird, X men and etc. The ticket price is cheaper too only $7. However the timing is quite bad only morning and evening 2 timings. There was no other timing in between which was a pity I think. 

She's colouring the 3D puzzle

Army Musuem

Since Army Musuem is just besides the Discovery Centre, so I thought why not just head over to visit it. 

Turned out they also have a kids dress up activity where kids could dress up as a soldier. The dressing up was one of the highlight and quite fun. There was a little girl soldier uniform with skirt which I thought would look nice on her but she refused to wear it and instead prefer the army uniform. She got strange taste lolx. 

There were also a number of toy guns, rifle guns, binoculars and etc for the kids to play with but my gal disliked guns and only chose those harmless toys like binoculars. 

After the dressing up, we visited the Army Musuem where the entrance fees is foc for S'poreans. Somehow, she disliked the Museum display on the 3rd level and was very frighten and kept asking to leave the place. So we quickly left the 3rd level and proceeded to the 2nd level where the place looked brighter with more interesting things to see. 

After that, we went to the outdoor adventure park which was just located outside of the museum. There were some fitness stations but the kids were treating it like a playground and having fun running around. 

There were also some equipment display in the park like the canon truck, army ambulance, big tanks and many others too. 

She enjoyed the dressing up and the adventure park the most so far. 

After visiting the Army Musuem, we headed to the Science Centre at Jurong East since it was on the way. 

Dressing up like a soldier! 

Fun at the Adventure Park

Star Gazing @ Science Centre

We attended the star gazing event again as there was a talk about Solar System which I thought might interest my gal. We reached there around 7.45pm but there was already a long queue for a time slot at the observatory telescope. 

While waiting for the queue, one of a Science Centre staff was promoting to us about the 'What's up there?" Live show which he was hosting at 8pm. He promised that it would be an eye opener experience and it was the last show for this school holiday. However the ticket price cost $14 per person and duration about 1 hour. Thinking it might be something worth seeing as we never watch a live astronomy show before, I bought the tickets for 2 :)

Turned out it was really an eye opener show. He showed us "live" how to identify the constellations and planets in our night sky and also zoomed in to the Moon and some of the planets like Mars, Venus and Jupiter really closed up which my gal thought we were on a spaceship! 

The most amazing thing was, he showed us how it was perceived to look like when we left our Solar System and eventually leaving the Milky Way galaxy. With all the galaxies in space, it looked like a cosmic butterfly from the Earth perspective! 

Of course, all these were simulated based on what the scientist thought the universe might looks like because our spacecrafts had never reach so far to picture the universe! The furthest spacecrafts we had were Voyager 1 and 2 which after decades of "sailing" in space, so far only Voyager 1 managed to get out of the solar system into interstellar space. It haven't even reach any of the nearest star system within the Milky Way galaxy! 

Anyway, space is an intrigued subject which always fascinated me but most importantly my gal also love it! I was astonished that my gal actually stayed still throughout the show. She kept asking me if we could go to space again! She thought we had went to space during the show lolx! 

The show lasted for 1 hour. It was a good and educational show and highly recommended! 

Showing the constellations

Closed up picture of moon

Mars closed up! 

Jupiter

Saturn! It was as though we were travelling past the rings too! 

After the show, we rushed to attend the solar system talk at 9pm.

After the talk, we went up to the observatory telescope and we got a treat to see Saturn! The closed up view of Saturn through the big telescope was so amazing! 

After the observatory telescope, my gal still wanted to see other telescopes at the open field area. We managed to see Jupiter  but it was not as clear as looking through the observatory telescope. 

We also saw Moon close up too. One volunteer staff actually helped us took picture of the moon from the telescope! It was so amazing! 

Our closed up photo of Moon! 

It was really a great day of fun and action. I loved going places and I enjoyed bringing my gal to explore and have fun! I can see my gal inherited my wanderlust trait too!  Hopefully next time when she grow up, she can bring mummy to tour the world, or perhaps if technology permits, travel to space too! :)

Avatars & Cloud Babies @ Ion + Police Heritage Centre

Avatars & Cloud Babies @ Ion

We went to Ion for the Avatars & Cloud babies drawing event last week. What they did was to draw a big cloud in the middle of a big piece of paper and wrote a theme on it for example "sushi". So the kids need to exercise their creativity by drawing their own version of sushi on it. 

It was quite fun for our gal as she loves to draw and colour with markers pen. But well at her age, what she did was scribbling and colouring all over the place lolx! 

As adult I felt a bit boring, but I think my gal was thrilled with all the drawing and scribbling. It was a short event, we stayed for about 45mins and make our way to the next event ~ "I want to be a Policeman!" tour at the Police Heritage Centre. 

Ting Ting scribbles! 

Her master piece haha

I want to be a Police! @ Police Heritage Centre

I registered for the tour by calling and emailing to the Police Heritage Centre @ SPF_Police_Heritage@spf.gov.sg a few days before. It was quite an easy process. The Police Heritage Centre is located at Novena, opposite the Ren Ci Community hospital. It took us about 10mins walk from Novena MRT. 

As we went on a weekday, so there was only less than 10 kids which was quite a manageable group I think. A Police officer briefed and brought us to tour around the Police Museum area. We could only took photos at selected location inside the Museum. 

It was an interesting tour as the police officer explained to us the history of police force in Singapore. It also showed the different uniforms which our police wore through the years. And yes, last time the police wore shorts! I think wearing shorts was so much cooler because of our hot and humid weather. 

Because it was a tour for the Children, so the tour duration was a short 20-30mins. After that we were brought inside a meeting room where the kids can wear the little police uniform and took photos! It was the most fun experience to dress up our kids with police uniform I think. All parents and children were so excited during the dressing up activity. 

My gal loved her police uniform so much that she refused to remove it! It was a very fun activity and I think it helps to expose our kids to understand what is police and why we need police to keep our society in order. Highly recommended event for kids! 

The white uniform. Somehow my gal don't wanna wear the little version white uniform. 

The old fashion dial up telephone which the police or everyone used 20 over years ago

Driving a boat! 

Her favourite police uniform. It's a pity there's no skirt or pants provided. 

Finding Dory activity @ Plaza Sing + Masak Masak @ National Musuem

Due to both activities located near Dhoby Ghaut MRT, so I brought my gal to both venue for a day out.

We went to Plaza Sing first to participate in the Finding Dory keychain making activity. She was given sheets of special paper with Dory and Nemo on it and she need to colour the characters. After completed the colouring, she handed the paper to the staff who put it into the oven which shrank the paper into a small harden thing to be made into keychain. Quite amazing. She made 2 keychains, one was Dory, another Nemo. 

Ting Ting coloring her Dory fish! 

Look, my keychains! 

Next, we went to the National Museum for the Masak Masak event. There is a colouring activity and a small play area with some slides at the first floor where the kids can play something like snakes and ladder by throwing the dices and following the steps. 

On the second floor, there are some bicycles and puzzles games for the kids to explore. I felt this time the Masak Masak event not as fun as the last one. In the last Masak Masak event, I remembered they opened up the 3rd floor and had a bigger play area for the kids to have fun. They had even cooking, puppets and many others. 

Nonetheless, it was a fun day out. Kids are kids, at this age, everything is fun in their eyes. This is something I appreciate for our gal's childhood. I hope she had fun everyday. 

Colouring the shapes and alphbets

The snakes and ladder play area

There's also some obstacles there to make it slightly interesting

The jigsaw puzzle activity on the second floor

Teletubbies and Numtum show @ Downtown east

We went to downtown east over the weekend to see the Teletubbies and Numtum show. I still remember I was very fond of teletubbies when I was a teenager 10-20 years ago. It brings back some of my happy younger days. 

Anyway when we got there, there was not much crowd and we managed to get the meet and greet pass for both Numtum and Teletubbies. My gal was engrossed watching the show and danced along with the music too. She is not familiar with all the characters shows that we watched during this school holiday so far. There is a lack of familiar characters like Dora, peppa pig and many others. 

After watching the show, she was very interested in the outdoor jumping jack ride. Even though I told her that the weather was very hot to jump under the sun and we need to queue up too, she still adamant to queue for the game and did not make a fuss while queuing. So no choice since she was so firmly keen and asked many times if she could play. The game took about 15mins and cost $10. 

She was so brave and was trying her best to jump as high as she could. When the game operator tweak the jump ride to the very top, she was so excited and was beaming all over her face! 

After the game, I asked her if she wasp scared for jumping so high, she replied that she was not scared at all! When I asked her how she felt when she was at the top, she replied "Happy!". 

It was a fun day out with lots of kids activities at the Downtown East. Highly recommended! 

How to have a debt free marriage

Just read this article about how couples in Singapore spend lavishly on their wedding till they are in debt and affect their marriage. Some couples are literally in debt the moment they are married.

I think it is due to the typical "面子" mindset - to have a lavish wedding so that every relatives and friends can be impressed and also lack of financial planning.

For those "to be" married couples, you have a choice. By making the right and rational choice, it can save your marriage from being a debt ridden one from day 1.

It brings back some memory about our actual wedding  9 years ago....

1) Wedding Dinner @ Chinese Restaurant in a hotel
Initially I don't even fancied a wedding dinner. I just wanted a simple ROM, dinner /lunch with close relatives and friends and honeymoon. However, it turned out that wedding was not just the 2 of us but it involved our families too. The "close" relatives list got longer.

Therefore after much discussion, we decided to hold it at a Chinese restaurant which was situated in the RELC hotel close to Orchard Road. The restaurant allowed us to book the whole venue with just minimum 12 tables. It suited our needs as it was also located within a hotel which added to our convenience too. The wedding package was very affordable. We ordered one of the most expensive menu and it costed $500++ per table (That was the rate 9 years ago).

The restaurant also threw in free 1 night hotel stay at the executive room and provided shuttle bus service for the guests too. Most importantly, the food tasted delicious. Our objective was to find a restaurant which provide good food and convenience for our relatives and friends. It might not have the best ambience, but nonetheless, it met our expectations.

We felt that by hosting our wedding dinner at an affordable venue and keeping it small (We had only 12 tables which met the requirement), it helped us saved some money and also saved the burden for our relatives and friends to give "big angbaos" too. We didn't expect the angbao money to cover the cost as we were planning to pay all by our own savings which was within our budget. Therefore even if the angbao can't cover the banquet cost, it didn't matter. We just hoped our relatives and friends enjoyed the food while celebrating the happy occasion with us.

However, it turned out that the angbao we received not only managed to cover our banquet cost, it even had enough to pay for our honeymoon to Maldives too! It was really a great surprise to us as we didn't expected it.

Btw the restaurant we had our wedding dinner was Tang Court Restaurant. It was no longer in business. It is a great pity as it served good food and good service too.

2) Wedding package ~ no additional photos
We signed up our wedding package with Sophia (yes the bridal shop which recently wind up) for $3000 which included ROM & actual day makeup, 30 photos, actual day photography and etc. They also throw in other perks like father's jacket, bridesmaid gown and many others. I felt it was a good deal and we managed to resist the temptation to add on more photos. Each extra photo cost $80. Up till now, I am still very glad that we sticked to what we had and not irrationally paid more for extra photos. Frankly after our wedding, those photo albums had been collecting "dust" in our cupboard.

One of my friend went Malaysia JB to take wedding photos to save money. Turned out she spent S$10k++ on her wedding albums due to extra photos. Therefore my advice to couples is don't spend too much on wedding photos. Just spend the minimum for memory sake but not excessive.

3) HDB flat @ non-matured estate
It is always good to buy your first home as a HDB flat instead of EC or condo. It is more affordable and also as newly wed couple, you need lots of savings for more to come like renovation, children and many more.

We bought our first HDB flat in a non-matured estate. I still remembered "n" years ago, I made the comment that I would "never ever" stayed in a non-matured estate. I was so used to staying at matured estate since young. But well, never say never. Somehow fate wanted me to "eat my words". When the opportunity came, we felt that the flat we buying met our budget and requirements as it is near to LRT station, bus stop and even a shopping mall.

Who would have imagined Ang Mo Kio will become one of the most expensive matured estate 10-20 years ago? The travel distance of only 15-20mins MRT ride to town jack up it's status. However, if you need to take a feeder bus to Ang Mo Kio MRT, it would also take addtional about 5-15mins depending how far you stayed from the town centre. So the total travelling time could take up to 30-35mins.

The non-matured estate which I'm staying now, takes about 20-25mins MRT ride to town. Inclusive of LRT ride to the MRT, it only takes about 30-35mins to reach town which is about the same travelling time when I stayed in Ang Mo Kio! Actually I prefer LRT to bus as the timing is predictable and more regular. It is also not subject to traffic conditions. Therefore, who knows, the non-matured estate today may become one of the most sought after matured estate tomorrow?

Because we bought the flat at an affordable price due to it's non-matured estate status, we managed to pay off the loan within a few years. We have one less burden and can focus on other important issues.

Therefore, my advice is to be open minded about staying in non-matured estate. It is not all bad. Choose a better location property in a non-matured estate is still way cheaper than staying in a matured estate. The cost savings is a big deal!

4) Renovation ~ no loan
We chose a contractor over an interior designer (ID). We designed our own house and hired the contractor to fulfill it for us at a much lower cost than an ID. Our renovation including furniture and electronics total cost about $30k. We didn't take up any loan for this and fully paid by our own savings. All these are within our budget too.

5) No Car 
Many couples tend to buy a car after marriage for family planning purpose. However buying a car in S'pore is not cheap. It cost at least 100k for a new car excluding cost of keeping the car (e.g. car loan, petrol, carpark fees, insurance, road tax, repairs & maintenance, ERP and many others). If we calculate the total cost to owning a car in S'pore, we are talking of at least 200k opportunity cost. The money which you could have saved and earned compounded interest over the years. I ever did some calculation that even if we take taxi everyday, it is still cheaper than buying a car.

Yes we didn't have a car and that makes a lot of difference. As we stayed near public transport, travelling is a breeze. At times when we need to travel to "ulu" places, then we will take a taxi. If not most of the time we will be travelling by MRT or bus.

6) No Maid
Many couples hired maid after they have children to cope with the daily house chores and work. There are many families in S'pore relied heavily on maids. Actually I quite pity the maids. They are human beings after all. However sad to say many S'poreans take them for granted. Many times, I witnessed those families who bring maid along didn't even buy the meal for them to eat. The maid will be busy looking after the children and feeding them while the parents can take their time to eat sumptuous meal. The children who have maid also tend to order the maid around. I saw once at a playground that a 6-7 year old girl ordered her maid to pick up a ball for her but the ball was within her reach. So if such a simple task like picking up a ball she also need her maid to do it for her, what can we expect from these children who brought up by maid?

We didn't hired a maid before and also don't intend to hire one. Firstly hire a maid is not cheap. We are talking of at least $700-800 per month inclusive of her monthly salary and meals and other misc.  Not to mention of the security deposit of few thousand bucks to pay to the agency. Secondly, we already have limited space in our house. It is difficult to accomodate one more person. Thirdly, due to difference in culture, it may not be easy for the maid to adapt to our environment. We may not be used to having a maid who live with us too. Lastly, I will be worried if the maid is mentally sound or have the personal touch to handle my child too. Which is why to save me the trouble, I prefer to Do-it-Myself rather than rely on a maid who is an outsider after all.

However, I did hire a part time maid before to help me do housechores during my maternity confinement period. It was fuss free and easy. She just came for a few hours to do the house chores, after which I would pay her and done deal. Therefore I am open to the idea of part time maid. It's easier and you can hire it on a need basis.

My humble suggestions for a debt free marriage...

Although we are not high income earners (With me currently a SAHM, our household income is  even lower as my hubby is now the sole breadwinner) but we are debt free. I think the right thing we did was to spend within our means. The good thing is we are both rational and we plan ahead and budgeted reasonably.

Here's some of the suggestions to have a debt free marriage.

Wedding banquet
~ The best option in my opinion is not to have any wedding banquet. Just invite really close relatives and friends to attend your ROM and after that go for a high tea or lunch/dinner at a hotel or restaurant. If you have more budget, you may want to consider booking a small function room in a hotel or restaurant for 2-3 tables.
~ If you really need a wedding banquet due to family pressure and don't mind a simple, small and humble wedding, try to source for restaurants located within a hotel to have the best of both world for good food and convenience.
~ Try not to have too many tables (e.g. >15 tables) You end up inviting everyone just to fulfil the tables. Of course if you really have that many close relatives and friends who will definitely turn up then it's good for you. But based on past experiences of attending big banquets, filling up the tables is a big headache for couples!

~ Don't harbour the thinking that the angbao collected will be able to cover your banquet cost. Most of the time it can't cover given that nowadays a simple sit down chinese wedding lunch at a 4 star hotel can even cost at least $1200-$1500 per table! It cost even more if you hold it on a weekend. If each of your table is minimally $1500, that means each of your friend or relative must give at least $150 to cover the cost but given the economic situation now, this angbao amount is really hefty and unrealistic! Therefore always ensure the total banquet cost is within your budget and never take a loan just to pay for your wedding banquet. If the angbao can cover the banquet cost then it is a bonus. If it can't cover it is fine too since it is from your own savings and well budgeted for.

Wedding photo package
Try to negotiate for more photos to be included in your package before you sign up and stick to the number. Don't select extra photos. They may all look very nice, but you are not going to see it everyday right?

First Home
It is more affordable to have a HDB flat as your first home. If you want more savings or ability to repay your housing loan faster, choose a non-matured estate HDB flat. Be open to the idea. It is really not so bad.

Renovation
Have your own idea of what you want for your house. Engaged a contractor instead of ID. The savings can make a difference. Don't take up renovation loan. Make sure the renovation cost including furnishing and everything is within your budget.

Transport
Adopt a car-lite (no car) lifestyle. It is really not the end of the world without a car. No doubt having a car is more convenient and you get more privacy, but no point spending your lifelong savings on a liability. 

If sometimes you feel lazy to take public transport, just take a cab. It is still much cheaper than having a car. 

A car will only depreciates in value through years, therefore it is not an asset but a liability. A very expensive liability which many people irrationally buy it through their nose even if they can't afford it!

However if you can really afford a car without taking a loan then by all means go for it! It is always a dream to own a car for most S'poreans including me. I think I may only buy a car after I have enough savings set aside for my child's education and my retirement. And that is a long way to go! 

Helper
Try to DIY instead of hiring maid. For me, I used electronic robot "Mint Cleaner" as my helper to do the sweeping and mopping at home. We bought 2 sets, each cost about $300++. I think we spent about $800 for the 2 sets but we used it for close to 8 years! So it means we spent about $100 per year on getting help to sweeping and mopping the floor which translated to only $8.30 every month! But of course if you can do it manually, it is even better as you can save more from buying robots. 

Some house chores need not do everyday as well. For instance washing clothes, sweeping and mopping the floor. For me, I do some simple sweeping daily and run my mint cleaner for a more elaborate cleaning every 2-3 days. Also I ensure my washing machine is full with laundry before running it. Therefore, I just need to wash my laundry about 1-2 times a week. In addition, I simplify my cooking by using electric steamer. I just need to prepare the food and put them all into the steamer to cook. The steamer will automatically turned off once it is cooked or when the water is steam off.

All these tools and process simplification will save some time in doing the mundane house chores. In addition, as your children are growing up, you can also teach them how to do house chores to share the burden too. I felt by nurturing them to do house chores from young, it is better for the child personal development and they can learn to be more independent and responsible too. 

Therefore having a maid may not necessarily value add to your family life. By not having a maid, you save $600-$800 every month, you save the trouble of managing them, you save the trouble of worrying about them if they ill treat your children, you save your children from becoming over reliant on maid and the possibility of becoming spoilt and many other 'savings'. Life still goes on without a maid! 

In summary, the key to a debt free marriage is to always check how much budget you have and spend within your means. Do lots of research to ensure the things you are buying are affordable without the need to take up loan. Even if you need to take up loan, try to pay off as soon as possible so as not to pay the high interest.

Having debt free means lesser stress!

Dinotrain show @ Seletar Mall

Watched this Dinotrain show last Friday at Seletar Mall. The show was quite interesting and educational too singing the a to z song for the different dinosaur names. 

My gal focused intensely on the show as this character is something new to her. I noticed this june holiday, a lot of more popular characters like Dora, Peppa, Spongebob shows are not in. Mostly are those less popular characters. Well, times are bad. Shopping malls in S'pore are not doing well I think. 

Anyway its good to have a change. Kids are kids. Anything that looks cute and colourful will appeal to them. 

Puppet show @ GoLibrary

We attended the puppet show and making program organised by golibrary. The puppet show was fun and interesting. My gal thoroughly enjoyed the show and her favourite puppet was the doggie. 

After the show, we stayed back and participate in the puppet making workshop. The puppet making process was quite easy but for my gal she still need some help to complete the puppet. 

Anyway we had a blast. It was a good show and workshop. We registered for the program on the golibrary website. But must be quick as the tickets run out fast. Btw the program is free but just need to register to get the seat. 

Her favourite doggie puppet 

Elvis Presley! 

Tayo the Little Bus show @ Marina Square

June school holidays are here again! My gal's playgroup also follow the school holiday schedule so I got to keep my gal occupied with loads of activities! We went to Marina Square for the Tayo bus show yesterday as our first school holiday activity. 

We never watch the Tayo cartoon before but since the characters look cute and I thought my gal will like it so I brought her to watch. 

The main character is Tayo the blue bus. The strange thing is usually such main characters are blue in colour same like Thomas the engine. 

Anyway it was an instant hit for my gal. She was engrossed with the show and I can see she enjoyed it very much! 

The show was a short 15mins duration. But prior to the show there was already a very long queue. We reached there 30mins before but we were already more than 60 in the queue so we didn't managed to get the meet and greet pass to take photo with the character. Btw they give out the meet and greet passes to the first 60 in the queue. So I think need to be there at least 1hr before the show then the chances of getting the pass is higher.