Staycay at Shangri-la

Memorable moments, Yx related, from our recent staycation:

- Yx helped to pack by choosing her own clothes

- We checked in and the first thing the girls did was to jump onto the bed

- Yx slept on a single bed by herself for the first time (and through the night)

- She was so thrilled by the environment she said, "Shangri-la is great!"

- Still stoked, "I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

- Enjoyed her first bubble bathtub experience. On the contrary, feisty Ye was so afraid of the water.

- It was 6pm and yx was still hungry after snacks and probably also tired from not taking a nap, she teared and asked us, "为什么妹妹有nan nan, 我没有？"

I AM AT THE PEAK OF MY LIFE

Hello, Present Me.

You are now at THE PEAK OF YOUR LIFE.

When both wifey and the kids are asleep before midnight, I have the enjoyment of a couple of quiet hours to myself these days.

One night, this revelation HIT ME like a pail of cold water on my face: 

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I AM NOW AT THE PEAK OF MY LIFE.

Believe me not?

1. Happy family and extended family. More importantly, parents and parents in-law are healthy, mobile and financially independent. Er-gu said this to me recently, "You are alright as long as your parents are alright." and I was like THAT'S HOW TRUE!???!!!?

2. I'm in good shape and health. I participate in weekly futsal (mid level competitiveness) without much problems and aches! I continue to appreciate that I have mobile limbs and body to bring my daughter to scenic places on a bicycle. Fully developed senses to enjoy, taste and smell my foooood.

3. Stable career! Gainfully employed in the gahmen sector and which pays me sufficient to support a car, my family and sahm wifey... have spare for occasional holidays, spoils like a phone every two years, toys for kids... Comfortable house that is fully paid for.

4. Healthy, understanding and pretty wifey who is my best listening ear and lends support in the things I do. Offers sound advice and interesting perspectives. My walking dictionary. Entertains my silly songs and antics. Watches football with me. 

And of course, 2 cute and cheerful daughters who are precious darlings and who bring laughter and songs to our house. Children really make a positive impact to a married couple's life.

So I say again, Present Me, this is THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE! 

Your health will surely and gradually degrade (e.g. energy level decline, aching joints etc)... your parents are growing older with every day... your wrinkles are forming... your wife will be growing old with you... 

You had better be living this period the darnest best you can!

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If Future Me is reading this blog post - tell me, did you live your peak the best that you could? Or possibly, tell me, is the Present You living an even better life that you were in your 30s? =)

Tax woes

This the season of filing income taxes.

Thoughts:

1) Spouse relief (for non-working spouse) is only a meagre $2,000. Depending on which tier of taxable income you fall under, one family on single income pays only $170-230 less. =/

2) About 50-62% of my one-month's pay goes to paying income tax =/

3) SRS is good. Do SRS. =)

4) Realised I could have filed $2,000 more under child relief last year, but I overlooked this. Paid $230 more as a result. =(

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Just learnt that property tax for a condo at Beauty World area is $1900+. Siao! But yes, I support taxing the rich.

Loose tooth

This morning, after finishing her milk yx walked up to me and said in a serious tone, "Something's happening to my tooth."

My first thought was that I was afraid she was referring to her upper big tooth, the one she hit when she fell face first (twice in a span of 2 weeks) in 2018. Good thing it wasn't. 

Turned out that her lower tooth was loose! It was the first baby tooth that she would be dropping. So I joked that the tooth fairy is visiting soon, and yx replied bashfully, "It's not real!"

(Outing day with ah gu during Mar school holidays. Tut hair cut 🙄)

Reading back on my old blog posts

Had pleasure reading back on my old blog posts. Man, did I write funnily! 

When actions don't match the words

“菜饭是垃圾食物，” he professed his opinion of economical rice, adding that it is because the food is oily and not fresh (having being cooked for a few hours). 

So what do u go for, I probed. He said salad. I retorted immediately, how do u know salad is very fresh, how do u know it's not grown with pesticides? He explained that well, at least it's not been cooked for a few hours. "That's why I find it is justiable to pay $10 more for more nutritious food that is prepared upon demand."

What I find laughable was the irony that the whole evening he was stuffing himself with fried nuggets, muah chee, chendol and sweetened canned drinks.

In awe

I try to do this as often as I can - standing in awe in front of this water feature and think to myself, how fortunate I am to be working within walking distance of this majestic view!

Random updates

 1. The Gahmen gave $100 tourist vouchers to all citizens last year, to be utilised by Jun 2021. We just used it to book a 2d1n staycation at Shangri-La Hotel. Looking forward to enjoying the amenities and the raved kids' play area!

2. Applied for citizenship ($100 admin fee, by the way) for mom on 31 Dec 2019, only to receive a negative reply today. No reason was given. Dammmm :(

3. Simply love that my workplace is just beside Jewel shopping mall. Other than the convenience, there is a myraid of shopping and F&B choices and a splendid, refreshing fountain view to boast. Not to mention staff discounts, changi rewards, promos etc. So there's a DBS promo right now which gives you back $10 voucher with $60 spend, or $20 voucher with $100 spend. Mai tu liao. Just now I spent $51 at NTUC plus $49.90 at Uniqlo, at the latter I got myself a comfy pair of Ezy jeans which was on clearance. Dayum, there was even a $19.90 pair on the same rack but unfortunately it was a size smaller. Nonetheless, happy buy and happy customer right here!

4. Got my 2nd dose of Pzifer vaccine on 26 Feb 21. It'll take 3 weeks for the body to fully develop antibodies for the virus. Honoured to be amongst the first few batches to receive the vax!

5. Did some significant investments last year due to the global economy "recession". One of them was in STI ETF stocks:

9 Jun: 2500 lots @ $2.829
15 Oct: 3500 lots @ $2.547

Price today is hovering at $3. Hopefully it'll rise up further. If it doesn't, I'll buy more lots.