Friday, December 18, 2009

It's a Boy & Girl!!!

Yup... Not babies...but Hammis......

Daniel have been bugging me to buy hamsters since our wedding but I have been crushing that idea of his.. becos since the death of my house rabbit Tummy, I really didn't want to have pets anymore cos' I don't think I have a strong heart to face their death.

However I guess I gave in.... to support Daniel & his "fantasy" to be a "father". As he always try to convince me "Dear please let me buy hamsters can??? It can prepare me for fatherhood leh" Ya ya....

Anyway yesterday during lunchtime we saw this really cute cream-white hamster that keeps walking on two feet in the petshop at Suntec and the petshop says she is a "Pudding" species under the Winter White Hamster family. Pudding is said to be rare as they have rare genes that make them cream-white and Pudding mix with Pudding seldom produce Pudding. So I guess it was this "rare" verb that sparked off the compulsive buy. We name this Pudding "Citrus" because we observe that she has quite a Zesty & active personality.


This is Citrus.


To give company to Citrus, we choose a normal Winter White which is a boy and we name him "Crayon". Why? Because there were a few moments that he just sat quietly at a corner and faced the walls just like how La Bi Xiao Xin (Crayon Xiao Xin) would behave when his mum scolds him. Indeed Crayon has a very meek personality.


This is Crayon.


Daniel also bought this very impressive home for the two of them that looks like a Cyber SpaceShip. In Daniel's opinion, it looks like the Esplanade.



Cool right??? Since we can't leave them in the car, I brought them back to my office after lunchtime and my colleagues think that the hammis have upgraded from the shatters in the petshop to a bungalow now. Some of them says that this liken to boss's "771". Haha...of cos! This home costs almost $100.

Like excited parents, Daniel took alot of pictures... Enjoy!
They are really very small & tiny.. Come & see them soon!

Labels: Citrus, Crayon

*Karen Yeo Smiles at |6:13 PM| *

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Past Memories ....

It's strange how some memories can erase themselves totally from our brain's storage space never to be remembered again while some only to disappear from the temporary storage but still remain dormant in our harddisk, waiting for the day to be retrieved again.

Sounds like a novel hor?

Ok let me continue in my novel writing mood....

Somehow this part of my memories have been forgotten for quite a long period of time...until someone in my primary school gathering reminded me of this past. Yesterday I went home and my mum asked me to clear this box in the storeroom, which I call "My Memory Box"- One that contains stuffs of my past relationships.

In a section of this box, I picked up some drawings and a huge drawing block filled with drawings, all of which were given to me by this boy James during my P6 days.

As my friends talked about this guy during our primary school friends' gathering, memories just floated back.

.......................................................................................................

James took the same school bus as me throughout the 6 years but we had never crossed conversations. Maybe for hormones reasons, somehow James caught my attention and I found out that his birthday was coming. I gave him a Bobdog mug which was his favourite cartoon character. On the same day that I gave the mug, I was caught by surprised when he got my house number from a friend and called me at home to tell me that he will be coming to my house to pass me something. As I watched him running across my carpark through my house windows my heart was pumping very loudly. The next moment I found this piece of paper slipped through my house door. Afraid that it will arouse my mum's suspicion, I ran into my room with the paper.



Wah I tell you when I saw the red heart between the Bobdog and his girlfriend, my heart was screaming on the inside like nobody business, totally elated!!!

What happened after that? Of cos at that age there was no such thing as "Can you be my girlfriend?" but he continued to do a few sweet things. There would be times when he would reserve the seat beside his on the schoolbus and signal me to sit beside him when the bus arrived at my house. Sometimes he would passed me scolls of drawings which comes with a small paper covering words like "I like you" or "Thank you!"...



Awww... thats's so sweet, so romantic right?!

Those remaining 5 months were the happiest days of my primary school life, filled with the purest happiness. Think about it, I was fat, ugly, low-profile and definitely not the sweet type.

And mind you, he wasn't ugly, in fact girls would categorize him as quite handsome and cute. Really don't know why he would like someone like me. Or is it out of sympathy? Maybe. Maybe his eyes paste stamps? Haha.. but for whatever reasons, I can say that he gave me an extra boost in my self-esteem and had made me feel that I'm someone special. It was a good feeling and no one has ever made me feel this way EVER.... and also AGAIN!!! No one. Serious. (Daniel, heard that????)

I guess this is what we call 初 恋 in Korean Drama. Haha...Not too bad ah for a 不起眼 girl... at least this is an experience that not all pretty school girls can buy....

Once we went out together with my younger brother to watch a movie.. Ya ya, my brother was just a 挡剑牌... But that's about all, we didn't hold hands or anything. It was a BGR but just a mutual crush that vanished after we went to different sec schools.

During our last week of school, we exchanged some drawings which we spent weeks to finish.
He can draw very well right? Can't imagine that they came from a P6 boy...

Why do I wanna blog about this? Because all these pics are going to end up in the rubbish chute after the blogging... Don't worry Daniel, I'm not going to keep them cos they don't mean anything to me now.

Labels: P6 crush

*Karen Yeo Smiles at |1:49 PM| *

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Daniel's Crappy Joke

If you are a faithful viewer of this recent hit drama on Channel 8 - Qi Er Pa Pa (Penguin Daddy), you probably remember this part of the show where Li Nanxing's Father-in-law almost died after a heart attack relapse caused by his unfillial son.

I don't watch this show regularly but happened to catch the scene where Li Nanxing's father-in-law was talking to his mother-in-law before his heart operation.

So while Daniel & I were cleaning up in the kitchen after a meal, we had this conversation.

Me: Daniel, I wonder on your death bed, what will you say to me? Will you say something like 'Lao Po, thank you for taking care of the house so well for the past many years'?

Daniel: Nope .... (inspired by the drama scene) ...I will say....

............................................................................

Lao Po, I have left $100,000 for you and they are in the house.
I have $500 under my pillow, $500 behind the washing machine.
The Shoe Box downstairs there's another $500.
You know my underwear in the middle column, the red one? There's another $500.

Daniel: And then I will go on to say many other places where I've placed $500 individually. Just when I reach the $20,000 mark and I will say....

Lao Po, and there's one final place where I put $80,000. It's at..... it's at....at.. at... at...................

Daniel: The ECG machine beeps............................... and I'll take my last breathe.

................................................................................

Crap right? Here I am trying to be serious and he just took off with his imagination like this.

And he says that I'll probably say something like: "No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Daniel please don't go!!!!!! You haven't say where you put the $80,000. Why can't you put your priority right?"

Ok, although it's crap... but we both had a good laugh while cleaning up.

*Karen Yeo Smiles at |1:18 PM| *

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How do I know? Cos I am a driver too.

Hi guys, sorry for the long lapse in not updating our blog. Really busy with our work especially me in the transition in my new work and also the moving out of our tenant. (Yes, I can don need to wear my shirt in the house liao haha...)

Anyway today's chapter as suggested by the title is a conclusion to a 6 months affair to pursue the elusive title of a local car driver in Singapore. Slogging long hours just so i can make the car payments, petrol, insurance etc etc. Is it worth it? Yes! Let me elaborate...

When we came from our honeymoon in August, I became a Tampinesian after my many years as a Chua Chu Kangian...travelling to church every week became a real problem after a while as church is in wild wild west. A typical sunday would result me in a cab fare of $27... (Ya i know i BIN TUA, cannot take the journey with our dear friend Mr. T already...) Especially after driving the hot Peugeot 307 Convertible during my wedding day, my body yearns for the intial thrust of a horsepowered engine from a stopline.

So there begins my journey of becoming a driver. Intially, I would spend hours every week looking at the internet for second hand cars website working out the math. Wats COE? OMV? Depreciation etc etc... In that process I learned that second hand cars are the most economical in the long run as a car WILL always be a depreciating asset.

Here are the fruits of my research and hopefully will assist you in your pursuit for your ride...

Before I go on, let me explain COE and OMV and PARF

PARF
PARF Car
In general, all new cars come with an Open Market Value (OMV). This is the original cost of production of the vehicle. If the vehicle is de-registered within 10 years from its first registration date, the registered owner will be entitled to a Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) Rebate. This is normally a percentage of the OMV. This is how the term ‘PARF Car’ comes about. (This means how much you getting back when you scrap the car)

COE
Certificate of Entitlement (COE). Each month, a certain number of COE's are released for bidding and if successful, the vehicle entitlement is valid for 10 years from the date of registration of the vehicle.

OMV
OMV is in layman terms, simply means how much does it cost to bring your vehicle into SG WITHOUT TOUCHING THE ROAD, which means how much ur vehicle is valued.

In non layman terms, the amount dictated is based on the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the country of importation. This price is assessed by the Singapore Customs, which includes purchase price, freight, insurance and all other charges incidental to the sale and delivery of the motorcycle/car to Singapore.

With that in place let's go!!


1. All car bodies depreciate over a 5 year peroid irregardless of the make or brand. This means at the end of 5 years, the vehicle is only worth its paper value (COE + OMV). Thus, when you buy a brand new vehicle, you are actually making a huge loss in the first 3 years.

2. Lower COE may not be a good thing if you want to buy a 1st hand car. Lower COE will only be a good thing if you buy a car and you intend to drive it at least for 5 years before scrapping. The reason is because lower COE cars do not have much appeal in the second hand car market. For example if 2 cars has the same mileage, same OMV and same cost but the COE differs, I would actually choose the car with the Higher COE. This is because at the end of 5 years, a higher COE will mean a higher paper value for me. I will explain it later...so leave it as this first..

3. Off peak car (OPC) is highly recommended if you just need to drive your vehicle on the weekends and on weekdays night. The government actually gives you a rebate of $17,000 from your ride. It actually first deduct your COE, thereafter it will deduct your OMV. If your COE and OMV combined is less than $17,000, it will not deduct the value of the car body. Through my research on the internet, I saw OPC vehicles with $0 Coe and $0 OMV. This is really bad as at the end of 5 years the car is worth next to nothing....I assumed the person probably bought this OPC car during the $2 COE peroid and the total COE + OMV is less than $17,000 thus the paper value is $0. Bad move, and i anticipate this car has no resale value and its true, after 6 months its still unsold..

Now let me explain how all the numbers work out to help you choose the best buy:

For example, a brand new Hyundai Avante today cost $51,999.

Breakdown of Car price:
COE: $17,189 (10 years)
OMV: $14,999
Car Body: $20,000 (5 years)

From here, we can tell that the depreciation every year for the car is $4,000 ($20,000 divide by 5 years)

The depreciation for COE is linear too. Thus the depreciaiton for the avante is $1,719 per year. ($17,189 divide by 10 years)

The PARF value for the vehicle is as follows:


So let's assume you are interested in a 3 year old Avante, what is a fair value?

Carbody Value: $8,000 ($20,000 - $12,000 ($4,000 times 3 years))
COE Value: $12,032 ($17,189 - $5,157 ($1,719 times 3 years))
PARF: $11,714 (110% times $14,199 (OMV) times 75% (<5 years)

Total Value= $31,746
Thus, fair value of a 3 year old Avante with the stated OMV and COE would be $31,746

A fair mileage for a used vehicle is 20,000km per year.

With all this into consideration, you can now decide whether a vehicle is fairly priced or not.

*Daniel Chia Smiles at |11:16 AM| *

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