What would be my ideal car?

Now that the decision on 'to buy' or 'not to buy' was over, K and I set out to look for that ideal car for me.

The next decision we had to make was how much to spend on this second car - not forgetting that it is a 'want', not a 'need'. This decision is also somewhat linked to whether we should buy a used car or a new car? What car to buy and what colour?

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

We started out our car shopping at the CarMart at Eunos. We started looking at pre-owned cars but weren't sure what we were looking for.

Since K already had a sedan, I thought it might be useful to buy a MPV which can fit our whole family (including Grandparents) during the weekends (not that we go out together a lot), and give the children more space. With 3 kids (including a baby chair) and maid it tow, I felt we needed more space. Honda Stream (my cousin Teck has one and he swears by it!) seems to be a good option as it is a smallish MPV - easier for me to handle.

K was not really supportive of MPVs because I may be the only one driving an empty big car most of the time. He was more tuned towards a 2-seater car, like the Daihatsu Copen (600cc convertible hard top!) or the RX8 (1.3l, Rotary Engine).

We came across a May 08 RX8 with a low mileage of 11,000km at www.sgcarmart.com. We went to see it and I fell instantly in love with it. It had everything I wanted - good looks (cool red leather seats, dark silver colour body), low running costs (very low road tax since it is only a 1.3l car), well maintained (it looks brand new!) and best of all it seats 4 and although it looks like a 2-door car, it actually has 4 doors. The agent wanted S$78,880 for it. I wasn't sure if it was the car for me. I said I will think about it.

That evening, my 'ideal car' was sold.

The next day, we met with our friend Barry who knows a lot about cars. He once changed 18 cars in a year! He told me that he had many friends who sold their RX8 because the central pillar in the car gets very hot due to the Rotary Engine. The other complain was the high fuel consumption even for a low capacity car. Since I think Barry knows best, I stopped thinking about buying the RX8.

However, K was not convinced by Barry. He continue to look at the RX8 in the sgcarmar and urged me to call my JC friend who owns a RX8.

I am thankful that God blesses me with so many great friends. Not only did my JC friend drove his car to my office and took me out for lunch, he even let me test drive his car along the ECP. He had been driving the car for close to 2 years now and only has good things to say about it.

After that ride, I wavered.

That evening, I learned from the car agent that the man who 'bought' the RX8 could not get his loan approved. So we took a look at it again and I totally love it. Again this time, I said that I am very keen but I did not have my cheque book with me. I told the agent that I was keen to get the car. We settled on S$77k.

I was so happy.

But yet unsure.

Is the ergonomics of the car suitable for me? As you know, I am a little petite and I did sense some trouble reaching the accelerator even when I pushed my seat all the way to the front.

The next day, the car agent called to say that the man had asked for more time. And this time, he will try to get a loan from his company.

WHAT? Is this man desperate or what?

God, if this car is for me, please make sure that his loan with the company will not be approved.

Please God. I want that car. I am sure now God, I will not waver again.

I waited anxiously and patiently for the whole day. I looked at the picture in sgcarmart, and showed it to my colleague in the office. I imagine myself driving that car. Looks pretty cool, I thought.

And I did not hear from the car agent. K said I should call. I did not want to sound desperate. But I wanted to know :-( So I called.

Alas! The RX8 was not meant to be.

I was heartbroken.

I texted my brother and a few friends who knew.

I said that God does not want me to have this car. He must have something better in store for me!! And I said 'Amen' to that!

I cannot wait to see what it might be!

Iky!

No, 'lky' is not our Minister Mentor.

It spells 'i-k-y'!

As I was growing up, my mom used to educate us about the invisible germs.

When we come home from the outside, she forbade us from sitting on the sofa. Why mom? She said that when we take the bus, we bring back germs from the bus home. And if we sit on the sofa, those germs are then transferred to our sofa, which is a 'clean' zone where we relax after we bath.

I was flabbergasted!

Worried about germs we cannot see? Come on Mom, don't be such a wussy!

.........fast forward to year 2009......I am now a mother of 3 .............

I don't allow my children (or my husband for that matter) to go onto my bed if they don't change out of their clothes in which they go out with. Geez! Who knows? There could be germs from K2 sitting on the floor in the kindergarten, and that floor he sat on could have germs from the toilets brought about by shoes of the teachers who had just gone to pee.....and so it goes.

I am also iky about toilet flushes and toilet locks. I will not touch the public toilet locks and flushes. If I can, I will use a toilet paper as a 'shield' or 'protection' when I flush or lock the toilet door. I mean - these are the 2 most contaminated places in the toilet. Imagine someone just finish peeing (or doing other stuff) and then before washing their hands, they will need to flush and open the door to get out. Can you imagine the number of germs in these 2 places?

I have also witnessed girls who don't wash their hands after they go to the toilet. Have their mom taught them nothing?

Just the other day, K1 proudly told me about something that he had just learnt from "horrible science" book that he's been reading. He said 'mom, do you know that when you flush the toilet, there are microscopic bits of poo and pee in the air? But don't worry, the book said that it will not do us any harm.'.

Thanks a lot, K1 - now I have something else to worry about, I will need to close the toilet seat cover before I flush, else there will be microscopic bits of pee on myself. But what if the gal in the next cubicle flushes? Will microscopic bits of her be floating towards me? Do I stop breathing?

What is happening to me?

I am growing into my mom!!

What a scary thought!!!!

Primary School Registration - An anticlimax (2006 Post)

I found this post in my previous blog "Journal of a Working Mom" which I started but did not follow through. Let's hope I can do better in this blog :-) We shall see.

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July 2006

There's been on-going discussions on registering our son for primary school since K1 turned 5 last year - right after his party at MacDonald's and right after he blew out the candles on his Star Wars birthday cake.

His well meaning grandmother - a recently retired teacher - had this to say:

'I think you should just send him to St Stephens or maybe Tao Nan. ACS is too far from our house. Do you know how early he needs to wake up? Do you know what time he gets home after school? Do you know what is the travelling distance? Do you know this is a long term commitment? Poor boy. Hmmm...I wonder if I can get my grandson into TaoNan if I do relief teaching there? By the way, here is K's ACS report card I took out from the safe - over to you.'

The well meaning mother's network - those who doesn't think primary school education can make or break their child - has this to say:

'Just send him to a school that is nearby. It is easier for the kid, it is less stressful for the parent. It doesn't matter, if the child is good, he will do well regardless of the school he goes to. Why need to travel so far? How is he going to get home when he has to stay back for CCA?'

The well meaning mother's network - those who think primary school education can make or break their child - has this to say:

'If you don't want to travel too far, Tao Nan is a good school. Oh ! you didn't join Hokkien Huey Kuan 2 years ago? I think the policy has changed - cannot already - too late if your boy is going to Primary School next year. Oh and you didn't volunteer either? Tsk! tsk! tsk!!! How about Maris Stella? I think they have Higher Chinese (Me : Huh? What's that?).'

One of K's colleague said this:

'I want my daughter to go to Rosyth. So I wanted to volunteer at the school. The school said - we have too many volunteers, can you do weekdays? I said - I have to work. The school said - Hmmm....How about lunch time. So, I have to drive to the school during lunch time for the next 2 years - for a chance to ballot (read : no guarantee) to get into the school.'

Oh God! What should we do? Please give me a sign!

One of the teachers at Kindergarten said:

'Your son is a all rounder, he can do very well, you should push him to reach his limits. ACS is a good school, don't worry about the travel distance.'

Another teacher at the Kindergarten said:

'Many of our students go to ACS, don't worry, travel distance no problem. Good choice!'

Are these signs, God?

I went to see the principal:

She was not around.

K's ACS mates said:
'Our sons are all in ACS - is yours going to St Stephens? '

I was totally confused - this is a decision that we are going to make that will affect my son for the rest of his life. Can K1 wake up to catch the school bus at 5.55am? Oh dear! He can't even wake up for his Chinese Tuition at 9.30am. Will K wake up to send his son to school as he promised he will do? What time will he reach home? Will he be hungry? So how WILL he get home if he has to stay back for CCA? St Stephens sounds like a perfectly good choice to me - it is less than 10 minutes walk from our house.

I needed to talk to K - what does he think?

K was crystal clear about what he wanted - his son to be an ACS boy just like him - what else?

12 July 2006

K checked the MOE Website - 108 vacancies left out of 270 spaces for ACS. K1 was born in the year of the dragon and also the Millenium Year - a popular year to have a child - Do we stand a chance?

13 July 2006
The day finally came - we are in Phase 2 A (2) - Those children whose father is an ex-boy.

I was full of ancticipation - I could not hide my excitement, my heart was pounding the whole morning and I could not help telling my colleagues, and I don't care if they wanted to know- 'I am on half day leave, I am registering my son for Primary School today.'

All advice taken into consideration, we headed towards ACS with our 2 boys - including the younger brother K2, who is 3.

Our I/Cs - checked. Birthcert - checked. K's ACS report card - checked. We are on our way.

I was so excited, this is going to be a new experience for my son, as much as it is for me. I didn't want to miss a minute of it - But K2, our younger boy, needed to pee as soon as our car was parked.

Being a typical Singaporean, and thinking that there would be a queue of parents fighting to register their son into the school, I urged K and K1 on, while I brought K2 to pee. And then we made our way - following the signs - up the lift - down the corridor - up the stairs - to the other side - up another lift - finally reached the school library - where registration was done. I saw them, already at the table filling out forms. Where are the other parents? Where is the queue?

'Can I have your I/C madam?' The lady asked politely.

'Of course', I said, still could not believe that there was no queue.

'Let me make a copy of this, altogether 60 cents, thank you, madam.'

What? I have to pay for this? Why don't they ask me to make copies? There was nothing mentioned on the MOE website.

Ok nevermind about the 60 cents - 'when will I know if my son will get in' - I asked another man at the counter.

'Please check our website. There will be a list and your son's name will be on the list with his birthcert number.'

'Really? I have never seen this before? Are you sure?'

'Er...maybe you can check with the lady over there.'

'Hi there, how will I know if my son will get in?'

She pat me gently on my shoulders, smiled and said sympathetically 'Don't worry, should be no problem.'

As we walked out of the library, I felt a sense of sadness overwhelming me. The same kind of disappointment that one would feel after a 3 months holiday to Europe - and now it is time to get back to work. It is what you would call - an anticlimax. I asked K 'You mean That's It?' The whole registration exercise took no more than 5 minutes. K said - 'Isn't that good? Let's go eat Waffle & ice cream.' I wasn't sure, I was in a daze.

Over the next few days, we diligently checked MOE's website http://www.moe.gov.sg/esp/schadm/p1/availablevacancies.htm

And finally, on 20 July 2006, we received a letter from ACS - we're in :-) Praise the Lord.

Congratulations, K1.

I told my son - this is as much as Daddy & Mommy can do for you - the rest is up to you.

And then I thought - Hmmm, we may have just secured a place in ACS for my future grandson.

Want vs Need

I am thinking of buying a car.

Actually I have been thinking of buying a car for years. But I could not find the right reason for it. A few years ago, I had no money but that did not stop me from wanting to have my own car. Now that I have some spare cash, I am wondering if I should do it.

I recall talking to my girlfriend about 2 years back. She had just bought a Nissan Latio - her advice was to "Go for it! Life is short!".

Still I could not make up my mind.

Afterall, my office is one bus-stop OR 8-minutes walk from my home.

Do I need a car? Is it a need or a want? :-)

Does God answers need or does He answer my wants too?

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.

I guess He answers my wants too. Hooray!!!

I am going to buy a car.

Tickle me!

I love to tickle my children when they were young (like below 6).

When I am changing them, and about to take off their T-shirt, I would ask them to raise their arms and I would raise my own arms to show them what I wanted them to do. And then I would tickle their arm pits.

The kids love it.

When K1 was younger, he would raise his arms and I would tickle him. And he would protest, I would say sorry but I will tickle again. This could repeat for a few times until I decided to stop. And then I will say : ok I promise not to tickle you. And then I will really stop, because I said "promise" - and I wanted to build that 'trust' when I say 'promise'.

With K2, he would raise his arms and I would tickle him. And he would protest, I would say sorry but I will tickle again. About the second or third time after I said, put up your hands, and I raise my hands to show him what to do, the little bugger actually tickled me back! It left me laughing so hard because I really didn't expect that!

I am now into tickling little K3.

Wonder if she will be ............

a straightforward guy like her big brother?

or a more streetsmart one like her second brother?

A vulgar word.

To me, Examination is a vulgar word.

I hate examinations. I did my Masters almost 10 years after my first degree. While I was studying, I asked myself, why o why? Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you need more exams?

I was in school since 3 years old. I was born in Jan and my mom always thought that I had 'wasted' 1 year, because if I had been born 1 month earlier, I would have been in school 1 year early. So she sent me off to school as long as the kindergarten would allow it so as not to 'waste time'.

I dislike the Singapore education system in my time (has it changed?). When I was in school, I was made to memorize formulas, periodic table etc... Why? In real life, whoever memorizes the periodic table? Sure, you will know the few common ones like calcium, sodium, potassium etc... but why do you have to know all the elements in the periodic table and its periodic number? In real life, people just have a chart with them all the time. They are not going to risks getting it wrong.

I am really bad with memorizing stuff.

In secondary school, we had a thick book of Chinese Idioms that is orange in colour. Every week, we had to memorize 20 idioms. We had to know how to write it, how it came about, what is the meaning and to be able to form a sentence with it. It was horrible!

I am left school for almost 20 years now. Guess what? I still get dreams occasionally of exams!! I am sitting outside the exam hall, holding my notes and trying to memorize some formula. And then it was time to get into the school hall, I walked to my seat and could not remember a thing - either that or I had forgotten to study. When I woke up and realise that this is all just a dream, I was so thankful!

My son is now in P3.

When he sits for his exam, it is almost like I am sitting for exam - even though I don't think I am as KS as many other parents in Singapore (the most I would do is to take leave the day before the exam to revise his work with him) - but the feeling is horrible. It is more horrible than actually taking the exam myself.

How do I teach someone NOT to be careless? Not to miss answering questions. To know that exams are not about who finishes the exam paper first ! How to not stare into the air when you are doing work.

The email from church came timely. The message from Kenneth Hagin last week was so apt. He quoted the bible : cast ALL your cares on to the Lord and He will take care of it.

Lord - take care of K1's exam. I am casting my cares onto you.

Depository of Useless Information

K is very different from me.

He loves to read. He reads widely from history, geography, arts, gaming, cars, watches (favourite!) and whatnots.

I love to read too. But I prefer books that are to the point and explain concepts simply - eg comic books.

I was impressed by K's general knowledge when we were dating. It was his wide spectrum of knowledge that was attractive to me.

After being married for almost 11 years now, K continues his reading, and he jokingly calls himself a DUI - a Depository of Useless Information. His knowledge is really handy when I want to know something very quickly - He is like my personal wikipedia.

Our son, K1, is coming to 9 this year. He started reading in K2 (or was it K1?) and hasn't stopped reading since. He is just like his dad. They both love reading while in the toilet - which is irritating to the rest of us wanting to use the toilet (not that there are no other toilets at home, but we like to use the one attached to our bedroom).

We were watching Wolverine at the movies last weekend. K1 was sitting next to me. About half an hour into the show, K1 whispered to me : mom, do you think this is his real memory or a planted one? I said : what? K1 repeated his question. I said : what do you mean planted one? K1 said : they captured Wolverine, erased his memory and planted a new one. I said : really? how do you know (the movie wasn't even talking about this).

K1, kinda in a smart aleck way said : I am a knower of such things.

Like father, like son.

DUI and dui.