Life with Kimchimon

Kimchimon only started school in June 2021, when he was about 2 and 3 months old. As that was the only time the school had vacancy for him. We enrolled Kimchimon in My First Skool as the school has a mega centre near my mother-in-law's place. I know it's weird that we enrolled him near my mother-in-law's place instead of our place, because we just shifted right, and it would be more convenient if he attended the one nearer to our place. That was because it would be easier for my mother-in-law to bring him home if the school had called. We packed Kinchimon's bag and brought Kimchimon to school in the morning. The teacher advised us to let him stay in school for half a day so he could adapt better. Once he got adapted, he could stay there for the full day. I took a day's leave for Kimchimon's first day of school. Together with my mother-in-law and Dillon, we brought Kimchimon to school. We did inform him before hand that he was going to school, but i don't thi...

Feng Shui While waiting to get the keys to our house, we had to find the renovation contractor that could accommodate to our budget. We also got the house checked out by a Feng Shui master after the house was handed to us.  Renovation and Home Improvement Program In general, the Feng Shui of the house was good, and most importantly, not haunted 😁. Based on the Feng Shui master, there were a few things in the kitchen that needs to be changed,  such as the position of the sink and kitchen hob. The kitchen cabinets needed to be changed anyway as they were already quite worn out.  Our budget for renovation was not a lot but at the same time, we didn't plan to have the house undergo a major renovation. We met up with a number of contractors but the price that they quoted was over our budget. Lucky for us, Kimchimon's nanny had someone that she knew is a contractor and would be able to help us with the renovation. The flat was eligible for Home Improvement too. Home Improvemen...

Before I continue on our journey to getting our new flat, h ere's a pictorial on the procedure of buying a resale flat: After we saw the house of our liking, we need to act fast as it could be bought by other people too. The agents requested the sellers to grant us the Option to Purchase (OTP) and had sent in the Request for Value on the HDB portal  on our behalf  . We then paid a deposit which comprised of the option fee and option exercise fee to the sellers via paynow (both add up to a maximum of $5000). I had added a pictogram below for the procedure on the Option to purchase for a better picture.  The Request of Value took about a week to come back and if the price quoted by the sellers were higher than the price quoted by HDB, we would have to pay the balance by cash. Fortunately for us, the price quoted by HDB and the price quoted by the sellers matches! Which means we would not need to pay any cash upfront. Before submitting the resale application, the sellers had...

I had been working in an Indian pharmaceutical company for a few years and it had inspired me to make a sarong for Kimchimon to wear to school for Deepavali celebration last year. Before we start, let's know more about sarong. Based on Wikipedia,  A sarong  or a  sarung   is a large tube or length of  fabric , often wrapped around the waist, worn in many parts of Asia and the   Pacific islands . The fabric often has woven  plaid  or checkered patterns, or may be brightly colored . Many modern sarongs have  printed  designs, often depicting  animals  or  plants . Different types of sarongs are worn in different places in the world, notably the  lungi  in the Indian subcontinent and the  izaar  in the Arabian Peninsula. This sarong we are making is much more simpler and easier for kids to go to the loo and put it back on (it's simply a long skirt). You will need: 1) An old pillow case 2) Elastic band for ...

After Kimchimon turned 1, I felt that maybe it was time for us to find a home of our own. My mother-in-law's place was great, very convenient with supermarket and the train station just right at our doorstep but this tiny human needed a bigger and more toddler friendly place. This post will be about how we got our own home. Getting a house in Singapore is never easy nor is it cheap. We had some options available: 1) Build-To-Order Flats (which is not an option as it would take about 5 years to complete during the Covid period and i wanted to move out as soon as i can)  2) Sale of Balance Flat - these are flats which were leftover or the previous owner had a change of mind during the last launch (the ratio for Chinese is always 0!) 3) Resale flat (the only option for us since it is readily available) Before looking for a resale flat, I went to HDB's website to calculate the approximate cost of the house that we could afford and the type of subsidies we were eligible for (you can...

I saw a Radioflyer wagon on Shopee and always wanted to get one for Kimchimon but i feel that the cost is quite high ($32). Therefore, i had decided to make one for Kimchimon instead. I will describe how i made one for Kimchimon in this post. Materials needed: 1) Wooden crate ( i bought a wooden crate from ezbuy back then for $15) 2) Mini wooden log pieces ( since i already have them, why not use them) 3) Wheels for carts (i bought them from Nippon Home for $4.90, but you can also get adhesive ones on Shopee) 4) Glue or adhesive (feel free to use screws too) 5) Unwanted or extra play mat (which I had to use to modify my wagon later on) 6) Thick rope for handle (can be found on Shopee too) Total cost: $20 Tools needed: 1) Paint (colour of your choice)  2) Screw driver Instructions: 1) I painted Kimchimon's name onto the log pieces and glued the wood pieces to the wooden crate 2) Glued in the wheels using superglue 3) Tied a knot with the thick rope and insert into one of the gap of ...