I am back for good

Finally completed my journey. I arrived on 26 sept. I just realised my first time in KLIA main terminal is during march 2009. After KLIA was open in 1998, 11 years later I set foot there. By the way until now I never use the ERL before hehe since its operation began in 2002. There is a way for saving klia train fares from rm 35 to rm 15. This will require you to wait 30 mins at putrajaya. The average malaysian hourly wage is about rm 20. So by waiting 30 mins you save RM 20 better than working 1 hr hehe.

The demise of pfingo

All my pfingo numbers are history. It served me well for the past 2 yrs. From now on pfingo will be used for sms only hehe. Maybe i will top up using the axs machine next time. Its difficult to get the top up card actually. Maybe in the future can use it with 3.5g service.

ung ung ung said so many times to top up but so far never bought any - miao~~
now come back no need pfingo no need italk just keep the digital voice good enough......

How to get from KL Sentral to LCCT cheap and fast

The ERL is launching a bus service from LCCT to Salak Tinggi and from there we can take the high speed rail to KL Sentral for RM 12.50. Why I say this is cheap, please take a look at the fare table. Who will want to pay RM 35 to get from KLIA to KL Sentral when they can break the journey into 2 parts KLIA-Salak Tinggi to KL Sentral. The total cost? RM 12.5+ RM 3.2. What a huge saving. I will also hv the option to go to BTS which will be the future Southern Intercity bus terminal since I can change to STAR which is nearer to my home.

I wonder what is taking the ERL so long to realise LCCT is growing rapidly compared to KLIA main terminal. Anyway it is better late than never since I always use budget airlines. By the way those who are above 55 Malaysian get another 30% discount. Since LCCT was open in March 2006, it takes almost 3 years for ERL to realise a missed opportunity. The LCCT passenger traffic of about 15 million maximum capacity could earn ERL a potential revenue of RM 15 million annually assuming about 20% of the passenger takes this service. Perhaps it is small money for ERL anyway. Domestic restructuring begin in August 2006, Singapore-KL liberalisation from Feb 2008 and by Dec 2008 there are 8.9 million passenger at LCCT.

Snack Attack

Now Krispy Kreme donuts are available on Air Asia!!

By when will we have 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps internet

According to Open Net, 15% of the homes in Singapore will be fitted with next gen BB by end of 2009.
After that by March 2010 the high speed surfing should be operational. No more turtle speed and hopefully the cheapest plan will cost about SGD 25-30 for 100 Mbps hehe. By then our new home shd hv this service. Welcome to the age of HSBB :)

Someone is guarding my clothes

Destiny of my OPC

Next year onwards we can use our OPC on Saturday & Sunday whole day and eve of 5 public holidays. These 5 PH eve are New Year, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas.
By then $20 paper supplementary license will not be required anymore. Go online and purchase will do. Our OPC will be on the road more often.

Places I want to bring my dorby - Locally

When I am back I want to bring my dorby to the following places

1. Desaru
2. Bintan
3. Road trip to Ipoh, Kenyir
4. Genting, Bkt Tinggi
5. Parks in Singapore (accomplished in 2010)
6. Nusajaya (accomplished in Feb 2011) and Leisure farm resort
7. Langkawi
8. Cruise to nowhere
9. Mulu
10. Penang


This should happen between November 2009 to Dec 2010
The last statement cannot be achieved :(

Road to Our First Home

Finding a house in 小岛 is not an easy task. Ever since our ROM in March '09 I started to look around for ideal home. I viewed not less than 30 flats in 6 months time and met more than 20 housing agents.

Finally we settled with a tiny humble house in Clementi. In the process, we met different people, visited different HDB estates and learnt different bank loan packages. It was really a great learning & experience. The road was bumpy but the end result was rewarding.
At first, we wanted a flat in Dover because there are 7 good schools in vicinity including NUS, ACS(I), ACJC, Farifield, UWC etc. Then we realised the price is beyound our reach so we changed target(ssss)... Then our "Malaysian" inside us wanted a big house. So we only target EA/EM/5-room. At first I have so many criteria such as high floor, N-S facing, no afternoon sun, windy, unblock, good size toilet, move-in condition, nice neighbour, quiet etc. Actually, there isn't any HDB flat in the whole Singapore fulfill all terms. If there is, those are not for sale. I learnt to be more realistic so I made adjustment to my criteria. I lost count how many times I changed my mind.
I have viewed many flats.
Dover - 3-room x 5, 4-room x 1
Teck Whye - EM x 1, 5-room x 1
CCK/Yew Tee - 4-room x 4, 5-room x 1
Bt Panjang - EA x 1, 4-room x 4, 5-room x 5
Bishan/Toa Payoh/AMK - EM x 1, EA x 1, Jumbo x 1, 5-room x 1, 4-room x 3
Tanglin Halt/C'wealth - 3-room x 7, 2-room x 1
Teban/Pandan - 5-room x 1, 4-room x 2, 3-room x 1
West Coast - 4-room x 2
Clementi - 1 and only 1 and we bought it!

Lesson learned,
1. Don't limit yourself to one fixed area!
We burst the myth. We concurrently targeted at many areas such as Dover, Bishan, AMK, Bt Panjang, Teban, Tanglin Halt, West Coast etc etc... Yet in the end we bought Clementi. Hah! We have never thought of it because Clementi was notorious for it sky-rocket high price. But God's grace is sufficient hehe :)
2. Get an in-principal approval from bank before searching for a flat within budget.
Don't trust the bank too easily. Try to verify with the bank the maximum loan amount so as to avoid wasting time on expesive flats. Check, double check and re-check again. My mistake was trusting them our loan amount was XXX. So we targeted at EA/EM/5-room flats in Bishan, AMK, Toa Payoh areas. Then we checked again. The loan was actually lower, YYY. Then we switched target to EA/EM/5-room in Bt Panjang. We almost bought a 5-room in Gangsa Road even though I don't like the small windows in the MBR (master bedroom). As we happily go and apply for home loan, we were told that our max loan amount is even lower, ZZZ. We failed to buy. So damn disappointed. What to do? Luckily we haven't offer any Option Fee yet.
3. Don't give up.
After the Gangsa Road incident, I stopped viewing for a while. Agent still called to view smaller flats but I refused to go. Until the 2nd quarter HDB price index released, we felt the urgency. I resumed my task. Worked extra hard to fix viewing appointments. Within 2 weeks, we found it!
4. Don't stick one single agent.
Unless you die die must get in a particular area AND unless the person is a SPECIALIST in that particular area. Specialist might have the access to the new listings (in that particular area) so they can provide first hand info. For a non-specialist agent, the likelihood of you finding a flat in the newspaper or website is the same. We maintained relationship with several agents at the same time continue to search for listing every possible way. In the end, managed to contact the Clementi flat sole seller agent from the internet.
5. Argue all you can (constructively) but don't sour the relationship.
In 3rd quarter, the economy results seems to be improving. Unemployment rate controlled and the consumer index increased. All these good and bad news lead to higher HDB asking price. We developed very very very bad mood. We argued over the phone almost every other day. We have even planned for the worse case scenario. Just rent a room in a friend's house. As much as possible, Miao2 didn't want that to happen. The picture of 2 adults squeeze in a tidy room spurred us on.
The next big task is to,
1. Sign OTP, get loan, attend HDB appointment, get the key and get the house.
2. Renovation and buy furniture.
3. Move out from Dover. I'll miss this place :(
4. Begin our new life. Yeah!