Cars don't Live on Petrol Alone, But also Battery, Tyre and Many More

Apr 2017, Car mat, $170

Dec 2019, 4 tyres, $540

April 2022, Tyre punctured right at the end of WFH. Replace all 4, $600

Mar 2023, Battery

Sep 2023, tried to be environmentally friendly, hit a curb real hard and punctured 1 tire. $240

May 2024, Roof lining dropped since a year ago. Finally willingly part with my money and repaired it at Chong Leather in JB. RM500

May 2023

April 2024

Right before

Finally...

Finally jump ship from expensive Singtel postpaid

Over the years singapore telco has been increasing their postpaid plan price. With the advent of 5G, the prices has gone to unreasonable level above 55 sgd per month such that the cost of the plan is not able to subsidize by the cheaper cost of the iphones

So in Apr 2022 i decided to jump ship to TPG 10 dollar plan. However TPG speed and coverage left much to be desired. Hence in 2023, i decided to change to Singtel MVNO that offers cheap 5g data with data roaming to neighbouring countries.

A brief history of mobile data use

3g is the beginning of 12gb generous data given when speed is still between 3mbps to 14 mbps sometime around  2009

Once 4g began in 2012, the data started to be drastically reduced to 2gb. People demand for data during this period is still manageable. By 2018 I think the usage is ard 10gb per month. That is also when Singtel changed its flexi 2012 plan to combo plan 2014 and then to combo xo 2018.

Then comes simba and many mvno in 2018 and 2019 which flooded the market with 50-100gb data in the mobile plan. The data explosion comes with a big drop in the mobile price plan between 10-20 sgd per month. Major telcos are slow to react besides they are busy building the first 5g network in 2020-2021. 

Sometime in 2018 the concept of mobile data roaming is becoming affordable. However due to COVID ended in 2022 that we truly embrace the usage data roaming broadly.

By 2024, I think ard 40% of customers has switched to the minor telco which leads to a drop in profits for the major telco.

Comparing Ruth's Chris Set Lunch Near Me

To celebrate my birthday, we brought the kids to Ruth's Chris Steak House in Kaohsiung thinking the price should be cheaper than Singapore. We were not disappointed at all. The restaurant is located in a very unexpected office building. The tables are spaced out generously. The interior is quiet but the waitress were attentive. They tirelessly explained the difference between medium and medium well and also the effect of the heated ceramic serving plate. To ensure we don't overcook the beef. After a long briefing, someone asked, "Can we have 6分熟?" Someone please tell me what is 6分熟??!!

We ordered from the set menu. It came with a glass of Moscato, S. had her first sip of alcohol, and I drank the rest. Then we gobble gobble the free flow bread and soup. The soup is probably too salty for the kids palate. By the time the tasty beef steak was served, they were half full already hahaha. One of the ladies clean the bread crumbs from our table at least 3 times. The beef is tender and flavorful. 

The meal was satisfying and friendly to the wallet. While contemplating about the next holiday destination, why not let the Ruth's Chris set menu prices decides?

2024 We went to the one in Kaohsiung

Hong Kong

Philippines

Singapore

Jakarta

Taiwan Trip in the Southern Part after 12 years... with friends and kids

Taiwan is not very big, about the size of Pahang, Malaysia (~36,000 sqkm) but there are many different type of geological features such as mountain, river, seaside, lake, cliff, rocks etc. Each County has it's own unique attractions & experience. So this year 2024 we had our first family trip in Taiwan for 8D7N. 8-15 Mar. Celebrated my birthday, too.

General itinerary
Day 1,2: Kaohsiung
Day 3,4: Kenting
Day 5: Maolin
Day 6: Tainan
Day 7,8: Taoyuan

Took EVA flight for the first time from SIN-TPE. Also first time taking B-777. The plane is new, big, spacious and comfortable. The kids enjoyed the journey because of free flow juice and non-stop in-flight cartoon. Half way through H. spilled some orange juice, wet her clothes and changed into rapper style outfit.

The flight touched down on time at 6pm. Cleared immigration in about 30min. But the transit from Airport > MRT > THSR > MRT plus all the walking, we finally checked in to our first hotel at Yanchengpu at about 1030pm. Everyone slumbered into deep sleep almost immediately. 

Except of the little one... Already in her dreamland while on the road

leepy...

Kaohsiung local transport is convenient. The MRT system is similar to SMRT. Distance-based fare system. Each trip cost us about NT20-30 per person. We keep reminding everyone that H. IS STILL 5-YO so all public transport is free. No seat though.

This time we only spent 1 day around the Southwestern part of Kaohsiung city along the Green LRT line places like Hamasen, the pier area and Dream Mall. We stopped by to witness the turning of the Great Harbor Bridge for the kids to learn a bit about civil engineering, for free.

At Dream Mall, we took the Ferris wheel and played at the mini tiny theme park for a while. 

From Kaohsiung to Kenting

Auntie E. pre-booked the local transport from 橘子猫 tttrips.com. The package include a local driver drove us around and provide tour guide service. Total cost shared between 8 person. We paid $584+$42 tips.

8人提供九人座VAN (中文司導) 費用共 NTD33500

2 Days in Kenting
a lot of walking in the mountain, park, lakeside, seaside, old town, night market.

Pingtung
Tandem paragliding at the age of fabulous 40-ish is something that I didn't plan for. When there is an opportunity, just seize it. 

Tainan
Guided by a local is totally a different experience. He brought us to places where we have not heard off. 

Taoyuan. Getting ready to go home
Before heading to Taoyuan, we visited the Kaohsiung Train Station currently under construction. The train station seems like located in the middle of a very big roundabout. 

Year 2024

Will look like this when completed in Year 2025

We can't really see anything beyond the hoarding, but the site is definitely quite big. We walked some more, ate some mos burger and went back to hotel to check out. 

Formosa Boulevard metro station 美麗島站

Learning from the first trip, our return trip on THSR was much more pleasant with food and drinks fully prepared. By noon, we checked in to our last hotel, Novotel at Taoyuan Airport. Purposely choose that place to catch the early flight on the next day. 

The hotel is chic, cozy but not cheap. 1-night is already more expensive then 2-night at Chateau de Chine. Room is quite small. 2 single beds must park together to fit all 4 of us. Sofa also serves as fall protection. Luckily everything is moveable. A giant panda took up some space, too.

After dropping off our luggage, we went back to the THSR train station for lunch and some shopping. There is a Gloria Outlet Mall. Walking around the compound already made me feel like spending. Exactly the same feeling I had at Genting Premium Outlet. Cooling weather always entice people to spend. But before that, we need food! There are many choices and non of the shops are crowded. Could that be any problem with the food? No... food is delicious, affordable, service is good. Completely opposite of Singapore food scene.

Hotel lobby is equipped with 3 iMac for guests. 2 young guests were spotted hoarding the iMac playing online game after a cheap Ippudo takeout meal. 

The next day is again a mad rush. Woke up at 6am. Packing up and left hotel at 730am. Good thing that Novotel provide complementary airport transfer. Once reached the Terminal 2, get tax refund. The process is very seamless. The staff just need to check the form completed by Gloria Outlet then we can tap our credit card at the kiosk. Less than 5 min we are done. Next stop, check in counter. Taoyuan Airport is very busy, full of people, long queue everywhere. Luckily we checked in online the day before otherwise how can we look so happy at the bag drop counter?

The remaining of the journey is basically relax, eat, drink, watch movie and play game on the flight. Vacation cannot be too long 6-8 days is just nice. 

Totally Relatable Images

 
From Fowl Language

From 妙妙犬布麗

Hou liu dik jb-kl ets by 2025

Hope by 2025 ets will be extended to jb. Finally jb kl trip can be done in 4 hrs time. Rts will be up by end 2026 connecting jb to sg.

By 2023 , hsr will be a reality in indonesia and laos. Post covid Batam and Bintan ferry has become very expensive making it no longer economical. One way ferry start from sgd 70 vs one way toll to malaysia rm 25. Who will still want to go Batam? 

Since Apr 2022, each year the land checkpoint has became more and more jam. Now in 2024 daily crossing volume has increased to 510k. By 2027/ 2028 I forecast it will reach 750k at least with the rts around 160k passengers a day and the new woodland checkpoint progressively opening from 2028.

Last hou Liu dik ktmb kl to jb night train

Last senandung sutera night train ended in may 2016. Now needs to change train at gemas and the schedule is not convinient.