Billy Bookcase 19 February, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Dear2, Reno & Furnishing.add a comment
Dear1 and Dear2 added a new book shelf to our house recently. There’s this small little section in our living room that we find too bare, so we thot of filling this space up with a covered book shelf. Minus away the floor skirting (side and back), curtains, and boxup from the ceiling, the ideal width of the shelf should be 58cm with height 205cm (this sentence is actually VERY important, cos we kind of forgot about the spacing needed for the skirting and peripherals when we first took measurement, cos one usually tends to measure the distance wall-to-furniture, and not wall-to-furniture-minus-skirting-and-peripherals. You can imagine the incompatibility if these provisions were not factored in!)
With such precise dimensions, Dear1 and Dear2 were quite convinced that Ikea should be able to offer some shelfing solutions. But alas, it seems that smaller cabinets come in pretty fixed width of 40 or at best 60cm. That 2 cm more is still 2 cm too much for us. Eventually we settled for a Billy 40 x 202 cm bookcase which cost $79 for black-brown.
Dear2 never does like exposed surfaces, so getting a door for the book case is essential. We got a compatible glass door at $78.
Next comes the transportation problem. You can pay a certain fee for Ikea delivery, but being thrifty Dear1Dear2, we’ve rather bring it back on our own. At more than 2m in length, you can try checking with the biggest maxicab if they can carry, but the safest bet will be to use your private lorry or bus. Haha. And dun forget to ask 2 strong people along, cos the glass door is surprisingly much much heavier than the book case alone.
Furniture assembly took up another one of our Saturdays. Plenty of space (remember again, it’s 2m in length), screwdriver and a hammer are essentials. (Dear1’s note: We didn’t have a hammer and had to buy 1 from downstairs for ~$7) And probably some handiplus to be readied cos the intensive usage of the screwdriver made Dear1’s palm peel. :(
Finally the brand new Billy bookcase is ready. But there’s another problem, which the IKEA staff did warn us about, that the shelf might topple forward becos the glass door is heavier than the 40 cm and 2m height body. Opps. The advice was to ‘tie’ the shelf to the back wall, but since we do not have a drill at home, it’ll just have to be made do with plenty of big books at the bottom shelves as well as much caution when opening the glass door.
Our nice Billy Bookcase. We wonder how long this shelf can last, cos a fren told us later that his 80cm shelf fell apart, literally fell apart, barely within one year. And that was a shelf that he didn’t load much things with. Hmm…….
- Dear2
Being Systematic 18 February, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Slice of Life.add a comment
Have you ever have the feeling that there’s just sooooooooo many things to do today, and you dun know where to start or what to do first? Or have you ever have the feeling that you want to make today a good one (in fact, every day should be a good one too), but the question is, how?
Dear2 often gets this feeling of overwhelmness, probably becos Dear2 has pretty high expectations of herself, and that she doesn’t quite know how to relax herself. Haiz….
Anyway, one little trick that Dear2 has found to be quite effective for herself in this high demand world, is to be systematic. Heehee, not really a tip though, cos Dear2 is habitually systematic. Rather, it’s the application of this trait when things start to get too overwhelming.
It’s actually quite idiot proof, all you have to do is:
1) Wipe out a piece of paper at the start of your day (while drinking coffee, having your breakfast maybe?)
2) Brainstorm on the things that you need to do TODAY. Mundane things like clearing that every accumulating mailbox can be one of the things that you want to get it off the way as well. The important thing is to list it down, and list it down in bite size (you may have a BIG report to submit, and likely that this wun be able to be completed in a day’s time, so you’ll have to list down the scope that you intend to work on today).
3) Start doing and start striking the items off your list. There might be some ugly frogs in that list, but since you know that all the listed items will have to be striked off (by the end of the day) anyway, it becomes a matter of whether you want to do it now or later at 5pm. So might as well do it NOW.
4) At the end of the day, you’ll confirmed ‘feel as light as a bird’ if the whole list gets completed. Or at least have a sense of fulfillment when majority of the items gets striked off (time really flies today, how I wish there’s more time today for me to finish up this list). Surprisingly, you’ll come to find that when there’s a deadline, things usually seem to be able to get moving and be on its way. But when we use that yaya attitude, can-do-maybe-do attitude, this work seems to take forever to close off.
When it comes to dealing with ‘overwhelmness’, the way is just to follow a systematic approach.
Have fun. Be systematic.
- Dear2
Practice Make Perfect 14 February, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Slice of Life.add a comment
It’s so tiring. Dear2 has been taking driving lessons every Sat and Sun since the beginning of Jan. Because BBDC does not allow students to book consecutive lessons, hence Dear2 has to break up every-week-2-lessons into 2 lessons on 2 days. Such a burn of my weekends. Sigh……..
Being a conscientious student since school days, Dear2 always make it a point to document down the key points learnt from each lesson. From adjusting the seat, rear mirrors and side mirrors before every drive, to remembering to stop at every STOP sign, to how much to step on the brake; from watching out for junction lights, to watching out for pedestrains, to reflectively turning my head to check blind spot every time during a turn, these small little tips were always documented in point form in my driving notebook after every lesson.
Slowly and steadily, as the course progress on, many of these things which were so new to me as a new learner has slower become part of me as a driver.
Life is like that as well. Dear2 has recently took on new scope in work, scope that is entirely new to me. The going is tough, what of assimilating new terms, what of understanding the history, and what of giving inputs for the future business. But I believe that as one moves along, do more, get your hands dirty, it will steadiliy and unknowingly become part of you in no time.
Many of us were students once upon a time. Just relive those days when problem sums of a new topic always seem so difficult to do at first, but as u proceed to flip through the textbook for the relevant formulas or the correct theorem, understand it and apply it in the homework, and when the same kind of problem appears in the test, it becomes pretty much mechanical. Bingo.
Strive on. If you think that u are not good enuff, it just means that u have to do a bit more than other people.
Practice does make perfect.
- Dear2
Honeymoon update – Japan! 13 February, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Nihon no koto, Travel & Discovery, Wedding.add a comment
Who would have known that planning for our sweet sweet romantic honeymoon would be such a roller-coaster ride. Let’s do a short recap of how this whole episode has played out over the past few months.
It first started with our views on a honeymoon, whether is was necessary for newly wed couples to embark on the societal norm honeymoon. After our customary wedding, we decided that, yes, we would like to have a trip to celebrate our wedding. And with that, we started our survey of friends and travel agencies. We finally decided that we’ll visit Japan the free and easy way. Then, because of some opportunities, we actually went to Vietnam and had a really great time there. Was that going to be counted as our honeymoon? Nah, it wasn’t. Back to the drawing boards on our Japan trip, until the financial slump went into full swing and investors flock to buy the Japanese yen @%$^@#*! We had to change our plan to Korea package tour instead, in total contradiction of our dislike for tour packages.
All went well in the months leading to our departure date. We’ve changed a fair bit of Korean Won, which is really cheap nowadays. We bought our winter wear and everything. But there was still something, a weak link that could jeopardize our plans. The date of our departure cannot be confirmed until there is a minimum group size of 10 people. We happen to be the first 2 persons to sign up for the tour group, and that was back in Dec 08. Week after week, I would call up the travel agency to check how many people were in the group. Finally, some good news came about 4 weeks from departure. There were then 8 people in the group, only 2 more for confirmed departure. The deadline for the sales was 2 weeks before departure, so that gave the tour agency another 2 weeks go hard-sell and gather another 2 persons for this group. Prospects looked good…
1 week after that (or 3 weeks from departure), the travel agency called me and declared that the trip was going to be canceled due to insufficient group size. I was furious! There was still 1 week to the deadline and they had decided to call off the trip early. Despite numerous discussions and suggestions, they wouldn’t barge and insist that we either select another departure date of the same tour package or we take our full refund. Unfortunately, other confirmed departure dates for Feb 09 were all unsuitable for us. That left us with no choice but to take the full refund, and it also left us with a luggage full of winter wear but no travel plans.
Our travel window was rather tight due to both our work commitments. At the time of the Korea package being canceled, there was only about 3 weeks away from our intended travel date, what can we do? We could look at Korea tour packages from other agencies and hopefully some of them can depart on our dates. But we had already looked at those options and we didn’t like their itinerary. We could start to plan a free & easy to other countries such as Taiwan or China. But with our schedules right now, we dun have the luxury of time to start reading up on a new place and planning a full 10 day itinerary. We had to work with what we already knew. Japan.
We retrieved our earlier 16 day Fantastic Japan plans and scaled it down to fit our current budget. Meanwhile, Japanese yen continued to appreciate against SGD @#$%@&!, so we finally settled on a 12 day Relaxing & Romantic Tokyo free and easy itinerary. Time to make our bookings! And that was when the next hurdle hit us.
There was no problems with the flights as the plane was still quite empty when we selected our seats online. The real problems laid with the hotel bookings. In order to keep a low budget, we had shortlisted highly recommended and popular budget hostels or business hotels with ensuite rooms (it was our honeymoon after all). But with barely 3 weeks to go, these hot tourist properties had already been fully reserved. So it’s back to the drawing boards for us yet again. Slowly but surely, we had to increase our accommodations budget to find vacancies. That took us another 1 week before we finally decided on one that was about 30% more expensive than our original intent. Pricey, but at least we now have a roof over our heads, a silver roof no less.
With all the bookings confirmed, we’re now all ready to go! Despite our higher than expected budget for this trip, we will be visiting many places, take lots of photos, eating delicious food, play in the snow, and enjoying our very first long distance overseas trip together – our honeymoon. I love you dear.
-Dear1
A Day at the Zoo (Run) 8 February, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Sports & Health, Travel & Discovery.2 comments
Dear1 and Dear2 went for the Zoo Run yesterday. What an interesting trip!
The Zoo Run flagged off at 4pm sharp, in 4 intervals of 10 mins categorized as Elite Runners, Normal Runners, Fun Run and Family Run. Dear1 and Dear2 joined in the Normal Run segment, cos Dear1 announced to Dear2 2 hours before the run that we are going as visitors and not as runners. Duh…
So, Dear1 only wanted to go visit the zoo and night safari and take pictures of animals. At $38 for the zoo run, it’s already a steal when the admission tickets to the zoo plus night safari already cost $40 ($18 + $22), and plus there’s still a very nice zoo polo tee, plus a free water bottle for Passion Card members. Forget about the Run, let’s just go to the Zoo, Dear1 intends.
Disappointed as Dear2 was that it is not going to be a running event (I NEED TO SLIM DOWN!!!!!), Dear2 nonetheless persuaded Dear1 to brisk walk the first part of the trek through the Night Safari. Quite a wise decision, cos there’s NO ANIMALS out in the night safari area in the day time! Duh, it’s NIGHT SAFARI afterall. So actually the cheap $38 is not so worth it afterall.
After 2 cups of yummy Milo from the Milo truck at the mid way point, also marking the end of night safari route and beginning of zoo route, Dear1 and Dear2 entered the zoo. Wow, chaotic it is. Unlike the Night Safari area, the zoo is still open to public. And the best part is, like Dear1 and Dear2, there were many many runners who came for the Zoo (and not the Run). Haha, so we are not alone. If we had known that this is the case, we should have chiong the night safari part so that we can have more time at the zoo mah.
See animals, take photo. It was the first time that Dear2 took so many photos on the new Lumix camera since Dear1 bought it.
Taking good pictures of animals is indeed not easy. You need a camera that has good enough zoom, a good position and angle, and most importantly, the patience and physique to wait for that ideal pose and expression cos animals dun exactly freeze that perfect pose and expression for u all the time!
Hmm… At this point in time, I shall leave Dear1 to share with us more on some basic photography and camera tips since Dear1 needs to submit for at least 1 photography contest as part of this year’s new year resolutions. Keke….
The Zoo Run was fun, at least it gave couples like us (who have been dating for 10 years but never really wanted to visit a zoo) a chance to finally visit it, to discover to our amazement that the Zoo is indeed so fun (yeah, no wonder it’s was almost a must-do thing for all new couples).
Oh, we saw that there’s going to be (or was?) a Feather Run at the Jurong Bird Park. Er… maybe not for this one. Haha…
- Dear2
