We moved ... finally!

Our family has been staying in an HDB (Housing Development Board) executive apartment at Yew Tee for 19 years. We first bought the apartment from HDB (aka public service in charge of housing development in Singapore) in year 1993, and finally got hold of the keys to the unit (i.e. allowed to move in) around mid 1994 (just a few months before the arrival of our eldest daughter Cheng Yee).

My wife and I used to stay in a rented flat at Clementi when we were married. We then moved into our new HDB (Housing Developmental Board aka government funded) apartment when it was ready for residing in 1994 (a few months before our eldest daughter was born). We have been staying in Yew Tee since then.
Yew Tee was a new housing estate then. When we were first moved in, it was rather quiet and "deserted". Only a few families were staying in our neighbourhood then. At night, we could hear the howling of the wild dogs strolling along the quiet street/bushes nearby. There were only a few cars parked at the multi-storey carpark. It was so isolated/deserted and not under the radar of the neighbourhood police, that our old, miserable, small Toyota Starlet was broken in by petty car thieves twice .. the key hole in the front /passenger doors were priced open twice. There was nothing valuables in the car for the thieves, but the repair caused me a fortune (considering my meagre monthly salary). I remembered tryng to save money by parking illegally along the road nearby, but ended upwith a traffic summon equivalent to the monthly parking fees for the multi-storey carpark.

The last stop of the MRT station was at Choa Chu Kang when we first moved into our house. It was about one year later that theMRT track connecting Choa Chu Kang to Yishun was completed, and we have the Yew Tee MRT station within 5 minutes walking distance from our house. We were quite fortunae to have De LaSalle Primary School located just next to our block, and Choa Chu Kang Community Centre just one block away. Needless to say, my children all attended primary school at De LaSalle Primary School, and had their tuitions at the Lewin Tuition Centre @ Community Centre.

My wife and I were rather poor when we first moved in. Hence, we only renovated our house to the bare essentials - e.g.lights, single unit air-condition at master bedroom, fans at main living hall, kitchen cabinets, wash basin, cooking stove, store room shelves, heater at bathroom, and some additional power points, and simple painting. We did not make any additional storage spaces/buildin cabinets, cornices for the ceiling etc. Our furnitures were quite simple as well. We made do with what we had for several years, and added some build in cabinets in our study room and ChengYee's bedroom after we returned from United States in year 2000.

The house may be simple, and some may even say "plain and messy". However, we are quite happy and contented with what we have. We had been "house-hunting" from 2001 onwards - unfortunately our budget was still quite tight in the first few years - and missed the opportunity of bargain buy (on hind sight) of some of the properties put up for sale before financial market started to pick up again in 2005-6.

It was only in recent years that we finally bought a unit at Dakota Residences; and we are going to move in soon... in one month's time if all goes according to plan!

Here are glimpses of our Yew Tee neighbourhood and some of our fond memories:

shoes in front of our house

block 557 @ yew tee

plants/flowers at ground floor of block 557

view of church from our balcony

yew tee park nearby 

view from service balcony

corridor in front of our house

living room - how spartan it looks

study room

getting ready for school

view from multistorey car park

corridor in front of our apartment

making dumpling at service balcony

making dumpling

dinner at home

kicking the angry bird

kitchen

showing off

celebrating birthday

My boys' Co-curricular Activities (CCA) in school

All students in Singapore must participate in some co-curricular activities in the school, either in sport/games, uniformed group, performing arts or clubs/societies. It is hope that CCA will help to inculcate team spirit, sharing and bonding among peers; and further enhance a person's character.

However, gone were those days that the students could choose CCA based on their interests. To be eligible for selection into certain sports or games, you have to possess more than average skills. Novice would never stand a chance to enter sports CCA. One has to go through selection process; only those who are deemed talented will be shortlisted.

My older boy, Cheng Kai, managed to get into Chinese Orchestra, playing the Chinese Flute (Dizhi). During the selection process, he had to demonstrate to the instructor his ability to "generate" some vocal sound from the flute. Fortunately, he had tried "blowing" Chinese Flute with his uncle before, and manged to "blow out"some tune during the selection. Those who could not were apparently rejected.

Cheng Kai (middle)

He participated in the just completed SYF (Singapore Youth Festival) competition recently. His school Chinese Orchestra team has won Certificate of Distinction in this year's competition! Cheng Kai will "retire" from his CCA from this week to concentrate on his impending "O" Level examination this year.

My second and youngest boy, Cheng Jie, was fortunate to be a volleyball player during Primary School days. Hence, he was easily accepted into the school team. He was quite shot among his peers; but being quite agile and physically fit, he was trained to be a Liberal for the team. They did quite well last year - managed to win Second place for National C Division (lower secondary) for Volleyball, losing only to Bukit Panjang High School.  But this year (secondary 3), they could only manage to win Second placing in Zonal B Division, and lost out to stronger opponents in the quarterfinal at National Level.

Cheng Jie (right)

 I wishes his volleyball team will perform better in next year's National "B" Division Tournament.

"Baby sitting" my adolescent boys

My wife went off to Melbourne to pay Cheng Yee a visit since last week. I am left with my two adolescent boys, Cheng Kai and Cheng Jie, to look after at home. All the clothes had been ironed, and the floor mopped clean before my wife left for Melbourne. My main task is to ensure my boys go to school on time, take their meals regularly and complete their school works on time. And of course, to make sure that they do some additional worksheets during their free time.

Snap shot my wife and I at Changi Airport Departure Hall

It has been rather uneventful until yesterday, when all of us woke up late in the morning. The boys were supposed to reach school before 7.15 am. The alarm from my handp hone rang at 5.45 am. I shut it off and thought I would just take a short break (shutting my eyes in "meditation") before waking up the boys. But alas, the next thing I knew, it was already 6.10 am. Immediately I surged to full emergency mode, rushed to wake the boys up, prepared milo drinks for them, and took a quick shower myself. We were all ready by 6.40am. Fortunately, the drive to the school was quite smooth - no snarling traffics for once - and we managed to reach the school by 7.20 am. Not bad at all.

Last Sunday had been quite busy with emergency calls as well. I was called to attend to a newborn who had some grunting immediately after birth at around 6 am. I decided to complete the morning round, seeing my other inpatients in Mt Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and Mt Alvernia Hospital. By the time I completed the round, it was already 10 am - time for breakfast at Jurong West Hawker Centre. Guess what, we ordered our favourite Laksa and Penang Fried Koay Teow as usual.

laksa, sugar cane drink, penang koay teow (from front to back)

But alas, I was called to see a child with lethargic and poor feeding secondary to gastroenteritis at around 1 pm, then again at 5pm to review the same newborn baby that I saw in the early morning - he started to develop chest retraction, which usually implied thatsome kind of respiratory distress. After reviewing the child, I was called to attend to a child with an episode of loss of consciousness - query fainting versus seizure. Fortunately I managed to take our dinner before I rushed off to review those patients. 

Finally, I managed to discharge all my patients except one yesterday. It was a less taxing day today! What a relief!

As you could see, I hardly had time to "baby sit" the two boys. I trust that they would do what is right - i.e. complete their homework, do some revision work books and readings (if time permit). And of course, not forgetting to allow them some spare time to indulge in computer games sporadically. Fortunately, apart from occasional reminders, I must say my boys behave quite responsively over the past few days.  

Craving - cause of suffering!

I must admit that life has been very kind to me.
As my wife put it, I have been blessed through and through - managed to enter into good schools during younger days, did well in major school exams, clinched a place in the much sought after medical studies, successfully completed specialty and then subspecialty training in my preferred choices, and gainfully employed. I never had to worry about being turned down in job interview, seemed to well liked by peers and colleagues, and most importantly relatively spared of risk of being retrenched in this age of economical restructuring. The transition of work from public to private institution had also been quite smooth.
What further can I ask for? I should be contented with what I possess.

However, human nature is such that we tend to crave for more things, perhaps to pamper our, and sometimes to show off to others that we have "arrived"!
At times, I envy my friends who drive luxurious cars and stay in big landed houses. I feel inferior when reading news report of child prodigies who excel in their studies. I am amazed at how some savvy investors who do not hold any professional degrees managed to amass great wealth and properties during the property  boom over the past decades.
These little cravings inevitably bring forth tinge of unhappiness and dejection. It then strikes me that Buddha's teaching that "life is full of suffering" and the main cause of suffering stems from "craving" for things that are not ours... How true!

We should be contented with what we have. Yes, we can work hard to achieve our aims of leading a good life for ourselves and our families; but it should not come at the expense of our health and others wellbeing.We should not be jealous of the achievement / success of others. It will be wonderful if we can rejoice with success of others. If not, the least we can do is not to harbour any ill feelings towards their success.

In other words, be happy with what we have. In time of adversity, keep our spirits up and never give up. Never let negative emotions overwhelm us! There will always be light at the end of the tunnel. As the Chinese saying goes "知足常满" (once you are contented with what you have, you will always be happy)!

Snapshots of exercise trail

Gaining in age and inevitably in weight as well.
To combat the expanding abdominal girth, and for the sake of maintaining overall physical health, I have started to be serious about brisk walking/jogging.
My exercise haunts are Mac Ritchie Reservoir, Yew Tee Park or Yew Tee Park Connector next to my dwelling place.
Below are some of the snapshots of my exercise trails:

Boardwalk along Mac Ritchie

Tree top trail

Tree top

Mac Ritchie Reservoir

Mac Ritchie Reservoir

Hanging Tree @ Mac Ritchie

Mac Ritchie Reservoir is one of the best places for exercises. The air is fresh, and scenery is simply charming and always. The calming, Zen-like ambiance is truly intoxicating!

The park connector cutting through Yew Tee is a little bit too "artificial" - but still the jogging trail is clean and the river (or is it man made canal) running along the jogging trail is a welcome sight. It adds some softness to the concrete atmosphere.

Yew Tee Park Connector

Park Connector

The pillars supporting MRT track

Housing estate along the Park connector

                                                

And surprise, surprise! We were at Pasir Ris Park just a few weeks ago:

The Bros

Can you spot the snake?

Mangrove trees

Signs of aging...

Typical signs of aging are:

- prefer radio channels that broadcast old songs in the 80s and early 90s

- browsing old photos

- talking about the various peculiarities of children when they were young

- looking at the obituaries in newspaper

- starting to put on weight and developing pot belly

- feel tired the following day, after being woken up by night calls in the middle of night or early morning

I have experienced all of the above.

I have not developed obsession with thoughts of the good old days yet; that may come later, I presumed.

Getting rid of "spare tyre" in my waist!

Most babies tend to be rather chubby in the first 6 months of life - not surprising considering that they are enjoying blissful life of eat - sleep - eat - sleep, without any worries. From 6 months onward, they start to lose some of their baby fat. Majority of health conscious adults will remain trim and healthy, at least with minimal bulges in the tummy. However, as we enter into middle age, the "lost" fat will serendipitously return and overwhelm our body contour. Before long, our waists start to acquire rings of "spare tyre" and our thighs and arms start to become flabby.
And of course, I am not spared of the phenomenon!

A few colleagues have recently congratulated me for being "prosperous" - code name for gaining weight. I discounted those comments, thinking wishfully that perhaps they were comparing to my slim self in the 80s. I was brutally brought to reality when a recent photo of mine shown without any trace of doubt that I had indeed ballooned up a lot - my pot belly is jutting out and waist expanding side-way as well!

It is time for action to trim those fat away! I sprained my left ankle about 2 months ago (before Chinese New Year). I missed a step while going down staircase in the hospital, and was literally grounded for 5 minutes in pain. As a result, I had to stop my routine brisk walking exercises for the next 2 months. The Chinese New Year celebration could not come at the worst time - all those extra calories from Bak Kua, cookies etc exacerbated the weight gain.

I resumed my exercise routine again the past 2 weeks. Brisk walking and jogging for a total distance of 2-3 km, followed by some work-out in the neighbourhood park about 3-4 days per week. I am glad to report that it has shown some results - at least the "spare tyre" has remained stable in size, if not slightly deflated now!

Let's see how thing will be in the next month!