Experiences on Key Collection Day

Reached HDB Hub at about 10.50am (23 May) and bought fire insurance from Etiqa counter at Level 3.

Went back to Level 1 to get a queue number (A6192), and got attended by Shila, a pleasant lady, at Counter 145. He was issued a document bag, and a key pouch that contained his keys. The costliest bags he had ever bought.

Paid the utilities bill at Level 3.

Enquired at SP Services on Level 2 about activating the account for testing the gradient of the bathroom floor, the flush system, and the taps. Was advised to activate it only when ready to start renovation, and that there exists complimentary water supply for such tests.














Had preserved vegetable and duck soup at the food court. Got braised pork rice for her.

Bought pineapples (ong lai - to symbolize riches) and 发糕 (some Chinese cake to symbolize prosperity) from NTUC and took NS line to Bishan, then CC line to Serangoon, and finally NE line to Punggol.




Took a 10 minute walk to the site. On the way, saw that the vicinity had eateries, supermarket, and other shops. Had to go a roundabout route as other blocks were still hoarded up.

Finally outside his own apartment, and with much excitement, he unlocked the gate. Knocked on the door before unlocking it, and rolled his pineapple in to signify riches rolling into the house.. She held hers by the leaves and threw, weird way of "rolling".

Found some issues
- improperly done grouting at bathroom wall, gaping hole spotted
- Lock sprocket for main gate misaligned
- Gluey / wet liquid on the rubber lining of household shelter

Went to Level 1 of the block and enquired with (Housing Service Centre?) HSC on the water supply, and the lady was quite rude. She said that there would not be any water supply if utilities was not activated, and there was no such thing as the test supply. Conveyed his displeasure about such information lapses between the public sector entities, which she just conveniently ignored. Such attitude.

Not-so-good-experience aside, he felt that the place had good views. It was also windy, probably due to it being unblocked. The noise level in the house was loud though, perhaps because the rooms were still empty and allowed echoes.

View of the LRT track.

View of the expressway, with part of the Level 5/6 sky garden in the foreground.

Also, there were many renovation contractors waiting in ambush for the new apartment owners. One of them even managed to come up to his apartment, and it was due to spotting opened windows from who knows where. How sharp.

Saw some of the projects and got a better idea of how things would look like. The kitchen, the built-in wardrobes, the tempered-glass shower screen, the tiling, etc. Every contractor managed to come up with a quotation for him on the spot, and from there he got better sensing of the prices.

One of the contractors (K) he had been in touched with was charging about $2000 more than the competition for tiling, at the same material price range. When he sent a text to the contractor, she couldn't explain. Probably dropping this one. Also, she showed him a similar layout for his kitchen.

The entrance to the kitchn is at the top right hand side of the picture. It would be really difficult to get into the kitchen. Not much thought being put into the design, felt that way.

23 May 2013 - The day he allowed his coffers to be emptied

He's going to collect the key to his very first apartment. Excited. Max.

Met up with a few renovation companies, but hadn't decided on whom yet.

What color scheme?

Green wall in place of feature wall in the living room?

Blue wall in the bedroom for a more tranquil feeling?

Which air-con brand?

Air-con units for just the bedrooms or the to include the living room?

KDK or FANCO ceiling fan?

Tempered glass shower screen or not?

Wood feel/finish for carpentry?

3 Feb 2013 - Flower crab with roe

First time ever had he picked a crab with roe. It proved quite tasty.

He had gone to the supermarket after physical training on a Sunday morning. That place was very crowded as people were preparing for the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities. Even the aisles were so packed that traffic could only flow one way. He could not find the flower crabs at the usual corner, only to realize that they were moved to another corner in favor of big king prawns.


The catch were small, and many of them had broken legs or loose parts. Perhaps he arrived too late, and the good ones had been picked up by the early birds. Got 5 crabs, some male, some female and then it was time to prepare for the feast.

Scrubbed and washed them well, and the Dad suggested that he should remove the tail flap. He removed them to keep the Dad from bugging. That would prove quite a wrong move, as orangey/yellow stuff oozed out. Roe! He had never encountered roe in the carapace before, but everyone got a taste of it this very day. The dragon brother got a crab with nicely packed dark orangey roe, in contrast to the yellowish mess he had below. But it was nice anyway.

03 Jan 2013 - Chilean King Crab

Was planning to go to a seafood distributor to buy their Chilean King Crab, advertised as a special discounted price of $36 per box. Each box contained about 800g of a whole monster.

Luckily, the brother spotted it at Fairprice Xpress, so he went to check it out. Voila, just $29.90! He could use his cards for cash-back and rebates too.

The still frozen King Crab.

Unfortunately, the meat tasted tough and wasn't as sweet as anticipated. He had bought two, and both tasted the same after steaming for about 12 minutes. The Alaskan King crab sold at Fairprice Finest was much better $7.90/100g, working out to about $63.20? You get what you pay for.... huh.

Christmas berries

Berries after dinner for a healthy Christmas.

Snowball of events

On 02 December 2012, he succumbed to dreams of and cravings for the King Crab. Made a trip to the nearest NTUC Finest at Thomas Plaza and lifted 2 bags of King Crab ($79/kg) out of the freezer. Walked past the fish counter and found Chinese Mitten Crab going for just $7.90 for 2. Wow, few weeks back, he saw them at $23.90 each. Grabbed the last four before going to check-out. Total damage was about $130.

The bags of King Crab were pre-cooked. A quick check on Wikipedia here showed that this was to preserve the value of the catch. King Crabs cannibalize each other when they get annoyed with one another, and dead crabs release toxins in the water which would kill the other healthy crabs. So the fishermen would cook and freeze them, that's why we usually get them as such.

Claw of the King Crab versus the Chinese Mitten Crab. Put 2 teaspoons of salt and crushed some garlic in the water to boil, before steaming the crabs for 10-15 minutes. The Mitten Crab was small, but very sweet. However, everyone seemed to enjoy the King Crab better, possibly for the better meat yield. Of course, the flavor was very good too, the Dad said it was like scallop.

And on 08 Dec 2012, when the littlest brother came back from his Cambodia community involvement trip, they decided to celebrate by cooking the other bag of King Crabs. Only to realize that the Mom and Dad had already taken 2 of the legs days before. Just couldn't get enough of it.

 

And on 09 Decemeber 2012, after his mandatory physical training session, he dropped by the supermarket and bought some huge flower crabs. Cost about $12 for 4. Same cooking method, garlic and salt in the steaming water. Sweet and delicate flesh. Very affordable too. He would buy another 5 again just few days later. These male ones as shown in the picture are uncooked. How to differentiate the gender? Males have blue tinge on the fringes, while females are red. Also, pointed tail flaps for males, and a broad rounded ones for females (with appendages to carry eggs). But when cooked, they turn orangey-red.

 

On 16 December 2012, got hives and the whole body swelled pink after getting a very painful bite from a mosquito-like insect. Sent it to its maker, and it almost sent him to his about 30 minutes later. Went to the doctor for a very painful injection from a huge syringe, and till today, the skin of the injection site still feels numb. Got a second opinion from his own family physician and felt more reassured... but that didn't last long.

Seared some Canadian scallops on 18 December 2012 just in case Doomsday arrived before he finished up the food in his fridge. The Mom asked for second. First batch was done with oil, black pepper and garlic, second batch was just oil and black pepper. Too bad he didn't have any butter, but it was still good enough to have people fighting over it.

23 September 2012 - Taipei Day 7

What should he do on the final day of the stay in Taipei? Enquired at front desk if he could have complimentary late check out, but the staff mentioned that they were fully booked, and he would have to pay by the hour if he wanted to check out late. Doesn't sound logical huh, fully booked yet you could extend your stay?

Anyway, he got up early to get breakfast, craving for oyster vermicelli again. And it just happened that he had NT65 worth of coins. Fated, huh.

Alighted at Longshan station and got a large dose of the yummy vermicelli. Look at those plump oysters... salivating while he's typing this....

It was a very warm day, and he was sweating after the hot broth. Decided to have mango ice again, but the shop was not open yet. Took a few photos of the Longshan vicinity before deciding to head back to take a second shower.

 

Did he EasyCard refund after returning to Taipei Main Station, and got back NT235 after an admin fee of NT20. On the way back to the hotel, got some sushi (NT39) and a bottle of CC Lemon (NT29) from 7-11 just in case he got hungry later. The cold shower was refreshing.

After check out, he went to the underground maze. Then he got to this pretty cool chic section, Eslite. The decor was clean and not intrusive, felt so much better than the rest of the maze.

Also visited Shinkong Mitsukoshi via one of the exits, probably paradise for shopaholics. Was it 10 stories? Couldn't remember. Wanted to get this pair of Clarks, but he was about to head to the US in about 3 weeks' time. He decided to wait, but unfortunately, he never found this model in that particular area of USA.

Got really sick of the crowds in the shopping belt and decided to head to the airport a little earlier. Picked up a Suntory lemon for NT22 from a 7-11 in the underground maze, and headed over to the bus terminus to buy a ticket (NT125) to Taoyuan Airport.

The place he was before 2 years back. Warm and humid weather made him buy another bottle of green tea at the airport for NT20. Didn't notice it was sugar free and he had a hard time drinking it.

Hungry again after check-in, and got this beef noodle set for NT200. Not too bad, the winter melon tea cold and refreshing, the side dishes were well marinated, loved the edamame. The beef brisket was tender, like how it should. no complaints.

Bought 2 cans of CC Lemon (NT20 each) with his last few coins on request of a friend (for his wife), and then it was tata, Taipei.