My Beloved Blue Jazz

The day that i have been waiting for has finally arrived !!!

The arrival of my Cerulean Blue Honda Jazz 2009. I still can't believe that i have actually bought a car!! Am i dreaming?? Well i guess i'm not =)

Here's some photos that i have took with my new car.. and of course my CO... and my car advisor (Jack)


Here's me posing with my car


From left to right: My CO, Me & Jack


See how happy i'm smiling!


Did some photoshop to this picture.. Nice?

Christmas 2008 BBQ

How ironic! The name of our blog is "we love bbq" but this is the 1st post pertaining to bbq after such a long time! =P

We had a small gathering at one of our fren's place this Christmas and decided to have BBQ instead of the usual Christmas feast!


Beef steak + strips seasoned by me


Bacon with Asparagus - Recipe provided by Racheal Foo


Valley Chef Hotdogs - A "Must-Have" for BBQ!


Check out the flame


Chef Tan @ Work


Stir fry sotong with Ade's Mum's xtra spicy chilli sauce

And of course, how would a Christmas party be complete if there's no presents exchange? We have already picked the person whom we are buying the present for beforehand, so that we can buy the present that he/she have in their wishlist.


Xmas Gift Exchange

Dream come true !

Just 4 days after my 1st trip to Kah Motors and i'm back there again today.

Met up with a very friendly and helpful Kah Motors Sales Agent - Ms Lynn Chua (HP: 97656150). She was recommended by my buddy aka car advisor Jack as she had attended to a few of his friends who went to Kah Motors Showroom @ Alexandra.

Upon reaching there, i managed to test drive the 1.5l Auto version of the Honda Jazz 2009. It was awesome! I simply love the ride. However, the only 'kick' missing then was... manual gear shifting! I would want a manual transmission car if i were to get one.

And guess what!... I actually paid the deposit for a Cerulean Blue Manual Transmission Honda Jazz 1.5l with MoonRoof! It was not so much of an impulse purchase but it's like a dream come true!! The dream of owning my own car =)

Kah Motor Showroom

I have finally made a trip down to Kah Motors showroom today to view the car tat i like - Honda Jazz 2009! (also known as Honda Fit 2009 by Parallel Importers)

Jazz has always been the kind of sporty and compact hatchback that i would like to have as my 1st car... The recent upgraded version of Jazz (from the old 1.4l to the new Jazz 2009 which offers both 1.3l and 1.5l) boosts a much improved engine and more interior room.. Not quite sure if it's the talk of the town but it surely does make my head turn whenever i see one passing by me (Porsche and Lamborghini have the same head turning effect but it's kinda out of the league for me to be able to own one... so let's stick to reality shall we...)

Honda Jazz 2009


Honda Jazz 2009 (1.5l with Panaromic view aka MoonRoof)

Missing Gap...

I'm currently still working on the missing gap between Oct 08 and Nov 08's posts....

Cat A COE @ $2 Only!

The idea of owning a car has been in my mind for more than a year... But after working out my sums, i have been shelving the idea as it seems pretty unlikely for me to be able to save much (for our wedding) if i were to add in the costs of owning a car...

The news of Category A Certificate of Entitlement (COE) reaching a all time low of $2.00 have caught my attention and once again made me want to reconsider buying a car. Thou my dad owns a car but most of the time he will need to use it due to his work commitment as well as community commitments. I am able to make arrangements with him if i really need to use the car but it's often at his expense (meaning he'll need to take public transport since i took the car) and i feel bad about it...

So once again, i'm doing my sums based on the car that i have always liked - Honda Jazz. Based on my estimates, it would cost me on average $1k to $1.2k monthly if i buy a Jazz; and it would mean that i have much lesser to save up!!

Breakdown of my estimates:
Cost of Car - $64,000
COE - $2?
Carpark (multistory) - $90 mthly
Road Tax - $300+ yearly
Insurance - $1,000 yearly

Some other cars that i am considering includes - Mitsubishi Lancer, Suzuki Swift, Toyota Vios...

HDB Appointment next Tuesday!

"We (HDB) have scheduled an appointment for you to sign the purchase, mortgage and CPF documents.

Date: 04/11/2008
Time: 10:00 AM
Venue: HDB Sales Operations Unit @ HDB Hub

To exercise the Option to Purchase,..."

We are finally going down to HDB Hub to sign our paperwork to complete the purchase of our own HDB flat! Yeah!... but it is also the start of being 'heavily' in debt... to repay $526,000 in 30 years... that works out to about $1,700+ monthly!!

Well, i guess what is more important is that we are really happy and excited about the idea of being able to own a flat ourselves and we are both contented with the location of our new flat =)

Updates from HDB (finally...)

Wow! it has been more than 1/2 month ago since i last posted anything here =P

Have recently received some letters from HDB with regards to our Park Central flat purchase

(1) On 9th Oct 2008, HDB informed us that our application for CPF Housing Grant hae been approved and a total of S$40,000.00 will be credited into our CPF accounts (S$20k each)

(2) On 10th Oct 2008, HDB sent us another letter. This is with regards to offering us a housing loan for the purchase of the flat. Guess what... It's an whopping loan of S$445,800.00, !! Geez... once we sign the loan agreement form, we will be $446k debt!! It will take us our lifetime (okay.. i'm exaggerating.. it's 30 years... but it feels like a lifetime lor...) to repay the loan.

After some calculation, i figured that we will be able to get back the initial 5% that we have paid in cash. But my colleagues have advised me to use that 5% to offset the HDB loan so as to reduce the total interest of the loan.

Should i do what they have advised? Or should i take that money and put it in fixed deposits (since MAS have just announced today that all deposits made to Singapore banks will be fully guranteed till end 2010)... Any advise anyone ??

Walking Distance from AMK MRT

How far is Park Central @ AMK from the AMK MRT Station?

Route A (approx 700 m):
- Walk along Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, cut in across HDB blocks and across a huge carpark
- If i didn't remember wrongly, will need to climb up a long flight of stairs before cutting across the HDB blocks
- Not much shelter along the way

Route B (approx 950 m):
- Walk along MRT tracks, cut across Cheng San CC, follow by HDB blocks and pass Jing Shan Primary School
- There is quite a few long flight of stairs to climb if you take this route
- Most of the walk will be sheltered except when passing by Jing Shan Primary School

Conclusion:
- Most probably will take Route A as the walking distance is much shorter and time taken will defintely be shorter
- Route B will be the alternative route to take when the weather is bad
- Route C? Try walking across Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East - we have tried that once... good exercise man! LOL!!

Blissful Marriage Seminar @ Toa Payoh HDB Hub

We attended this seminar on 27th Sept 2008 (Sat) at HDB hub! It was SO BORING! I fell asleep only 15 minutes into the presentation! Can you believe it? The CPF and HDB speakers are just throwing out facts that we could have easily obtained from their websites!

Before the talks begin at 2pm, Rum and i were approached by two bridal salons - "My Dream Wedding" and "Graceful Image" and this is actually the 1st time we have sat down to listen any wedding packages. "My Dream Wedding" seems to have some quite interesting packages on offer (thou we are not sure if it is really a very good deal) and they have left quite a professional and yet friendly impression on us. As for "Graceful Image", the impression they have left us is quite negative...

Well, here's a comparison of the packages that they have offered to us (based on what i remember... and yes i'll write them down next time...)

My Dream Wedding - Package 1
- Photo shoot to be done in Hong Kong
- Free rental of yatch during photo shoot (as it belongs to them)
- 25 pcs 17" x 11" album photos
- 2x table top photos (w frame)
- 1x oil portrait
Price: S$2,988 (excludes additional $200 roadshow discount)

My Dream Wedding - Package 2
- Photo shoot to be done in Singapore
- 25 pcs 17" x 11" album photos
- 2x table top photos (w frame)
- 1x oil portrait
- rental of gown & suit for bride & groom on wedding day
- photographer for wedding day (can't remember if this is included...)
Price: S$3,988 (excludes additional $200 roadshow discount)

My Dream Wedding - Package 3
(basically it's the combination of package 1 & 2)
- Photo shoot to be done in Hong Kong
- 25 pcs 17" x 11" album photos
- 2x table top photos (w frame)
- 1x oil portrait
- rental of gown & suit for bride & groom on wedding day
- photographer for wedding day (can't remember if this is included...)
Price: S$4,988 (excludes additional $200 roadshow discount)

Graceful Image - Package
- Photo shoot to be done in Singapore
- 22 pcs 17" x 11" album photos
- rental of gown & suit for bride & groom on wedding day
- photographer for wedding day (can't remember if this is included...)
Price: S$3,500 (excludes additional 15% roadshow discount for OCBC credit card holders)

Additional Photos
My Dream Wedding - S$80 per piece (will be included in album)
Blissful Image - S$78 per piece (album negotiable)

Going overseas for the photo shoot sounds great right! A chance to go for holiday + shopping (coz it's HK) and to be able to have a very different scenic as the photoshoot backdrop... But for now, let us do more homework on this before we make any decisions... not cheap k... =P

Specifications of flat

I was stumped when asked about what comes with my new flat @ Park Central. All i can remember is flooring, toilet equipments & aircon... eh... wat else??

So 1st thing when i got home, is to take out the sales brochure and look for my answers

Floor Finishes
Living, Dining and Hallway to Bedrooms: Tiles with skirting
Bedrooms: Laminated flooring
Bathrooms, Kitchen, Household Shelter, DB, Yard and Balcony: Tiles

Windows
Powder coated aluminium framed windows with glazing

Doors
Main Entrance: Approved fire rated timber door in laminate finish and metal gate
Bedrooms, Bathrooms and DB: Hollow core timber door in laminate finish
Between Kitchen & Yard: PVC door
Balcony: Powder coated aluminium framed glass door

Others
Balcony, Planter Box and A/C Ledge: Galvanised steel railing

Sanitary Fittings
Master Bathroom & Common Bathroom
- 1 shower cubicle with shower mixer and hand shower set
- 1 basin with vanity top and mixer tap
- 1 water closet
- 1 mirror
- 1 toilet paper holder
- 1 towel rail

Kitchen and Yard
- 1 Sink tap with double bowl sink

Waterproofing
Floors of Bathrooms, Kitchen, Balcony, Yard and Planter Box have been waterproofed

Additional Items
- Built-in Wardrobes in Bedrooms
- Kitchen Cabinets with Solid Surface Counter Top, complete with Kitchen Sink, Cooker Hood and Gas Hob
- Single / Multi-split Wall Mounted Fan Coil Airconditioning Systems in Bedrooms (Master Bedroom: Approx 12000 BTU, 2 Bedrooms: Approx 9000 BTU each)
- Clothes Drying Rack in Yard
- Gas Water Heater (Hot Water is provided to all Bathrooms)
- Town Gas is supplied to Kitchen Hob and Water Heater


In addition, these are the new condo-like facilities that will be built together with ParkCentral!! How more cool can it be !?!?! And of course these facilities are open to public - Do you really think it's a condo =P

Recreational Facilities
- Precinct Pavillion
- Fitness Corner
- Tai Chi/ Yoga Plaza
- Children's Playground
- Play Lawn
- Senior Citizen's Fitness Corner
- Community Garden
- Barbecue Garden
- Jogging Path
- Fragrance Garden
- Relaxation Garden

Artist Impression

Here's how our new flat will look like when it's completed in Dec 2011












and this is how the units are arranged within the blocks

Found another future neighbour-to-be !

I noe tat Ms Racheal Foo got a flat @ ParkCentral as our appointment to select a flat was on the same day and her unit is 588C #20-221

And guess what i found out today...
Mr Matthew Tay also applied and got his flat @ ParkCentral !!
He went for his appointment yesterday (21 Sep 08 - Sunday) and picked his unit is 588C #14-221

What a coincidence !!

Now, I'm wondering if there is anyone else that i noe who also got a flat @ ParkCentral... Singapore is so small... and new housing is so so so limited!

Huge Investment

This flat costs us S$523,600 and after paying the 1st 5% ($26,180) in cash, we are both now broke...

Luckily the next 15% payment is via CPF/Grant/Loan, else where to find the Ca$h man...

ParkCentral Showflat Photos (*updated*)

Here are some of the photos of the showflat:

Living Room :

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Yard:

Master Bedroom:

Washroom:

Bedroom 1:






























Bedroom 2:

First Post!

Hi there! We've created this blog to keep a record of events leading to our Big Day...

Backdating in progress...

3rd Aug 2008
Application for Park Central @ AMK
This is our 5th attempt in applying for an HDB flat We have previously applied for flats at these locations - Tanglin Halt @ Commonwealth (Jan 08), Bukit Merah/Queenstown (Feb 08), Jurong West (Apr 08), Fernvale Residences (Jul 08) - but in vain... So we have submitted the application for Park Central @ AMK on the 3rd Aug 2008 and the balloting results are expected to be out by 11th Sept 2008! Wish us luck this time round =)

12nd Sept 2008
Balloting results is out!
Yeah! We have gotten our Park Central queue number - 0305. Chances of us getting a flat tis time is looking good! Erm... seems like we have quite a bit to do now - gotta list down our choices of units, calculate our budgets, look at fengshui of the flat etc... all these during my 2 weeks of reservist!! OMG!! Help help !!!

19th Sept 2008
We've selected our love nest!
Whee~! We've selected the unit for our new flat! It's #15-239. Rum likes to stay on higher levels but Raisin is afraid of heights. So, we compromised each other and agreed on the middle levels - 15th storey out of 30 storeys. We selected a 4-room flat, kinda small @ 91 sqm but it's just right for the two of us! Initially wanted to get the 5-room flat @ ard 120 sqm as the living room is huge, but due to budget contraints, we have dropped that idea. The more Raisin sees the 4-room's masterbed room, the more she loves it! The showflat's deco is fantastic!