i did lasik more than 10yrs ago. it is a successful surgery although i did have a little side effect from it like dry eyes and not that fantastic night vision due to halo. but then i had these problems even before the surgery. the freedom i got from the surgery outweigh the inconvenient.


this is certainly a cosmetics surgery where one should put in serious thoughts before signing on the consent form.

actually education in all asian countries are stressful. I asked my friends in Taiwan, China and Malaysia, all of them have lots of tuition for their kids. even my friend who migrate to Australia cant help herself from buying a property that is within a good school zone.


to mitigate the stress, parents will need to be more bo chap. for myself i try my best to let my dd progress on her own, no tuition, but i do ask her to do assessment books from time to time to assess her learning. so far so good. although i do get stressed when she come back with less than ideal result. always got to remind myself to look at the effort she put in rather than the marks. still it is very hard when all parents talked about out the school gate is tuition and marks.

Jaslim80:

mummychua:

[quote=\"mummychua\"]Hi all,


I will like to know how people usually prevent moist on their piano.
I got a 2yrs old k3, recently i realised that the wooden hammers got some water stains. the piano heater has never been off and i cover the piano fully as per recommendation by the tuner. i'm wonder if there is any thing else i can do to prevent the deterioration. it's a little disappointing to see that a relatively new piano showing signs of water damage.

Where is your piano placed? It should be away from the windows (away from direct sunlight). It shouldn't be under any air vents too.

it is in the living room, away from the windows and no direct sunlight. but i have a open concept kitchen, so the tuner said that it could be the moisture from the kitchen (the water stains the side nearer to the kitchen). I'm thinking of moving it into a room but im not sure if i have enough turning space to turn the piano into the room. any other preventive measurement for the time being?

Anyone have the same issue?[/quote][/quote]

during the recent tuning, we find that the staining has worsen. So we shifted the piano into the study room. i got a eva dry renewable mini dehumidified and place it in the piano. but it do seems like the environment is really wet. according to the product description it is suppose to last for 2-3mth before we renew it but i'm recharging it weekly. Hope that these preventive measurement will work.

Estéema:

mummychua:

We just booked the air-tix to Jap in November. Flying into Hiroshima and fly out from Osaka. Here is the general idea of my itinerary. Please advise if it is feasible, my ds is 4 and 8yrs old. not sure if my schedule is too tight with so many hotel change.


Day 1: Hiroshima & Miyajima (overnight at Hiroshima)
Day 2: Hiroshima to Himeji & Kobe (overnight at Himeji/Kobe) which location is better for us to spend the night?
Day 3: Himeji/Kobe to Kinosaki (overnight Kinosaki)
Day 4: Kinosaki to Amanohashidate to Kyoto (Overnight at Kyoto) I'm thinking if we should stay a night at Amanohashidate. I'm worry that the travelling time might be long and we will reach Kyoto very late at night.
Day 5: Kyoto to Nara (worthwhile to travel to Nara? I read that Miyajima has deer too so I'm not sure if we will want to go Nara)
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto to Osaka
Day 9: Osaka
Day 10: Osaka
Day 11: Osaka (night flight home)

read that the November is the peak travelling season in Jap due to fall foliage. may i know when should i start looking for hotels? i did a check on Kyoto hotel on Booking.com, and was surprise to see that there are quite a few hotels are sold out. Plus the hotel price looks outrageous, minimum 300plus per night and alot of them can cost 1k per night! and these prices are before tax. is there other website i can use for the booking of jap hotel rooms?

Book hotel asap if got free cancellation. Try Japan-can too. No time to loose if with this year. Keep monitoring esp later others may hv double bookings to release.

I try find time to provide more info. But quick one - We didn't travel in to Hiroshima, so can't comment. But u might want to plan activities that uses local Shinkansen before activating yr JR pass to maximize. Maybe activate JR only out of Hiroshima? Traveling btwn Osaka to Kyoto or Kinosakionsen will require u to activate JR pass alr.

For our month-long trip, we bought JR pass fr the JR ticket office at Tanjong Pagar & the Shinkansen local tickets when we reached Japan; activating JR pass only on 3rd day. We traveled to Tokyo, Hakone, Nagoya Sendai but found that we shld hv hv time to explore in-depth next time. We love it so much - the culture, food & sights.

Not sure Nov still good for rafting or boating, but we enjoyed tremendously at Kyoto all the train, river & Bamboo Groove. Before setting out for activities every morning, a trip to their local market is essential for meals (breakfast & lunch), shopping, etc.

There's nothing much in Kobe & better beef at Kinosakionsen if u stay at right accommodation. What we did was to set out to Kinosakionsen ard 3pm to catch a relaxing afternoon, bath & dinner. The onsen next to the train station closes early so u do next morning. We tried almost all the onsens there & enjoyed ourselves. But I guess it's bcoz it's paired with a romantic atmosphere & our accommodation is a Michelin award winning one with owner very generous with all their sashimi, sushi, Kobe wahyu beef that we felt so sayang not able to finish up, etc.

Your itinerary looks OK, but bear in mind traveling with heavy luggages & young kids, tho u can bring it up on all trains. Japanese are seasoned travelers & u'll see (& hear) lots of luggages rolling everywhere ard you esp Osaka.

thanks for your input!

we plan to get the 5days Hiroshima-Kansai pass, this is much cheaper @ S$150.00. We will start using it once we arrive at Hiroshima. red eye flight, so we got a whole day to utilities it and by the 5th day we will have arrive at Kyoto and will be using the local transport rather than the JR system.

ok to share your kyoto and osaka itinerary? there's so many shrines and temples, see till 'cross-eye'. November will be a little too cold for rafting? my ds is a little too young for it.

Please let me know the accommodation for kinosaki too!

no problem with luggage! we usually travel light, plan to do laundry whenever possible. if we run out, then flip out underwear. :rotflmao:

We just booked the air-tix to Jap in November. Flying into Hiroshima and fly out from Osaka. Here is the general idea of my itinerary. Please advise if it is feasible, my ds is 4 and 8yrs old. not sure if my schedule is too tight with so many hotel change.


Day 1: Hiroshima & Miyajima (overnight at Hiroshima)
Day 2: Hiroshima to Himeji & Kobe (overnight at Himeji/Kobe) which location is better for us to spend the night?
Day 3: Himeji/Kobe to Kinosaki (overnight Kinosaki)
Day 4: Kinosaki to Amanohashidate to Kyoto (Overnight at Kyoto) I’m thinking if we should stay a night at Amanohashidate. I’m worry that the travelling time might be long and we will reach Kyoto very late at night.
Day 5: Kyoto to Nara (worthwhile to travel to Nara? I read that Miyajima has deer too so I’m not sure if we will want to go Nara)
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto to Osaka
Day 9: Osaka
Day 10: Osaka
Day 11: Osaka (night flight home)

read that the November is the peak travelling season in Jap due to fall foliage. may i know when should i start looking for hotels? i did a check on Kyoto hotel on Booking.com, and was surprise to see that there are quite a few hotels are sold out. Plus the hotel price looks outrageous, minimum 300plus per night and alot of them can cost 1k per night! and these prices are before tax. is there other website i can use for the booking of jap hotel rooms?

floppy:

mummychua:

by the way we have 99yr leasehold pte condo too. for these ppl their loss is even bigger.

On private property, it depends. Private property owners have several tools at their disposal which is not available to HDB ‘owners’ which can effectively mitigate their losses.

Firstly, there’s the enbloc tool. As long as private property owners don’t wait till the lease on the land runs low (e.g. < ~ 50 years), they can, collectively, opt to sell their property - something that HDB dwellers can’t decide on their own.

Secondly, developers can opt to top up the lease to 99 years by paying all the relevant charges as long as it makes economic sense to do so. Developer would be less concerned about paying high if they can effectively sell higher (say hi to new citizens / immigrants and investors who love Singapore).

Third option is probably the owner’s nuclear option. If the private property gets too old and too expensive to maintain, there is less incentive for private owners to continue to own / maintain it to a very high standard (see Pearl Bank Apartments). HDB, being public housing, the G LPPL has to maintain it. If the threat of urban blight increases, the G of the day will probably have to incentivize developers to buy / redevelop and for owners to sell.

other than those development that got en-bloc, i have never heard of pte condo getting a lease extension. correct me if im wrong.

it is possible for those underdeveloped plots to be en-bloc, but what about those that had max out their plot ratio? which developer will en-bloc them 20-30yrs down the road?

the use of cpf and the amt of bank loan is the same for the purchase of old leasehold condo and hdb.

Sel69:

mummychua:

Hi Sel69,

I'm planning a similar trip. Either flight into Edinburgh at the start of the trip or return to Singapore from Edinburgh. But there is no direct flight to Edinburgh, all airline transit in London. and yes, 1.5hrs can be a little too short unless you are booking both tix from the same airline then they will transfer the luggage for you. i was told that one need a minimum of 4hrs for transfer between different airline.

cant find the so called budget tix from British Airway from their website. otherwise i will have book my return from them since Norwegian air return is not that cheap.

I read that lake district is not ideal during nov period. wet and cold, not suitable for hiking which is what the area is famous for.

I wonder if there are any guided tour (~3day?) for the highlands during end nov or early dec. I'm so not comfortable driving in the wild. haha...

Hi hi mumychua,

When are you travelling? Yes no direct flight into Edinburgh. Got to change at Healthrow. I checked BA, arrive from SIN at T5 and depart to Edinburgh also from T5. But I think you’re right that 1.5H for transit a bit too rushing.

And re Lake District, if not suitable for hiking, what other things can we do? Possible to drive to the various spots to sightsee?

at the moment, we plan to go at the start of the dec holiday. but everything will depends if the Jacobite train runs during the end of November. if they do then i will postpone my trip for a wk so that we could ride on it.

Since both your tix are from BA then 1.5hrs should be ok as you will not need to check in and out of luggage. i'm planning to take norwegian air to london, sleeper train up to Edinburgh then BA back to london and immediately flight back to Sg. therefore i will need more time for transit. it will be great if i can get cheap return tix from BA direct straight from Edinburgh to Sg.

i will leave lake district out if we cant do some hiking. i dont want to be rushing from places to places just for clocking attendance. so at the moment just london and edinburgh and the highlands. november is not a ideal time to visit the highlands but after reading the \"outlanders\" books, i'm a like obsesses over that place. same goes with harry potter. my dh thinks that im a little crazy. :siao:

by the way we have 99yr leasehold pte condo too. for these ppl their loss is even bigger.


everyone in Singapore see property as a way to get rich. it might be true 20, 30yrs ago but it is hardly true now. with the price so high, how much higher can regular Singaporean afford to pay?

Nebbermind:

mummychua:

anyone has sympathy for this couple? should the gov help them if they didnt sell their house now and the lady with her longevity genes managed to outlive her flat lease?


http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/what-if-i-outlive-the-lease-of-my-flat

Can't read full article without subscription

The gist of the story goes... This couple bought their telok blangah flat 8yrs ago at 580k. now with the lease left 56yrs, they feels that market value had dropped. They tried to market the place at 690k in 2016 but only got bids ard 630k. Offer are slow to come due to the limited lease. And now she worry that she will outlive her lease as both grandmother of hers live till 100. BTW, she's 41 this yr.

anyone has sympathy for this couple? should the gov help them if they didnt sell their house now and the lady with her longevity genes managed to outlive her flat lease?


http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/what-if-i-outlive-the-lease-of-my-flat