RimBlock

Your back again. I offer everyone my condolences. RB

Very nice both of you. Congrats. Somewhere to be proud of. RB

Nice job. Love the brick wall and would also have loved to have boxed up the section on my stairway too. I have been racking my brain trying to work out where you loose the space compared to a EM like mine (without comparing floor plans) and I think yours is a bit narrower. Still looks like you have a very good amount of room though. Very much like the layout of the bathrooms upstairs more than mine. The kitchen also looks great. Interesting to hear about the compressor on the landing, kinda surprised it would be allowed. With the chasing of cables in the walls like for your stairway, this is one of my pet hates on HDBs that it cannot be done. It looks so much better. The one issue you may likely have is if you come to sell then they will probably tell you to rectify and surface mount. If you are unlucky an officer may see it and tell you to fix if they do a visit for checking for leaks and the like. With a possible leak, as others have said, the officer will come and check for wet marks and brown water stains. If they can confirm the leak then both the person with the leak and the person getting the leak through their ceiling both have to pay to get it rectified. For citizens it is subsidised and works out to be a few hundred each. The person with the leak will usually agree as they get a newly decorated bathroom. We had a suspected ceiling leak in our old place. Anyway, great job. Will be nice to see it with all the furniture in. RB

You are really trying to get me to bite right through my tongue aren't you...... This will have to do..... 8| 8| 8| 8| You are only as weird as you let yourself be. I am clearly going to the wrong gym..... Form is a problem and a lot of the information I have gotten from PTs is really not as good as it should be. Having seen the recruitment process for PTs it is really not so surprising though. Yes and it is sad that many girls think slim = skinny rather than fit but strong without being overly muscular. It is easy to be toned, firm and elegant without being muscular. Toned is much more appealing than skinny or floppy. RB

Just happened to come across them and had me in stitches so just had to post them. RB

Just went and tried a couple of LG tvs in Harvey Norman at lunchtime with the new glasses that do not use shutter tech so there is no batteries, the glasses just look like standard plastic glasses with slightly tinted lenses. One of the TVs looked great with the demo video but the other had a second image still visible. I would expect it was a setup issue. It was the 55" tv so maybe you have to be a set min distance but I really do not know. The new glasses not needing power is def a step forward and should reduce the headaches and fatigue some feel when watching 3D. RB

RB

A guide to a few yoga moves to get you back in the right frame of mind Ely.

Np. Kec on the top floor is highly thought of but are not the only place there so have a browse around. Remember that they are all shops with a requirement to make a profit though so be wary when buying things like cables as it is not unusual to be able to source them from somewhere like Amazon for quite a bit less. RB

Ha, your shape is just fine. Mine however could do with a little 'trimming' . I was the same as you when I went to the gym to start with when I was over 106kg and had lost my jawline completely. Just got on with it and ignored everyone else and within a couple of weeks was lifting an ok weight then a couple of months in was lifting heavier than most. That was fitness first though. Now in True Fitness there are a lot more serious people there although there are also quite a few carrots (very large muscular top halves and skinny legs). Still have a way to go on the top half but the legs were doing ok. Managed to deadlift 102Kg as a PB but only once or twice in a session. Starting with the punch bag again will see me exhausted at 15-20 mins but it will rapidly increase. I hate running machines as I get pain in my shins and although specially fitted running shoes should get rid of it, they are very expensive... Doing some HIIT (high intensity interval training) training on the cross trainer is much better and only needs to last around 10-15 minutes. The bike is also fine but my butt goes numb after a while. So many wont join a gym because of what others may thing. TBH if you go to a decent gym then people will be too bothered working out themselves to care. You may attract some extra attention due to your looks but there are a fair few other slim, toned very attractive women there already so it is not like you would be attracting all the attention. I put my fitness blog up and even posted periodic results in order for others to see it is really not so difficult if they can take the first step and I am proud that it had quite a following although I have not updated in a while now. Anyway, I guess working out at home is cheaper if you really cannot drag yourself out . RB

. Cool. Must be nice to be able to clear it. Hopefully we will not be able to for a good many years as the only likely way would be inheritance and so the death of my parents. TBH we would most likely have sold and moved to the UK by then to look after my folks in their old age as they have no-one else. That of course then brings with it complications on NS obligations for our 3 kids. Another problem for a good few years to come yet. No need to worry yet . RB

So it is preference rather than a requirement then. I would prefer to have my home loan paid by 40yo but reality is that it is not going to happen unless I have a windfall. Our initial home loan is 30 years but we will of course re-mortgage every 3 rears and top up to make sure it is cleared earlier than the full term. Most of the time a home loan would be paid off via an inheritance but the problem with that in Singapore is no-one yet knows what the Gmt is going to do when the lease expires on peoples HDB apartments. RB

Yeah I have not been since Nov after coming back from London. Even found a gym with punch bags to train at whilst over there. Due to my wifes pregnancy I have not been able to go. Another month and hopefully I can get back in to the routine. Gotta sort the diet out again as well. No more fast food....... . Ely, it took us 2 months after we moved in before we put a unit number sign up. We have quite a few calls from food delivery people when we ordered dinner online as they were not sure which unit it was. Didn't help that we forgot to update our address one time, luckily our new unit is pretty close to our old one, and until recently we made a mistake and had the new block with the correct floor but the old units unit number. Took a while to work out why people kept on calling. We put up a basic unit number sign but also have a placard one the front door which I will take a snap of and we are getting my parents to bring over a metal placard when they come over of this for the front of the unit. Buying from here. They have lots of dog and cat and assorted animal ones . RB

Can get 30 year loan up to 35yo. Yardstick seems to be working until 65 not 55 when approving home loans, at least for OCBC. RB

See, I knew someone must know. Stan Lee, the one time president of Marvell comics, co-creator of Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Ironman, The Hulk, Thor (the comic version) and many others. If you see a very old man in an comic book character film for old a few seconds then it is most likely Stan Lee. He is currently 89 years old. You get 10 internet credits to do with as you please . RB

Yes and you look really good. I cringe at older western women as Asian ladies age just so much better. Still no one knows who the old gentleman is........ he has been in so many films and looks more or less like he does in that photo. He is not an actor but insists on being in each film he has a link to. Ahh, someone must know. Thought Ely may. RB

How about this chap.... he is very rich...... Internet 10 points for the first person who can name him. Clue: He has been in quite a few movies over the last 10 years including a number of blockbusters but usually only for a few minutes. How about father and son if they are both half rich RB

Well it is actually our baby's first month as it is the first month of the baby so ownership Just improved my English as I had always remembered possessive to be "[word]s'" where I now know it is plural possessive that is word and then apostrophe " ' " and singular possessive is "[word]'s" so plural baby possessive is babys' and singular baby possessive is baby's (ie. same as if the apostrophe denotes letter/s missing like "it's" rather than "it is"). Another of lifes little mysteries cleared up . Yes you are right, babies infers plural and there is only one . RB

Just be careful if you try that it is not the rich daddies you attract rather than their sons RB

Cool, if your set then good.... until that Virgo gets the best of you . You knwo how to get in contact if you change your mind later. You do realise that 'if time permits' caveat is moot and there will be scores of people sitting in front of their computers all weekend hitting [F5] every 5 minutes..... . Ok maybe not so bad but everyone is waiting in eager anticipation. (whisper) I would have got the pics and then surprised everyone cos now you may have to deal with the complaints if you are unable to come through. (/whisper) Looking for ward to the pics . RB

I think most agree but it is how to do it without destroying peoples equity in the property they have already bought and at the same time allowing the young to get on the property ladder. No, the primary reason is because demand exceeds supply. And where do these people live ?. If in condos then why are they also allowed to own a HDB ?. Surely this needs to be changed. Of course it is not so strange to expect more than a few of the various ministers friends or influential people to also be doing this so it would seem that it would be unlikely to happen. Older people may also be using this to provide a viable income as others have mentioned. Owning two properties should not be allowed. The door is closed on owning a foreign property and a Singapore one, although how they are going to realistically monitor it is a mistery. Now they should do the same for people owning two properties in Singapore. Of course doing this will put a lot of people renting out on the streets with no home. It will also seriously damage the finances of a lot of older people who may not be cash rich and are just surviving on rental income. Mostly agree. people should be able to sublet their rooms if they are also living in the property. A couple may buy a 3 room apartment and supplement their income by subletting the spare room until they have a child. This seems reasonable. Now the bit that seems not to have been thought through is where the 1.3mil non perm residents live ?. Bearing in mind that the vast majority are likely to be low income and so share properties in groups so they can afford the rents. You can try to force them to rent only Condos etc but that would be silly as it would be even greater cost for less space and of course all the other owners would complain about having 10 foreign workers moving in next door. You could send them all back if they could not afford the rentals but then you would need to be prepared to fill the empty jobs that leaves behind. Hope you like emptying rubbish chutes all day long. You are aware of the 40% (approx) foreigners working in Singapore generally on lower wages than Singaporeans would demand especially for skilled jobs like IT. This is doubly true in industries that subcontract out positions to service companies. Remember the ministers wages are linked to the countries rate of growth. Import cheap labour to make it more attractive for companies as they have a cheaper skilled workforce. Companies happy, foreign workers happy, growth rate increases, ministers pay packet expands even more, ministers very happy. Singaporeans not happy, want to complain, have to apply for permit . Election time, suddenly ministers ears open once more. Yet to see if the fingers can accomplish what the mouth has promised. Are you seriously suggesting this ?. Seriously ?. You really think this will help lower the HDB prices ? Removing the MOP will make it more attractive to developers (ie. pte owners) to buy a HDB, renovate it and flip at a big profit if they have done their homework (good area, original condition, low valuation and cov due to condition, high val and cov for good units). Having a 5 year MOP stops this or at least puts a lot more uncertainty in to the whole idea. New buyers also need to modify their expectations and complain that they cannot buy a 5 room as their first place. For normal earners there is usually a process of working your way up the property ladder to get to where you want to go and not just buying in one big bang with a small cpf and then complaining that HDB is too expensive. Complaining that a 4/5 room is too expensive for a first time buyer just sounds like a spoilt brat whining. Some people are not used to the concept of working your way up in life.... RB

Haha, could we even keep you away . You know where I live . Of course you and your good lady wife are invited, and expected to attend or there will be plenty of and remember, I know where you work . RB

The ones with rich daddies.... . Rb

Haha, yes that was my first thought . RB

No problems. We will probably also have another house warming although now my wife is staying with my MiL who is handling the confinement food etc I have organised for the last bits of our reno to be done in around a week from now so it will be as complete as we can make it for now by the time of the first month celebrations. Not everyone will be able to make it I know and it will be a shame to miss people. Oh yes. I will be coming for that one. They are only 15 mins away by car so very easy to get to. Boy blunder is only 2 blocks away so his will be even easier when he gets around to arranging one . It is always good to put faces to names and not everyone was in the photo from the previous meet (I suspect deliberately in some cases)..... No Ely, I am not looking at you, it is a trick of the heat haze reflecting off the tarmac . RB