#1392.

Saw this note which my friend shared on FB and I think it's very useful for first-time-HDB-buyers. I'm sure many friends of our age group now is contemplating marriage, housing, and the future with your other half. Here's some very valuable information so you might want to take some time reading. Do share it with your friends too! (: Enjoy your weekend!

Credits: ET

Hi Friends,

Special request from a close friend of mine, Mr Joel Wong, asked me to simplify the whole procedure for HDB's BTO application and the financial commitment required.

I thought about it and I guess that it will be a very useful entry for most of the readers as majority of younger couples will probably try for BTO than to go through the resale channel for their first house. **resale channel will need a higher cash outlay**

BTO: Application
As and when there is a release of site for BTO, HDB will update the website and there is an SMS service, that you can subscribe under HDB E-Alerts, to prompt you of the new BTO launches. Go online to check out the launches and if you are interested, put up an online application at a cost of $10.70 (inclusive of GST). In the meantime, apply for your HLE online and submit all relevant documents to secure loan required for your house.

BTO: Balloting Results
It will take around 1.5 months before the result is known. At this point, you will get the queue number for you to choose your flat. For example: If you applied for Punggol 4-Rm Unit which is having a release of 500 units and your queue number is less than 500, you will have a high chance to select a flat. It is not confirmed that you will definitely get to select first as the selection will still need to be subjected to the Ethnic Integration Policy.

At the balloting stage, there is no payment required.

BTO: Booking of Choice Unit
To get to the booking of your choice unit, it will take around 1-2 months. HDB will contact you to go down to choose the unit. Upon deciding on the unit, you will need to pay an option fee of $2,000 in cash to book the unit.

BTO: Signing of Agreement of Lease
It will take around 4 months before you will be contacted by HDB to go down and sign the Agreement of Lease. The signing if this agreement will need your financing plans to be settled, hence a valid HLE or bank's letter of offer must be secured.

If you back out of the deal at this stage, your $2,000 option fees will be forfeited.

For the financing of this deal, if you are taking HDB loan, you can pay the 10% downpayment fully by CPF and if there is any shortfall, you will have to top it up with cash. If your CPF is able to pay fully for the 10%, your option fees of $2,000 cash will be paid back to you. **Do note that only the CPF monies in ordinary account can be used for housing.

Other costs involved in this stage will be stamp duty, conveyancing fees and caveat registration.

Stamp duty is calculated on the purchase price of the unit. This can be paid with cash or CPF. As the cost is a variable, if you need help in the calculation, give me a call. I'll help you calculate in the spot.

Conveyancing fees is calculated based on the purchase price as well, inclusive of GST, and it is another variable. If you need it to be precise, call me too.

Caveat registration is $64.45.

BTO: Key Collection and Completion of Purchase
This will depends on the date that Temporary Occupation Permit is given for the flats. It will take around 2-3 years for BTO units. At completion, there are other costs involved as well.

There will be a fixed cost for registration and stamping of the Lease-In-Escrow and Mortgage-In-Escrow, amounting to $90.60.

Survey fee for the house will depend on the size of the house: 4rm-$275.00, 5rm-$325.00 and executive-$375.00. (excludes GST)

There is also a mortgagee's legal cost and disbursements which is another variable.

This entry is a special edition for all those who are intending to buy a house but unsure of the cost and procedures involved. Most of my friends in my social circle should be at this stage of life and I hope that you'll benefit from this note.

#1391.

How're you doing this week? (: Just here to share a video which I chanced upon and not only did it give me goosebumps, it also made me tear a lot.



Imagine how nervous he must have felt up on stage. His hands were trembling but his voice was did not quiver the slightest. It's amazing to see his courage & how he moved the audience and judges.

I may have some good news with regards to my work but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now. Work hard & be rewarded. Jiayou! (:

#1390.

Met Dennis' mum for lunch yesterday at Causeway Point and back to his house for chit-chat session. I'm so glad his mum & I get along well even though there are still awkward moments sometimes. Happy that she was relating so many stories about the family and how little Dennis was like when he was a kid. Hehe. So cute la both him & kor kor. This other family I will cherish and treasure for life (:

xx

Tried the new magnetic nails.

Sadly, green & purple doesn't fare too well with the magnetic effects but the colours are awesome. The one I liked least (black/grey) looks ugly but the effect really popped!

HH maxi dress, Cotton On cardi, M)phosis slippers

China Glaze techno polish

Bought this for only SGD 9.90 because there was a sale at Tampines Mall. Tons of polishes going at 9.90 or 12.90. I was spoilt for choices but finally decided on glitter because I've been wanting to try it for a super long time. Be warned that glitters are crazy stubborn and super hard to remove! ):

Whatsapp with baby!!

Wahahahahaha don't know if you got it but I was so amused. I always like to correct the boyf's grammar because things like "wierd" or "I'm scare" irritates me! This time the boyf said "love you lot".

WHAT'S THAT?!

So I had to correct him and we ended up talking in programming language hahaha.

Happy Sunday all! (:

#1389.

Sabby organized a BBQ at her place over the weekend but the weather wasn't cooperative! ): We resorted to cooking the raw food in her kitchen instead. It was a success - we can cook! Except that an egg slipped outta my hand when I was trying to break it ): Sorry Sabby!

Thanks Felina for the awesome-st tom yum fried rice on earth!!! :D

"The way to a man's heart is through his tummy" - that's why we're both attached. Hehe :P


After all the washing up, Veralyn had to leave for gaming sesh so the rest of us adjourned to the living room for HTHT. Topic of the day was "what's your criteria(s) for the ideal boyf?"

It was so fun with the room full of girls and each one of us being so open and honest about our views. No one judged each other despite what we are looking for in an ideal partner. Love AK lots and I can't wait for more HTHT! (:

#1388.

Met up with dearest sisters for dinner last week. Sis Ting recommended a Bar & Grill Place at Singapore Flyer - sadly, it has since closed down.

We decided to dine at Millenia Walk instead since it's less crowded. This was also recommended by sis Ting! :D

Review: Nantsuttei Ramen @ Parco Millenia Walk

Tucked at the corner of Parco was this cute little Japanese ramen place. They only serve 4-5 kinds of ramen. I guess it's their specialty!

We ordered the same one Chashu-men which is essentially the same as the basic ramen but it comes with more pork slices. Sis Noi was into the spicy mood that day so she tried the Hot Miso Ramen Extra Hot Tanmen. Haha I heard it was extra spicy indeed! The ramen doesn't look very appealing when it was served. Probably because of the layer of black garlic oil. But the broth was rich and thick, and it goes perfectly with the melt-in-your-mouth pork slices.

Chashu-men
Price: S$16++

We also ordered Fuufu Enman Gyoza to share. We were deceived by the appearance at first because of the charred egdes. But the dumplings were actually yummy! Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside! :D

Fuufu Enman Gyoza (5 pcs)
Price: S$6++

Food: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 6/10

Address: 9 Raffles Boulevard, Millenia Walk #03-02, Singapore 039596 (do note it's inside Parco)
Tel: 6337-7166
Website: Nantsuttei Ramen

xx

My lovely sisters Ting & Noi. Why they have such smooth & silky hair? Jealous max.


And this is the card I made for sis Ting. Super belated birthday :P
After dinner, we wanted to tapao some Twelve Cupcakes home but they was closed already! So we went to chill at CB&TL (: Heart to heart talk with my fav sisters over coffee is pure bliss (:

#1387.

Happy 22nd monthsary baby! :D Omg I'm super duper egg-cited because it's 2 more months to our 2nd annivesary! Cannot believe we've been together for 2 years already omgwtfbbq!! :D

My monthly digital scrap page for baby (:


Perhaps this whole NOC / being away for 1 year is doing us more good than bad. Every weekend, we countdown on Skype "baby it's 1 week closer!" And feel the excitement building up. It also makes us more open to each other because that's the only way we are able to feel close to each other. We communicate a lot more on Whatsapp and Skype. We say what's on our mind, we offer virtual hugs and kisses, we use words to express ourselves more than ever. Because we don't see each other, we treasure the things we say more. We pay more attention to all the little things and it's kinda... sweet (:

Nobody said it would be easy, they said it would be worth it. X

xx

Ok my recent loots!

Bracelet from Gmarket, watch from Cotton On! Wahahaha I have long arm hair -.-

L: Bugis top, MGG I'm so pleaty skirt, Mitju flats
R: Basic top, Erikokoh rosa paperbag skirt, Mitju flats

Loveschues Strappy Toe-Ring Sandals in Valentine Pink
Got this on sale & I'm so amazed by their superb quality! :D

Bag organizer from Gmarket because my previous one's too small! Previous entry here.

Walao eh if you have been following me on Twitter, I've been complaining that many people (at least 10?) commented that I've put on weight. Seriously I know I have. I feel fat ): Like flabby arms and thighs and double chin and tyres around my waist. Wahahahahahahaha I know I confirm put on weight and I'm upset la. Baby also said my face is rounder on Skype. Yikes! Will do something about it!

#1386.

So yesterday was supposed to be a day out in the sun at Sentosa with AK but the weather turned nasty just when we were about to leave our homes. So we decided to meet at Mind's Cafe for games instead. But Weili & Veralyn got held up and it was only left with Sabby, Hoonie & I. We ended up at Swensen's for ice-cream & played Draw Something (go add me "arohammer"). Hur hur.

Not sure if Hoonie was trying to guess or draw. Her drawing CMI! :P

Met Weili & Veralyn at Weili's place cos we had no where else to go. And us being brilliant AK decided to play charades! It was so crazy fun omg! Felina didn't want to join us for dinner so we settled for quick dinner at Pasta Mania at Downtown East before going back to Weili's house for HTHT (:

Us taking pics while the slaves (losers from charades) bought dinner!

I love the HTHT session we had and I think it was first of its kind with this group of girls. We got so emotional, we all started tearing as we talked about family & kinship. It's really heart-warming to sit with my girls by the poolside and just say what's on our minds.

xx

Just before dinner, I got a text from baby "Can call me?"

Immediately I sensed something was wrong. The boyf will never ever ask me to call him in such a serious tone and at such a random moment. Was afraid that he got hurt but thankfully it was just a case of "stolen car".

Yes I know stolen car is a BIG thing but considering how many epic adventures the boyf experienced, this is hardly surprising -.-

Plus his super bad luck with cars ever since last July ):

So anyway, I wasn't able to sleep the entire night because I was so worried about the car. He couldn't locate it after dance and neither could his friends. It was already 3am when he called the cops but they confirmed it wasn't towed. Boy oh boy. Super worrisome.

The next day, still no news of the car. So he lodged a police report and called up the insurance company. I woke up at 7am just to check on the status. I could hardly get back to sleep even though I was super tired.

It was only about 5pm that the police called to inform that his car was being towed away the night before. Super inefficient and we got scared and upset for nothing eh! I even went to delete all the shared files on Dropbox just in case someone got hold of his Macbook. He left it in his car!

Baby had to pay USD 200+ towing fee and some fine before he got his car back. Thank goodness everything was ok. Just monetary losses again! ):

xx

Pics from work!

My neighbour - Ja! Idk how we can work with crazily messy desks!

Cuties behind me - Mark & Ash!

Our phones!

Fav lunch peeps!

#1385.

Hello! Today marks one year into my job! Time flies indeed. Read about my first day of work here! It's really sensitive working in a bank so I shan't divulge too much information here. My colleague misplaced a set of keys and was nearly terminated *gasp!*

So ya, a year on, I've learnt many things. From being work-wise, to being politically correct, to realizing who your true friends are. A girlfriend once told me "colleagues can never be friends".

True that.

I'm still pretty pleased with my job thus far. Decent pay, work load varies but still manageable, fun colleagues, office is in close proximity to my home.

But I guess the one-year mark is a sign for me to look at career advancement. I know my potential and I know I can go very far if I work very hard. Time for me to consider my options. No rush. Slowly. Steady. Surely.