Tag Archives: 2016

2016 Week 53 Update

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Happy New Year! May 2017 bring love, peace and prosperity to your lives!!

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I for one am glad that 2016 is over and a new year, with loads of potential is awaiting us. Hopefully this will be a much better year for all of us with wishes being fulfilled and goals achieved.

This is the last update from me for 2016 and this week was a fairly busy week. On Boxing Day we went to the ArtScience Museum to catch the NASA Space Exhibition (Review coming up soon) and also scrambled to get the children and S’ OCI cards in by the deadline which was 30 December. The Indian High Commission here did not reach out to the diaspora at all to let them know that they can convert their PIO cards to OCI cards without any fees, but they refuse to accept it saying it was on their website. Luckily a kind immigration officer told us when we were leaving India and hence the scramble. I don’t check the HCI website unless I have some work with them and no one amongst my friends and acquaintances told me this, so I was completely unaware until the officer told me. Anyway, we made it just in time and hopefully the conversion will go through without any issues.

BB & GG start school in two days time and this year their school ends much later than last year. By the time they come home from school, freshenup and get ready for lunch, it will be almost 3:30 – 4:00 pm. That’s not lunch in my opinion, that’s tea. I should now look at sending them to school with something heavy for recess and also something else light for their five minute break before the last two periods. I need to research this fast before school starts. This year is an important year for both as its the streaming year for them where they have to choose the subjects they will take for their O levels.

Have an awesome week everyone and again Happy 2017!

2016 Week 46 Update

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Wow! What a week this turned out to be! I was so busy this week, that almost every day I was out and had to actually think back on what I did each day.

For one, the US elections took centre stage this week and we all now know what happened. I also penned down my initial thoughts a couple of days back in this post.

On Thursday morning, after I woke up, I was reading my Facebook feed when suddenly my phone blanked out. I was initially flustered and then took to Google to see what the issue was. Long story short, after checking websites, chatting with Apple advisors online as well as speaking to a local Apple advisor, I decided to bring my phone to the nearest service centre to see if it can be repaired. My phone was nearly 2 years old, but working well, so I was pretty confident it was a small issue. When I saw an associate at the service centre, I was told there was water damage to the phone and it was pretty much unrepairable! I was upset (understandably) and so had to buy a new phone stat! That was some serious cash outlay which I didn’t want to spend in the first place!

I also took BB & GG to the Singapore National Museum later in the week as I wanted them to have a look at what Singapore went through, especially since this was what they were learning in school. Before we went there, they didn’t tell me they had already been there before (yikes!) but we had a good couple of hours there checking out the various exhibits. I also want to take them to the other museums while I can.

Our India trip is just days away and we are all super excited! I’ve also finalised the photographer and videographer for the poonal and now all I need to do in Mumbai is fine tune the guest numbers for the caterer and also see if we need to add/delete any items from the catering list.

So that’s all folks, have a great week…..

2016 Week 42 Update

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For some reason, this week turned out to be a super hectic one! In the middle of the week, I went to a DHL franchise point to send some poonal invites to my parents in India so that they can send them to relatives and friends across the country. The DHL call centre person quoted me a rate which was for 1/10th the weight of my package, which neither me nor the person who took the cash at the franchise knew. Once I reached home, I was told I had to go back to top-up the balance cash, so another trip down to the franchise to pay the difference. This took up almost half a day going back and forth!

Other than that, I have so much to do between now and the end of the month that I think I should plan on starting my Diwali prep work before my father-in-law’s shradh. I usually don’t like to do this before that, but I think if I don’t do that, I’ll be in serious trouble the day before the festival.

Have a great week folks. There’s a lot happening in my life now, but as things stand, I don’t want to spill the beans yet. Keep watching the space, some good news is on the anvil…

 

Secondary 1 Week 42 Update

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Exams ended for both children and BB even got back some marks. He got back marks for Maths, Science and English Literature and did well only for Maths. We’ll know what went wrong only when we see the papers next week.

Friday was a holiday for both of them and in the morning, we went to the bank and got them their very own savings accounts. Since they are under 16, the account comes with many restrictions and has to be a joint account with an adult (aka me). But as a start, it’s a good way to get them into a savings habit well before they start working and earning.

Later in the day, a whole bunch of BB’s friends came home and the boys (plus one girl) had a blast playing games, chatting and generally having fun.

Next week is results week plus some after exam activity. GG has a School Councillors camp which is compulsary for those who want to become confirmed as Councillors next year. This camp is a stay-in camp where she will have to stay in school overnight. BB has a glider fest in one of the polytechnics here which is an almost 12 hour activity the week after next. Plus GG has some choir practice as they are planning for the Singapore Youth Festival next year.

That’s all the updates for this week. I’ll probably do another couple of weeks more (till the end of the month) and then that will be the end of the Secondary 1 updates for this year.

Secondary 1 Week 41 Update

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We’re in the midst of exam season for both BB & GG. BB’s exams get over one day before GG’s next week and then till the end of the month they will still go to school but have non-studies components until the end of the month when holidays start.

Both of them say ‘OK’ when asked how the exams went until today, but I guess the proof in the pudding is when we get the marks back. That’s when we’ll actually know how well they have done.

Next week, when they have a holiday for marking day (luckily the same day for both), I will be taking them to the bank’s local branch to open a savings account for both of them. This will be kept separate from the trust accounts I opened for them when they were around a month old. The money there (in the trust account) is meant for their tertiary studies and can’t be touched by them under any circumstances (I’ve indoctrinated them about this from the time they were babies and so they do know they can’t touch this account). However, to operate a savings account independently, they need to be 16 years old, but between the ages of 12 and 16, they can operate this account under parental supervision and consent.

The main reason for opening a bank account at such a young age is to get them familiar with this process now and also make them financially literate before they start working and earning serious money. I’ve also told them that by the time they finish school, they should have more than 80% of the total money they get over this period of time saved up. GG is good at saving and even now she’s managed save double that of BB, so I need to work on him for this now. Let’s see how this pans out.