I got a package today!

More than a month ago, in Oct 14 to be exact, I wrote an email to my dear friend Rica, who is now living in Boston, to please, please, please help me get my grubby hands on some Bath and Body Works products which I so adore.

You see, my favourite heavenly-scented hand gels and lotions and body washes are not sold in Singapore. What's more, Bath and Body Works' online shopping business is currently available only to those who pay with a US-issued credit card, which I of course don't have. And so, when Rica innocently e-mailed to say hi and asked if I wanted anything from the US, I pounced on the offer, hollered YES and sent her my order list in a day. The poor woman didn't have an iota of a chance to say no! (Rica babes, thanks mucho!)

The online site promised delivery in 6-10 business days to any US address. To get from my US address (c/o vPost) to Singapore, I reckoned it would be another 5-7 working days. With that, the package should have been delivered around early Nov, right?



Well, no. It just came today, a few hours ago. Two weeks late! Ugh. This is so unlike vPost. They are normally so efficient and right on the dot!

It seems that the package was sitting in their office in California for a long time as it didn't have a reference number, so they couldn't trace it back to me. Ay sus!

Anyway, all is well that ends well. Look at my loot! Guess who's going to be smelling of brown sugar and fig and vanilla soon? :)

Rica, thanks for the help and sorry for the trouble. And girl, you sent a Christmas pressie pa!! Wowee! Thanks a lot. Hugs!




















Bath and Body Works! I like.

Rent or mortgage

I'm a worried woman.

The real estate market in Singapore has been RED HOT for the second year now and stories of new record sale prices of flats have been figuring prominently in the news lately.

Our lease on our current place is running out and we now have to find a place very soon. The landlord has sent word that he won't be able to renew us as he wants to cash in and sell the flat while the resale market is so bouyant. And so I must bid adieu to this unit that has been home for 5 years now.

But ack! A look at the classified ads these days for rental condos around the island is just cause for hyper-ventilation.

Why?

Cos there are NO MORE 2-room condo units going for less than $2,000 rent a month! Egads! Even condos located at the far corners of the suburbs -- those that require at least 40 mins of travel to the city via public transpo -- are now asking for at least $2,300 rent! Rents in similar-sized condos on the fringes of Orchard Road (where we now stay) are now almost always asking for at least $3k. Grabe.

How the tide has turned.

When I started working here in 2000, my first apartment was a huge 3-bedroom, 3 T/B condo right smack in the Orchard Road area for only $2,200 a month. (Right now, the same unit would fetch $3,800-$5,000 easily.) Asking price for most 2-br condos outside of the ritzy enclaves of Singapore would ask for $1,200 -$1,800 per month. Many kabayans who started work here around that time would almost always share one of these condo units with other friends for an easy $500-$800 share a month. It was a real sweet renters' market then. But not anymore. The circle has turned and landlords have the upper-hand now.

How now, how now, how now?

The questions foremost in my mind are: Should I just buy a tent and pitch it at the East Coast park (thus escaping this high-rent problem)? And if so, will Carrefour have the best prices for good tents?

haha. Kidding. (My attempt at comic relief, sorry.)

Seriously, should we go with the flow and just accept high rents in stride or should we bite the hot bullet and finally buy a house (convert rent to mortgage, turn expense into equity but be 'chained' to a 25-year loan in the process). Mind you, prices of condos have already gone up by 22% so far and if we do buy now, we will be doing so at a time when prices are already so high.

This needs serious thinking.

Rent or mortgage? Rent or mortgage? Rent or mortgage?

Hmm.

While that thought is flipping around in my mind, I live nowadays riding this roller coaster of emotions that go from excitement to dread when thoughts of house-hunting come to the fore. To release tension, I go to Carrefour to check out prices of tents. For the moment, a tent is my plan B.

2 Macdonnell Road, Hong Kong

We just got back from HK where we made first use of our Marriott Vacation Club points by staying at the affiliated property there for 4 nights and 4 days. The property, called 2 Macdonnell Road, is located in the Mid-levels area of HK, which is halfway to Victoria Peak and right above Central.

(Marriot Vacation Club, you ask? Well, one slow weekend in May this year, when the hubby and I were meandering about town, we happened upon this club's kiosk in Wisma Atria in Orchard Road. Travel-hounds that we are, the pair of us thought, hmm, why not sit-in on their presentation about the benefits of club membership? Of course, 3 hours after that, we were already signing up to be members of this points-based holiday membership club that allows members use of resorts, apartments and Marriott hotels around the world. So, there.)

The nearest MRT station to 2 Macdonnell Road is Admiralty but we never got to try walking to and from the station to/from the hotel. It's just as well too given that HK was really, really choking in pollution the whole time we were there. The smog was lying low over the city and it was already difficult to breath heartily without the added physical exertion of walking up and down the steep sidewalks of the Mid-levels area.

Our 2-bedroom apartment was really comfortable and more than adequate. We had wanted just a 1-br for this trip given that there were just me and the hubby but alas, there were no more of the latter to be had. So plonk down more points for the bigger apartment, we did.

But I ain't complainin. We had a great time at the place. The staff were very polite and helpful, the location was superb (it's very near the happening Lan Kwai Fong party area too). Despite the smog, we had an absolutely good break, helped no doubt by the fact that we had a packed schedule: a day in Macau; a day in Ocean Park, a day and then some shopping all around town. What bliss. Now, if only that HK smog will disappear forever!

Here are a few pics of 2 Macdonnell Road (double click for a larger view):

1. Living area: Check out my Marine City lounging out on the couch :)

2)The dining nook, flowers courtesy of the dear hubby

3) The kitchenette had an induction cooker so you could actually cook if you were inclined to. I prepared our breakfast here everyday (poached eggs, toast, coffee or tea).

Given the gadgets available, brekkie was a cinch to prepare.

There are plates and utensils and pots and pans inside the cabinets, but no dish washing fluid and sponge to wash the stuff after the eating. So do include a bottle of Axion with your bread and cola purchases when you go to the small grocery store just across the building.

4) The master bedroom. It's kinda small -- but then again, what do you expect? This is HK! I found the mattress too hard though.

5) The other bedroom which we used as our ironing room. The bed here is a single but I reckon the 2 couches in the living room can sleep 1 each if required.

Back from Manila

It's been a week since I came back from Manila and still, the red luggage I used for the trip is not fully unpacked and definitely not stowed yet. Yes, what a lazy bum, huh?

My defence is that I will be packing in a few days again for that 5-day R&R trip to Hong Kong with the husband. We are leaving this Saturday, yippee! We've had these tickets since May when Jetstar had a sale and by golly, I got them really cheap - S$240 each, return, inclusive of all taxes and charges. Great price, no?

The return Manila ticket I bought for this last trip (Aug 25-Sept 2) was a bargain too at S$245 net, courtesy of PAL. I got that ticket sometime in May too and when I did, I must have specified that I wanted a special meal because on both flights, I was served ahead of everyone and given a low-fat, low-carb meal. Surprised on both occasions, my first instinct upon being handed the meal was to check that it wasn't all a mistake. But lo and behold, the foil lid of the main dish always had my full name scribbled on it.

The 'surprise' factor even extended to my seatmate on the return flight who couldn't help but exclaim, 'Wow, a special meal! May I see what a special meal is like?' and she promptly wrinkled her nose when I showed her the boiled chicken breasts and mushy, overcooked vegetables which all tasted like paper pulp. Eww.

I was feeling so at-home at home that I didn't take any pictures of where I went and what I did. Suffice it to say that I topped up on my happiness bank by spending time with my dad, my siblings and their small families. I was a happy aunt for a whole week to my 2 nephews and one so adorable, pretty niece. Ah, what bliss!

Some highlights:

1) Had my first-ever gimmick at the Rockwell area, in this place called Cantinette ba? Arrgh. Basta, its the one just beside Starbucks and Good Earth. Lovely area, Rockwell. It's one of those places in Manila where you could almost convince yourself that the Philippines is not a third-world country.

2) In contrast, I saw more poor and downtrodden families sleeping off their hunger and despair right on the side streets of Malate -- a place I navigate by everytime I am in Manila as my sis lives in the area. Normal sidewalks in the day transform into stretches of sleeping quarters at night for families, many with little children. They just really lay neatly on the sidewalk, their heads to the walls, their legs towards the street, with only an open umbrella over the child for protection. Honestly, I don't know how to describe my feelings when I see these scenes: it's a mixture of shock, pity, outrage for them, anger at them too, despair, helplessness and an overwhelming sense of guilt for not doing anything to help them.

3) I was unknowingly parted with my ATM card for a couple of hours in Greenbelt before I realised what had happened. With thoughts of online theft and monetary catastrophe in my mind, I darted off immediately to the customer service bay on the ground floor for help. Lo and behold, they had my card! They said they had been paging for me a few times already but I of course remained stupidly impervious. Whew! Close call there.

4) Finally got to see the Serendra scene after reading so much about it online. The place is very nice, so abuzz with energy and so crowded too. We had dinner at Larry's bar (their salpicao is muy delicioso!) and then bought 10 cupcakes at Sonja's to share between 8 people. My so uninformed take on it? They all look so pretty and would rather use them as centerpieces instead. The taste? It tastes like any cupcake with very sweet icing. (I told you I am uninformed about these things.)

Will add to these when I remember more. For now, let me go pack for HK! (Boohoo, there will be no Lester to show us around town during this trip. He'll be in Japan then, is why.)

:)