About

Hi, this blog is about PL and Me getting together, getting married, and our life together. She’s in her late 30s, and I’m in my late 40s (as at Jan 2013), and we have known each other for 15 years.

Some good things take time.

We value our privacy, so we won’t be sharing personal information that would identify us. If you know us, this is a way to keep you updated about the things in our lives. If we don’t know you, stay if what’s posted here is interesting. Share your thoughts if you like. Or not.

We’re not celebrities. We’re not famous. Just ordinary people.

Update Nov 27 2015:

I’ve just had a birthday, not that it matters, except that now I am (statistically and mathematically) closer to death than my birth. Actually, statistically, I have been in that zone for quite a few years.

But this is not about my birthday, but Z’s. My daughter will be 1 in about a week’s time. So quite a few of the posts in the last 12 months have been about her.

But I have been surprisingly restrained. I have blogged about other things as well. And I would like to think that those were real posts and not fillers in between my real posts about Z.

Update May 10 2017

Well, Donald Trump has completed over 100 days in office as POTUS and he hasn’t destroyed the world in a nuclear armageddon. Just another 1300+ days to go.

However, over in the US, the Republicans are trying to repeal and replace “Obamacare”. And Jimmy Kimmel used his show to talk about his son’s congenital heart problems and how, because he has health insurance, his son is getting the treatment he needs, but how the repeal of Obamacare would throw millions of Americans off health insurance, which means babies like his son, born to parents with less resources, and no health insurance, may die and how that is cruel, heartbreaking and wrong.

Which got me thinking about Singapore’s Health Care.

We have the Medishield Life which was introduced from 1 Nov 2015. MediShield Life covers hospitalisation for up to Class B2 wards. However, many people have additional private Health Insurance, such as with NTUC Income. Their standard plan covers up to B1 ward charges.

So we are quite well covered. There are deductibles but not bank-breaking.

Update Dec  2017

The year is coming to an end. Z is three years old and adorable. And funny. And the love of my life (sorry, PL).

This blog has become a way for me to remember the little things about Z growing up. And also a way for me to tell Z about me, and to record down some of the things I want to teach her one day (all the cooking blog articles). as well as lessons about life.

Some people take photos and videos. But memories are made of stories. I realise that I’m not one to reach for the camera first. Also, I try not to put Z’s photo on social media. That is for her to decide and control when she is older. So no photos (or very few), and no videos (there may be exceptions, but so far no). The link is to a blogpost about posting children’s images on the internet. I like the video at the end of that piece by Texan in Tokyo, a YouTuber who vlogged about her cross cultural discovery of being a Texan in Tokyo. But that video was her last video. She was pregnant and had decided to stop vlogging to protect her baby’s privacy. I was sad, but I respect her for that decision. And you can see that it was NOT an easy decision for her, but she felt that it was a necessary decision. (Feb 2018 edit)

Just stories for the memories.

Dec 2018 Update

Z is 4 years old and a wonder and a blessing. I am 54 years old and I do not ktanow if I will see Z reach adulthood. I blog here to remember. And one day, I hope she will find the memories in these posts.

Jan 2022 Update

Z is 7. She’s in Primary Two this year. Starting on Wednesday 5 Jan. We have had almost two years of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. As of this writing, Singapore is coming out of it. Over 80% of the adult population is vaccinated (Pfizer and Moderna, with about a small number – over 100,000 – vaccinated with Sinovac. PL & I have had our 3rd shot (booster). The Delta variant is now being overtaken by the the Omicron variant. Children 5 – 11 are not approved for vaccination, and the older kids (9 – 11) are being vaccinated first. Z will probably be invited to get vaccinated in late Jan or early Feb.

Anyway, Over the Christmas/New Year holidays, we found the malls and restaurants packed with people. If not for the masks, you would not know that there’s a pandemic. We are opening up, and living with the virus. Or starting to. For the school year, the Schools are staggering the return to school. 3 Jan (Monday) is a replacement holiday because New Year was on a Saturday. On 4 Jan, only the Primary One students will go to school, and have the whole school to themselves as they orientate themselves to a new school. Then on 5 Jan (Wednesday) the rest of the students (from P2 – P6) will return to school. Z is looking forward to that.

Z is in CHIJ Toa Payoh. She got in without even having to ballot for it, so we were happy. Like most of life for us, it was relatively smooth.

The pandemic has been inconvenient mostly. Yes, restrictive. But others have had it worse. I was retired at the end of March 2019, got project work with IMH… around Aug 2019? Was supposed to finish up the project by Jan 2020. But there were some delays. And then there was lockdown (or the Singapore version called, “circuit breaker”). From April.

The project with IMH was put on hold (they had other things to worry about). Just before “circuit breaker”, I had been asked to help out with the Social Service Office to process applications for Temporary Relief (because of Covid – loss of job or reduction of income). It was supposed to be for a month, but other help (Covid Support Grant) was introduced and my employment was extended. But eventually, I asked to stop in Nov 2020.

I got back to complete the IMH Project.

Then I got another project with MOH. At the Policy History Project recommended payment (which paid almost the same as my last “take-home” salary, except I’m not an employee and so I do not get CPF contributions, or bonuses. Or any other employment benefits. My contract was for 6 months (Mar to Aug). They wanted me to extend. I asked for a break so for the whole of Sept, I was “free”. Then I re-engaged for another 6 months from Oct 2021 to Mar 2022). I’m in the middle of that.