16th Nov 2019
Just bought a speaker from a seller on Carousell, a site better known here for users to trade their used stuff. This speaker was "sealed" which means it was never opened and the seal on the opening was intact, and it was being offered for about S$120 below usual price ( I did my homework).
Turns out the person didn't buy it from somewhere abroad where the brand was cheaper - it was bought from a local online store, probably during a sale, and was bought for S$10 above what I paid.
Such a mystery!
Took me a day but I think I figured out 2 possibilities:
1) this person was very likely using it (and other stuff) to generate expenditure
2) this person was using points to pay for it
Though it makes more sense to be the former (since using points to buy regular stuff gives your points terrible value), the latter fits this case more due to the seller having bought it for more than what I paid.
The points were probably expiring. Who knows?
But this is giving me an idea about generating expenditure.
Anyway, this Marshall Kilburn 2 sounds awesome! Got 20 pieces of 50*50cm 5cm-thick soundproofing tiles from Taobao during 11/11, so this will not disturb everyone else at home too much. Hopefully. Still trying to figure out the best way to use them. My initial idea was to somehow attach them on a curtain to make a foldable soundproof sheet, but ultimately it still needs to be attached from above my door so that it covers the gap between the door and the frame, and doesn't make my door frame look ugly when it's not in use.
Actually bought those tiles in anticipation of practicing with my cello even when I'm not alone at home, but after buying them, I realize I could get a speaker too.
17th Nov 2019
I'm starting to understand the business model of my cello teacher. She's made it clear that she's only an intermediate player, and is offering the lowest price for private cello classes out there as far as I know, at S$50 per 1-hour lesson.
Her main income source is in the trading of instruments and accessories, and the lessons are merely a starter to attract newcomers to get in and start spending.
22th Nov 2019
Frankly speaking, I don't know how this blog is maintaining its page views. The overall trend over the years is that with a few exceptions, view count has been dropping steadily, but still, it's about 10 views a day minimum average each month. True, it's only 10% of what it used to be, but I really expected a lot less given how infrequent my posts have become, which is at a bi-monthly rate.
Anyway, today I'm attending court for our annulment. Hopefully the judge is convinced of all the necessary conditions required for it to go through, and let us end this quickly. Otherwise, it's going to take 3 years and at least S$900 for a simple uncontested divorce with consent from her.
This is already taking S$2500, that will add it up to S$3400. Not a life-ruining thing, but it will definitely suck, and for a very long time.
28th Nov 2019
Ok annulment was granted quickly that day.
Found some really fantastic deals for solo guests last night from Royal Carribbean, lowest I could find was for a 4-night cruise to Port Klang (KL) and Penang in April 2020 at S$450 before gratuities (if I want to be extra cheap), gratuities being just under $80.
There were a few others too, including a few in Dec 2019 and Jan 2020 that I couldn't consider at all that were like S$600 for the BALCONY cabins, though one can take for granted that the view will be obstructed.
Still, $600 for a balcony cabin for a solo guest is an epic deal for solo guests in Singapore.
However, after a long consideration, I feel that I shouldn't be even considering these cruises since they will not be enjoyable outside of the meals to me. Let me save the money for maybe an extra snowboarding trip for winter 2020/2021, or for maintenance for my home.
I mean, painting my home, which it really needs at this point since in every room there are cracks, peeled paint and even holes where it peeled and dropped off, is going to cost about S$1500.
Outside of the house, there's also the end of year and beginning of the year. This means I have to watch out for my insurance premiums, income tax, MediShield contribution, staff bonuses, the shifting of my office, and etc. This year could be my first year that I'm concerned about them.
29th Nov 2019
So, coffee in a wine glass does work. Did a bit of reading and found out that Italians do this too, albeit with something that's closer to a cognac glass.
Don't really see the point of a short stem here in Singapore because it's hot and I don't want to get anywhere close to the coffee. My guess is the short stem is used because they have winters there and the coffee can cool much faster, so it gets to a touchable temperature rapidly, and you can hold it to keep it warm. Alternatively, it is to let you hold the hot coffee in your hands to keep your hands warm.
Over here, the coffee is too hot for anything for at least five minutes, then it's barely touchable but you shouldn't anyway since frequent contact with very hot drinks and food can lead to oral cancer.
Anyway, it works because I feel that I can smell the coffee better in a wine glass than in my usual coffee mug. The only possible downside is that it has a higher center of gravity, so in your pre-coffee morning state, it might pose a certain danger to your electronics.
16 Dec 2019
Went for a birthday party at a suite in MBS. Checked the rates online and for a last-minute booking on a weekday this month, it goes for about S$1100 per night.
As a hotel room for one or two people to live in, this is madly excessive overkill. The living room is as large as mine, and the main bathroom is as large as my living room and big enough to have a entire bathtub comfortably placed at the center of one wall.
But as a party venue, it's perfect. There are multiple couches and sofas, and even a pool table if you request for a suite with it. With my new Marshall's Kilburn II speaker, this was one of the best party venue I've ever seen. The doors are very soundproof, and even with music loud enough to dance to, the bedroom was almost silent when the door was closed, so one can imagine how quiet it must be for other suites.
We had music blasting till maybe 1am, and not a single complaint was received.
On top of that, the hotel pretty much bent over backwards for the friend who booked the suite (for free, I might add, just because, as a regular in the casino, she had befriended a host for years), letting her get an extra bed for free when I agreed to stay overnight, and finding a birthday cake for her when she asked for it at about 6pm even though her birthday was not mentioned in the booking.
The view was amazing this time of the year because our Gardens by the Bay was having special decorations for Christmas, and we got to see it from up there for free.
And the room service was actually worth the money. My friends bought from food from outside - fried prawn paste chicken wings and some pork and chicken cutlets - and then we ordered way too much food from the room service menu, yet we paid just $51 per person even though the birthday girl didn't have to pay. As for the best items, it would have been the chicken/lamb satays and the bread puddings, and the latter were ordered 5 minutes after the all-day menu was closed (again, they bent over backwards for her). Also worth a mention was the stir-fried mee sua, which was al dente instead of the very soft texture that we normally find outside. I thought I liked the stir-fried bee hoon a lot until I tried it, and this was the first time I like mee sua more than bee hoon.
If you're looking for a place to make your party special for a small group of about 10-15, a suite at the MBS is better than getting a chalet or a restaurant, if your budget allows.
27 Dec 2019
Ate so much over Christmas. Feeling guilty but don't have the motivation to exercise anymore. Will at least climb stairs today or tomorrow though.
Recently read that Notre Dame may not be salvageable ultimately because the scaffolding is damaging the ground and may collapse it into the underground parts. This made me think and realized I don't remember if I had visited it before.
I think I'll keep some kind of diary for the Antarctica trip, just in case something like this happens. Most likely would. Maybe 5 years down the road I wouldn't even recall if I had seen orcas.
29 Dec 2019
Took me a while but finally decided that Nescafe Dolce Gusto Grande Intenso is too weak and is more suited for going with milk, while Lungo Intenso has better flavour and is better black.
The racks have been here for a few days now. These are pretty much industrial racks that two of myself can lie down on on each level, and have 4 levels. Really clever design, so everything just need to be slotted into gaps, no bolts, no nails, no rivets nothing. Not even a hammer/mallet is required.
I love them.
Problem is the sheer number of things that need to be moved, examined and arranged on the shelves. Just the food shelf took me a day because something rotted and oozed some liquid all over other packages. No smell, just a thick brown goo, so it wasn't gross.
Next will be the things inside my store room. Lots of heavy stuff so I'm waiting for my wrist to heal first.
One other thing that went wrong with the new food shelf was that I misjudged how much the depth/width of the shelf would affect things. This was supposed to be shorter in length but deeper so there is still more space per level to hold more stuff, but it now constricts the path to the kitchen a little more. The consequence of this misjudgement will only be realized when we have to move big items in or out of the kitchen, like the laundry machine or fridge.
On the bright side, now we have so much space we can put our clothes on one half of it and food on the other half, and can get rid of the chairs we've been using for years as extra shelves.
I feel like planning a trip on the Trans-Siberian but I want it separated into multiple journeys with stops in certain parts, especially at Irkutsk so that I can get to Oymyakon where everything is frozen and they eat macaroni with frozen horse blood cubes.
But tour guides and agencies for English-speakers are expensive, so right now I am unwilling to fork out the money for it. Just the Trans-Siberian would be perfectly affordable, at around US$500-700 per pax even on the soft sleepers, but that's not enough for me anymore. I've tried this kind of train travel in China, it's too uncomfortable to be enjoyable over 6 nights. If the cabins are like those on the Nightjet in Europe, fuck yeah I'm definitely going for it! But alas they're nothing like those, not even a "roomette" (US trains) or private compartments for solo travellers.
So for 2020/2021 I'll probably go for a flight to somewhere in the Iberian Peninsula and take a few trains northward to some ski resort, with my snowboarding gear flown directly to the resort. If that's too expensive, then maybe Mittersill again. If that's still beyond my budget, then Zakopane or Pyeongchang.
I still can't believe it but nobody knows of where I've stayed at while snowboarding in Austria. It's there in TripAdvisor with over 4 stars after hundreds of reviews, but even on that website, the area is relatively unknown and blank. Other travel sites I visit, like Wikitravel, don't even have a page for Mittersill.
Yet it was completely full over New Year's Day when we were there, and it's perfectly within the budget of the middle class folks who frequent TripAdvisor.
I still have the miles on Flying Blue after refunding her flight for what was supposed to be our honeymoon, so I get to fly to Europe almost for free (gotta pay those admin charges) as long as I book early since long-haul routes are more popular. To keep those miles valid, all I have to do is take a flight on KLM or Air France at least once every two years, so expect a few trips to Europe in my medium-term future. Not planning to blow them all on a single vacation on Business Class again.
Been bringing the Kilburn II to a few gatherings with friends and they love it. The sound is really great since the bass can be strong (can be tuned according to preference) and doesn't muffle anything. The strong point is really in playing music with strong bass, as expected from this brand. Any music like that makes people want to dance, which you don't get when playing from your phone. The battery is strong too - after using it nonstop from 1pm till 8pm, the battery only went from 90% to 50%. It's still new though so no idea how it will deteriorate over the months in the future.
Regardless, this is totally worth the S$300. Far better than using our phones' speakers.
