Terence's Wedding

Just a short update.

Terence's wedding.

Date : 20th Oct 12
Place : Marina Mandarin.

Sorry. I'm not going to post any bride and groom pictures as I didn't ask the groom permission for posting their wedding photos... so just enjoy the yummy food pictures. 

Aidil Adha 2012

Aidil Adha 2012 falls on Friday 26. 

For a job that requires me to work at least 1 weekend, to get Friday, Sat and Sunday off is very rare. So, we planned to go to KL with my parents after Friday prayers. Very last minute plan. We only confirmed about it on the eve of Aidil Adha. 

But alas, this being a long weekend, we couldn't get a coach ticket back from KL to Singapore on Sunday. Driving up is not an option as dad was worried for mom. (The only person who can drive for this trip is mom alone. The rest of us don't have driving license hehhehe) I was so desperate for a short break that I was even contemplating to fly back instead. lol.

Because we were so confident that we could get coach ticket, we didn't prepare anything for Aidil Adha. No ketupat, no lontong, no rendang and ayam masak merah.

So on actual Aidil Adha, all we had was Pizza for lunch and KFC for dinner. 

On 2nd day of Aidil Adha, to make up for the day before, I cooked Chicken Briyani for hubby.

I follow Semudah masakan Zarina recipe. The Briyani Rempah i used is from Selvi's. We couldn't get Anarkali Basmati rice, we used another brand. 

Top left clockwise.
1) papadum
2) Briyani rice
3) Mutton Dalcha
4) Chicken Masala
5) Paceri Nenas

Note to self !
If using this same brand, must add more water. 
Next time cook more dalcha. The Dalcha finish first. 

There goes the view (cont)

It's 2:10am and I can't sleep and out of curiosity, I decided to make myself useful and do my own research on that parcel of land infront of our flat. I don't know nuts about buildings plans what so ever but I'm sure in this era, Thanks to Google, you can find almost everything you need to know online. 

First stop is to HDB website. In my own personal opinion, I find HDB website not so organise. This is because I tried to navigate through and I learned nothing. (mainly because I do not have the patience to click through all the layers) but I did check out BTO (Built to Order) sales page and nothing found there. 

I then recalled my husband saying something about how I can actually check with URA. So my second stop is to URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) 

Voila... got it! The URA masterplan for 2008 !. It's smacked right there on the first page. So easy to find.


So what does this shows? 
That piece of land is for residential ! Period.

What is that 2.1 or 2.8 refers to?
After much reading and googling, this is what my 2:30am brain found out. 
The 2.1 or 2.8 or 3.0 refers to GPR (Gross Plot Ratio). This means ratio of the gross floor area of a building to its site. It specify how high the building can be (how many people you can squeeze into that small piece of land)

For that parcel of land, from the masterplan, seems like developer can build up to 24 storey high. 

How they come up with 2.1? I have no idea! But someone explained in detailed what GPR is in a forum which I find very interesting. You can read it below and the actual link is here. 

Answer Posted on Sep 7, 2009

Hi Anwarp P,

I hope the following helps:

Definition of Gross Floor Area

3.1 All covered floor areas of a building, except otherwise exempted, and uncovered areas for commercial uses are deemed the gross floor area of the building for purposes of plot ratio control and development charge. The gross floor area is the total area of the covered floor space measured between the centre line of party walls, including the thickness of external walls but excluding voids. Accessibility and usability are not criteria for exclusion from GFA.

3.2 URA reserves the right to decide on GFA matters based on the specific design of a development proposal on a case-by-case basis.


Basic information required for computing gross floor area

4.1 Site Area

The site area is the area of a development plot measured between the survey boundary lines. The boundary line defines the legal ownership of the property or development site. The development plot could either sit on a full lot or on a part lot. If there are areas within the development site to be vested to the State, for example for road widening or drainage purposes, these areas can be included as part of the development site for plot ratio calculation. Once these areas are vested to the state, they cannot be used for plot ratio calculation, subsequently.

4.2 Plot Ratio

The plot ratio of a site is defined as the ratio of the gross floor area of a building(s) to its site area.

4.2.1 Proposed plot ratio

The proposed plot ratio as declared by the qualified persons in the EDAform/application form. Generally, this plot ratio is not allowed to exceed the current Master Plan plot ratio.

4.2.2 Allowable plot ratio

The allowable plot ratio is the prescribed plot ratio in the current Master Plan.

4.2.3 Computation of plot ratio

Plot ratio = Gross Floor Area / Site Area

Building Height Plan

Areas with special height controls are depicted on the plan.

Areas without special height controls are subject to prevailing development control guidelines. For example, residential development will follow the GPR / Storey Height Typology for flats and condominium as shown in Table 1. For other land uses without stipulated building height controls, the permissible height will be subject to evaluation.

View Building Height Plan
Table 1: Standard GPR/Storey Height Typology for Residential Developments

Gross Plot Ratio Storey Height Control
1.4 5
1.6 12
2.1 24
2.8 36

Consideration on set-back if rebuilding the site.

Plot Ratio is relevant for Semi-D Hse and enbloc for old estate residential condo according with the revise Master Plan.

(The reason I posted the whole article here is so I have something to refer to in case the link failed to work)


Here are more reading materials I referred to... 
http://www.ura.gov.sg/MP2008/written_statement.htm
http://www.sg-house.com/classifieds/property-news-and-knowledge/1202732-what-does-plot-ratio-mean.html

In summary,

• From the masterplan, seems like I'm right! That piece of land was planned for residential. Boo Hoo..:-( 
• I'm glad they still keep the park atop the hill
• Developers can built up to 24 storey high of flats.
• Since it is taking them up till 3rd quarter year 2013 to complete the ground levelling job and usually takes about 3 years to complete residential project, probably the flats will be ready in another 4 years time?
• Which means I have bad views for the next 4 years and have to prepare myself for all the construction noises in years to come. Uwaaaaaaaaaaa .... 

ps : I'm going to start tracking the changes.
ps : Its now 3:25am. I still can't sleep. I'm feeling uneasy now ... hmmm.

There goes the view

I posted a pic of the niew view outside our flat a couple of months back.

http://lizaohlala.blogspot.sg/2012/05/random.html

This view is now no more.

They are doing groundwork and I think they are levelling the ground.

I called towncouncil they are keeping mum about it.

Work expected to be completed by 3rd quafter of 2013.

Most likely this patch of land will be another HDB housing project.

No more unblocked view :-(

Breakfast with love one

Finally we can get to eat breakfast together.

Addicted to Honey Boo Boo

Psst...  Did you watch "Here comes Honey Boo Boo"

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a reality television program on TLC that featuresbeauty pageant participant Alana Thompson (Honey Boo Boo), along with her mother June Shannon, father Mike Thompson and her three older sisters. The show is mostly filmed in and around the family's hometown in rural McIntyre, Georgia, United States, a town in Middle Georgia east of Macon. Wiki

With so much buzz around Honey Boo Boo and being a Reality show junkie, why not.

I got hooked. I finished the whole season1 in 2 days.

There are mixed reviews. Some critics calls it child exploitation. Some reviewers are quite mean (name calling the family) and some reviews are very positives. 

Though I don't agree with most of mama Jun and Dad Sugar Bear actions, I can see that they are a close knit family and cares for one another. 

Here's link to Episode 1 courtesy of YouTube..

See how fast they grow

See how fast they grow... 

Last April i posted their pictures here... see how fast they grow. Here's their recent pictures. 

Aura, the kakak in the family, 1st row 3rd and 4th picture. She's smart, sweet and speak like an adult. At times, penat betul nak layan all her questions. lol :-)

Haziq, the only boy in the group. The smart boy whose line to me will be "Hello mak long" "I nak iPad mak long" "I nak jalan2" "I nak pergi Giant" 

He's just 2years plus and can navigate ipad and iphone easily. 

Auny (bottom row, 2nd picture) is 11 month now. She will be celebrating her 1st birthday this year on 11 / 11 / 2012. Yes! She was born on 11/11/11 :-) Tak banyak gambar Auny pasal jarang jumpa. Aura is her sister

Till date, she still don't know my face and will cry out when we (ehem hubby especially) tried carrying her.

Hana (1st row, 2nd picture) is the current bam bam in the family. Just look at her cheeks and boy semangat dia. Penat beb nak dukung. Once dah start dukung dia... nak letak kejap pun tak boleh. Sure dia nangis. Haziq is her brother


the many different faces of my anak sedara

Double Trouble 2012

What : Double Trouble 2012
Where : Singapore Indoor Stadium
When : 12 October 2012
Who : Wings, Awie, Search, Amy

It's Friday after work. Weekend is just around the corner. Hubby actually forgotten that he was signed up for bowling tournament. Fortunately he manage to find a replacement. 

We went there separately as I attended a talk on "Social network and your Career" at main office. This talk more or less addressed some of the issues or points which I tried to put across to my team who are mostly below 30 years old, who thinks that it's ok to put up their frustrations online. The timing couldnt be more right. This was mere days after the Amy Cheong saga. More on the Social Network talk in my next next next post. (Entah bila la kan)

We are not as young as before, so we choose the last row aisle seats so we don't have to climb too many stairs down and up and easy exit to toilet lol. 

Oh ya, we saw my cousin Liza and Hubby there. Not that really close so we just said hi. 

We saw many empty seats. Unsure if its due to lack of publicity or high ticket price. My guess would be the latter. 

Eventhough we were up there, the tickets is not exactly cheap. This is only slightly cheaper than the MUSE concert we went to. 

Concert about 3.5hr long. Supposed to start at 8 but it started 30mins late. Amy a bit reserved.. Awie still energetic but WOW.. they still got stamina. 

Do scroll right down below to the link of the videos which I uploaded with much difficulties on YouTube. 

Should I blame my computer or my internet speed or YouTube or is the file of 1G plus too huge?

Anyway the pictures and video were taken with 17x Zoom. The only reason we bought this camera in the first place is because of the high zoom. 

That was couple of months earlier after we came back NYC. Thank you hubby for dropping our camera at Poughkeepsie Station.. I get to replace my camera ! 

As seen here, under high zoom, some of the shots turns out ok and some are bad. Need to clock more hours with my new camera. 

Ok, here's part 1 video of the Medley.. pardon the shake

Here's part 2 of the Medley

After concert we went to Lau Pa Sat. 

Quite surprise naper hubby nak pergi Lau Pa Sat when Awie's passing comment at the end of concert "nak makan soup tulang" so I  tot hubby nak stalk dorang pat soup tulang. (entah dorang really go or not tak tahu la kan)

Rupa2 nya hubby tak dengar. Dia ingat just like past concerts, dorang pergi Lau Pa Sat for supper tu yang sebabnya dia ajak gi Lau Pa Sat.

Went to usual Satay number 8... Dissapointing la malam tu. Kambing ngan Lembu rasa sama je. Abis tu tak cukup rasa. Tapi alhamdulilah kenyang juga la. 

To sum it all. 

The concert was ok. Worth the money we pay or not, that is subjective. In my personal opinion, it was just ok. Maybe if the crowd is more participative, then the atmosphere may be different. 

Songs line up is ok. If they are back to SG, I will definitely be back just to listen to their songs live. 

In terms of sound system. Awie vocal still ok. Amy voice at times drowned by the music and at times out of tune. Nevertheless I know it's not easy to sing in concert so no issue at all.

ps : Not sure if they each have their own sound engineer on site but I feel Wings sounded better. Of course i'm no engineer or sound expert. I'm just bias. :-)

Garden by the Bay

Banyak betul unpublished post. Type type type tapi takde mood nak post. 

Here's a recent pic we took at Garden by the Bay. All taken with iPhone 4 so it's not exactly clear. 

I've been wanting to there with mom, sis and the lil tykes but sis not that keen :-) More like malas to jalan agaknya. 

So one of the weekend I dragged my darling. This was after we went to Mabel's housewarming on one Sunday afternoon. We had vegetarian lunch at her place, which I quite enjoy. (Surprise surprise)

The idea of going to garden is to enjoy the scenery and peacefulness. Being a Sunday, the place is full with tourists and locals alike. Not surprising since this is the newest attraction here what more being close proximity to Marina Bay Sand and easily accessible to the recently opened Circle Line. 

If I can pick a day, I'd choose a weekday when it's less crowded so that I can soak up the beautiful man made landscape. I probably make another trip many months later when the flowers and trees are older. . 

The outdoor garden is free. You only need to pay for the admission to the Cloud Forests and Flowers Dome as well as the OCBC skyway. 

Anyway I snapped alot pictures with my phone but it doesn't turn up well. 

Something to accompany us down the park. I read somewhere, the Mao Shan Wang Durian is the best Durian ice cream here. Its awesome... best or not.. I have no idea but this suit my palate. 

Oh ya... I fall in love with orchids here. I almost wanted to buy a pot back and Hubby almost caved in lol.

Dad would love this place so I told Dad a few days later that I'd bring both him and mom there one the weekend. Not anytime soon as dad and mom schedule is more packed than me.. heeheh 

We paid $12 each to enter Cloud Forest. It's much cheaper for local. Tourist need pay $28 for 2 Conservatories. 

I think the idea it's cheaper for local is because they want to encourage more locals to visit. Actually the Outdoor Garden is pretty enough and it's free. We only buy tickets to the air-conditioned Cloud Forest to escape from the heat.

Click this for Visitors information 

Local Resident Rate*
	One Conservatory	Two Conservatories	OCBC Skyway	Garden Cruiser
Adult	$12	$20	$5	$5
Senior Citizen(≥ 60 years old)	$8	$15	$5	$5
Child (3 - 12 years old)	$8	$12	$3	$3

*Singapore citizens, permanent residents and those living in Singapore, including holders of employment passes, work permits or dependent passes. Proof of residency may be required when purchasing tickets or when entering conservatories.

Told ya. 

How to enjoy the Cloud Forest with that many ppl up there. lol I can't even stop and enjoy the view so as not to block the person behind. Anyway its really scary up there... There's a warning sign for visitors with highblood and unwell should not proceed :-) 

 

View from the top. Actually i can't decide if this picture need to be rotated or not? Can't remember what i'm trying to capture. 

Ahhhh Finally can see the so call cloud !

Part of the Outdoor Garden with the Super Tree in the background. Lets give this park another year and i'm sure the view will be much more stunning.

OCBC Skyway, surrounded by Giant SuperTree.  We didn't get to go up. Tickets sale closed by the time we left Cloud Forest. I've been seeing this picture on web. Seeing it close and right before my eye awe me.  It truly is a beautiful sight. 

The Supertrees are home to enclaves of unique and exotic ferns, vines, orchids and also a vast collection of bromeliads such as Tillandsia, amongst other plants. They are fitted with environmental technologies that mimic the ecological function of trees –photovoltaic cells that harness solar energy which can be used for some of the functions of the Supertrees, such as lighting, just like how trees photosynthesize; and collection of rainwater for use in irrigation and fountain displays, exactly like how trees absorb rainwater for growth. The Supertrees also serve air intake and exhaust functions as part of the conservatories' cooling systems. - Wiki

As we walked out of Texas Chicken dinner, I snapped this stunning night scenary with Marina Bay Sand in the background. We will be back. 

This picture did not do justice. If you have the skills, you can take good pictures using crappy iphone camera. How I wish I have some skills to take good pictures.

Maybe we should stay one night here for my birthday. What say you darling? 

To sum it all, 

Garden by the bay, surrounded by Marina Bay Sands with view of Singapore Flyers, Marina Barrage and soon to be Garden by the Bay satay club... is a nice place to chill out. 

Just exploring the place can set you back 2 to 3hrs especially if you plan to visit the 2 conservatories. 

Bring insect repellent. I did not get any bites but my husband did :-)

Go to the Garden By the Bay website and plan your visit. There are a lot of interesting places there which we've yet to visit. We only manage to visit small part of Heritage garden.

Come in comfortable walking shoes, bring your own sandwich or food. The foodcourt is really crowded and the restaurants not cheap. 

Buy cold drinking water from the supermarket or 7 Eleven from marina bay link Mall. It's hot and humid and you need to dehydrate yourselves. Toilet is very clean so don't have to worry bout needing the loo.