Jinxed or what??!!

I have to admit, I am always so unlucky with electronics. Electronics goods that are of reliable and reputable brands can just spoil/get faulty for no apparent reason at my hands. My friends said I am just unlucky when it comes to buying such items.

Here are some examples:
- Fujitsu laptop. Failed to boot up the first day I bought it. When I sent it back for repair, tech guy told me the hard disk is corrupted. Hello, first day only, can't even use it, hard disk is already corrupted. What ever happened to Fujitsu QC??

- Palm Tungsten PDA. After a year of moderate usage, it went faulty. The battery, fully charged, will only turn on the PDA for less than 15mins and then showed that the battery is flat! And I don't even abuse it in any way. I just used it to record my appointments that's all!

- Mac Mini. The first day we bought it until now, it can never detect any portable hard disk. Thumbdrive yes, but not portable hard disk. When I called to check with Mac support, apparently, I've got one that has some faults in the drivers. That is why the system can't detect. And I thought Mac is supposed to be reliable, of good quality? Looks like I got one that didn't pass the QC again!

- Nokia phone. The digit "7" on the number pad wasn't working when I first got the phone. Demand to have a new set but Singtel cited "company policies" can't replace a new phone for me. But tell me to send to Nokia service centre for repair, FOC.

And the list goes even to trusted brand of watches. I think I better stick to trusty old Casio or some pasar malam brands.

And you know what, within days of us moving in to the new place:

- The Fujitsu laptop (which I had endured its erratic behaviour for 2 years) went crazy and I couldn't even open any applications without seeing a barrage of error message.

- Mac Mini went bogus and will shut down automatically by itself within 1 minute of boot up.

- The "7" on the Nokia phone pad is malfunctioning again. I had to pressed at least a few times and hard enough for it to detect. Warranty had expired so I will have to pay for repair works.

- My watch of trusted brand STOPPED. And did I tell you I refused to pay a single cent for the repairs when the servicing guys called me?

I decided it is time I need to retire the laptop. Enough of putting up its idiosyncracies. I went to get a new one on Tuesday. I told the young chap, get me one that is most reliable and won't break down after 2 years.

He replied," Buying electronics actually depends on luck too. Some people can use a Dell for 5 years and still good. Some people can use a branded and premium one and only lasts for 1 year." I had to agree with him. All the "unlucky" evidences where pointing at me.

So eventually, I bought a BenQ laptop that is really value for money, one of the cheapest models and good enough for me to work on. WF tells me I should get one that I won't regret later and it will be useful and up to date, not so much on saving that few dollars.

I tell him, this time I am buying on luck.

View from Pebble Bay

The grilles will be installed tomorrow, so I better post some pictures for us to enjoy.

We get to see the bay view from our balcony and masterbedroom. The other two bedrooms enjoy the sea view. It really windy here. It has come to a point that we don't switch on the air con at night now but just leave the windows open. Talk about saving electricity bills.

On weekends, we see a lot more activities along the Kallang Bay where a lot of canoeings and dragon boat practices get going. Quite a nice and peaceful sight.

Brewerkz and other restaurants around the Indoor Stadium is just a stone's throw away. You can always call WF to join you guys for a beer if you want!

So here's a peep at our living area with WF sitting on his new armchair.

Finally!

The last box of stuff had been unpacked on Sunday! We've finally settled into the new place with the last set of shelvings being fixed up on Saturday.

What's left are the balcony grilles and the tables and chairs set. Yes, we're installing the grilles for the safety of the kids even though we have such a nice bay view infront of us. I don't want to leave it to chances after I witness Zhi pushing a chair towards the balcony.

The kids love this new place. Its bigger and has more running space. Ning has got her own room too. And I am proud to say, since the first night she's here, she had been sleeping on her own.

The kitchen is way too small. And I had to put my trusty old oven in the storeroom simply because there isn't enough tabletop space for my oven!!!

I've taken some pictures of this new place. Will try to put up as soon as I can. That's all for now.

Our New Home

We just gotten our keys last Friday and I had been busy packing for the big move on 13th. In between, we had been busy buying the necessary furnitures for the new house.

Quite hectic for me because while I am not sleeping or shopping for furniture, I'm tearing the whole house down by packing everything in the 80 cartons that was given by the mover. And its not easy when you have two kids messing up the things or trying their luck at playing the scissors and masking tapes. Eventually, I resorted to pack when they're sleeping. Don't be surprise when you see me with "panda eyes" when you're invited for our house-warming.

Here's a preview of the empty house I took on the day we went to get our keys:


Pebble Bay Home

Our Punggol Home

We're leaving for church camp and will be back on the 5th. Thereafter, I'll be madly packing away until 13th June, Friday, where it'll be the date we're moving to our new home in Pebble Bay. Yes, its a very un-auspicious date. But knowing WF, he likes unlucky numbers. It works well for him actually.

I'll definitely miss this Punggol place. The good thing is, we're not selling. And we joked that maybe when the Punggol 21+ has finally materialized (who knows when), we'll move back here to retire. This house is just nice for the two of us.

The movers delivered the boxes for packing on Tuesday night and I thought before we start to pack and box up everything, I should take some pictures of this place. Here's a video of our Punggol home, for those who didn't get the chance to visit us here for the past 6 years.



Punggol Home