the lion and the lamb: 2/17/08

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Besides animals like tigers and lions, the one animal I love and the only one that I can keep is a dog. But living in a HDB flat there are certain restrictions on the number and types of dogs you can keep. To be put quite simply,HDB only allows toy dogs. And only 1 dog. Although the logic for such legislation is suspect, the powers-that-be have been rather slow to address the concerns of pet lovers on the types of pets that can be kept (cats included). But this post is all about dogs. There is one possible out for people like myself who wish to keep a dog which is not in HDB's approved list, and it is this:

Your dog must weigh 10 kg or less or stands a maximum of 40 cm at the shoulders.

This rule is one of those grey area rules that the government loves to put into any legislation so that their officers can look reasonably sensible when faced with an irate member of the public. This one works like this, you may keep a purebreed or mixed breed dog if it fulfills both criteria of being both less than 10 kilogrammes and less than 40 centimetres tall at the shoulder. This broad definition means that certain medium sized dogs are eligible to be kept as pets such as the Corgi, or even the 2 dogs I mentioned in my last post, the miniature siberian husky & maybe even the alaskan klee kai, if they manage to fulfill the criteria.

But as it is with all grey area rules there is also and counter-point rule, that the animal should not be a nuisance. What constitutes a dog causing a nuisance however is slightly dodgy.

Owners should not allow their pets to run at persons, vehicles or
bicycles in public places or cause injury to any persons. They should
also not allow their pets to become a nuisance (e.g. uncontrolled
barking, defaecating in public places, etc).

So it seems the said dog only has to be able to eat and sit all day in a public space. Because any form of running or sound can be considered a form of nuisance. The basic translation of this rule into its simplest form is that as long as no one complains, you and your dog are fine.But if someone complains, it will be investigated, and you may be fined.

Then there are the rules that legislate that dogs have to be leashed in public spaces. But no one specified how long the leash had to be. So the way I see it, as long as I am holding one end of the leash and the dog is on the other end of the leash, then I am well within my rights to bring my dog outdoors. Even if the leash in question is 40 feet long.

woah!

Kaili out,Mona in

Well, all bad things have to come to an end. Kaili, our interior decorator had resigned from Barang Barang, and thus left us in a bit of dilemma. She left us 2 options of which one was to continue with Barang Barang under a different ID. The other option she gave us was to follow her over to her new company and continue where we had left off. After discussing, Agnes and myself decided to do what we should have done in the first place, and that was to go and take our business elsewhere. So I duly informed Kaili of our decision. Her reply was a terse 'alright'. As a result we now will forfeit the deposit we made at our first meeting and she will keep whatever designs she had drawn, for whatever that is worth.
That same night I got in touch with Mona of Asia Renovation. She will get back to me on Monday on how we will proceed. I do hope we can settle matters as soon as possible and commence renovations by March. Unlike Kaili, Mona gave off good vibes from the very first time we met her. Mona is hardworking and enthusiastic. Best of all she provided quality service at a good price. We kept bringing up Mona in our discussions whenever we ran into a brick wall with Kaili these last few months. On a number of occasions we had wanted to sack Kaili as it was getting increasingly frustrating dealing with the irregular meetings, escalating costs and impractical designs, but stopped short of pulling the trigger as I had feared all our effort these last few months would be for nought if we sacked her mid-stream. But recent events have forced our hand.
Now with the ending of our business with Kaili, and the resumption of our relationship with Mona, that leaves the affair of how to incorporate what we have designed so far with Kaili into our plans with Mona. Of especial concern are all the lightings and fans we had bought at Balestier the other day. This means we have to build an L-box to fit the spotlights and other such fixtures more or less according to what Kaili had designed. Spoke to both companies and refunds or exchange are not possible. Designer Lighting Boutique requires 1 weeks notice prior to delivery and installation. Likewise for our bathroom accessories from Tapz Boutique. Will have to get Mona to arrange with them on the specific details of the delivery and installation.

wedding banquet

On tuesday we have made 2 appointments with Traders Hotel and Holiday Inn Park View to go down to make a site visit and then decide from there what to do. It has been a process of elimination thus far. And these 2 are the only hotels left standing after eliminating those that did not fit our needs in terms of cost-per-table, central location, minimum number of tables, quality and ranking. By all accounts we should be going for Traders Hotel as a venue. Although not as centrally located as Holiday Inn Park View, it does project a different sort of ambience and class. We had considered Novotel Clarke Quay but we were unable to meet its minimum tables requirements. Meritus Mandarin likewise, as only their large hall, which fits 50 tables, was available. We were looking for 15 to 16 tables only, as we had wanted a small, intimate and cozy wedding and not one of those grand ones that others like to put up. The problem is that many hotels only cater to 20 tables and above. And those that did cater to smaller wedding dinners tended to be the less reknown hotels, which is not what you want to do for your special big day. We had ruled our having our banquet at a restaurant despite the allure of the ease of booking, flexibility or seating and lower prices.
So at 2pm we have one appointment and then at 6.30 another. We have both taken half a day's off and by evening we should have some idea where we can proceed on to next.

Wedding Workshop by Holiday Inn Park View
Singapore
Date:16th March 2008, Sunday
Time: 12.00 noon - 4.00
pm, Crystal Ballroom level 2
Venue: Holiday Inn Park View
Singapore
Admission: Free

Bridal Extravaganza at Traders Hotel, Singapore
Date & Time: Saturday, 15 Mar 2008, 1pm - 5pm
Venue:The Gallery, Traders Hotel,
Singapore
Attendence:$38 nett per couple(Special price to SingaporeBrides.com
members at $28 nett per couple)
Programme:Bridal Fashion Show, Chinese set
lunch with buffet dessert, lucky draw and door gift.
Book your wedding
banquet during the wedding show to enjoy additional perks (terms &
conditions apply).

our anniversary

On Tuesday we celebrated our anniversary. We have been together 3 years. And spent the last 8 months as husband and wife. And Valentine's Day marks our 4th V-day spent together.
Moving on...
We decided to dispense with candlelight dinners and such this year. Who can forget the debacle that was the Jewel Box last year? So we decided to plump for a seafood dinner this time round. It had to be seafood with a view,i.e. the sea. We had wanted to try Palm Beach Seafood at One Fullerton but they were fully booked. So we waltzed over figuratively speaking over to Esplanade to No Signboard restaurant. We settled for one of those set dinners for 2 pax. I must say it was one of the best dinners I have had in a long time. The only downside was that they were renovating the stage area in front of the restaurant, which cut off our view of Marina Bay. Which otherwise whould have made it a perfect meal.

menu:

yee-fu noodles
lobster salad
sharks fin soup with crab meat*
chilli crab with man tou
stir fried scallops with brocolli
all washed down with chinese tea

*Despite our 'no sharks fin soup' policy, I must admit this was one of the better ones we ever had.

our flat

Pending our discussion with Mona, I will have to start removing all the stuff in our flat. We have an inflatable mattress, a table, 2 chairs, assorted boxes of tools, a kettle, a rice pot, 2 bicycles and other stuff which I cannot even remember now. So as we get closer to the date when the renovators start to move in, I have to remove all the stuff above so they can do their work unimpeded.

32" TV

We bought the tv a couple of weeks ago. It was taking up way too much space in my room, so I decided to take it out of the box and actually use it until the new house is ready. So now it is placed on my tv console. My old tv is packed away above my dry box. The box which the new tv came in is now stored away above my wardrobe to be used later on when we have to move it again. Meanwhile I have a spankingly large screen in my room. Great for watching Animal Planet, movies, soccer and playing games.

Siberian Huskies & Alaskan Malamutes

I am stil trying to figure out what is the difference between these 2 magnificient dogs.

Siberian huskies

Build: Moderately compact, balanced, elegant
Weight: 45-60 pounds (20½-27kg.)
Height: 21-23½ inches (53-60cm.)
Coat: Thick double coated, woolly undercoat and a soft outer coat
Color: All colors from black to white permissible; all colors derives from the 2 main colors, namely black and white, and copper and white
Head: In proportion to body
Teeth: Scissors bite
Eyes: Almond shaped, moderately spaced and set a trifle obliquely. Eyes may be brown or blue in color; one of each or parti-colored are acceptable.
Ears: Medium, triangular, close fitting, set high
Tail: Well furred, fox-brush shape, usually carried over back in graceful sickle curve
Limbs: Parallel and straight
Feet: Oval, with pads tough and thickly cushioned
Life span: Median 12-15 years

Alaskan Malamute

Weight: 34-38.5 kg, 75-85 lb
Height: 58-63.5 cm, 23-25 in
Coat: Harsh and thick, with plush undercoat
Color: Gray, sable, black, or red, always with white
Litter size: 4-10 puppies
Life span: 10-14 years

I also came across these 2 interesting relatives of the above,
miniature huskies , like the name implies a miniature siberian husky!

Currently, Miniature Siberian Huskies can reach a maximum weight of 18–25 pounds (7–8 kilograms) and reach a height of 12–14 inches (30–35 centimeters) at the withers. Their coat lengths and colors, and eye colors, offer the same range of variety seen in standard sized Siberian Huskies.

and the alaskan klee kai, smaller more compact version of the Alaskan Malamute.

Weight: 4.5–10 kg, 10–22 lb Height: 25–43 cm, 10–17 in
Coat: Double coat, short to medium length
Color: Black, gray or red always with white
Litter size: 1-3 puppies
Life span: aprox.12-16 years

Sunday, February 17, 2008

JB trip

Yesterday we went to JB for food and some shopping after work. I must say the food at Singgah Selalu was one of the better meals I have had in a long time. We had black pepper deer meat which was so yummy. Buttered prawns... fried egg tofu... lemon chicken I think. Was so yummy..and cost only about RM 17 per person. We plan to go there again soon.

After lunch we did a bit of shopping at Kip Mart. Our shopping consisted mainly of purchasing DVD's and computer games. After we had finished at Kip Mart we headed over to the nearby Giant. Being that it was a Saturday there was an undue amount of traffic heading out of JB towards the highway. So that made getting to and from our destinations a rather slow process. Ironically traffic both ways on the Causeway was rather smooth, but we had quite an ordeal once we got over into JB city itself.

Anyway Giant is one of my favourite places in JB to go. There is just so much good stuff at cheap prices there. I figure that Agnes and myself could go there once our house is ready to buy stuff for our house.

house updates

Speaking of our house, it seems based on my latest correspondence with Kaili the renovations will start on 1st of March instead of 18th February as we had initially been lead to understand. In a way it is a good thing as it gives me a little more time to remove all the stuff there now. But still it is frustrating that Kaili has such a lackadaisical approach to our home. I get the impression that she does not treat our home as a high priority. And she is rather frustrating to deal with as she is more concerned with making a house that looks good in a magazine than a home that is actually liveable. And then there is the cost issue. We still recall the fair bundle we spent the other day at Balestier on lights and bathroom accessories. Never again.

So the commencement of the works has been delayed, so we will have to push back all the other stuff moving in (bed,washing machine, refrigerator etc). No doubt Kaili is creative and talented, but maybe she lacks the inter-personal skills that are even more important when taking on such projects. All things considered I rather have a dedicated interior designer with our best interests in mind, than to have a super talented ID who tries to build a super home. Our flat is a 4-room HDB flat, a pigeon -hole as Agnes calls it, but Kaili's design ideas are too expensive and not really practical for a home like ours. Maybe if we lived in a condo or a landed property, but not for a house like ours.

All this will be worth it if Kaili does deliver what she promised. If not then this will be the biggest mistake we ever made.

How we spent valentines day

After work I went down to pick my wife from her office. Of course that is not the whole story. Before anything else, I had to prepare stuff: flowers,card, gifts etc. Had gotten Agnes a nice bouquet of oriental lilies. Wrote her a card I had bought from Popular, when I also noticed a rack of vcds/cds/dvds near the counter. So I bought a DVD+CD set for my dearie on the spur of that moment.

Back to my story, we drove over to Clarke Quay, and then tried to find a decent place to eat. I had more or less set my heart on Hooters,since they seemed to offer a pretty reasonable Valentine's day dinner set menu.But Agnes decided against it because the Hooters girls would be too 'distracting'. lol. So in the end we settled on TCC which had the cheapest V-day menu. It was not too bad to be honest. After dinner we took a walk around the area and then over to the nearby Liang Court where we made enquiries regarding Novotel Clarke Quay as a possible wedding venue. I must say I was rather impressed by what I saw. After that he headed back to the car and made the short trip over to Robertson Quay.

I must say Robertson Quay is a different kettle of fish to the more commercialised Boat Quays and Clarke Quay. We enjoyed a nice romantic walk along both sides and soaked in the atmosphere. The apartments surrounding the area are so nice. Be good to one day own an apartment there. Robertson Quay itself resembles a mediterranean villa.

After that, we drove around for a bit. I had wanted to go to Mustaffa Centre, but it was way too crowded to park anywhere close. So instead we went to Carrefour at Suntec. We had a good time looking at all the home furnishings and electronics. We picked up some ideas for sofas and air-cons.

Then home.

Sunny

We are gonna need to go looking at cars.

Soon.

Places and things to do

make new transitions glasses
get a haircut
buy a new pair of running shoes
book venue for wedding banquet
go to T3 with my wife
Go Pulau Ubin
Go Kusu Island
Go cycling together
clean the bunnies cages
clean the hammies cages
look for a sofa, dining table set & coffee table
watch DVDs with wifey
jog with Noel
test new TV
pay phone bill
go on the Singapore Flyer

M1 contract

my contract is up so I am now eligible to upgrade my handphone. But surprisingly my Samsung is doing well and meets my needs thus far, so there is no need for an upgrade at this point. I will save it then for when I need it. Most of my phones do not last too long. The usual problem is that the batteries give problems and start to run out prematurely. But so far my Samsung has been working well.

things i would like to do