We've Found It!

A panoramic shot of 'my floor'. Our unit is on the left.

The past week has been filled with anxiety, apprehension, confusion, satisfaction and elation. After many months of searching, we've finally bought a place! Three months have passed since my last post, and during this time, I asked two housing agents to help me with my search but in the end, I found that the DIY way worked best for us. 

One of these units on the upper floors is ours...

Exactly one week ago last Sunday, I decided to call the agent representing the unit that I was interested in and thought had potential. It was a Sunday morning and I remember sitting in the car after I'd parked at church and quickly making the call before mass started. The agent, Mr Ling, picked up my call on the third or fourth ring. I mention this because I found out later from my colleague that agents often don't pick up calls. I was baffled. I thought agents' livelihoods depend on calls from potential clients? 
So Mr Ling fixed the viewing appointment for 5pm later that day which worked out fine for us. I had taken a drive to the estate earlier, just to see what the area is like on a Sunday morning. It was bustling with many residents probably going to and coming back from the market and breakfast. That short drive through the estate left a neutral impression on me. I wanted to know how to get to the place in advance. 
The rest of Sunday went ahead as usual. We had our lunch at the church canteen for the first time, then sent Meg for tuition and popped home to fetch MJ before heading back out to pick Meg up and then proceeding for the viewing. I remember telling Em that we should never buy the first house we see, because we should compare a few before deciding. Little did I know then that I would have to eat my words later.

Guess which one?

We got there about a half hour before we were due to meet the agent, so we decided to check out the shops across the road. 
We are unfamiliar with the area as we've not been there before. We know of it and have often driven along the main road but haven't had the reason nor occasion to stop, park and venture...until now. 
The first shop that we encountered was a bird shop. They'd just closed for the day and the floor was wet, from a clean up wash. We walked further in and just a few units away were a pet and a fish shop. What?! Then we saw signs along the common walkway that read "The Pet Walk". No wonder! There were several bird and pet shops, aquarium shops etc. Then we saw what was more important to us: a coffeeshop and opposite it, a Thai eatery. Hooray! There are several coffeeshops in the area so that was reassuring. The other amenity that is important to us are clinics. There are a few but they were all closed on Sunday. We later found out that there's a 24-hr clinic on another side and were relieved.
Generally, the shops there are pretty old and most of the businesses don't appeal too much to us - hairdressers, beauty salons, a TCM outfit, amongst others - but as long as there are eateries and clinics, we are happy. There's also the bonus 24-hr NTUC supermarket and a wet market on another end of the numerous shops and, as I recently found out, a famous and delicious prawn noodle soup and fried prawn hokkien mee nearby. We couldn't have hoped for more.

The hot afternoon made us all sweaty by the time we climbed the overhead bridge back to the apt block. That's when we noticed the welcomed breeze while waiting at the void deck for the agent to arrive. He was about five to ten minutes late but when I saw him emerge from the lift with a couple, I knew it was him (from his profile picture online) and that he had just shown the couple the unit. 
The turnover was quick and he turned to us as soon as he said goodbye to them. He then gave us a rundown of the area and the amenities it offers and why his client's unit is an attractive one. He made a point to shake hands with little Em and I was quite pleased with that. The adults usually ignore the kids, especially the really young ones. 
A minute later, we were on the 14th floor, where the unit is. I'm not a fan of anything with a 4 in it but decided to gave it a chance. 
The lady owner welcomed us at the door and we were a little apprehensive going in as it was our first viewing and our first time doing this. She was friendly and told us to feel free to look around. Her teenaged daughter was with her. Her older son was in his room and her husband was in the study. 
The first thing that struck us was the huge hall. It is simply furnished with an old sofa set against one rather long wall with the TV opposite it. The distance between the two is considerable. The kitchen is quite squarish but not too big. The toilets are old but spacious. The kitchen has a rubbish chute, as most old flats do. We are used to a common one which we have been using over the last 17 years so having one inside the kitchen is a change for us. I haven't decided if it's a welcomed one or not. It's unsightly but convenient. The common chute is more hygienic but also inconvenient. I glanced around the kitchen and MJ's thoughts and mine must've aligned at that moment because we were both wondering if the space can accommodate an island. It has been MJ's dream to have one and we wanted to see if there was any possibility here. 

This is what the current house looks like. I hope to post a 'before and after' comparison in a few months' time!

The unit is squarish in layout and has no wasted or odd shaped corners. That's the way we like it. I'm not sure if it was a particularly breezy afternoon that day or if it's usually like that. I hope it's the latter of course. The hall is large and we'll have to think about how to maximise the space in the most efficient way possible. Gotta hit the home decor books! 
We toured the house and went into each room, encouraged by the owner. At first, Mr Ling was the one introducing and explaining each room to us but soon enough we started asking the owner some questions and she 'took over' the tour thereafter.We asked the usual questions: is it windy most of the time? are these the original rooms? is it noisy from the traffic along the main road? are the neighbours nice? Is the neighbour above you noisy? Where's the nearest supermarket and wet market? The owners were forthcoming in answering all our questions and we got on quite well. After looking at all the rooms, we were quite satisfied and wished her well before we left. 
We were excited. To our own surprise, both of us liked the place and started to consider it seriously. The void deck area is clean, and the surface carpark is right next to the block. The bonus is the bus stop about twenty steps from the lift landing area. 
We left the house but not before wishing the current owners All The Best for their move. We left Mr Ling, but told him that the asking price was too high. He agreed! He said he had advised his client to lower it if he was keen on selling it fast. My colleague from the office bought a unit at the next block for more than $100k lower than this asking price! And a unit in this block was last sold in May 2016 at $55k less than the current asking price. 
Anyway, we told Mr Ling we would think about it, discuss it and left it at that. 

Sunday afternoon activities at the block.

MJ and I were quite stoked. 
We talked about it for the rest of the evening and I was pleasantly surprised that MJ's attitude and stance had changed somewhat. I'd always felt that I was the only one who wanted to move, and he didn't. We argued on a couple of occasions in the past because after all my research and calculations, he said he was fine not moving because we have great neighbours and we are next to the mall, something he values alot. I was fuming inside when he said this, about two months ago. To me, it showed that his creature comforts were more important to him than the comfort of our family. We'd lived in a mountain of mess and dust for so many years, I was tired of it. We needed more room, we needed to throw out so much junk and we just needed a change. That was my view. I think that we have to be open to embracing change, especially if all signs point to it being a positive one. Am I wrong? Will it turn out to be a positive change after all? I don't know. I think so, but I'm not 100% sure. But I knew we had to try. It was going to cost us a handsome sum, but I was willing to commit to it, rather than be wishy washy about it. Once I've set my mind on something, I will get it done. The only downside is that I don't set my mind on many things! Just a few big ones in life that I know I want to do. This is one of them.
Anyway, I was ecstatic that MJ was finally 'into it' and we started planning our next steps together. First on the list was making an offer to secure the flat. 
At this point of time, I was still unsure if we were rushing into it. This was, after all, the first unit we'd physically seen. And I remembered what I had told my daughter earlier...I prayed for a sign, any sign but it was slow in coming. We discussed it with our kids but the response wasn't what we expected. Meg thought that we were going to live in the apt "as is", and wasn't keen. I don't think even I could live in the flat in its current condition and after I assured her of this, and told her that we would be stripping the house bare and redoing everything and that she could have a say in how her own room would turn out, she gave us the thumbs up. 

These blocks are two of the tallest ones in the estate. It is 16-storeys high. The others are shorter at around 9 storeys.

MJ and I discussed more about it and we agreed on our offer price. I would make it on Monday morning. As expected, it was difficult to sleep that night. A thousand questions ran through my head. Would it still be available on Monday? Should we have made the offer there and then? or even on Sunday night? Would that show that we were desperated? Could we afford it? Did we have enough money for renovations? Was this the right move? Anyway we decided to sleep on it and prayed that things would be clearer in the morning.
Sleep we did and at 8.07am, I messaged Mr Ling to make our offer. At 8.30am he replied to reject it, explaining that the owner wanted to let the apt go as close to the market value as possible. At 10.56am, I reverted to give the seller his asking price, which was $20,000 more than the first offer I'd made. On hindsight, I should've slowly inched my way up by offering $10,000 more first but I was afaid the other interested party would offer the asking price and we would lose it. So we wanted it quite badly that we decided not to 'to and fro' on the price and just secure it. The asking price was the most we were willing to go and prayed that our offer to match it would be enough. 
It was... and everything played out smoothly without a hitch and that was how I knew that it was God's way of answering my prayers.

See you in a couple of months!

The Search For Our New Home...

...has begun, with a phone call that I've been procrastinating with for weeks. I called a housing agent, Joseph Lim, recommended by my colleague Desmond who engaged him as his agent to buy his new home and sell his current one. So Joseph came highly recommended. 
It's with some hesitation that I finally dialled Joseph's number earlier this evening. Is this the right time? Should I call him now? When is the right time? It can take months to find the right home, so I should start the ball rolling now, shouldn't I? And I turn a year older in two weeks' time, which means I have a year less to pay up my loan. As it is I want to finish paying for the house before I retire so that leaves us with a very short period of time to do so. I think I'm already too late as my monthly mortgage will be quite high as it is. 
The finances are a worry. I've tried to do my sums and it doesn't look good. Yet, this move is necessary and it is probably the last house that we will buy before we retire. We've always wanted our dream, well designed home that is a vast change from the clutter we've lived with for years. The new home is not just a new space to live in, but it marks for us a new start in terms of a more simplified way of living, a chance to de-clutter, a chance to live comfortably in a nice new place that will bring us a peace of mind and some happiness. It's for all these reasons that this is such an important move for us. I'm filled with apprehension, as the coming year is expected to be a challenging one economy-wise so interest rates are on its way up. There are so many 'what ifs' and 'hows' in my head so I can only pray that He will help us in our search and allow everything to fall into place nicely. 

USA - Day 7

Thursday, 14 November 2014

We stayed the night at Claudine's place and she had taken the following day off to be with us. So sweet of her, despite the fact that she had limited leave days left. She suggested that we go to a place called Solvang, located in Santa Barbara county, in the Santa Ynez valley. The town is basically a mini Denmark, founded in 1911 by a group of Danes who travelled west to establish a Danish colony. It's a quaint town, with bakeries, gift shops, restaurants, cafes. Its facades and architecture are built in the traditional Danish style. There's even a windmill (or two) but they're there purely as decoration. It has rows and rows of shops, but isn't a big place. We had breakfast with Claud in a nice eatery, Solvang restaurant, then walked around for about two hours before heading for another place Claud told us about, the old Santa Barbara mission. It was less than an hour's drive from Solvang and we thought we'd drop by before heading on to Corrinne's place. The mission today serves the community as a parish church. It also contains a gift shop, a museum, a Franciscan Friary and a retreat house. The place is a tourist attraction and is owned by the Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara. We spent about an hour there then decided we could squeeze in an hour of quick shopping at the Camarillo premium outlet. We intended to arrive at Corrinne's by late afternoon but got there at dinner time instead, where the Foo-Hoos had dinner waiting for us. That was basically the day for us...sightseeing and shopping, activities a holiday should be filled with!

Claudine's home, a very nice and new house with a humongous garden behind.

Emma's new best friend, Maya, Claudine's dog. She was intimidated at first, but they warmed up to each other soon after.

Solvang Restaurant. The place has a quaint, 'old-time' feel to it.

 MJ's breakfast.

Aebleskiver, which are Danish pancake balls sprinkled with icing sugar and served with jam. They didn't taste particularly good but it's a Danish dessert so just try la!

All that excitement wore her out...

...but not for long. The decorative windmill in the background.

Clowning around while taking a rest.

The old Santa Barbara Mission. A ray of sunlight shone in our path, with this pinkish strip visible at some angles. Such a beautiful sight...

 The mission was built in 1786 and there are visible signs of its age. I think they've purposely kept it this way to preserve its simple and 'unpretentious'.

 A pretty courtyard basked in evening light.

 The old, historic walkway leading to the chapel.

 A dramatic scene of the Crucifixion.

 A cemetary within the church, with a lovely fig tree in the middle.

Beautiful architecture amidst magical evening light.

The mission is worth a visit, especially if you are a Catholic, but do some reading up before you arrive to make the most out of your visit.

Even the plants look sculptural.

Simplicity.

Always make time for prayer. The chapel is still in use. There are daily morning masses celebrated there.

The view of the chapel towards the rear.

The exit of the chapel is adorned with trimmings.

This mission is open to tourists. Entrance fee is US$6 for adults, US$5 for seniors and US$1 for youths. 

Emma posing along the beautiful, rustic walkway, outside the gift shop.

The tourist entrance to the mission, where one purchases the tickets.

 God is everywhere...

Small head, big body.

After visiting the mission, we headed toward Winnetka, just outside of downtown LA to Corrinne and Kavin's place. We were due to stay for the night, before heading to Disneyland the following day. We had some time to spare and decided to swing by Camarillo Premium Outlets to do some quick shopping before heading to Corrinne's place for dinner. 

 Goodbye Santa Barbra! Back on the road towards Los Angeles.

 We smiled when we saw this. Pity about the state of the sign though!

Dusk was falling quite quickly and the highway was a little congested but we pressed on. Shopping beckoned!

USA - Day 6

Wednesday, 13 November 2013
We left for our much anticipated road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) today. Our time with Uncle Jim and Aunty Oi Lin came to an end after five days. They looked after us so well and were so warm and hospitable, we're blessed to have them host us. We managed to get up, pack and leave their lovely Seaside home by 0900hrs but went for breakfast together at McDonald's for our last meal together. I hope that we can somehow repay them in the future. Though we were raring to set off on our road trip, we had to swing by RadioShack to get the 1-to-2 cigarette charger adaptor so by the time we left Seaside proper, it was about 1100hrs. 

 Loading up the car before setting off.

 Breakfast at McDonald's.

 Devouring her hotcakes.

And off we went!

The route along the PCH (otherwise known as highway 1) is nature at its best! The famed scenery is breathtaking, to say the least! The stretch nearer to Monterey is lovely, with its windy cliffs along the coast and waves crashing below us. We just couldn't get enough of nature's glory. We were so intoxicated with each new view and stopped at several of the strategically located vistas, so we hadn't made much headway in terms of distance after 2 hours. I'd wanted to make this trip on highway 1 for many years and was very happy that I could do it at last, with my loved ones. Despite the beautiful scenery, we had to somewhat move along and decided we could not continue stopping at every vista as we didn't have many daylight hours left. 

 Long, uninterrupted, undulating roads conceal what lies ahead, allowing the scenery to reveal itself gradually.

 Beautiful rock structures and the glistening sea beckon.

The sun can disappear as quickly as it appears.

The most photographed bridge along the PCH, Bixby Bridge, built in 1932. 

Bixby Bridge, also known as Bixby Creek bridge, is located at the Big Sur, which is a very well known stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway.

The bridge is located 190 km (120 miles) south of San Francisco and 21 km (13 miles) south of Carmel.

A panoramic view not so close to the edge.

 There are no railings or barriers along the coast so one has to be careful not to go too near the edge, especially with the kids.

 The wind was incredible! Meg's hair was all over the place.

 The kids were almost blown away! :o)

Big sister holding on to little sister...just in case.

 Our rented car, the new Toyota Rav 4, which had done less than 1000 miles (1609.34 km) when we got it. It's a great car, a pleasure to drive.

 The vistas are expanded dirt patches off the main two-lane highway.

 One of the rare photos I will ever post of myself.

Photographers will go crazy here.

 Everywhere you turn is a scene waiting to be captured.

 This shot where the sea is on the left is a north view. We'd missed stopping after passing Bixby bridge and wanted to go back to get a shot from the other end of the bridge too. This is the view one would get if driving from LA to SF.

 The posers.

A thick fog rolled in suddenly.

 It made for dramatic pictures too but obscured the vast scenery.

 We got silhouettes instead.

Luckily we experienced fog for only a short stretch of the way. It cleared after we drove through it.

Before our road trip, I'd read about Pfeiffer beach, and that it's a must see. Finding the road that leads to it was challenging. There were some instructions online but they ended up being highly inaccurate! And that added to our delay. The effort to get off the main road and navigate a very narrow lane leading to the beach though, was well worth it. Pfeiffer beach is like a hidden gem. We would not have known it's there if I hadn't googled to find out which beaches are worth visiting near the Big Sur. Just for the record, the entrance to the road that leads to the beach is just before the strip of restaurants where the Big Sur bakery is located. If travelling South (SF to LA), it's on your right. There is a yellow sign "Narrow Road" at the start of the road. I believe it's the only such sign along that stretch so you won't miss it if you look out for it. One unique characteristic of Pfeiffer Beach is its purplish-reddish fine sand. We enjoyed the cooling, strong wind and made some nice pictures before heading back onto Highway 1 to continue our journey. 
We initially stopped at almost every vista because every view was just so incredible and we were compelled to take some pictures at every new turn. I would recommend a drive along the PCH at least once in your lifetime. After a while, we realised we couldn't stop at every point or we'd never get to our destination. I hope to make another trip back to the PCH and really take my time to discover it next time. We were travelling during winter, so the sun set at around 4.30pm and after that, it was impossible to see anything.

 Even after parking the car, one can't see the beach until you pass a row of shady trees.

 A stylo pose.

 A big standalone puddle (is it called a puddle?) on the beach, one definitely can't jump over it!

 Another lovely spot for photographers.

 A seagull more than half Emma's height. She stayed well clear of them!

 A lovely place for couples.

 Some locals enjoying themselves with food and wine...ah the good life. 

Postcard picture.

 This is a pretty hard to find beach so it was rather deserted.

 Craggy rocks and crashing waves made for a dramatic scene.

 The three beautiful people in my life.

 This beach is rather secluded. You must know it's there and be able to find it. Otherwise, if you are travelling on Highway 1, you won't see it at all.

 Long shadows meant that the sun was on its way down.

 A family portrait. No prizes for guessing which is me.

You can see the red sand quite clearly in this shot. 

After Pfieffer beach, we continued on our way to another spot recommended by my friend Claudine, the elephant seal beach. We got there as the sun was about to set so it was quite lovely, seeing a beach full of huge, fat seals basking in the soft evening light. It was like a scene out of a movie, only that it was real and we were standing right there, soaking in the light, the mammals, the moment...and the smell! 
We couldn't stay too long as I was a little nervous about driving in the dark, and besides, Claudine was waiting for us to arrive. She had kindly offered to put us up for the night. We had to skip San Luis Obispo, which I'd read is also a lovely place. Along the way there's also Hearst castle, built for William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate. He died in 1951 and his family then donated the castle to the state of California. The castle is now a historical landmark and a tourist attraction. It's a pity we didn't make it there. It was about 8pm by the time we got to Claudine's place at Santa Maria, About 1.5hrs from the elephant seal beach. It was great to see her and her family again. Her teenaged daughter Kimberly and husband Derrick were very kind to have a hoarde of five suddenly come trudging in and creating a racket. Claud has a german shepherd whom Emma was initially afraid of because he was as tall as she but after awhile, they were best friends. Claud lives in a big house in Santa Maria, having moved there a couple of years ago from Honolulu. We showered and got ready to call it a night. I managed to catch up with Claud a little over dinner and before bed and I've always wondered if I would be as brave as she, to leave Singapore to be with her husband wherever that might be. I guess there's no point thinking about that because it will probably never happen in my case. After a very therapeutic day with nature, I was contented.

 The sun was going down and we still had a lot of ground to cover, but we couldn't help ourselves from stopping every once in awhile.

 How not to photograph scenes like this? Especially for two photographers in the family?

 This is a movie still...not!

 We were fortunate to experience it in real life.

 Is that a sign or a person in the middle?

 Beauty in its full glory.

 On our way to the beach populated with elephant seals.

 The elephant seals at San Simeon. Quite a sight...certainly one I've never seen before.

 There were so many!!! The smell was bearable, depending on the wind direction.

 All sprawled on the sand, sleeping and basking under the setting sun.

 Some were playing with each other.

 Sunset and seals. Not sure if that was a good combination.

 But we had little choice. There were many others who, like us, were there at sunset.

 The scenery in the other direction from the beach.

 Panoramic views of the orangey-yellow sky on one side...

...and purplish-pink on the other. Groovy!