My House Then and Now

I've read about many people saying about "the good old days" so I thought I would write about the old days and compare them to the things we have now.  

This series of posts is not meant to offend anyone.  It is solely based on my own experiences and perspectives.  

I used to stay in a shophouse in a rural part of Singapore in my childhood years. The roof was made of some kind of metal (called "sa li" in Teochew, not sure of the English name). On rainy days, there would be water leaking through the roof into the house. At night, I could hear the neighbours' dogs barking and cats crawling on the rooftop.

Being in a rural area also meant there were very few bus services. There were only 2 bus services available and you could wait for more than half an hour to 1 hour during non-peak periods. We also encountered frequent blackouts.

Even though we had our own bathroom and toilet in the house (unlike those shown in the TV drama "甘榜情" whereby they had to walk a distance to the common toilet and bathroom), we would still need an umbrella to go to the toilet on rainy days. There was no sheltered walkway from our house to our toilet and bathroom. Our toilet was not the flushing type so someone had to come to the back of our house periodically to clear the manure. Can you imagine doing your "business" halfway and someone pulled the bucket away to clear the manure? Life was such then and this was in the early 1980s.

Now, I stay in a HDB flat in almost the same part of Singapore. This place has developed a lot. I can walk from my flat to the MRT station in about 15 minutes.  There's no water leaking problem from my flat's roof. Hygiene conditions and the overall environment are much better now. I no longer have to wait so long for buses and there are many bus services at the main road to different parts of Singapore. Don't forget the MRT line that goes straight to Singapore's shopping district, Orchard Road. So far, we have only encountered one blackout in June 2004 which also affected many other parts of Singapore.

All HDB flats that are 3 rooms and above have 2 toilets. Waste matter can be flushed down the drain with the press of a button. All of the waste matter is eventually recycled, even the water.

Although I do reminisce a bit about the past, I do not miss it, especially when I think about the above. The good old days? Well, doesn't seem all that good to me.

Punggol Point Park and Punggol Jetty

We had a bit of time last Thursday so we thought we would drop by Punggol Point Park and Punggol Jetty.  It was a sunny day so it was a good day to visit this place.

The road leading to Punggol Jetty

Upon arrival, we were awed by the magnificent sea view.  It's been a long time since we last went to the beach.  I simply loved the view of the sea and could not resist taking many shots of it.  

You can see some people fishing at the jetty in the picture below.

This is the water lily pond.  There are some fishes swimming inside too.

sand filled playground

This part is supposed to be a cowboy town ranch - Punggol Ranch, owned by Gallop Stables.  Not sure whether it has started operations as we did not have the time to take a further look at this. 

If you are not driving, you can take bus service number 84 from Punggol interchange.  It would be good to check the SBS transit web site for the latest update on the bus service number in case there are changes in the the bus routes.

This place is so beautiful.  Will want to come back again when we have the time :)

《最重要的決定》（The Most Important Decision)

I first knew of this song 《最重要的決定》 when one of my friends' friend posted this Youtube video on facebook.  I immediately fell in love with this song.  The bride sang very beautifully too.  

It was a pity only part of the song was recorded.

I found out from my friend that the song was titled "最重要的決定" (The Most Important Decision) and the original singer was 范玮琪 (Christine Fan). The lyrics was written by 姚若龙 (Yao Ruolong) and the music was composed by 陈小霞 (Chen Xiaoxia).  It seemed that this song was a wedding gift from Yao Ruolong and Chen Xiaoxia to Christine Fan.  Christine Fan married 陈建州 (Chen Jianzhou) in May 2011.  

歌词：

我常在想应该再也找不到
任何人像你对我那么好
好到我的家人也被照料
我的朋友还为你撑腰

你还是有一堆毛病改不掉
拗起来气得仙女都跳脚
可是人生完美的事太少
我们不能什么都想要

你是我最重要的决定
我愿意每天在你身边苏醒
就连吵架也很过瘾不会冷冰
因为真爱没有输赢只有亲密

你是我最重要的决定
我愿意打破对未知的恐惧
就算流泪也能放晴将心比心
因为幸福没有捷径只有经营

Which translate as:

I often think I will not be able to find
anyone else who will treat me as well as you
You even took good care of my family
so much so that all my friends supported you

You still have some shortcomings that you could not change
You could be so stubborn that even fairies could be hopping mad
But there are very few things in life that are perfect
We cannot possibly have everything

You are the most important decision in my life
I'm willing to wake up by your side every day
even our arguments were very enjoyable not cold
because true love is not about winning or losing, it's about intimacy 

You are the most important decision in my life
I'm willing to break free from the fear of the unknown
Even tears can clear up, putting ourselves in each other's shoes
Because there is not shortcut to marital bliss, we have to work hard at it.

Very meaningful lyrics. Especially liked these few lines "可是人生完美的事太少

我们不能什么都想要" (But there are very few things in life that are perfect, We cannot possibly have everything) and "幸福没有捷径只有经营"(Because there is no shortcut to marital bliss, we have to work hard at it). That's why there is this saying "there's no Mr Perfect or Miss Perfect, only Mr Right or Miss Right". Marriage is a lifelong commitment. Both parties have to make an effort to make the marriage work and not to give up easily.