yoongz

September 23, 2025

Happenings March to September 2025

It has been almost 2 months since my last blog post and a whole 6 months since I talked about settling into life here. Yes, it will probably take a while more to truly settle in.

I was just telling some friends recently that it has been a slightly sad few months for my family and friends, 5 passings in the last 6 months; 2 of my uncles, an old friend’s father, and 2 primary school friends’ husbands. May they all rest in peace.

It’s not all sad. The more positive things we have gotten to do are fun things, such as attending pet/dog events with Lexi and having some of our friends from Switzerland visit – three sets, actually. We joke that we see more of them than our friends who live in Singapore. LOL! Making a short trip to Bali to spend time with my god-daughter and family was another highlight. Oh, I also went on a little day-trip across the causeway to JB (Johor Bahru).

Medical matters occupy quite a lot of my time – regular appointments for my mum and God ma, helping my cousin for a short time as she recovered from knee surgery, my brother and son also had some medical appointments to attend.

Another matter is housing, which has been a bit trying. We currently live with my Godma because there are no more bedrooms at my mum’s. But we are just a block away, so not far at all. We are trying to buy our own HDB (Housing Development Board) flat. For non-Singaporeans, that’s like public housing. But it’s proving to be trickier than expected. Some contradicting information and red tape, which do not see our unique individual situation, are blocking us from being eligible to buy a HDB flat at the moment. We have appealed, and our MP has written to help us, but we still haven’t gotten the waiver we wanted. They are offering a different waiver, which would allow us to buy, but it would deny us a HDB loan and CPF grants, including our first-timer’s grant. It’s frustrating because it’s taking a long time (6 months already). In the meantime, we missed an opportunity to buy a flat in the same block, on the same floor as my mother. Sigh! Right! Enough venting. We will plod on and submit documents and appeal till we get there.

Now onto nicer things. Photos! Enjoy them.

At Red Can Run monthly event, we walked.

Wishing you a blessed week ahead! Next time, maybe I will highlight some Singapore scenery and food.
SYC

July 18, 2025July 11, 2025

Book Review – The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

It’s been a year since my last book review. But in those 12 months, so much has happened for my family and I – The Big Move occupied all my attention.

So i did finish reading this lovely book, The Cat Who Saved Books, a few months ago but I have only found time to write a review now.

It’s another English translation of a Japanese novel. I previously reviewed a translated book here. This book is translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Once again, highlighting the hard work a translator puts into bringing us a wonderful story we might otherwise not have the privilege of reading in our native language.

The start of this story was a little slow but the writing was simple and lovely. The main character, Rintaro, is a young boy who just lost his grandfather. It’s stated upfront in the prologue so you know immediately that the state of affairs is not great.

We go on to learn that there’s a little bookshop Grandfather left behind, score point for a book-lover like me. Rintaro grew up in that bookshop, something I wished many times for myself. The bookshop houses books that are rare and out of print as well as other treasures, another plus point. But now he may have to leave it all behind – oh, no 😦 He is considered too young to live by himself.

As I got to know Rintaro, I became a little irritated with him, just like Sayo, Rintaro’s class rep, who visited him numerous times at the bookshop, bringing the homework he missed because he didn’t feel like going to school. I found myself wishing that Rintaro would take action more but that’s the point of the story.

This mysterious cat appears out of the back of the bookshop, literally, and tells Rintaro that the books he loves so much needs his help. As Rintaro reluctantly follows the cat, moving through the different labyrinths and challenging the various people who treat books in strange and sometimes terrible ways, Rintaro learns, grows and takes brave steps to save these books. Sayo becomes part of these adventures too.

The end (i will NOT reveal it) put a smile on my face and brought a warmth to my heart. And I wondered if I would have said and done the things Rintaro did. Truly, what he did and said does warrant time and effort to mull over.

If you like books, if you enjoy fantasy without any gore, if you think a talking cat is great, you should have a read.

Happy Reading.

syc

June 17, 2025

How’s Lexi Adapting?

This is a question I get asked quite often since we returned to Singapore.

But before I get to that, it has been a shocking 3 whole months of no posts on this blog. Getting adjusted to a new lifestyle and split household living is taking longer than expected. But we are getting there. I will try my best to get back to once a moth postings but no promises.

So back to today’s post.

It’s a valid question – after all, our Lexi was born and raised in a four-season country, enjoying much cooler climates.

We think she has done very well. Except for the initial bout of stomach issues (see this January post), she seems to have adjusted and is enjoying life here. I know she misses being able to go everywhere with us and riding on public transport but we try to take her with us whenever we can and we go on special outings just for her. While things are different here, she has been showered with lots of additional attention from my Mum and Brother and of course, from Tobias, whose room is once again her sleeping quarters.

Here’s a little photo gallery of Lexi adventures in Singapore (Dec 2024 to June 2025):