Tag: Lexi

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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.
Smashing glass in JB
Lots of medical places have these encouragements
Lexi pretending to ignore the visiting Swiss baby
At the PetExpo
At a Schnauzer Meetup event
Doing the tourist thing with Swiss friends
In Bali
Most recent set of Swiss friends to visit
Most recent Red Can Run event, at the Rail Corridor

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

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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):

Lovely Dog Friendly Restuarant
New toy – Shiba
Meeting other dogs at the dog run
First vet visit in Singapore
Met a giant lizard at the Botanic Gardens
Enjoying my new bed
Car ride – Pawrents now use car sharing app
Around our neighbourhood
At a Pet Cafe
New breakfast routine
At the beach
At the playground
Waiting for more doggy friends to join us
They have some strange trees
Resting on a park bench
Chasing squrriels
Rainy day walk
At the beach again
No longer interested to chase balls
Claiming my spot on the sofa
New kibble – i like
Just being me
At a beach bar
Another new toy – Baby Otter
On Corny Island
What is that green stuff?
These weird shell creatures??
Bigger Hooman Family – More laps to rest on
At the rail corridor
At a rooftop garden

Wishing you all a happy, warm, sunny June.
syc

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Celebrating Chinese New Year 2025

It has been so very many years since we have been in Singapore, in person, to celebrate the Chinese New Year (CNY) with family. So it’s been really good to be able to do so this year.

It’s the year of the snake and lots of snake puns have been included in the CNY greetings in social media. Here is one example: the Chinese character for snake 蛇 reads as “She (2nd tone)”, phonetically “sir/sur”…

Of course, food also has a starring role in our celebrations, one of the big ones being the Reunion Dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year. People generally go back to their parents’ or close relatives’ homes to celebrate. In the years after my mum stopped cooking big meals, my older cousin usually hosts this dinner. This year, we co-hosted at my mum’s, each family cooking a few dishes to contribute. It was lovely and yummy 😋

Then on the first day of the Chinese New Year, we go visit our relatives, usually the younger ones visit the elders. Many of our relatives have passed on so there are only a few people we visited this year. But still it was nice to see them and catch up because a couple we don’t get to meet them often.

Lexi wasn’t left out, she couldn’t visit with us but enjoyed people coming to my mum’s. And thanks to our dog groomer (Poochylandd) she was dressed for the occasion for a lovely impromptu photo shoot. So here’s Lexi wishing you a Happy, Blessed Chinese New Year.

If you do celebrate CNY, hope you had a good celebration. If you don’t, we hope you had a good week.

SYC