Vote wisely, Vote responsibly

I am very happy to know that I am entitled to vote for this election 2011, and not only that most of my friends, relatives and many fellow Singaporeans are also given this “privilege” to vote, and for many of them, they will be voting for the very first time! For example, my parents-in-law, who have lived in Singapore all their lives and are in their 50s and 60s are casting their votes for the very first time!

This election is the most exciting and most hotly contested since the 1980s and I am very glad that my vote WILL make a difference in the making of the future of Singapore.

I am not here to indicate my personal political preference but just to share my excitement and anticipation of a hotly contested election. I am grateful to the ruling party, which has enabled Singapore to thrive and advanced from a 3rd world country to a 1st world country within 2 generations. Because I am born in Singapore, I have gotten the chance to be educated, to work overseas for 2 years and travel around the world. Because I am born in Singapore, I see how my standard of living has greatly improved as compared to my grandma and my mother.

But moving forward, how will Singapore be for my Little Beanie Girl, who has yet to be born? What about my future grandchildren, if I am lucky to have any?

For the past years, I have been a volunteer in some organizations and have seen for myself how some Singaporeans of the lower income and less unfortunate group live. Although Singapore’s GDP has been strong for the past 5 years, these groups of people did not benefit from our country’s strong growth.

Is there help for these people? The answer: Yes, but the procedures and process is long and complex, full of red tapes, and most of the time, one has to bulldoze to get things done.

Some brave (but some said foolish) Singaporeans have stepped forward to offer us a choice. I urge all Singaporeans to vote wisely and responsibly. Keeping the past, but most importantly, our future in mind and how we want our country to progress socially, economically and politically in the next generation, and many more generations to come.

Cookie in a box

Cookie's latest obsession is a box. In fact, it is a really small box that can barely contains her. But, of course that fact doesn't bother her and she continues to squeeze into that tiny, little box, pretending it is her safe haven for many, many nights until the box finally went "SPLIT" last night.

I was sitting on my bed laughing at her when the box gave way and as you can see, she seemed rather embarrassed.

Cookie got a bit upset that her safe haven wasn't as snug as before, and she decided to come sulking on my bed instead. Although I taped up the box for her, but it wasn't good enough for this fussy little cat.

Anyway, I will leave the box as it is and I wonder whether Cookie will return to her safe haven once more.

My place is in a magazine!

Dry kitchen on the left and a close-up shot of my dinning area on the right.

My frangipani was still full of leaves then... ...

Home and Decor (a lifestyle magazine) did a feature on my place in their new magazine, "Renovate" this month. Renovate is a brand new magazine, which featured homes that had gone through a major overhaul.

Hub told me to buy a few more copies to keep, so that we can show/give away to prospective buyers when we intend to sell the place in the future. He thinks we can get a better price just because we were being featured in a magazine... ...

Then I told him that I wana stay here for AT LEAST 10 years. By then, buyers might find our design passé!

O well... in anycase, I really do love my flat. ;) Looking forward to be home everyday.

p/s: if only the frangipani can be well again and sprouts more new leaves!

My Gardening Woes I have no idea what is the name of this plant, but I call it the "heart-shape leaves" plant. I have quite a few of these. At least they are doing well. The wrinkled leaves of my Frangipani.

The "botak" brunch. ;( And there are some mealybugs on the new buds.

Help! Not many leaves on my Frangipani Tree... ;(

I have a serious case of mealybugs infestation, especially on my Frangipani tree. I have been battling these bugs for the past few months and they seem to be winning the war!

Most of the new leaves of the Frangipani are wrinkled and some of the older leaves are full of these pesty mealybugs!!! I used white neem oil to spray on the leaves every 3 days or so, but it didn't seem to be working.

So out of desperation, I used my own home-made pesticide, a concoction of olive oil, dishwashing detergent and water. But I guess I was overzealous with the amount of oil used and I ended up killing the leaves instead of the bugs instead!

Almost all of the leaves of the Frangipani withered and dropped off. But I figured that the bugs would die with the leaves right?

Unfortunately that wasn't the case! Once the new leaves appear, I began to see the same irritating mealybugs on the new shoots again! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I am back to spraying white neem oil on the leaves once again. To make matters worse, some of my other plants within the same planter box are also showing signs of the same infestation.

These mealybugs are driving me nuts. What else can I do to rid these horrible mealybugs???

Please help!!!

Little Beanie is a girl!

Tiny fingers, Tiny toes,
Little ity bity clothes.
Dresses, ribbons and hair to curl.
We 're so thrilled to have a girl!

Went for my 20 weeks Detailed Scan yesterday and finally my gynae could proudly annouce (with conviction) that Beanie is a girl! Previously, Beanie has been very shy and blocked the view everytime when I went for a scan. She is growing well and her scan result is normal, which is a huge relief.

Although I still suffer from morning sickness and still puke practically every morning, but my appetite is much better and I can start eating decent meals without getting the urge to vomit all the time. I've also finally gained 0.5kg from my pre-pregnancy weight and I do hope that I can continue to gain some weight so that Beanie will be a healthy baby.

Hub is very, very happy to have a baby girl, he has always wanted to have a daughter to dote on. ;)

Now I can finally start buying cute, little pink dresses, and think of a name for Beanie. ;)