A Yesterday

It is almost an insane feeling of complete freedom, yet at a lost of what to do with all this time on one's hands. A hundred to-dos, each seemingly insignificant. I sit and ponder, comparing task against task, "Which do I start first?". Other incomparably even more insignificant tasks not on the list takes hold instead, and we ponder, "Why do we not have more time?" As seconds turn into minutes, and minutes turn into hours; watching dawn turn into noon then into dusk; time slips away through our fingers, lost, to a Yesterday.

Sungha Jung's arrangement (Someone Like You - by Adele)

I don't know why but I feel so moved when I listen to him play.

Visit www.sunghajung.com

Oh man, I feel like buying his album, and this is from me, someone who very, extremely seldom buys CDs or albums.

Noooooooooo.....

My brother just came home and suddenly placed a big bag on my bed.
"Eh, your Twilight series," he said.
Caught off-guard, my heart leapt with joy and I exclaimed loudly, "Yay!"
Then I went to explore the bunch of books.

It took me 5 seconds to realize I might be overly enthusiastic.

But I still love Harry Potter!
Please don't despise me! (and don't take away my books!)

The reason(s) I don't eat out that often

SmartKids Asia

In case you aren't aware, an educational kids' fair, titled SmartKids Asia, starts today. It is apparently the world's largest educational kids' fair.

If you're a parent, an educator, a guardian, somebody who is young at heart of have nothing better to do, you might be interested in this.  


DATE: 16 - 18 March 2012
TIME: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM (Fri & Sat); 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM (Sun)
VENUE: Singapore Expo Hall 5

Activities target 4 main areas: Education, Health, Family and Baby. Click to look at the details of what they're offering. Rather all-rounded, I'd say. Worth a visit.

Check out the workshops here. They're free to attend but only limited slots are available so sign up fast at their website!

In case you're afraid that your kids would be bored, there will be appearances by Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, BEN10, and The Fimbles, as well as performances by "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Starfari Family", and game booths. (Geez, I haven't even heard some of these groups before - what are the Fimbles?!)

There are also free developmental tests and assessments. Also present are surely vendors selling educational products as well. I know the latter to be true because, ahem, I've already received promotional emails from some.

Have fun!

Finding rooms for rent - iBilik

So here we are in the age of technology, where nearly everything can be found on screen, at your fingertips, pending the click of a mouse. There's an increasing trend of tourists who travel overseas and stay not at hotels, but in homes of locals. If you do not yet know, there are various websites offering such services. It's pretty awesome, actually.

In my previous post, I briefly mentioned Airbnb. Today, let's look at iBilik.sg. Taking into consideration that Singapore is one of the most expensive places to stay at, tourists, you need to look at this! Oh yes, foreigners looking at long-term accommodation needs to check this out too!

At first glance, iBilik.sg looks good! Clean interface, very user-friendly, works the same as other such websites. You can either look for a room (or house, for that matter) to rent, or put up your place for rent in Singapore. It allows us to search for a place according to towns of Singapore, e.g. Jurong, Hougang, Holland Village. Convenient.
Note that if you click on the areas on the Home page, it goes straight to "Rooms to Rent" which is catered for people looking at long-term accommodation (check below for my explanation). If you're a tourist looking to stay just, say, 2 nights, go straight to "Short Term Rentals" (again, check below for my explanation). 
On the website, it says that hosts go through a screening process, so I hope that makes things safe. Another important point is that we can contact staff members if we require a refund, in case the host is uncontactable after you've paid or if the place is not up to standard.

There's 1 thing that iBilik.sg offers that other such websites do not and which I find pretty awesome - it caters to both tourists, and foreigners staying on a long-term basis.

Rooms on iBilik.sg are split into 2 types:
1) Short Term Rentals, catered more for tourists (which other websites target), and
2) Rooms for Rent, catered more for people looking to stay for an extended period of time. Let's say you're not a tourist, but somebody coming over to Singapore to stay for an extended period of time because of work. A classic example is if you're a Malaysian Chinese working here, you can actually look at options right on this website, compare prices and amenities offered, etc.

Short Term Rentals (for tourists)

• Rental goes by number of days.
• Pictures for rooms/houses available.
• Able to search for rooms according to preferences - the sort of accommodation (e.g. bed in dorm room to whole house). 
• Check availability of accommodation you're interested in via a calendar embedded in-site.
• Not sure if hosts are easily contactable since there doesn't seem to be a button for that, but you can always contact staff members for help if needed.

Rooms for Rent (for people looking at long-term accommodation)

• Rental usually goes by months or 6-months term.
• Although there is an option, posters often don't upload pictures (bleh! C'mon, people-who-are-letting-out-rooms, don't you know that pictures speak a thousand words???)
• Posters easily contactable.

The number of rooms available under "Rooms for Rent" is a great great number! However, the number of rooms available for "Short Term Rentals" right now are quite little, most probably because it's something new and in the developing stages. Also, I do wish they have a straightforward hyperlink to a page explaining how things work on the site, instead of needing to click around to Short Term Rentals to see how it works. The conditions of which refunds are applicable and the form by which payment is made (e.g. is it by Paypal or others) can also be made clearer.

In any case, it's still pretty cool, so if you've got a room to let, be it for tourists or for foreigners looking to stay long-term, iBilik.sg is an option you can consider.