Dropped by squarenails's place for her bbq yesterday evening but we couldn't stay long coz Aidan wasn't feeling well. He was running a temperature and didn't agree with the food (puked twice) or it could have been the 2 bottles of yakult he drank. Sorry Pei Fen..he fertilized the grounds of your condo :P.. Didn't have the opportunity to get to know the other peeps there except for Hans, whom Andrea introduced as her partner (though I recognise him from the pics in her lj) Heh..sorry for being so blunt then but i'll still say it again. He looks good & really sporty irl [your pictures don't do him justice *grin*].

Aidan's okay now..Actually, he's fine aside from his see-saw temp..Was ultra active after we reached home and in a very good mood and simply refused to sleep. Temperature has dipped a li' after we gave him meds but we know that it make spike up again. He had a birthday party to attend this morning but I decided not to bring him there for fear that he may end up spreading his germs to the other kiddos. Probably better to let him rest at home too. Many kidsI know seem to be having this type of fever too..and the scary part is the fever isn't the mild sort - His temp was a high 39.5!

Took a few pics before we chaboked!

With Pei Fen, Andrea & missustay

I've never met anyone quite like this chabor..she really takes one's breathe away.
Cant help but marvel at her sheer energy and enthusiasm, her talking speed (abt 1000 words per minute), warm hospitality & generousity!

with the very lovely Andrea
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The seller of the apartment counter-offered. So we decided to view the place again, this time with our pals so that they can give us their opinions about it..

It was a good idea since a second viewing gave us a better perspective of the apartment. Somehow, the place looked smaller compared to the first time we viewed it. Although it's 1700 sq feet, it doesn't actually feel that spacious mainly because it's a split level apartment. The master bedroom has a strange shape and may not fit in as many furnitures as we would like. Furthermore, the 3rd bedroom is located next to the kitchen which is somewhat odd.

But I still like the apartment..so does hubby..but we are not prepared to pay more than the price that we quoted..If owner rejects our offer again, I guess it's just not meant to be..

Have listed down the pros & cons of the place..
Pros
a) The tenure is freehold
b) It's location. Quite central - Near Holland Village and within 1km from Henry Park Primary School
c) It's well-renovated and done so only recently. Not much reno needed if we would to purchase it
d) Two of the bedrooms have attached bathrooms.
e) North South facing
f) Lift-Landing floor
g) Condo has large land area. It has an abundant green-trees garden ambience and sprawling grounds
h) Full condo-facilities and amenities with Full condo-facilities and amenities which includes covered Covered Car Park, Gymnasium, Minimart, Beauty/Hair Salon, Play/Language schools for Children Multi-Purpose Hall, Playground, Squash Court, Swimming Pool, Tennis Court, Clubhouse, Shops, Putting Green, Indoor Golfing Range and cafe within the condo compound. Facilities have only been recently upgraded
i) Reasonably priced - below $500 per sq feet
j) SweetStiks, the yummy icecream joint is there!

Cons
a) Age of Condo - Old (more than 20 years old)
b) Odd shape master bedroom
c) Location of 3rd bedroom (next to kitchen)
e) No built-in toilet in 3rd bedroom
f) Living room is quite small
g) Dining area could be larger

Some photos I took (had permission from owner)..

the entrance to the aptment

upon entrance on the top floor is the study room just next to the stairs..

the living room (on the 2nd lower level)
the master bedroom is to the left..

another view of the living room

the balcony

master bedroom

the view of kitchen & dining area from 2nd lower level

the dining area (3rd lower level)
the 2nd bedroom is just behind the top of the stairs.

the kitchen
I like the general layout & I'm sure I can do it up really nicely *itchy fingers*
More Pics of the Apt here
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Honestly, I'm fine with staying put where I am now..I think the main gripe my husband has is the CTE which can be a nightmare at times. It doesn't help that the ERP charges doesn't help to control the heavy traffic flow [even in the evenings!] and only serves to pad the coffers of ze gahmen .. Hubby is usually quite mild-mannered but he tends to be rather 'passionate' when it's anything car-related..be it an acquisition of a new car [he'll scour thru the net and car magazines for all the latest info/reviews), being in the driver's seat (where he's the king & everyone else is wrong regardless whether he wants to cut into their lane or others cutting into his) or the general state of traffic. Driving, he says, is a stressful affair & I can't help but agree because that's usually when I see the other scary side of him. Moving 'out' of the CTE zone may help alleviate his stress level especially since his work can be quite pressurizing too.

And then there's the issue of our kid and his education. Again I'm rather easy-going in terms of the schools that he should go to when he turns 6. I'm really not into 'branded' schools..Aidan goes to playschool nearby simply because it's convenient. I never saw the need to send him to Julia Gabriel which has expat teachers to teach him proper english or the other enrichment schools like Shichida which supposedly develops one's right brain (or issit left *blur*). But deciding on the right Primary school for one's kid seems to such a major decision for parents. Having not studied for ages and keeping track of the education system in S'pore, I had no idea what the various phases for admission are. It was a colleague who told me that we could consider Aidan for one of the schools under 'parents from a church directed connected to school' which is phase 2B.. There's also the proximity issue where the distance from your home to the school of choice could be a factor which honestly, is one main reason why we're planning to move ..Of coz there's no guarantee that our kid will get into these schools because there's probably gazillion hundreds other 'horse' kids with kiasu parents like us trying to get them into the same schools..

Alamak..so complicated! He's not even 3 years old yet and we are already deliberating on all these matters.I usually let hubby make the decision since he's the more particular one & also because he's both the CEO & CFO :P Not that I have no say but probably because I'm the more bochap parent..Maybe I should be changing my mindset and be more diligent on such issues. Afterall, he's probably gonna be our only child :P

Have been reading some pple's blogs disparaging 'Blogs abt kids' (my type of blog i guess) where we write mainly about children and fill up our post with their mugs and 'force' pple to comment about how cute they are (even if they aren't ;P). They think kids are generally a nuisance and better both unseen and unheard..(have they ever been children before?)..Is there anything wrong with our type of blogs? Yes, we write as if our child is our entire universe and there's more to life than our rascally brood..but then again, it's our journal and we can devote our entire blog entries to them if we choose to, right?