I’m back! Sorry for the long hiatus. That’s because I was working on a very important project for the past 6 months. We took Baby J out of school yesterday so that we could all get the flu vaccine together. (Yes, Baby J has started playgroup! I will talk more about it in a separate post.) So, we got the flu vaccine earlier in the week, and I’m here with some information I’ve learnt in the process. Continue Reading…
We have this system at home, and Daddy Sean insists we do it: He will only speak to Baby J in Mandarin, while the rest of us at home can speak to him in English or Hokkien dialect. Sean is very consistent, and may only slip in a sentence or two of English with Baby J. This way, Baby J will hopefully be able to converse comfortably in two languages as he grows up. Continue Reading…
Ah Taiwan. We Singaporeans absolutely love the country! We are so won over by the mix of good food, shopping and breathtaking scenery. There’s really nothing not to love about Taiwan. People are often warm and friendly too! Also, some of the most bittersweet memories (but nostalgic) with hubby Sean were from Taiwan. (Yup, Part 2 will be out later this week!)
So we just returned from a 10-day trip to Taiwan 4 days ago. (I will do a separate blog post on the awesome stuff we did there.) Hubby Sean and I brought Baby J and both our mums along with us. This is also Baby J’s first airplane ride! We are definitely not strangers to beautiful Taiwan. But during this trip, we learnt more about how to budget properly, and still provide comfort to the little one and the two elderly. In the past, when we travel, Sean and I would only book our first accommodation (along with our flight tickets, of course), and settle the rest of our accommodation only while we are there. We no longer have the luxury of doing that since it can be pretty risky. Continue Reading…
A few weeks ago, our GrabHitch driver (let’s call him Bee) shared his experience driving overseas for his business trip. He’s not a novice overseas driver. However, he mentioned he bought a SIM card specially for using his navigation maps app (Google Maps). I asked him why he did so, since his phone had GPS. He responded with, “Huh can meh? How does it work?” Continue Reading…
It’s very important to get insurance for our children in Singapore, with the rising medical costs. Every Singapore citizen will have Medishield Life, which is a basic plan administered by the CPF Board. It is paid for by our Medisave accounts. Medishield Life fully covers subsidised treatments in public hospitals, and is limited to B2/C wards. Continue Reading…
The People’s Association (PA) has been organising Embracing PArenthood events across Singapore for parents of babies born in 2016 and 2017. The purpose of this event is to showcase the various promotions for new parents as well as for families to gather for some simple activities. I must say, the highlight of this event, at least for me, is the NTUC Good Start Bundle promotion. I will talk more about this in a separate post, as it is deemed important enough for me to do so. (There’s a complimentary one-year insurance coverage for your baby!) For now, I shall focus on what parents will expect in the Embracing PArenthood event (especially the goodie bags!). Continue Reading…
Don’t we all love free stuff? Here’s a compilation of all the awesome freebies you may get for your little ones! Continue Reading…
Saving for your child is important, and eventually, I’m also going to teach Baby J the importance of saving for the future. Picking the right bank for your child’s savings account among the huge variety of banks here in Singapore may be tricky for most. There are also many considerations for many parents, like:
And more…
When we were picking a savings bank for Baby J, our criteria was very simple; we only wanted the best interest rate. The interest rates of banks in Singapore are rather miserable, so that meant quite a lot to us. We don’t really need to withdraw money from the account as well, so the proximity to any branch is not applicable to us, though that may be important to some people. We also wanted to maintain an account that is fuss-free; free of hassle, no additional terms and conditions. After I summarise all the available choices for kid’s savings account in Singapore, I will reveal our final pick at the end. Continue Reading…
Our government has introduced several initiatives to help parents to kickstart their parenting journey by lightening the financial load of raising a child in costly Singapore, and one of them is the Baby Bonus Scheme. There are two parts to this scheme, namely, the Cash Gift and the Child Development Account (CDA). In this post, we will focus on CDA, and how to pick the most suitable bank for your child. Continue Reading…