Pool Table
Well it is not every day that you find a pool table in the middle of someone’s dining room, and it was certainly great to see one in its glory…a friend of the family managed to get an apartment which not only had the space, but the perfect location for the pool cum dining table.
It certainly wouldn’t fit in my 570sqft condominium – in fact I wouldn’t be able to swing a cat in my condo… Maybe a should give it a try…ergh that’s fit a pool table, not swing a cat, then again…haha!
We’ll another fun weekend with a Marjongg session – to see if my game has improved…and yup it only just about improves.
One of the work colleagues arranged a short gathering (for fun, of course – no gambling involved, cos that’s illegal here in Singapore – haha!) – and I think I am finally getting the hang of the game again. The only issue is that the Singapore game has a few more tiles – which really confuses the hell out of me. But alas, practice makes perfect.
Overall I won a few games, and lost a few more…haha! Not easy to improve at a game without sufficient practice, so I best get more games in…and it actually is quite good fun too!
Through the investment company that I have an account with here in Singapore, I received an invitation to visit the Singapore Yacht Show in Sentosa Cove.
It was a 4-day event starting on Thursday 10th through to Sunday 13th April, so I decided to go on the Saturday to enjoy the sights and sounds.
I located the place with relative ease, taken the Sentosa Express all the way to the final Beach stop, and then the shuttle bus to the Sentosa Cove location.
The first part of the show was an exhibition tent ranging from expensive cars, to the parts and other bits and bobs that relate to yachts and sailing in general.
The second part related to a walk-about and in some cases (if you were early enough to schedule an appointment) a tour of one or two of the yachts). I could see from a distance that it was going to be an expensive show (luckily no money left my wallet), but the Yachts on display were simply amazing. They ranged from size from the small(ish) to the most majestic and huge vessels.
It was fun being amongst the upper class (and there was certainly lots of those around the show), but for me, it was just interesting to see how the wealthy folks spend their money…haha!
ONE°15 Marina Club
11 Cove Drive
Sentosa Cove
Singapore, 098497
Tel: +65 6305 6988
URL: http://www.singaporeyachtshow.com
Well it was that time of year that I should have a quick dental inspection. I didn’t get around to arrange this when I was in the UK in March, and it has been over a year now, so hopefully there are no problems.
I passed a dentist which was in the nearby Shopping mall a few times, so decided to pop in for an appointment. The good news is that work will cover the cost of this, as part of the healthy living programme, which is great!
The appointment was scheduled for 2nd April – and I went just after work at around 6pm, which was perfect for me to return from the MBFC office. The check-up was fine, no fillings or anything, and a quick check and polish came up at around S$96 – I guess that’s the score for dentists these days (that is around £50!) The only comment the dentist made is that I brush too hard and had damaged the gums around my teeth, even though I told her that I used the automatic toothbrush. So I guess, I should just brush more gentler, as I know the motor goes pretty fast on those toothbrushes – haha!
Q&M Dental Centre
238 Thomson Road #02-01
Novena Square
Singapore 307683
Tel: +65 6251 3233
URL: http://www.qandm.com.sg
Well another year, another air conditioning contract.
I decided to renew with the same company that I used previously last year (Atlantic Engrg & Air Con Services), and thought it would simply be a quick maintenance clean and inspection. Only to realise that there was a fault with one of the units.
It appeared that there was a warning light showing, and after the maintenance inspection, they advised me that the required work was a chemical clean then refill the gas. If this doesn’t resolve the fault, then the PCB would need to be replaced. I checked with the landlord and his agent, and they advised me that the cleaning and gas-refilling was my responsibility and cost, but if the unit had to be repaired / parts replaced, then this would be borne by the landlord. The quote came back as S$250 chemical clean + S$70 gas refill – ouch! I had no choice but to settle this.
In addition to this, the annual maintenance cost was S$180 (luckily this was the same price as last year) – again, I have to pay this.
So unfortunately, it was quite an expensive maintenance service this quarter 🙁 Hopefully the next few servicing won’t cost this much!
Atlantic Engrg & Air Con Services
No 41 Toh Guan Road East #07-04
ADL Building
Singapore 608605
Tel: +65 6400 5196
E-mail: atlanticengrg@singnet.com.sg
URL: http://www.atlanticengineering.com.sg
Well I wanted to take a stab at playing Mar Jongg again, and fortunately found a group from work that all played (for “fun” of course – ahem!). Luckily, one of them had the set with the English Characters on the tiles, which helped me tremendously, but I still would call them the ‘green one’, the ‘red one’, ‘sticks’, ‘circles’, and the ‘blue square one’ – haha!
Mar Jongg Game
It was fun – and luckily, we didn’t do any gambling (as such), and just enjoyed the enjoyment of the game…and the practice! 🙂
Well having just arrived back from the UK, it was fortunate that the timing was just perfect for St Paddy’s Day. The partying was extended from the Friday, 14th March through to the Monday, 17th March – which was the official St Patrick’s Day.
I was planning to take it easy, but I knew it was going to be a mad one – and it certainly was. It started on the Saturday, with a nice session down Boat Quay at the traditional and infamous Irish Pub, Molly Malone’s (the original/first and oldest Irish Pub in Singapore), with an ex-colleague. He had to leave after a few drinks, so I then caught up with another ex-colleague and his group of friends who were arriving in Boat Quay, and the Guinness just flowed all night – yes it was quite messy. It involved a McD towards the end of the night to help solidify the Guinness that was mixing around in my stomach. For some reason (maybe because I didn’t mix drinks), I was quite tired the next morning, but I did not have a hangover or headache (phew!). I took it easy on the Sunday, relaxed and chilled – to try to recovery.
On the Monday, I met up with a few colleagues from work, and another lass that I met at a previous pub quiz – we stayed around the Blarney’s Irish Pub at the Marina Bay Sail, drinking throughout the evening and night. We continued drinking and then we decided to pop along to Boat Quay to play some pool at a Public House, another British-themed park just off Circular Road, we ate some food (again to help line the stomach – or should be cap the stomach) and then we called it a night after a few more drinks.
Wow, what a way to spend St Paddy’s day…!!
I always knew moving between Countries where there is a different calendar tax-year was going to have some challenges – but I really didn’t know it would create such a nightmare.
I previously came out on my work secondment in the second half of 2011 – and this was called a tax-neutral status between the UK and Singapore – noting that I remained on the UK pay-roll, and simply had to return within 183 days to avoid any tax declarations in Singapore. I obviously adhered to this to prevent any immigration or taxation issues – and I thought it would be smooth to return back to Singapore. What I didn’t realise is that a form submission was not provided to the IRS (Singapore tax Authorities) which meant that they felt I owed the Singapore tax for 2011. I received a letter shortly after my arrival in early 2013, stating that they estimated my overdue tax was approx S$9100. Of course, I knew this was an error – but when they threaten that I can’t leave Singapore until I settle this tax liability, it did frighten me.
Anyway, I had to go through a bit of hoops to close this out – and my employer was very good to supporting me to get HMRC (UK Tax Authorities) to declare that I was a UK resident and paid and settled my taxes in the UK, during the time I was in Singapore. This was sent to the IRS and they accepted this and provided me an exemption declaration – phew. Unfortunately, during this process, the HMRC then felt I had to manually complete a 2011/2012 tax return, as they then felt I had paid too much tax. I have now requested that this gets closed out, as I do feel this is not the case, and I settled the right taxes during 2011/12 in the UK.
Then there was another issue, as I moved out in 1st Jan 2013, the HMRC thought I had to provide a UK tax return for 2012/2013 (which tax year ended in April 2013), because they felt I earned money after leaving my UK employer in the first quarter of 2013. I didn’t, so had to go through another round of hoops to get this closed out by the HMRC. They accepted this, luckily! Phew.
Then the third twist, inadvertently I was entered in the Employer payroll as starting my SG employment on 2nd Jan 2013, and not 1st Jan. This meant that when I received my bonus in April 2014, one day of this was actually taxable in the UK payroll. This also meant that I received one-day pay from the UK too. The bonus has now been subsequently reversed out (although I now need to receive this from the SG payroll), but I also need to retrospectively refund my UK pay, and receive the extra day pay in SG. More importantly, as I have just filed my 2014 tax return (for Jan – Dec 2013), this meant it was missing 1-day pay. Man – this is such a complicated issue, and such a trivial matter can cause a huge problem. Lets hope this last bit gets resolved.
Morale of the story, stay very very close to your tax affairs as a simple admin glitch can cause huge problems later on.
Folded Mah Jongg Table
Well it was something I was checking out for a while having seen it at a friend’s place – and my mum was keen to get one – so I decided to go visit a place in town and try to buy one.
I found a place on a website, it seems to be an wholesaler and distributor, but it also allowed ‘walk-in’ customers, so I thought I’d give it a go. It was in a business park, so finding it was a bit of a challenge, but once I located the building, I located the unit location. I took a taxi from work, and arrived at Playfield Road in Tai Seng district. The one I saw on the website was S$198 – and the table top size was 36″ x 36″. The table was called ‘SHP Solid Wood Folding Mahjongg Table’.
(Un)Folded Mah Jongg Table
When I arrived, they had one in stock, and when I saw it, I looked a bit surprised on the size of the thing. I could carry it, but it was quite awkward to carry. I took the table and booked a taxi back to my apartment – I had to put it on the backseat, luckily it fit (another nightmare moment). Then I had the thought of how I was going to get it to the UK…hmmm…
I weighed the item, and it was just over 9 kilos, so I knew I had to be careful on how much luggage I would carry back to the UK…luckily my allowance was 30kg on Emirates. I think I will just try to put it in the hold in the box and ‘fingers crossed’ that it arrives in one piece 🙂
But It was a nice table and I am sure it will arrive safely!! Haha!
Swee Huat Plastic Company
80 Playfair Road
#04-18 Block B, Kapo Factory
Singapore 367998
Tel: +65 62843313
URL: http://www.shp88.com
E-mail: sales@shp88.com
Mr Lim Foot Reflexology
I am keen to find a foot massage place somewhere in central Singapore to really help me relax and chill – and someone recommended one in China Town.
It is called “Mr Lim Foot Reflexology” and is located in the People’s Park Complex shopping mall. There seem to have about 3 or 4 shops, and have a lot of demand! Definitely not bad for S$18 for 45 minutes. To help compare , an hour (normal for a foot and shoulder massage) would be S$25 – so yeah that’s pretty good going for Singapore. And it was actually very nice and relaxing.
They do a loyalty card scheme, so each time you visit, you get a stamp, and after 10 I presume you get a free massage or discount – even better 🙂 I will definitely repeat this, definitely feels very relaxing and refreshing!
Mr Lim Foot Reflexology
1 Park Rd #03-54-#03-78
People’s Pk Complex
Singapore, 059108
Tel: +65 6327 4498
© 2012-2026 Aaron Brigatti - Brigatti Online ® All Rights Reserved.