Turning 25 - Wrinkles (?!) and HDB

Thank you to the amazing research team for the awfully delicious chocolate banana birthday cake! :)

Some of my friends also treated me to Genki Sushi for lunch. Very very sweet of them. :')

And of course, my number one fan, Mr Chung, treated me to an incredibly satisfying meal at Wild Honey. A couple of years ago, we had the same exact order at Wild Honey. :D Tunisian for me and English for him, complete with a side of mushrooms. 

I'm 25! A quarter of a century old! Gosh...

I'm half my mom's age right now.
My mom gave birth to me on this exact day when she was 25 years old.
Wow.

And now I still want to play and act like a kid. How like that?!

So what's different about being 25? Nothing much actually. Okay, maybe I look at myself in the mirror way more frequently than when I was 24. To check if I'm starting to have wrinkles. Yah,  very paranoid okay. I have 4 different eye creams and am horrible terrified of getting wrinkles around the eyes. So everyday I stare at the mirror, make a silly, wide smile and check, check, CHECK.

Also, because I've been staring at the mirror so much, I realise that I have completely inherited my maternal grandfather's nose. Look at Mr Chung's! Nose so much slimmer and prettier than mine. Aiyahhhhhhhhhh, is it time to invest on some .... facial reconstruction? But of course, I'm just thinking out loud here. I don't think I have the financial capability for such an investment.

I think the biggest change in my life right now is how Mr Chung and I just officially chose our HDB unit. We're going to have our own house. No longer playing monopoly you know? Real deal here. It's both very exciting and extremely nerve-wrecking. I keep thinking about how I want to clear the S$330K+ as quickly as possibly. Then I keep thinking about how I want my kitchen to look like.

For those who are curious about the HDB unit choosing process. It was very smooth and the HDB executive that attended to us was very helpful. Our entire procedure took less than 45 minutes. Even if you forget certain documents (or you are not aware that you have to surrender certain documents), they can either print for you on the spot, or you can go back, get the documents prepared and then scan and email them to the given email address. One important tip though:

ALWAYS check out the HDB models at HDB Hub before making any decision on which unit you want to get. 

Mr Chung and I checked out the models two days before our appointment and we learnt so much during that 2-hour roaming session. We started by cancelling the units that were already taken up by other applicants. Then we zoomed into the two HDB area models for our location (Bukit Batok) and looked through everything. Where will the wind direction come from? Will the laundry area be blocked? What will our view be? Where's the drop-off point? Will the unit be near the electrical box area? So, so many questions in our head. Then we listed down our top 10-12 units. Then we looked at the optional internal fittings - the internal doors + sanitary fittings and the floor finishes (except kitchen and toilet). Both of us were shocked because our internal fittings were unpleasant (being very very polite here) - just plain white tiles, strange shade of brown for the timber doors and boring sanitary fittings. So, we opted out of all these. Better for renovations also.

In the end, we got our second choice of HDB unit and everything was done smoothly. Now we are waiting to see if we will be granted the Additional Housing Grant.

So yes, that's the only huge difference in my life now.

As you grow older, the number of close friends you have gets smaller, and the number of acquaintances you make gets bigger. But all's good because in the end, you know only those who care will stay.

What do I want to achieve before I turn 26?

• Being more healthy in terms of my diet. I eat quite healthily now but I think this can be improved. 
• Investing my money in more quality items, rather than frivolously spending on inexpensive ones just for the cheap thrill. 
• Making exercising a habit, and not something that I do when I feel guilty after a huge, sinful meal. 
• Opening a joint-savings account with Mr Chung. Just to start things off. 
• Going back to the library to borrow books again. I used to feast on 8 books a week and then that stopped in JC because I got jaded with life (lol thanks ah AJC). Now I feel like I need to nourish my brain and my life with books again. Also because now I have a new credit card that allows premium membership from NLB for 5 years. HHAHA see?! I'm becoming super auntie liao!
• Continue blogging out of interest and passion, and never to become a blogger who blogs for money and sponsorship. 

Happy 25th birthday to me! :)