Tag: singapore

Leisure of Life

On By RistrettzIn Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

It has been almost 6 months since I have started working from home. The wife, not so much, roughly about four months or so. We have gone past the two months of Circuit Breaker and food delivery. At Phase 2, we are glad not to eat our lunch and/or dinner in a container box. Cooking at home regularly has also come off, though that was way better than ordering delivery. By working from home, we actually spend more time whacking away at our computer. That includes lunch time and after dinner. Depending on how you look at it, it can mean more productivity or we just can’t really draw a line to when is work time and home time.

Exploring Singapore – National Gallery Singapore

This is brought some delight to us. First, the mood in the National Gallery is soft and quiet. There was literally no rush walking in the Gallery. By taking some time off our work, we brought our little one to visit and rediscover Singapore little by little. While looking through the artifacts and history of Singapore, I did felt a sense of pride to call Singapore Home. Second, I really like it when it is quiet and the National Gallery provides that serene form of art. No noise was coming out from anywhere and we could just walk where ever we wanted.

In my previous post which you can access here. (https://lifejourney840443474.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/ndp-2020-promotion-1-year-free-membership-for-gallery-insider/) The Gallery Insider is still available to all Singaporeans for one year so do visit them before end of October 2020. It is a worthwhile visit and stop by the Courtyard Cafe (Level 1) for some drinks and snacks. They make pretty good food and snacks. Blueberry cheese muffin, pandan kaya coconut cake and the fried wantons are my top choice. Local and Western delights are available – It is much better than most places.

The Corner Grill

To end the day, we must always do what a true blue Singaporean does. Find a good and decent hideout for a nice hot dinner for a good meal. It is rare that we have such “me” time and we found some hidden gems in the alley of 1 Ann Siang Hill. Hidden within the red and black shop houses and sloped roads, right at the intersection of Club Street lies The Corner Grill. The restaurant brings the impression that they serve quality food over quantity and I truly respect that. Link here: https://www.facebook.com/thecornergrill.sg

Still, we ordered too much for dinner and will definitely come back in the near future.

Fried Onions

For Starters, the Onion Stickles make a perfect appetiser. The complement is the mild but savory curry sauce which went really well with the thinly sliced onions.

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Lobster Roll

The classic lobster burger which you once ate at the market grill or Pince and Pints somehow just tastes awful. Biting into the Lobster Roll at The Corner Grill, it is a sequence of experiential taste which starts with the freshness of the seawater, followed by the buttery creaminess of the sauce and tender warm lobster meat with the toasted bun. Simplicity at its best.

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Pork Chop!

One of the classic highlights would be their Pork Chop which they really should rename it as a Tomahawk Chop or Pork Steak bone taste perfectly pinkish. This is cooked/grilled slightly Pinkish and well charred. The whole Pork Chop weighs around 300g and is easily the best thing I had during the last 6 months. The condiments compliment so well with the Pork Chop that I have nothing to say but to go try it. I also never knew olives, fig, onions and cauliflower tastes so good when preserved and mixed

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Lemon Tarts

Desserts turn out as a surprise with Lemon tarts. They were not too sweet and perfect to end the palate. I’ll let the picture tell the story.

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It is one of those rare times that we took time to explore and find good food but it has indeed been a great Friday today.

By chance, during a chat with the owners, The Corner Grill license was approved two days before the Circuit Breaker rules were announced. With the current Phase 2 ongoing, their business has been affected. I do hope they can manage to tide through this phase. The quality of ingredients is definitely a high standard but I am guessing that they have too much on their plate at the moment.

Support Local. Support our Food Culture. You can’t miss quality once you try it.

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from The Corner Grill website for this article.

GIGA with OCBC Frank Credit Card (Part 3)

On By RistrettzIn DealsLeave a comment

There is even more stuff of GIGA customers now. Now this is rather interesting on how they are developing as a company. First come first serve.

GIGA – A Subsidiary of Starhub

This is pretty cool now although i’m not quite sure if I am within the first few who applied for the OCBC Frank Credit Card. I’m not really a fan of OCBC cards as they are generally very traditional and they do not go out that much to get the deals or promotions as much as the other cards do.

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Benefits of the FRANK Credit Card

They have this collaboration about giga’s perfect match with the following:

a. Unlock 6% cashback with the all-new FRANK credit card on online spends, grocery shopping and retail therapy (Using Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, Garmin Pay or Google Pay)

b. S$50 giga bucks as credit to deduct off your monthly giga telephone bills within 2 months upon card approval.

c. Minimum monthly eligible spend of S$600 (online or offline and get S$75 back a month)

The GIGA offer is limited to the first 1,000 sign-ups and valid until 31 October 2020 so do find out more before application.

(link here: https://www.frankbyocbc.com/campaign/meet-giga?AgentSourceCode=GIGEDM

**You have to be a new to FRANK Credit Card member to apply though.

More Perks

On the side, You can also leave a Facebook Review on GIGA’s office Facebook page (Here: https://www.facebook.com/gigaexperience/) and stand to win a S$10 Grabfood Voucher.

Nothing is for free. There will be a small registration fee for the SIM card. You also need to choose the date of delivery of your SIM card. However, you can use a referral code to supplement the discount. You will get a discount if you use my referral code – “LhS9Ng”. The referral credit is only valid for any plans except the basic $10 GIGA plans.

You can visit their website to find out more: https://www.giga.com.sg/

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from GIGA website for this article.

Singapore Reits or not?

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, Deals, New Ideas, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

Singapore Reits is something that many Singaporeans understand and take heart to. Some folks actually build their income/passive income via this source and I can see why.

My take on Reits on SGX

a. First it is based in Singapore – There is this local bias that it can do well given most people like to see for themselves if the malls are working out well in terms of retail quality, crowd, spending and how many shops are still in business.

b. SGD payouts avoids the currency risks. For a retiree or someone drawing on income from dividends, this payouts serve as a source of bill payment.

c. An alternative and cheaper way to enter the real estate market in Singapore is really through the reits/stock exchange. I know that people will argue that it is different but technically in my view, it is the same (And you do not need to pay stamp duties, get a mortgage and pay sales charges)

d. It is more liquid than real estate.

For a long time now, Reits have been growing big and popular within the investing community. Again, all investments comes with risks – Most people have more comfort in dealing with things they can see or get a sense of. For a long time, there have been plenty of wins for reits but as you can also see, the Circuit Breaker period in April through May have affected them in a way or another.

Diversification?

So again diversification is key to investing once more. If you put all your eggs into the Reits for passive income, then with such dividend cuts your bottom line is definitely affected. Currently, it doesn’t seem like this Covid situation is going back down or slow down whatsoever so dividend cuts is going to be prolonged in order to save businesses and jobs. Then again, there are certain sectors who might see a booming business such as Data Centres or even certain suburban reits. Sub-urban malls are definitely crowded but the former shopping aisles in orchard and high end malls are definitely missing the tourist crowd which rakes in the cash and spending. It is no wonder why people are worried about their livelihoods.

It is not all doom and gloom. Sectors will emerge while some will recover. It is definitely time to pick up some if you did not have any. The idea is to really have a long-term goals when you pick a stock and stay disciplined. Once you sell it off, you may never be able to pick back the company at their valuations again.

The Passive or Lazy Choice

If you are lazy, let Robo-advisors do the trick for you. For e.g. Syfe. https://www.syfe.com/ Initially i only took on the Reit+ portfolio some time in April 2020 to test it out so that I do not need to manage the portfolio and incur those trading fees. They have expanded other products such as a Global ARI portfolio (Long term investment into equity,bonds and commodities) and Equity100 portfolio which is 100% into global Equity ETF (US and UK listed ETFs)

Auto-rebalancing

Syfe has invented their ARI (Automated Risk Investing) methodology, which is a risk-based rebalancing strategy, which changes the allocations of your portfolio according to changes in risks in the market in order to limit your losses. In short, once it triggers a certain level, the system will trigger an alert and things start to sell off to re-allocate. It also means that over the longer term, you will naturally see a better performance of the portfolio.

Every rebalancing of course depends on what portfolio you choose from so everyone is different. I personally like the idea of investing into a portfolio of reits instead of picking it on my own. In terms of fees, it depends on your investment amount with them.

In terms of pricing, I think it is cost effective. Do find out more about it here https://www.syfe.com/pricing

a. Management fee per year is at 0.65% p.a. for investment amounts S$0 – S$20k.

b. Management fee per year is at 0.50% p.a. for investment amounts S$20k – S$100k.

c. Management fee per year is at 0.40% p.a. for investment amounts S$100k and above.

Do use my referral code to get some benefits when you sign up a new account with Syfe. Referral Code: SRPTSMQ5J

You will get (Find our more about their referral scheme here https://www.syfe.com/magazine/how-can-i-invite-a-friend-to-join-syfe/) :

a. S$10 bonus if you invest S$500

b. S$50 bonus if you invest S$10,000

c. S$100 bonus if you invest S$20,000

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy. 

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

The pictures were taken from Syfe website for this article.

NDP 2020 Promotion: 1 Year Free Membership from Gallery Insider

On By RistrettzIn DealsLeave a comment

There is an ongoing promotion for National Day 2020. That is a one-year complimentary membership for Gallery Insider. It is really good to see companies doing their part to make art and increase activities locally.

National Gallery Insider

From the Gallery Insider (link here: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership) –  This Gallery Insider is an annual membership programme. Insiders get unlimited access to their dynamic line-up of exhibitions, as well as privileges and discounts for selected programmes. You can also get unique museum merchandise and the Gallery’s culinary offerings at a discount. This sounds really good as it is a great time to explore such options now. Travelling is definitely not available in the near term. However it is not all doom and gloom. There are other things to do and appreciate in Singapore.

Click here at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership to get your FREE ONE Year Gallery Insider membership. This is worth up to $120 in value from unlimited and priority access to all exhibitions. There is a bonus perk of up to 15% discounts on dining and shopping. This is pretty decent.

Free Perk

This Free perk will end on 31 October 2020 so get it as soon as possible. Don’t forget you need to be there physically to activate your membership before October 2020.

However do note that this is for Singaporeans and Singapore PRs. Time to explore Singapore. It is not a sponsored post but I find this a great initiative and also a good way to find out more about Singapore.

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from National Gallery website for this article.

NDP 2020 Promotion: 1 Year Free Membership for Gallery Insider

On By RistrettzIn Deals, Interest, PromotionLeave a comment

There is an ongoing promotion for National Day 2020 – That is a 1-Year complimentary membership for Gallery Insider. It is really good to see companies doing their part to make art and increase activities locally.

Reading directly from the website at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership, it says that Gallery Insider is an annual membership programme. Insiders get unlimited access to their dynamic line-up of exhibitions, as well as privileges and discounts for selected programmes, unique museum merchandise and the Gallery’s culinary offerings. Sounds not too bad to explore such options now that travelling is pretty much out of the way for an extended period of time. It’s not all doom and gloom. There are other things to do and appreciate our own Country.

Click here at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership to get your FREE 1 Year Gallery Insider membership, which is claimed to be worth up to $120 in value from unlimited and priority access to all exhibitions. Also, there is a bonus perk of up to 15% discounts on dining and shopping. Not too bad I guess.

This Free perk will end on 31 October 2020 and I am guessing while stocks last? Sign up asap! Don’t forget you need to be there physically to activate your membership before October end.

However do note that this is for Singaporeans and Singapore PRs. Time to explore Singapore. It is not a sponsored post but I find this a great initiative and also a good way to find out more about Singapore.

(Image from National gallery website)

For more referral links, click here: https://lifejourney840443474.wordpress.com/contact/