27 Apr 2024 - Review of the new OBU

It's been a few weeks since I installed the new OBU in my car.  Though there have been much negative feedback on the design of the unit, there are several new features that I thought are pretty useful.

First of all, the date and time are showing very prominently on the screen but what is more important is that the balance value of the cash card is always showing at the top left corner of the screen.  In the old IU unit, I had to pull out and insert the cashcard every time I want to check on the balance of my cash card.

There are also a lot of complaints about the position of the component where cash card is supposed to be inserted.  Many people feedback that it's very inconvenient for driver to reach to that component to access to the cash card.  But the fact is that there is actually no need to access the cash card at all.  If you are talking about exiting a car park with complimentary coupon, all we need to do is to press on the icon at the bottom right corner of the screen and the cash card unit will be disabled.  With this, there is no longer a need to take out the cash card while exiting car park with complimentary coupon.  Also, we can configure auto-top up for the cash card whenever there is insufficient fund.  As such, I can't think of any scenario when a driver needs to access to the cash card.

Another useful feature is that with in-built GPS in the unit, it will detect your location and warn you if bus lane is in operation.  It will also warn you when you entered a school zone or a silver zone.

Recently a new feature has been pushed down to the unit that shows the estimated time to reach certain location (eg. airport) when you are on an expressway.  Going forward, I'm sure there will be more useful features that will be pushed down.

26 Apr 2024 - DSTA Young Defence Scientists Programme (YDSP) Scholarship

We attended the Young Defence Scientists Programme (YDSP) Congress this afternoon at MBS.  It's an annual event organized by the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and DSO National Laboratories (DSO), in recognition of students' outstanding all-round achievements and their interest in defence science and technology.  We were invited to the event because Javier is one of the recipients of the YDSP Scholarship this year.

He received the award from Senior Minister of State for Defence, Mr Heng Chee How.  Congratz and well done, Javier!

After the award ceremony, we went over to a ballroom next door where there were food and beverages for the guests.

There were also booths all around the ballroom, showcasing students' projects completed during the YDSP program, focusing on topics related to defence science and technology.

It's a proud moment for parents like us.  :-)

17 Apr 2024 - Attending a Conference at The Arts House at the Old Parliament

I attended a conference at The Arts House at the Old Parliament building.

The interior setting really looks like a parliament or a courthouse.  This is the first time I attended a conference in such a setting.  Usually it's either in a hotel ballroom or a convention center.

2 Apr 2024 - Replacement of In-Vehicle Unit (IU) with a new On-Board Unit (OBU)

My car is due for servicing and before sending it to the service center this morning, we had breakfast at McDonalds along Queensway.  This outlet is unique because it's housed within a beautifully landscaped Japanese-themed garden complete with bonsai trees, a tortoise pond, and calming pathways. 

Not sure if you are aware, all cars registered before 1st May 2024 will need to install a new On-Board Unit (OBU) to replace the existing In-Vehicle Unit (IU) in the coming months.  However, we can choose to do the installation during our servicing instead of waiting for the official notice.  As such, I agreed to proceed with the installation.  One thing to be mindful of is that the new OBU does not support most credit cards and cashcards.  Even for CEPAS cards, it is only a few specific ones.  When I collected my car, none of my cards worked.  As such, I had to find alternate route to drive home without having to pass through any ERP.  The cards that are supported are NETS Flashpay Card and NETS/Ez-Link Motoring Card, which I bought one from 7-eleven.

1 Apr 2024 - Spotted Dove nests on a wooden chair at our roof terrace

Tonight while Tracy was doing her gardening at our roof terrace, she suddenly heard some sounds coming from behind.  And when she turned back, she saw a spotted dove nesting on one of our wooden chairs.  In fact, we noticed a bunch of twigs and dried leaves on the chair about a month ago (read this post), and we did suspect if it was a nest.  So tonight it's proven that we were correct.

Across cultures, doves are often seen as symbols of peace, love, new beginnings, and good luck. So, a spotted dove choosing your house to nest in is generally considered a positive sign.

It seems like there were two doves taking turns guarding the nest between day and night, but we were not 100% sure.  The one at night seems to be calmer and remains at its nest even when it sees us.  However, the one during the day seems quite timid and will fly away whenever it sees any movement or hears any sound.  There is indeed an egg in the nest!  :-)