May 2019 – Monthly Updates

May is the month where we were away for almost two weeks to the land of the rising sun at Hiroshima, Japan. We flew direct via Silkair and stayed in Hiroshima for a few days before we started our road trip to Shikoku which is a more rustic part of Japan (known for being the only island with no volcanoes but the island is absolutely charming!). Hiroshima is well known to be the place where the first Atomic bomb was ever used in the history of mankind. It highly recommended for all to visit this historical site, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to understand the devastation and destruction caused. It also serves as a very strong lesson and session learnt about why wars are calamitous and juxtaposing with the technological advancements today, how much more fatal it would be should we go to war today.

One of the heartening things though, was the spirit of people and us humans, how we manage to thrive in adversity. When the bomb was dropped, it was so devastating that many predicted that nothing will grow in the next 75 years. But today, you’ll find a vibrant, cosmopolitan city that refuses to let the devastation in its history define it and symbolizes hope for the future.

Thank you Hiroshima, for what you have taught us today.

We went to Miyajima island where we saw the iconic “The great Torii of Miyajima” which is the gateway between the spiritual world and the human world. Ally was fascinated by the free roaming deers which were found all over the island. We also visited the old district where shops sold handicrafts and great local delicacies. Lastly, we went to the Miyajima Aquarium and it was thoroughly enjoyed by the kids.

Next we were off for our road trip towards the fourth and smallest main island of Japan, Shikoku and we are required to drive through the Great Seto Bridge (connecting six bridges over five islands) from main island Honshu. The views were fantastic and they have nice stopovers along the way where there will be viewing points and nice food joints. We also visited a dolphin farm where there are young trainers who taught the dolphins how to do tricks.

Shikoku has a completely different feel from Honshu (mainland Japan) and there’s so much more rustic charm to it. Remote from the glitz and buzz of the city, many of the places that we drove past were mountains, rivers and farmlands, and most of the residents in that area were mainly elderly (as Japan grapples with a greying population). We stayed at a traditional Japanese accommodation which overlooks the Great Seto Bridge. We also stayed at an onsen accommodation in the mountains and the experience was great with photos as below. It was our most expensive accommodation throughout the trip and the service was impeccable.

We also did the below activities in Shikoku and back at Hiroshima.

Visit to strawberry farm, diary farm and Kate with kiddos walking along the streets.

Visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Eating the famous Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, visit to the Mazda car museum and feeding kois at the Japanese garden near the airport hotel.

Ally starting to miss Hiroshima!

Below are some of the simple activities we do on weekends in May

Visit to The Live Turtle & Tortoise Museum.

Watching free Bumblebee movie organized by our local community and Kate rowing boat with Ally at Vivocity

Financial Update
We had managed to compile our May Cash outflow and below is a snapshot:

Note:

Target FI family cash outflow (excluding parents and mortgage) = $5,000 per month (core $3,500 and non-core $1,500)

Family:

Core is the variable / fixed cash outflow incurred for the month as “operational expenses”. This is the minimum to run our household comfortably and is the amount we will still be incurring even when we are not working.

Non-core is the category that includes travelling, donations/gifts, savings insurance and things that will enhance our happiness level, security and sense of purpose over the long run. Our savings insurance policies are also place here to show that these are additional savings we have and we might monetize this when our kids gets older. We think that these are important elements to move higher up on the pyramid under the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  We want to maintain this as long as possible to have something to look forward in future.

Parents:

We finally reduce our parents allowances significantly by topping up with an initial lump sum into their retirement account (CPF Life) which will guarantee payment to them for a lifetime. This will transfer the reliance on us to give them cash allowances to CPF Life which works like an annuity. We would like to continue paying for their health insurance as long as both of us are still gainfully employed.

All insurance figures shown are amortized over 12 months.

Summary for May

Family ($16,286.52):

Core ($4,135.04) 
This month our core spending is above our target spending of $3.5k by almost $600 mainly due to Ally’s chinese enrichment class (additional $595) which are paid on a quarterly basis.

Non-core ($12,151.48) :
This is mostly made up of our travel with our extended family to Japan and should be the last overseas trip for this year as Dave is preparing for his ACL reconstruction surgery in July. 

Parents ($328.33):
We are currently paying for their health insurance which should slowly creep up as they age. 

Grand Total ($16,614.85)
Our overall cash outflow this month will be the highest due to our 2 weeks trip to Japan and we should be more or less done with our overseas travel for this year. But we are glad that we made the trip possible as Kate’s parents are still willing to travel. If we were to exclude the travelling expenses, cash out flow should be around $5.3k. We will expect our cash outflow to be lower for the second half of the year as we are done with most of our travelling for this year already. 

What was the month of May like for you?