housewarming - 02 Feb 08

just to share some photos taken during our housewarming..we had our colleagues over in the afternoon for lunch and for dinner, some close frens and relatives...



my closest frens since secondary school days...





MAHJONG! managed to squeeze 2 tables into the room..haha





for those of us who have no MJ to play, its TABOO time!

additions to our home..

Shopping Shopping and more Shopping!!! finally...my bean bag

Recently, hubby and I went crazy spending our vouchers. It was really "shiok" to spend vouchers without having to spend any of your own money. Shopping vouchers from Robinsons and Isetan were given to us as gifts. Got Takashimya vouchers from the TV we bought. Anyway, we spent most of it buying stuff for our home, which includes, kitchen utensils, cookery, towels, etc. Just last sunday, we finally found a reasonably priced bean bag for our cozy corner from molecule. Hubby had to carry it back all the way from town. It was such a funny sight that I had to take photos of him.

have a peek!

let u have a peek at the new additions in my house.

fridge!

sofa!

cozy corner light!

master bedroom light!

wish list

finally, our wish list is out, as requested by my family and relatives.

we welcome any other suggestions if you have thought of other items that are not listed above.

reno update

I went down to check on my renovation progress yesterday with hubby, papa, big sis and bro-in-law. Both the toilets were hacked already and there was 1 worker laying the new tiles in my master bathroom. If there were no change in our toilets, yesterday should be the handover date. But looking at the progress, it was definitely impossible. Our dining benches arrived while we were there.

Anyway, was quite happy as I finally can see something in my living room. :)

Some pics on my renovation. Presenting our model of the day, my ELDER sis......*clap clap*..*whistles*..

dream bathrooms no more...:(

Received a bad news today..mum-in-law doesn't like the colour of our bathrooms. As you all know, the older generation will always prefer bright colours to dark colours. She found that our bathrooms are too dark, both are grey in colour, and she doesn't feel comfortable with it.

Well, our bathrooms were (past tense now) grey as both of us liked the idea of the dark bathroom. It gives the modern and classy feeling. But then again, since my in-laws doesn't like it, and also mama and papa mentioned it before, we decided to change with much reluctance. Besides the part that we have no more dream bathrooms, there will be cost incurred and delay in handover.

Since this is something that we have no control over, we decided to be optimistic. Went to the bookstores today to check out some ideas of bathroom design. Kind of choosen a brighter colour, light earth tone. It looks nice and classy from the design books and hope ours will have the same effect. Looking on the brighter side, we can take this chance to re-route the piping, so that hopefully, they can be concealed, and also, for the designer to remeasure the size and distance of the vanity cabinet to the toilet bowl. Come to think of it, it may be a blessing in disguise. In any case, everybody is happy, and that is the most important.

Anyway due to all these changes, the handover date (originally next week) is estimated to be end of august but I have already requested it to be slightly earlier as hubby will be moving in early sept. Hope everything turns out well.

10 August 2007 - "Moving In"

Today is supposed to be a "ji li" day for moving house. Thus, we chose to "move in" to our house today at 5pm. Hubby and my in-laws came out from JB, with all the stuffs that are required for a small ceremony to before we "move in". We had to do it before the renovation finish as lunar july is round the corner and as chinese, we believe that it is bad luck to move house during the month of lunar july.

Before actual moving in, my mother-in-law put "xiang lu" at five corners of the living room. Hubby then have to pray and leave joss-sticks at all 5 corners. After that, my mother-in-law gave hubby a cup of holy water and dunno which plant leave to sprinkle the holy water all around the house, especially at every corner. When all these are done, we then started the simple ceremony.

As most may already know, we need to have charcoal burning at the entrance and we have to step over the charcoal and into the house. At the same time, we have to bring in 7 items for luck. They are, "chai" (charcoal), "mi" (rice), "you" (oil), "yan" (salt), "tang" (sugar), "cu" (vinegar) and "cha" (tea leaves). As we already have charcoal burning, we brought in the rest of the items. Also, to signify that we have moved in, we have to boil water and eat our take-away dinner there.

Check out the fotos below: Can you find the "lu" with the charcoal? We also put a red cloth at the entrance of our house. See the electric kettle that I bought? Costs me $89.90!! We sat on the cardboards at the platform for our dinner. Interesting and fun. *smile*

auntie??

Went back to balestier today to get 1 more "hamburger" light for our balcony. Decided to save money by just buying something simple since hubby say we might not even have the time to sit at the balcony to enjoy the moonlight, so wat's the use of getting something nice? Decided to save even more money not to buy lights for study and dining. hehe. So the remaining one is the light for master bedroom which we have asked our designer, Mr M to help us source for it.

Had a yummy dinner at TCC @ Bugis Junction.

Do you know if you spent 88 bucks, you can get be a TCC member for lifetime? Good thing is that it is not a one time thingey and you can accumulate the receipts up to 88 bucks. As a member, you are entitled for 15% discount when you spend 20 bucks and above. I knew this when I went TCC with my sisters a few weeks back and I told myself to keep the receipt so as to accumulate. Shitty thing is I threw the 64 bucks receipt when I cleared my wallet few days back. Tonight I just spent another 54 bucks. I could have become a member and get 15% off!!!!

Anyway, just a realisation today, that I'm becoming more and more aware of my expenses. Happily upgraded to the blue kopitiam card (entitlement to 10% discount when you dine @ any kopitiam) during lunch today, taking note of discount at Fairprice, was outraged by the 3 bucks difference between AZONE and Popular foolscap paper, feeling absolutely stoopid at wasting away a chance of getting 15% discount at TCC...is this a sign of me becoming an auntie? Or was I taking money for granted when I was young? Maybe I have finally realised that all my money are hard-earned and how I need to start to control my expenses now that I am married.

Hmmm...anyway, remind me of my "realisation" today when I shop for clothes, bags and shoes the next time yah?

shopping @ balestier

Yesterday was another day for "shopping @ balestier". Becoz of our renovation, we have become so familiar with Balestier and Jalan Besar now. Just ask us anything, we know it all. Hahas. Wanted to shop for lights, in the end, still couldn't find suitable light of our Master Bedroom but have already shortlisted one for study and balcony.

As we were waiting for the shop where we custom-made our sofa to open at 2pm, we decided to have lunch at the famous BAK KUT TEH at Balestier Rd. Queue was long most of the time and we wanted to try how GOOD issit. Since there was no queue, we decided to have our lunch there. The walls inside the shop were "decorated" all with pictures of the owner with celebraties from hongkong, taiwan and also our local scene. Before the food came, we were wondering, the food must BE good! It was quite a disappointment as the soup turned out to be too peppery for our taste, but at least the bak kut was not too tough. Anyhow, we finished all.

We have made a custom order for our sofa. Initially we wanted it to be in fabric but we were worried bout the maintanence in the long run, hence we decided to change it to leather. Yesterday, we went to change our order and to select the colour and texture of leather. This custom-made shop, Sanctuary Dian, was highly recommended in the Singapore Brides forum. They are able to make any design of sofa, bed, coffee/side/dining tables, console, armchairs, etc to the way you want it. If you like any specific design that you have found from the magazines, just show it to them and they will do it for you. On top of this, their service is good! It is managed by hubby and wife and both of them are attentive, patient and nice. They are not pushy and hard sell. Below is a perspective draft of our sofa. We have changed it from 3m to 2.7m.

reno update

AGAIN, updates on my renovation. Hope I'm not boring you to tears. Yesterday, we were supposed to meet our co-designer, let's name him Mr H, at 1030am to walk through our house together so that he will know what are the things that we are not satisfied with. BUT, at 1130am, he had not arrived, and there were no answer despite our repeated callings on his hp. Qun was also at my house, and only then did I realised that Mr H was supposed to meet Qun at 930am at her house, and he did not appear too! That's why Qun decided not to wait anymore and came to my house to take a peep. Mr H called back later, when we were leaving, and apparently, he overslept as he went to bed at 5am in the morning. Sigh. I guess everyone will experience unhappiness and displeasure with their contractors/designers at 1 point or another during the reno process yah? I hope I'm not the only one though. ANYWAY, below are the pics.

update on renovation

Haven been updating all on my reno status. Since I couldn't go down to my new flat during weekdays, the only day that I can go check it out is on Sunday. Now, I've been doing checks on my reno dutifully every Sunday. Below are some pictures on some areas of the house, as seen on 29th July.


















On top of all these changes, no pics for the below :

(1) My WIW is already done in my Master Bedroom.

(2) Platform for my bed and cozy area is up in my Master Bedroom.

(3) Bedside tables done, in the WRONG colour.

(4) Walls of Bedroom 3 painted.




Remaining stuffs yet to be done :

(1) Study table (according to co-designer, it is already in the making)

(2) TV console and featured wall

(3) Dining table and benches

(4) Featured wall cum shoe cabinet

(5) Headboard in Master Bedroom




Scheduled handover is on 18th August but he say he will try to complete by 12th August. I really hope he does because the lunar july month starts on 13th August! Anyway, we will "move in" on 11th August. We plan to dabao lunch, buy charcoal, rice, oil and salt, and kettle to boil water...to signify the "moving in". Anybody wanna come kaypoh? *smile*

renovation fotos

our walkway with tiles layed

our kitchen

belated updates

I have not been updating for quite some time. Is it because of the GSS? Nah, we DID shop but not on my clothes, haha, more on the stuffs that we need for our new house. Last update was the WC that we bought. Well, we have bought more, let me just list them out here.

1) Went back to Royal Fanco to buy the rest of the toilet accessories, like the towel bar, toilet paper holder, etc.

2) Bought a Blanco granite sink and tap from Hoe Kee.

3) On the very last day of the month of June (yes, just before the start of 2% GST), we bought a Simmons mattress from this shop in Toa Payoh which was highly recommended in the forum. Manage to negotiate for 2 more Simmons pillows on top of the 2 that were given originally. *grins*

I can't remember what else we bought, that should be all. At the same time, he bought a few shirts for our photoshoot and I bought my heels for ROM. I loved my heels and its ex! Hope I can walk properly.

our renovation status

Pa, Hao and I went down to peep at our flat this morning.

---

Living Room

They have started to lay the walkway tiles. But its the wrong tiles!! I called our ID immediately and it turns out that the tile shop sent the wrong tiles. So he asked his contractor to stop laying the tiles. Gosh! Imagine if we did not go down today to take a look.

---

Dining Room

That's the false ceiling for our dining. Loved it!

---

Master Bedroom

Wall was hacked to connect both rooms.

---

Balcony and service balcony floor tiles were laid. Nothing done in the kitchen. Common bathroom wall tiles are done! Nice! Master bathroom is still under tiling process.

---

Yummy Dinner at Ka Soh

Went for dinner at 9pm at Ka Soh at Amoy Street after I selected my ROM dress. Not telling you how it looks like, except that it will be in ivory. Be prepared to be surprised! *grins*

Our Water Closets

Master Bathroom WC

Common Bathroom WC

from American Standard

hacked!

My walls are finally being hacked!

---

Study Room hacked to have an open concept theme with the living/dining area

---

Debris from the Study Room's 3 walls

---

To be hacked: Wall separating Bedroom 2 and Master Bedroom

---

The aircon guy is going down on Tuesday to do the routing of the pipes. Finally, my renovation is going somewhere.

Yes? May I help you?

Hao and I went toilet accessories shopping today. He did all the research from the forums and shortlisted a few shops that were recommended by most. Our aim of the day was to check out the toilet and kitchen accessories, tv, washer and dryer, fridge, cooker hood and hob.


Went to most of the shops recommended by the forummers at Jalan Besar but did not see anything that we both liked enough to order. Finally, we found it in the last shop we visited, Royal Fanco. Do not judge the shop by it's outlook. It may look small, messy and old, but the owner knows where is everything. He recommends the latest goods and the way to mix and match. All those that he recommended are still in boxes coz there are no place to display them. He opened up the boxes to show us the different basin and bath mixer. He even took the mixer and put it on the wash basin to help us visualise how it would look when placed together. He also demostrated in his toilet the different functions of a showerhead. We were quite impressed by his service and attitude, and also found the pricing of his goods reasonable. Hence, we ordered basins, mixers and showers from him.

Next, we went to Alexandra. Hong Liang was recommended for their cheap electronics. The salesman was friendly and helpful. He apparently knows his stuff too. And the best thing was that he knew that we were only checking for prices, but he still generously answered all our queries and gave good recommendations too.





Then all the way to IMM. Asia Excel Marketing was recommended in the forum for their reasonable pricing and they are the authorised dealers for a brand of kitchen sink, Franke. So we went to check it out. The price of the cooker hood and hob he quoted matches Royal Fanco. Too bad for us, granite sinks from Franke is out of stock. Only left the stainless steel type, which we do not really prefer.





We were happy customers today. Got most of our questions answered and glad to have gotten some stuff that we really liked.

now i know...

why the permit is taking so long. The guy from our town council called me today. And I happened to ask him about the permit. Told him I still haven really started the renovation yet becoz I have got my permit. Then he explained that is because we are going to hack walls. So the HDB at TPY needs not only the top view of the floor plan, but also the side view (meaning x-sec) of the area where the wall will be hacked and what will be the "after". He said that HDB at TPY already rejected once and sent back to my ID all the requirements, but apparently, they did not change anything and resubmitted again. And hence, it was once again rejected.

The process goes:
ID submit online to HDB at TPY. HDB at TPY check and approve. Send to town council in charge. And town council issue permit.

Finally I understood, and my designer also understood now, so he promised to rush the side view drawings out by today and resubmit. Hopefully, the permit can be approved by this week.

.........

We are quite irritated with our designers. 3 and a half weeks ago, they have zapped a copy of Hao's IC and said they will submit to HDB to apply for permit. They said most probably will take around 1 week. 1 week plus later, on the day to start renovation, he said that our permit is still not yet approved. 2 weeks after (last wednesday), he mentioned most probably, the permit will be approved this monday (which was yesterday) and that we can arrange with the aircon installers to meet up on this thursday becoz most probably the hacking can be done on wednesday. Becoz of that, I have taken leave so that we can both go down and take a look and at the same time, pay the aircon guy.

Yesterday, Hao received a call from our co-designer saying he just called HDB and the permit is STILL not done yet! I wonder what is wrong. I would have expected them to call HDB after 2 weeks of submission to check but until now, we still have not got our permit! Today, he called Hao again, and told him that the permit is still not approved and we cannot have the aircon installer to go down on thursday! ARGGHHH!! We were quite pissed. In the end, we arranged with the aircon installer to meet on next monday (when the both of us will be working!). What to do??!!! Sigh, we have already been delayed by this for more than 1 week. I hope they can manage to finish by the scheduled time to avoid clashing with the lunar 7th month.