Pictures Galore

Just some pictures to update on what has been going on with the renovation. I am very very angry with one of the sales personnel from Blum but will talk about it another day. Enjoy the pictures.

Living room console and shoe cabinet.

Dining area with the Lilian's favorite item of the whole house - The Chandeliar. Below it is the storage bench.

The kitchen cabinets up but before the table top is up.

The sink in place but before the tap is up. Unable to have the tap position I like (to pull the tap lever towards me to switch on) due to the small space behind the sink. So have to settle for the tap level on the right instead.
The passage way light. Nice effect?
The master bedroom.

The partition at the master bedroom. and the Study table on the left.
We have officially renamed this room as The Retro Room. We got the hanging globe light for the room and will get some funky looking roman curtains to complement the bright Orange paint.

Colours, colours, colours...

The first coat of paint is up and the smell of paint actually made me high when I was there. There are many different kind of paints but most ID use ICI Dulux (I think). Within ICI Dulux there are Pentalite, All-in-one, 3-in-1, Wash and Wear, Weathershield.

I start with the simple one, Weathershield. More durable against harsh weather (rain, sun then rain again) so should be used in the service yard.

ID usually favour Pentalite. The advantage of this is that it is matte in colour and do not show much of the wave effect if your wall is not straight (meaning lousy workmanship for the wall causing uneven surface). If a small area of the wall is dirty (like the area under a light switch which tends to be darker due to constant usage), you can just paint over that small area and it will blend in with the rest of the wall (meaning no need to repaint the whole wall).

But the disadvantage is that it difficult to wipe it.

Wash and Wear on the other hand enable you to just wipe off dirt and stains. However it has a shiny finish so any uneven walls will be very obvious.

Dulux 3-in-1 and All-in-One are better range of paints as they can do things like cover hairline cracks, have anti-bacteria formular and are washable.

But I believe in choosing the colour then choosing the kind of paints. What is the point of chossing a better range of paints when they do not have the colour you want?

Anyway I better show you guys some pictures; someone said my blog is too wordy...

This would be the wall where the sofa will be. The air-con will be in the middle of the wall. We are using Pentalite Misty on the wall. Its abit of a off-white earth tone colour.






This is the enlarged entrance of the kitchen. There will be a fixed glass panel on the left and a swing glass door on the right, swinging towards to wall.







We will be placing a day curtain to save as the divider between the two rooms in the enlarged master bedroom. We had initially wanted to use the "oh-so-sexy" string curtain as the divider but they are not as effective in blocking the air-con. We are using Dulux All-in-One Lavender Mist for the master bedroom.




This is the partition we build up for the wardrobe. The dark corner on the left will be where my workstation be.







This is the future kid's room. We wanted something bright and unisex and It turn out pretty well.

Lights out!

We finally finish buying the lights for our home. Only have pictures of a few of them as we forgot to take the ones we bought the first visit and only manage to snap them on our second shopping. Total bought from two shops, Eurostar and Light Zone.

Eurostar was introduced to us by our ID. We didn't really see much that we fancy so we ended up buying only the basic lights from them, namely tracklite for the living room, down lights for living and dining, florescent lights for rooms for cove light effect, and two "Milo Tins" for toilets.

What the @#$%*& are Milo Tins? Well they are those lights inside a tin or big pipe. Here is a picture of it.

The second shop Light Zone actually said that we should not use Milk Tins for toilet as the bulb is exposed and in toilet where steam and water vapors are always present, it tends to shorten the lifespan of the bulb. Why didn't anyone tell me earlier? Haiz... too bad, those with cover are like twice as expensive so guess we just use it for now.

We actually got a small chandelier for the dining area but did not take a picture of it. Neither did we get a picture of the kitchen light. Its a big ceiling light with three florescent tubes. We not not sure if those with only two tubes would be bright enough so we got on with three tubes. If three is too bright we just take out one tube then...

We also got this cracked glass light for the passage way. Since it is a small enclosed area, the effect cast on the wall should be quite nice.

We are also using a "clinic" like light for the service yard.

More on lights when they are mounted.

Kartell Fever

I think both my wife and I got the Kartell Fever. This has got nothing to do with the Haze from our friendly Indonesia, or the El Nino the world is expecting next year, or the seasonal flu and cold bug everyone is spreading to each other during the "winter" period of Singapore.

Both if us are just crazy over those clear plastic offerings from Kartell. We were initially looking for a dining chair that looks very similar to the Kartell Ero_s. But we found the price to be on the high side.

As we were planning to place a crystal chandelier for our dining light, I thought the Kartell Louis Ghost Chair would go very well with it. My wife never like that idea as she feels that chair is too expensive.

But we manage to find this place (call Space) that is giving 30% of the retail price for a limited period of time. After testing the comfort of these plastic chair, and hearing that the price was not as expensive as we thought, we settled for two of these babies.

Down came the walls!!

Renovation has finally started and going well. First day was the hacking of the walls. Warning to others who are going down during hacking, it bloody noisy and dusty and BORING!!! The repeated noise drove me nuts! Now I know why they have to pay these workers more money...

This is the picture of the hacked kitchen entrance. I will have a glass wall on the right and a swing glass door on the left. In front of the kitchen is the dining area.

We gave up the idea of getting a sofa from Massimmo and settle for a more budget Lush "Zen" 3 seater sofa. No picture to show as Lush also do not have it on their website. Dunno if this means its very new or very old... haha...

Have got most of my lights too, from both Eurostar and Light Zone. Still short of two lights though, the kitchen and the foyer. This weekend need to complete the shopping for these. On the shopping list is also heaters (which we will probably get instant ones), bathroom accessories, and curtains...

Reservist is not a vacation!

I just finish my reservist last week. It was not an easy 10 days, in fact quite stress as we were being assessed on how well we do our stuff through test.

It was a stay-in reservist and I only got to book out on the weekends. The camp is bloody far (the very edge of Tuas) and I live in the East. No aircon, no heater, no wives, still lousy food! But the funny thing is when I went back office, everyone was like "So how, reservist relac right? Sit in bunk, play cards, drink cheap beer only right?"

Play cards my foot, I had to go forest bashing, feed mosquitoes, and I got all wet to my chest level one hour into the mission. Needless to say I was in my new life low. The public perception of reservist as a official government paid vocation mentality is not helping make life easier.

Having sat on my office chair for most of my waking hours did not help as I finish my reservist with aches all over, three big blue blacks and heat rashes all over my body. Boy am I "looking forward" to next years reservist.

Thanks for listening to my bitching....

Where the Hell Were You???

If that was the question you want to ask me, that was the same question I wanted to ask my ID. He delayed the quotation for a month after we "OK" the drawing. To cut the long story short, we FIRED him and got another ID. So now my renovation is back on track and will start the hacking will start this Monday.

We have decided to let him do the wardrobe as well. So its bye bye pole system, hello carpentry. The total damage seems to grow bigger and bigger... Now the "budget control system" has kicked in... And that budget control system is MY WIFE.

Today is holiday and I was half expecting some warehouse sale but alas, there was nothing on the papers. As I am going reservist on Wednesday till early Nov, we decided to get some more items today.

First stop was to Massimmo to look at sofas. They name their sofa models by the different pasta names. I must say this place has class. Large glass walls, high ceiling and most importantly, they are using Wharfedale 9.1 speakers to fill the whole hall with music. That was the pair of speakers I have in mind to fill my house with music. But dream speakers aside, they have really nice sofas. My wife actually fell in love with their Penne. The price however made us take a step back and look around again.

Next stop was Bellari. KiKiLaLa was telling us about her sink she got and was recommending it. We were also looking for a square sink for the kitchen. The Bellari "Professional" series sink seems to fit the bill nicely. Its using the thicker 12mm stainless steel and undermounting it will be beautiful.

We were actually debating whether to take the single bowl or the double bowl. I actually wanted to the single bowl as its about 600mm and undermounting it will show only the sink without any edges. It makes the sink area look very sleek. Also, the double bowl is not much bigger (740mm) and is S$170 more expensive. My wife however prefer the double bowl. I think the double bowl will spolit the look as there is a stainless steel band between the first and second sink.

In the end, we bought the double bowl, not because I want to make my wife happy, but the fact that Bellari has sold out their single bowl and left double bowl. The new stock will only come end Dec. We also got our sink mixer from Bellari. We been looking for a square one to match the square sink but they are either priced out of the galaxy or just simply ugly. So we got one that has a square block at the bottom and a round curve body. Seems to match quite well and does not burn too big a hole in our pockets.

We also ordered hood from Bellari. Got their Fabio model. I have initially not want to get a hood as I do not think we will use it often, it we even use it. You see, both my wife and I do not cook, though she vows to cook once she has her own kitchen. Plus, my mum, whom cooks quite often, do not on the hood more than once a year. But my wife had insist on getting one. And so we should get a nice one then. I picked this hood based on its looks. The glass bottom is flushed with the center filter, meaning cleaning should be a breeze (I hope). With suction power of 900m3/hr, it should come in useful when the kitchen "explodes" when my wife cooks...

We then head down to Balestier to look at lights. The first shop we stepped in was Light Studio. There were quite a few customers there, including an ID choosing lights with her clients. I must say this shop has a good variety of lights and the service is good. Price is also good. The sales person was very patient to answer all our questions and never once did we feel being hard sell by them.

Also went to Lights Zone Enterprise too look for one of the sales lady we spoke to earlier. But to our surprise, she has left the shop and we were served by a relatively new guy. Good variety (especially crystal chandeliers) and the price is ok. Just did not really click with the new guy. Though its still early for lights, we have a good idea of what lights we want to get.

Last stop was to go to Lifestorey at Great World City. We have earlier bought two Kartell Take lights from them. But we later realise that Space at millenia Walk sells them at a better price. So we had asked for refund. Of course it was not possible and they gave us a credit note instead. As we did not find people to take over the credit note, we have decided to get the Kartell Bourgie lamp as the bedside table lamp. As Space is also selling that at a cheaper price, we will get the second Kartell Bourgie lamp from them. Lesson learn, do your homework before committing to buy something.

We had drop by Molecule to check out the clock we been eyeing as well. Its the red Karlsson Mixed Numbers wall clock. We fell in love with this clock when we first saw it. It looks like a clock made of those red sea corals, so vibrant, so lively. They only had one last piece left and the next shipment would take 2-3 months. Although my ID had asked if we want to take another colour (as he thinks red might not match with the home decor), we still went a ahead to buy this red clock. Its better to be save then sorry and since both of use like it, we just buy. They have it in black and white if any of you are interested.

Wardrobe battle cont'd...

We finally checked out Eka by Eureka (www.ekabyeureka.com) at Ubi. They have dismantled their present showroom and were in the mist of doing up their new showroom so we didn't really samples to see. But they use their pole system in their office as well.

Its construction likes very familiar. On closer look, it looked similar to the system OM is using. Curvy aluminum poles like Alumix and aluminum support and lights build in the poles. The lady took copies my drawings and say will design and quote me later in the week. We had a good feeling when we left the place.

However there was no news and come Thursday, I called her up. She actually lost all my drawings and my contact number (that's why she could not contact me). I was like "why such things keep happening to my renovation?". But she was sincerely apologetic so we decided to give her another chance. Emailed her the drawings on Friday, lets wait and see...

Philips, what a killing....

Wah I today early morning go Toa Payoh queue up liao. Queue up for what ler? Sale lor... Singaporean forever queue up for sale one. I was actually waiting for the Philips Carnival 2006 to start (at 9:30am).

I was there at 8:20am and there was already a queue. Actually it was expected as someone from Sengkang forum say that the queue usually start at 8 already.

I was one of the top 10 (wah got sense of achievement). By the time it was 9:15am, the queue was all the way to the main road...

So being in the Top 10 in the queue, what do I get? 70mins of hot sun, tearing 2 x $1 parking coupons (they open the parking space in the opposite Philips building after their staff all came), having the space to view the products for 10 mins. After that there I was in the same situation as the person who came at 9:30 and stroll in. And how crowded was the whole place?

It was this packed. So what did I get? Got a vacuum cleaner, toaster, deep fryer, iron and rice cooker.

The vacuum cleaner was a real challenge as we were not sure if we were gonna use it regularly. We were initially eyeing the Cityline model as it was cheap (S$139). But the head is the normal square head and according to the sales person, it cannot be used on Parquet floor. So have to look for the triangle head that only models from Jewel (S$199) onwards. But after the sales person explaining to my wife about bagless (it was actually spelled as "badless" on the notice board, I told my wife I also think its not bad... corny, ha) she got hooked. So the budget for the vacuum cleaner doubled to S$389. Oh well, there is no looking back now, just have to use it more often.

We were also eyeing a S$69 iron but ended upsizing it after my camp mate who is working at the Iron section says that "this model good, my house also using this. And I have two!!", immediately I upsize liao. The additional feature was the "steam tip" function and the auto-off. But come to think of it, I iron my clothes all at the same time so why do I need auto-off? But I still went ahead to pay S$85 for it.

We initially did not want to get the rice cooker as we thought the ones on sale were the very "obiang" looking cooker. I actually had a price list of what is going to be on sale for the household and kitchen appliances and this rice cooker was not on the list. But when we were there and we saw this cooker, both our eyes bright up and we just bought it. Does this mean I really have to start learning how to cook? Hmm....

There is another toaster but I do not have a picture of it. So total we spend S$700... And my existing house is becoming my warehouse now...

The Geek In Me....

Recently there have been quite a number of talks about geek or nerd being the chic thing to be called now. Well it has not always been this way, especially 5 years ago. I was in uni and was constantly being called a nerd.

I can't blame them since I since more time at places selling computer stuff than in bars drinking my money away. A $30 T-shirt looks expensive to me but not a $300 shining brand new video card was a must buy, even when the price will probably be 1/2 in 3 months time. Well, at least I'm "the nerd that can dance" (thats my nick in my uni college)... Ha.

Even though I'm working now, the geek in me still remains. My PC is the first thing I switch on when I enter my house (yes not even my lights beat that). I spend more time on my computer than talking to my mum. I enjoying reading specification page of a product and doing up my own comparison tables of things I want to buy after doing research on the web. I even have a comparison list for wedding banquets of different hotels (though it is outdated now since it was for year 2004 but nonetheless still a good reference).

The renovation of my house has also put the devil's horn over my head. Suddenly I wanna upgrade my PC and get a great hifi and TV set for my living room. Having gone to a friend's place where he spend a bomb on an impressive set of home entertainment system, I been trying to contain myself from spending the same amount of money on my own system.

But in the mist of doing my research on them, I got "poison" and ended up spending very close to $700 to change my PC speakers.

This is my existing speakers from creative. Got them free from my friend. They are a ok speakers, as long as you dun turn up the volume. And occasionally the left speakers will decide to take a break and produce no sound. Only after "whacking" it a few times then will it wake up.



Had enough of all these and decided to get myself the Logitech Z5500. Was told my Boon12 (my future neighbour) that its actually a very big system and very heavy (27kg). MC Logic, the distributor, was bringing it in for the first time to Singapore for the Comex show, so I ordered a system from them after I got a wind of this news. They were kind enough to deliver it to my place since their office are nearby.

Man the big is huge!!! See the 30cm plastic ruler on the top left hand corner the box. I put it there so you guys can imagine how big is that. And it bloody heavy. I mean I can't walk 5 steps carrying it alone. But all the hard work (carrying it to my room) is worth it. Here's a picture of the actual speakers inside.



Chio right. But wait till you hear the sound... Simply heavenly...