our love nest

Love Nest Album

2007-01-13T20:09:00.000+08:00

Finally have some time to update the photo album for our love nest! Below is just a few photos... click here to see the whole album!!

Moving House (Part 2)

2006-11-24T22:43:00.000+08:00

Round 2... moving my piano!

Dear's colleague knows a piano tuner who recommends the mover Mr Neo... he and his partner are experienced and no worries having them to move the piano. When the piano reached the new house, then it started to rain... so heng!

It costs $100 but think it is reasonable.

Moving House (Part 1)

2006-11-14T16:35:00.001+08:00

Last nite Dear's relatives and parents helped us to move our stuffs to the new house... his aunt and uncle have lorry... me so paiseh as I have tons of things! Going to start unpacking end of this week... going to be super busy then... also need to arrange someone to transport my piano to the new house...

DIY Study Table & Book Shelf

2006-10-27T16:59:00.000+08:00

See what I've done yesterday and today: self assemble 2 study tables and 2 book shelves! They are from Ikea..

Steady hor? But quite tiring... wrist pain after all the hammering and screwing...

Arrival of Electrical Appliances

2006-10-19T21:59:00.000+08:00

Welcome the new members to our love nest!! Spent about $3k on them... or actually less than $2k as Dear's relatives sponsored us hehe...

LG i-sensor washing machine WFT65A31ECT

Sharp microwave oven R298H

Toshiba 3-door fridge GR-H45STV

Electrolux vacuum cleaner

That dream TV - Samsung 32" LCD TV LA32R71B

The Mattress From Heaven

2006-10-16T18:11:00.000+08:00

The Simmons mattress and the bed frame were delivered on last Sat!

The dream mattress... how I wish I can sleep on it... but according to Chinese tradition, it is said that if the bride sleeps on the bed before the customary wedding, she will suffer from poor health... 宁可信其有,不可信其无... have to wait another 2 months...

Bedsheet Set & Cushion Cover

2006-10-13T11:25:00.000+08:00

According to Dear's grandma, the first bedsheet set is prepared by the bride's side.

Initially, I saw there is a sales at Metro... so bought one bedsheet set and a quilt. The bedsheet set is blue colour, thinking that it matches our master bedroom colour.

the blue set

Then I had a weird dream - someone scolded me for buying blue colour bedsheet set for wedding! Dunno why I'm so bothered by this dream, and decided to get red colour bedsheet set. We went to Blissful Collection @Chinatown last nite. Actually wanted to get either the discount set with "喜喜" design (coz there is some defect with the bed runner), or the set with cute chinese couple (see the cushion cover picture below)... but think that after the wedding day, it is kinda weird... so in the end... see what I bought... it costs $160+!! Very expensive!! But the material is really very smooth!

the red set

We also bought 2 cute cushion covers with the chinese couple...

so cute!

Mum sponsored the blue set as part of the 嫁妆... hehe... paiseh to ask her to pay for the more expensive set :p

When a House Turns Into Home

2006-10-08T22:31:00.000+08:00

Our sofa, TV console, dining table and sunflower stool were delivered yesterday! We spent some time to arrange the furniture and this is the best arrangement:

notice the sunflower stool near the entrance

Very cosy hor?

We also bought the curtains from Compass Point Metro... different colour for different room... the curtains are quite cheap, $17.90 - $18.90 only...

blue room with blue curtain

purple room with purple curtain

green room with cream curtain

The bed frame and mattress will be delivered next Sat! \(^o^)/

入伙 Ceremony

2006-10-01T22:47:00.000+08:00

Spent another weekend doing house cleaning...

On Sat, I touched up the paint while Dear cleaned the kitchen window grills. How to remove persistent grease on window grills? (Drum rolls...) Use Shell formula 92!! Yes... use petrol!! More efffective than other grease removers... and even the gloves cannot stand the petrol! Poor Dear cleaned until hand skin becomes very dry...

Dear's parents and grandma bought a fan and kettle for the 入伙 Ceremony on Sunday. Grandma told us to complete the task between 11 am to 12 noon. The moment we went into the house this morning, we had to switch on the fan and boil water, so that 风生水起 (wind from fan and boil water using the kettle)... then put oranges, pineapple, candies, tea leaves and 发糕 as offerings... burnt candles in the house and the incent paper at the corridor. Dear's mum threw some rice and salt on the floor before we left the house.

The furniture will be delivered this Sat... the next thing on the agenda is... pack things up and get ready to move! \(^o^)/

Samung Home Theatre System

2006-09-28T20:14:00.000+08:00

Initially did not think of getting any home theatre system... but after we got the Samsung LCD, think it would be better to have one to enhance the enjoyment... else it is such a waste to spend a bomb on the TV hahaha...

Dear found this in online forum... Samsung home theatre system HT-P10... the seller got it free with purchase of TV... original price is $300+ (as advertised)... we bought it at $140!!! Another good deal!

The seller let us test the system at his house... though it is just a basic home theatre system, it is good enough for us.

Need to think how to mount the rear speakers... hmm...

Renovation Completed!

2006-09-26T20:28:00.000+08:00

Last Sat was the official hand-over of the flat... renovation is officially completed!

As we were not satisfied with the cleaning, and one of the items stated on the contract was not required to do, we asked the contractor to deduct the payable amount... so in the end we spent $4150 on renovation...hehehe...

Spent last weekend to do house cleaning again... we cleaned the wardrobes, shoe rack and window grills... Dear's dad helped to mount the curtain poles.

This coming Sat we will be going to settle some minor things and Sunday we will have 入伙 ceremony... we have also arranged the mattress, bed frame, sofa, TV console and dining table to be delivered on 7 Oct.

Some pictures of our love nest.. click the icon on the right or here to see the updated photo album...

living room

kitchen sliding doors

curtain poles

switches for light & heater in master bedroom

switches for lights in study room

switches for lights in living room

male maid at work

Spring Cleaning!

2006-09-17T23:46:00.000+08:00

Spent the weekend doing spring cleaning! 疲れた!!

The cleaners obviously didn't clean properly... the kitchen cabinet and window grills are still very oily... and dunno what acid they used to wash the homogenous tiles... the grouts are as dirty as before cleaning!

Let us see a magic show performed by me, Dear and Dear's mum on the grouts of homogenous tiles (take note on the grouts... the colour of the tiles is a bit weird due to insufficient lighting):

before scrubing

after scrubing

Do u see the difference? (If your answer is no, please go and see doctor to check your eyesight)

How to do it? We used a chemical called Zoom Cleaner (bought by Dear's mum 5 years ago)... then scrubbed the grouts with a scouring pad... each single grout in the house!! Kneel down for 3 hours on Sat... until my knees are still painful today :p

Dear' dad is our electrician... helped us to change the sockets and switches to new ones. Sure u will not miss the switch of the light in the room!

king size switch for the lights

On Sunday, Dear and me spent 3 hours to clean the kitchen cabinet... yes it takes 3 hours for 2 persons to clean the kitchen cabinet only... coz it is super super dirty!! Can see the brown colour on the cloth... gotta use grease cleaner + CIF + magic sponge to make it clean!!

Round 2 of cleaning the coming weekend... to clean the wardrobes, window grills and shoe cabinet... muscle ache now :p

Our "Chio" TV! Renovation Almost Done!

2006-09-03T23:32:00.000+08:00

Initially we wanted to get a 29" CRT TV coz of the low price, around $500 only... and thought that since it is not HD era yet, it is not necessary to get a HDMI TV now.

Yesterday, Dear, his dad and me went to Audio House to take a look... the LCD TVs did not really catch my attention due to the high prices... I scanned through the price tags and ignored those that are more than $2k... until I came across this...

Samsung LA32R71B... 32" LCD!

Compared to other brands that are displayed next to it, its image appears to be brighter and richer in colour... and I would say that its design is super "chio"! Immediately fall in love with this TV! The selling price at Audio House is $2199, but there is rebate of $300 by Samsung... so it is $1899, less than $2k! This price is reasonable for such a "chio" TV!

Then we went to Hong Liang @Jalan Bukit Merah to compare price... it is $99 cheaper there. Think it is great to get a "chio" TV in our "chio" house... we finally bought this TV from HL today! Both happy and sad - happy to get the dream TV... sad to over-budget (by $1.3k!!)... Anyway, looking forward to the delivery of this "chio" TV!

Our renovation of the house is almost done... the kitchen door will be installed tomorrow...

Some pictures of our bedrooms with different colours...

Master bedroom - the blue room

blue room and the matching toilet door

Study room - the violet room (on the left... can't see clearly from the photo)

Guest room - the lime room

But we are very angry with the cleaning.. the acid wash did some damages to the homogenous tiles... then the cleaners also don't know how they clean... they make the window grills, sink and bathroom accessories very dirty... worse than if they don't clean them! And many places are not clean at all! I think that such cleaning does not worth us to pay $220! Will talk to the contractor tomorrow to see what can be done... Think if I do the cleaning, I'll do much better than those cleaners!!

Renovation More Than 50% Done!

2006-08-22T18:19:00.000+08:00

Renovation more than 50% done!

Updates: kitchen solid-top, hob, aluminum backing at stove area, two toilet bi-fold doors, water heater, main door lock set and window grill lock installed...

Take a look at the surrounding of our love nest - convenient location, with community centre and Compass Point nearby... there is a bus stop and Shell station downstairs.

I'm quite satisfied with the kitchen solid-top... the colour really matches our cabinet! The sink is installed below the solid-top, looks very nice!

Look at the toilet doors... so colourful! The top one is the kitchen toilet, the other one is the master bedroom toilet.

It is only one week and so many things are done! Now left with painting, installation of tap & toilet accessories, washing and other minor stuffs... so happy \(^o^)/

Cheap and Nice Stools

2006-08-20T22:40:00.000+08:00

See what we have bought today! Cheap and nice stools at $2.90 each... bought half a dozen from V-Hive warehouse... all the way back to Sengkang from the other end of the island - Jurong... hahaha...

Renovation in Progess

2006-08-20T21:24:00.000+08:00

Renovation in progess...

kitchen

heater installed in master bedroom toilet

Renovation Started!

2006-08-16T21:36:00.000+08:00

Renovation started today!

Our contractor quoted us $4.3k for the followings:

A. Carpentary work

Supply labour to dismantle postform top for kitchen cabinet
Supply labour to alter the kitchen cabinet for kitchen hood
Supply labour and materials to install plywood for kitchen top
Supply labour and materials to change the kitchen cabinet hinges
Supply labour and materials to change the disk racks for kitchen cabinet
Supply labour and materials to install stainless steel panel backing at stove area
Supply labour to repair shoe rack drawer
Supply labour to install hob and hood
Supply labour and materials to install L-shape solid top for kitchen cabinet

B. Plumbing work

Supply labour and materials to change flushing systems for two toilets
Supply labour to install sink and sink tap

C. Air-con work

Supply labour to chemical wash for system 2 air-con and fill up air-con gas

D. Painting work

Supply labour to paint interial ceiling and wall for whole house (max 5 colours), including pipings, doors and door frames

E. Door work

Supply labour and materials to install aluminium sliding door for kitchen entrance (3 slides)
Supply labour to change main door lock set
Supply labour and materials to install aluminium bi-fold door with arcyclic for two toilets

F. General work

Supply labour to do acid wash for the whole house
Supply labour and materials to install one twin socket at kitchen
Supply labour to install heater in master room toilet
Supply labour to install toilet accessories
Supply labour and materials to install ceiling light holders for two toilets

Today is the first day and they have done quite a number of works... the corners at kitchen entrance, old toilet doors and postform kitchen top are removed... the place in kitchen cabinet where the hood are to be installed is altered... disk racks, sink and hood are installed.

We also informed the contractor the colour of paint we want... all from ICI. We are going to paint one wall of each room a different colour. The main colour is sail white... master bedroom has a blue (oceantide) wall... study room has a violet wall... another bedroom has a green (lime fizz) wall... living room has an earth colour (natural cane) wall... the doors will be painted dark brown (leather) and the gate will be painted light blue (swatch)... the pipings and bomb shelter door will be rose white in colour. As for the arc;ic of the toilet doors, we choose two colours for each door... the toilet in kitchen will be purple and yellow colour, while the one in master bedroom will be white and blue colour. Wow... our love nest is gonna be very colourful!

Bought Kitchen and Bathroom Stuffs

2006-08-13T21:29:00.000+08:00

We have bought the following items today:

Rinnai Hood (RH382) and Hob (RV 2FV SV): $480

Rectangular glass shelves for bathrooms (x2): $36
Corner glass shelves for bathrooms (x2): $30
Stainless steel double rail holders (x2): $52
Stainless steel toilet roll holders (x2): $30
Champs (Tiger) water heater: $110
Sink: $98
Tap: $32

Bought first 6 items from Poh Joo and last two from Royal Fanco... both are located at Jalan Besar. The friendly guy that we met at Poh Joo on Thu was not around today, then the guy who served us today was a bit turn-off type, but we still bought from them as the price is reasonable... tried to bargain but could only got a free 4 ft hose for the water heater... better than nothing.

Kitchen & Bathroom Stuffs Hunting... Contractor Engaged

2006-08-10T22:47:00.000+08:00

Spent two days to source for kitchen and bathroom stuffs... went to IMM yesterday and then to Jalan Bukit Merah & Jalan Besar today...

Shopping list:

Hood
Hob
Kitchen sink
Tap
Toilet accessories (shelves, toilet paper holder)
Heater

We went to Poh Joo this afternoon. We were served by a friendly staff, who was very helpful and told us about pros & cons of some of the products. He is not those hard-selling salesperson, he even said that there was no obligation when he quoted us the prices as he knew that we were just doing our "homework". He even served us drinks though we didn't confirm buying from them. Where to find such saleperson nowadays? Really satisfied with his service and will buy from them this weekend.

For hood and hob, we have learnt something about them in the past two days... I couldn't differentiate these two terms last time and I have never used hood in my life haha! We are going to get Rinnai (Japanese brand) after reading the reivews from forums. Initially wanted to get three-burners hob (the stove), but think we cannot cook 3 dishes at the same time, so will get two-burners type. Though glass one looks quite nice, Rinnai only has black colour one, which does not fit our kitchen cabinet colour... will be too outstanding... getting stainless steel type. As for the hood (the one on top to suck the smoke), will be getting slim type with charcoal filter... cannot get chimney type as there is a cabinet on the top. Hood with charcoal filter is relatively easier to clean, suitable for a lazy person like me hehe.

For sink, due to the existing size of our L-shape cabinet, we can only buy a small single sink.

We have also engaged Andy as our contractor... he is recommended by my Singaporebride forum friend... think his price is reasonable... met him this evening to finalise the details of the contract, will be meeting him again on Sat to sign contract.

Getting Things Done...

2006-07-30T22:12:00.000+08:00

Met two contractors over the weekend... waiting for their quotation... one is recommended by friend while the other one is recommended by father-in-law. Think it is better to hire a contractor through the words of mouth rather than searching through newspaper / exhibition... more reliable.

Found that the colour of the bed frame we chose last time did not really match the built-in wardrobe... we remembered the colour of the wardrobe wrongly... thought it was walnut colour and so chose the bed frame to be cream + tan colur... but it is actually pine wood colour... so we decided to change to black frame. Think the black frame is elegant, and goes well with different colours of bedsheet.

Went to Ackerman @Toa Payoh to change the colour and fix the delivery date... will be getting all the furiture from Ackerman and Star Furniture on 28 Oct!

the display set @Ackerman

Before Renovation

2006-07-27T16:11:00.000+08:00

More pictures of our love nest!

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Master bedroom built-in wardrobe

Study room built-in wardrobe

The Beginning

2006-07-25T21:13:00.000+08:00

On Sunday, we went to our love nest to do some tidying up and to meet up with the contractor recommended by our housing agent.

We swept the floor, took out some unwanted screws... and "hammered" the floor (of coz gently!!) as a symbol of 动土... so that the renovation work can start.

The first contractor we met seemed to quite sincere... but the price he quoted was a bit high... can u imagine changing the hinges of the kitchen cabinet and polishing up require $850?? Going to meet another contractor recommended by Dear's dad on this Sat...

The beginning of our journey of building up the love nest...

It Is Our Love Nest

2006-07-25T20:54:00.000+08:00

Here is the living room of our love nest!

Entrance

Living Room with False Ceiling

More photos will be uploaded soon... stay tuned...

Collection of House Key

2006-07-22T14:31:00.000+08:00

We have collected our house key this morning! So excited!! But also a bit heart ache after paying the housing agent fee (1% of selling price of house + GST!!... yes, also gotta pay GST on top of that 1%) and micellaneous fee (the seller paid till end of this year so gotta pay him back).

In the afternoon, Dear, his parents and me went to our house. We prayed prayed before opening the door, and when the door was opened, we rolled two pineapples into the house to bring good luck... also put a sponge cake 发糕 to symbolise prosperity.

So happy... looking forward building up our love nest! \(^o^)/

Final Inspection

2006-07-21T21:05:00.000+08:00

Just went to the new house for final inspection before the handing of house key tomorrow.

Things to be done:
Change toilet door for both toilets
Change the table top of kitchen cabinet
Wash the floor
Wash the toilet
Basically wash everything....

Finally getting the key tomorrow!! \(^o^)/

Collecting House Key on 22 July

2006-07-14T22:52:00.000+08:00

Finally... we are getting the house key on 22 July!

Lucky it would be just before lunar 7th month starts, so we can start renovating our house!

Floor Plan of Our Love Nest

2006-07-07T16:06:00.000+08:00

The floor plan of our love nest...

Furniture Hunting for Our Living Room

2006-07-02T23:09:00.000+08:00

We went to Furniture Mall and Ikea yesterday, and went to Star Furniture @Toh Guan today... their 25th anniversary promotion is going on... shortlisted the dining table and sofa. The salesman who served us was very friendly and not too hard-selling, when we left there he even said, "u can go other places to make comparison...", unlike some other sales people who turned black face when we left the shop. Then we went to IMM, but couldn't find anything there, so we went back to Star Furniture.

Here are what we've bought for our living room:

- Rozel L-shaped sofa with movable stool (frame: Black PVC, body: Maroon suede): $459
- Sidi-N/WF 6ft TV sideboard with temper glass silding doors: $399
- Dante/AOW Wooden Top Dining Table + Dante Chairs (2 black and 2 dark brown): $399
- Sunflower stool: $0.25

We bought over $1k, so we got a free small sunflower stool and a bigger one at $0.25 only! Also entitled to 6 dips for lucky draw, but only got a namecard holder... better than nothing... hehe.

Since the fixed shoe rack is walnut colour,the kitchen cabinet and bedroom built-in wardrobes are in shades of brown, we chose furniture that is in this colour series. But everything brown brown also does not look interesting, so we decided to have maroon suede cover for the sofa so as to make the overall feel more comtemporary.

It took us sometime to decide whether to get leather or fabric sofa... have done some researches and here are our findings:

- Leather: classy look, but not easy to maintain, especially when there is no air-con in the living room. . also may feel hot when sitting on it
- Fabric: easy to maintain as just require to wash the cover, but would absorb sweat easily
- Suede: the touch is comfortable, but need dry-cleaning
- PVC: easy to maintain as just require to wipe with warm water, but may crack over time

The sofa we chose has a PVC-covered frame and suede-covered body, so PVC would not crack easily since no one will sit on the frame, and no need to dry clean so many things... I like the touch of suede material. Think it is a good combination.

For the dining table, initially we wanna try the DIY table from Ikea, fix ourselves. But the material is fibre board which is filmsy and may not withstand heat and cold, resulting in an ugly mark on the surface. At Star Furniture, there is a silmilar table that has temper glass top instead of wood, though the salesman "wacked" the table with a fork and nothing happened, we are worried that it is not easy to clean the glass top, and feel that if there is a crack, it would be very obvious. We also don't like to have transparent glass table - look at your feet when eating??! Argh!! Think the wooden table is the best choice. We are also given choices of colour of the chairs, the salesman recommended 2 different colours so that it would not be so boring, he demonstrated by rearranging the chairs of the display set. It really looks better with 2 different colours!

Think it is really a good deal - $1257.25 for all furniture in living room!

Mattress Hunting

2006-06-25T15:11:00.000+08:00

We have been to Furniture Mall and IMM to look at the furnitures... and been to some mattress stores to test mattress... now then I learn more about mattress... good mattresses are very expensive, but we think it worths to spend a bit more to have good sleep.. and also learn that some sales people are really hard-selling (>.<")

Yesterday we went to Toa Payoh... initially we were served by a lady, who turned black face after we wanted to leave the shop. Another salesman came out of the shop immediately and offered us discount... finally persuaded us to buy Simmons mattress and bed frame... $2K+!! Kinda heartache... but frankly speaking, that mattress is really comfortable to lie on...

That is the first thing we bought for our love nest!

Our Love Nest

2006-06-25T15:06:00.000+08:00

2005 - The Beginning of Love Nest Hunting

Applied Build-to-order twice... the first time was Buangkok, the second time was Punggol... the first time didn't even get a queue no., the second time got a super big no... think no point to waste a trip to HDB to get the left-over flat. And it takes 3-5 years before the completion, so where to stay during this period of time? Or should postpone the wedding till then? So drop the idea of getting BTO flat.

The walk-in flats in Sengkang, Hougang, Punggol and Tiong Bahru are available for races other than Chinese, tried to appeal to HDB also no use.

Flats in Tiong Bahru are super super expensive... can u imagine 4-room flat at more than $300k? So decided to get a flat at Sengkang area.

In the end, we decided to get a resale flat. One advantage is that we can choose the location and the furishing that we like, another advantage is that we can use less cash in renovation since the main furnishings are done.

That is the beginning of our house hunting...

April 2006 - We've Finally Found Our Love Nest

Have been hunting for house for about 1 month... last weekend we went to view a 4-room flat at Anchorvale Drive, near Sengkang MRT. We felt quite good when we entered the house... the renovation was done nicely and well maintained... false ceiling with spot lights, the floor is covered with homogenous tiles, the kitchen cabinet is in good condition, there are build-in wardrobes and air-con in 2 bedrooms. Compared to most of the 4-room flats which have one bedroom windows along the corridor, this house is so-called semi-corner with only living room windows facing corridor.

The agents seemed to be quite "gan chiong" in this deal... they asked us to write a cheque as deposit first then the seller agent would represent us to negotiate. Initially I was worried that we would be cheated... somehow everything went fine, and the owner accepted our final offer $258k... $2k above evaluation price. First time in my life buying so expensive thing!!! Anyway glad that it is just $2k above evaluation price, which is to be paid by cash. One week ago, we made an offer $10k above evaluation price for another house, eventually he sold to someone who offered $2k more than us! I was quite sad to lose that time, but now when I come to think about it, it was actually blessing in disguise... though the final value of this house is $1k higher than that house, but the renovation and layout are much better, and we no need to take out so much cash... saved $8k cash for buying furniture and electrical appliances!

Will be going to the house with parents on Sat... then the agent will help to arrange appointment with HDB.

Viewing houses is really a tiring, but quite enjoyable process.... feel so relieved now...

21 June 2006 - Promotion to Property Owners

There were many papers to sign during the HDB appointment... now we are upgraded to property-owners hahaha... but our CPF accounts are cleared. Waiting for the next HDB appointment for completion in late July and we can get ready for renovation!