Lemony Clean

29 Aug 07 - After spending several brain-cracking weeks agonising over how to get rid of water marks on our solid surface kitchen counter top, we finally have the answer: Lemon Pledge!

This was first recommended to us by our contractor, but we were initially a little hesitant as it said "Furniture Polish" on the can. And despite our best efforts, we couldn't find anywhere on the label which says that it could be used on solid surfaces.

Nevertheless, we continued to hunt around for something suitable, and received other suggestions ranging from the proverbial "magic sponge" to simply wiping the stain every now and then and it should disappear on its own in 2 or 3 months' time. It was only after a friend mentioned that he had been cleaning his solid surface with Lemon Pledge, that we felt reassured enough to try it.

Following the directions on the can, I sprayed a little on a piece of cloth and started to rub it on a spot on the kitchen counter. It looked liked wax but was strangely cold. Anyway, the amazing thing is that the moment I applied it on the counter, I could see that the embedded glittery stuff all came to life! I happily started applying it to the entire edge of the counter as you can see below:

If it were not for the fact that it was getting late, I would have continued to polish the entire kitchen counter. Now I just have to delay my satisfaction until the weekend.

- Melvin

Security In the Home

Most of us probably ain't aware of how much a padlock can cost, probably $30 at most? Anyway, we decided to invest in a Durolock. It comes in a 2-in-1 package, whereby the smaller one is given FOC. We had only wanted to buy the main lock, but then it costs $128, whereas the package price is $148. So being typical kiasu Singaporeans, we decided to make the most of our money and got the package instead. Surprisingly, its quite easy to install, and it's really very secure! The gate hardly shakes no matter how much u tug at it, lol. Really a good investment for home security! Convenient to use too, since its fixed onto the gate and you don't have to remove the whole padlock whenever you want to open the gate! I think it looks kinda cool, lol.

We spent our Saturday morning at the flat waiting for the Starhub guys to come to fix the reception thingy for our TV. So sad, as we modified the location of our TV point, we won't be able to view SCV in the living room, only in the bedrooms. But its ok lah, I hardly watch TV anyway. I prefer DVDs! Don't like the service guy's attitude, felt like smacking him upside down.

The guys from Sim Win Liang came to install our storeroom shelvings. We ordered the Made in Italy steel range. Supposed to be able to tahan 200 kg per shelve for the smaller size racks and 150 kg for the bigger one. Guess what? They brought the wrong sizes!!! Liew. Anyway, the guy came back again at night and finished the rest of the installation. It was very fast, less than 20 mins, haha. So happy manz, finally we can stack up our things nicely instead of leaving them around everywhere! Cleaned all the stuff and wrapped up all the remaining tiles as though we were wrapping up X'mas presents, wahahahhaaa. Very nicely done, cos I am freaking particular when it comes to cleaning and packing. I can bo chup on extreme imperfections in my bedroom in my parents' home, but strangely, for our new place, nothing escapes my eye, wahahahahhaa! Perhaps this is what most people refer to as "san fen zhong re du". Who knows after some time I will revert back to my "close one eye" habit, lol.

Very satisfied with this~!

The guy from Homelovers Wallpaper Centre also came to install the bamboo chicks for our balcony. I think it looks kinda cool! In fact, our future next door neighbour won't be able to look over anymore! Yay!

Inner view~


Outter view with clear plastic protective sheet~

We also got something kinda important last week - a microwave with grill. Although we don't know how the hell to use it, but its ok, we're happy with using just the heating up function for the moment, haha. Will microwave some chicken sandwich for Arsie the next time she comes over(private joke there)!

Our Sanyo microwave sitting obediently beside the fridge~

Hb set up the DVD player on Saturday as well~! Had to make do with it since we haven't buy our home theather system. Had a great time yesterday evening watching VCD over dinner, kinda comfy with the aircon on. I think it will be even cosier if our living rooms have curtains! Gonna settle the curtain thingy after we come back from Japan!

Making do with the Philips DVD player for the moment~ better than nothing haha~

After weeks of babbling about the wrapped up dining table, here it is~!



Placed an artistic vase on the small wall shelve in our study. I think it looks better after taking out the fake shiny rose, haha! See when free gotta go shop for cool clocks for the house. Very irritating to keep having to fish out our hps from our bags just to look at the time!



Some of the church members came over to see see look look yesterday. Kinda amusing to note that while so many people have viewed our place, our folks have not, lol. Thus, The Low Clan came over yesterday evening, and tabao-ed dinner for us as well, hehe.

So sweet of Meanie & family to buy us this steamboat-steamer thingy. Looks kinda "chim" to me though. It's weird in a way sometimes, when I don't know how to use certain things that I receive, but just the receiving part makes me kinda excited, wahahahhaha! It's like there MIGHT be a chance of using it, and I am kinda looking forward to the exploration part. It's like a new toy for me, haha!

- Phebe

Simple Needs

23 Aug 07 - We have pans. And pots. And a wok and a microwave. Our cooker hob and hood are installed and the gas supply is connected. We have almost everything you need to cook up a storm.

Except that our combined culinary prowess extends to nothing more than fried eggs and instant noodles. So if we are looking forward to living beyond our 40s, it's probably time to start investing in some cook books or cooking lessons.

Now that our Corner is more or less in a livable condition, my mind has gradually turned to our lives together in future and how we can make this place as cozy as possible. Simple acts like coming home to a warm dinner may seem unremarkable when you are still living with your parents. But now that we have to set up our own home, I tend to find myself unconsciously dissecting the details behind stuff that I would have taken for granted. For example, to get a bowl of hot steaming soup on the table, I would need a few items of which I am only familiar with 2 --- the pot and water. I have a vague idea that bones and veggies are involved, but I'm not exactly keen on the idea of murdering myself and my spouse just yet.

And how about watching TV programmes after dinner? For that you need a TV, a sofa, and a clean floor. Why a clean floor? Well, when you dive into your sofa's fluffy cushions, I honestly doubt you would want to leave a trail of footprints on the upholstery. Anyway, I have the first 2 items, but my floor has this mysterious ability to coat itself with a layer of fine white powder within 10 secs after I spend 1 hour mopping the entire house. So that still remains to be resolved.

The complexity behind some of these everyday activities really boggles the mind. But at the same time, they also help to bring everyone to the same level at some point in the day. Regardless of whether you are a high flying senior manager or a new entrant to the workforce, at the end of the day, you will need clean floors, hot food in your belly and possibly, someone lovely to curl up next to on the couch. And that's probably what life's all about, isn't it?

- Melvin

Never ending shopping

19th Aug 2007 - Sometimes it kinda amazes me at the rate we are shopping. The trend has shifted from shopping for furnitures, lightings and bathroom accessories to household hardware and cleaning detergents. Not that it ain't fun, but it's kind of interesting to progress from one stage to the next. I am pretty sure after all these main things are settled, we'll be shopping for groceries. There seems to be never ending things to buy and the list gets longer and longer, lol.

Personally, I never thought that buying things like insecticide and sponges can be so... errm... interesting. You would have thought that its just a grab and go kind of thing, but no. We spent at least 10 mins on each item trying to decide which is the best type of sponge, best cockroach terminator, best looking bamboo poles (also known as "tekko", lol)...etc. Never thought the day would come when I would actually be shopping for washing bags, hangers, clips, mops, chopping board...etc. Oh, and we finally bought our kitchen dustbin at Boon Lay! Good and cheap, only $24! Need to buy another 3 smaller ones for the rooms though. Will make a trip to IMM's Sim Siang Choon to buy those pretty ones, hehe. I love the white colour metal bin!

Its amazing how much those small little stuff can add up to, or am I being too fussy? Most of the time, we end up buying more expensive alternatives as I have this Cheap-Is-Not-Good mindset, lol. I think Hb already gave up on trying to persuade me to buy the cheaper range as he knows he can't win me verbally, haha! But somehow I always brainwash him by saying its all for his own good, cos buying better quality stuff will help HIM in one way or another, be it cleaning or whatsoever, wahahahahhaa~!

Speaking about cleaning, I came to the realization recently that my girls have indeed been very supportive one way or another, with quite a few offering to come over to help Hb and I clean the house. Either that, or I get super practical gifts from them! Love ya, Arsie & Eve!

Going to start hunting for our microwave and errm, knives. I need some time to do some research, lol. That's me, the typical kiasu Singaporean~! :D

Latest gains (electrical appliances) from CK Tang :

You know, sometimes I really wish someone would invent some cheap water dispenser that can dispense hot, warm and cold water. At the moment, Elken offers such a thing, but well, its freaking expensive. No way am I gonna splurge on something like that! Not as if we are heavy drinkers anyway, lol. Bought another quilt cover set at OG on Saturday as well :)

Taken right after Hb mopped the floor sparkling clean~!

I like this dim lighting effect~

Lazy to take out the quilt cover.....

- Phebe

Up and Running!

16 August 07 - If you have seen some of the photos in the previous post, you must have realised that Our Corner has now been officially upgraded to Up-and-Running status. The furniture have all arrive, the carpentry is completed, the glass panels are all in the right sizes, and the floor feels squeaky clean.

Finally, everything feels right. On hindsight, it feels a little strange that we no longer have to fuss over whether the painting is complete, or if the glass panels are properly installed. Instead, after 3 days of sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing, washing, mopping, and scrapping, Our Corner finally feels like a home and not a construction site.

Nevertheless, there are still some imperfections which are awaiting the carpenter's touches. But we are not losing any sleep over those details as those should be completed without much fuss. More importantly, we have now progressed from worrying about glass, wood and cement, to detergent, mops and towels. It probably still demands the same amount of attention and effort, but somehow, we're just so much more happier doing it now that we can touch and feel the end result.

This whole experience of renovation has been rather humbling. For example, I never knew that it was so difficult to have clean floors. Who would know that the cement grouting has a nasty habit of leaving a fine powder all over the living room despite repeated moppings and vacuumings? Now I finally discover that clean floors are truly a privilege and not an entitlement.

So what lies ahead? Probably more weekends spent hunkered over stubborn stains or in supermarkets shopping for stuff to fill our shelves. Getting Our Corner ready is truly only half the battle. The next half will be fought throughout the rest of our mortal lives with lots of water, detergent and a good vacuum cleaner. Sounds daunting, but in truth, I'm kind of looking forward to it. Not because I intend to take up housework as my latest hobby, but everything just feels right when you know you're working hard to miantain your home in the best condition. Sappy but true.

- Melvin

Our Corner!!!

As promised, here are some pics of the latest updates!



Our 42" Panasonic plasma TV~ Looks kinda small...


OM sofa & Cellini coffee table~


We're gonna chop off that portruding board of the TV feature wall to make room for walking!


Our WIW mirror finally reaches full height, lol


Some of the bedding & storage stuff, not set up yet~





The bathroom mirror is finally up~! Kiasu us wrapped up all our bathroom accessories, haha!


Cool~


Love this! Our super quiet 8.5kg top load direct drive inverter washing machine~! So compact!


We got an upgrade at no extra cost, wahahahaha!


Our messy kitchen with bottles of detergent in the sink, lol


- Phebe

Shopping @ IKEA

12th Aug 2007 - After church, Hb and I went to Ikea to shop for storage boxes to contain our clothes. We had 2 hours to shop before we had to go for our appointment at French Bridal. Bought a hell lot of things such as those nice storage boxes, laundry basket (they have a new range, nice!) and those wardrobe divider/compartments. Total damage: $191.40

At night, we shifted everything in my room (those items we bought for the house) to our new flat. Liew, didn't know we actually bought so many things! Finally my bedroom doesn't look like a warehouse anymore, lol. Biang, it was raining cats and dogs the loading bay was full. We had to shift everything to the other side of my blk (many trips required, mind you) where the other loading bay was and then I went to get the car. Haha, Hb was drenched in the process as he had to carry everything and dump them in the boot. Cos there were so many items, it took us about 35 mins just to load everything inside the car (it was packed full to the brim including the back seats, lol)! It didn't help that it was raining heavily too, which caused more delay. Finally got everything unloaded at our blk and just when the lift reached the 14th floor, guess what Hb said?

"DEAR THE KEYS ARE IN MY BAG IN YOUR BEDROOM"

Wah lao!!! I was ready to smack him there and then!!! Liew!!!! Raining heavily somemore leh!!! Everytime also forget this and forget that!! Manz!!! So no choice, I had to drive back again just to get the stupid key!!!! So ma fan!!! Ok, its very near, but still!!!!! Liew!!!

Finally got everything into the flat and we started unpacking the stuff. Washed the plates, bowls, blah blah blah. Oh, and tested the washing machine again by washing the quilt cover and bedsheets. Really quiet, haha! :)

- Phebe

The Big Clean Up & Deliveries~!

9th - 11th Sep 2007 - Never been so hardworking in my life before~ Hb and I spent about 3 days cleaning up our place and now its spick and span, yay!

While people are relaxing at home or going out during National Day, Hb and I spent the whole morning and afternoon cleaning up our house. Bought one of those brooms that people use to swipe water, lol. Oh, and karpo some of Mdm Yik's Amway multi-purpose cleaner, very effective at cleaning anything!

We started off with me vacuuming the place with my aunt's old Bomba (that's the name of her vacuum cleaner, lol) and Hb cleaning all the windows. Then I mopped the whole place a few times while he cleaned all the internal shelvings of the WIW, kitchen cabinets, shoe cabinets and oh, both toilets, haha~!

The above pic shows the still messy state of our corner. Our bathroom mirrors finally came in on Wed and were mounted on Friday~!



All thanks to the toilet manager for cleaning up the toilets so nicely~!





The guest room and MBR respectively. Spotlessly clean after a few rounds of vacuuming and mopping by yours truly~! See the shine on the floor? We even cleaned the feature walls~!

Our furniture came in on Friday, and you'll be surprised the guys actually came 1 hour early except for Courts... they were late by 30 mins, lol. Our sofa set from OM came in first, followed by our dining chairs from BHG and boy, I'm so glad we decided to change it to this instead of the original heavy ones! Kinda excited and went around taking videos of the process, I bet the delivery men must be thinking I am crazy or something~! Cellini came after that and brought in our bed, coffee table and complimentary table lamp and 2 fibre pillows. Biang, we didn't expect the bed to be so big... it took up so much space that there was no room to walk between our MBR Tv feature wall and the foot of the bed frame! Haiz, we gonna get Ah Hua (our carpenter) to chop off the portruding part of the Tv feature wall to make room for walking across. Looks like it can only be done in a few days time. Sianz... the room will be messy again with all the dust...

Enjoying the rest of my lunch while waiting for Cellini to finish unpacking the bed frame outside, haha~


Our king size bed from Cellini~








Our coffee table and sofa~





Our dining chairs from BHG and dining table from Mondi~

Courts finally delivered our plasma TV and after that the Panasonic guy came to install it for us. Was kinda afraid that our TV feature wall tiles would crack in the process as we have been told that would happen cos of the drilling. I told the guy beforehand over the phone about this problem and he said he would see what he can do. Guess what? The tiles didn't crack!!! In fact, they did a wonderful job with the drilling by adding water on the tiles first (dunno what's that for) before drilling the holes to contain the Tv bracket and the workmanship was good - no cracks at all!!! Superb~!

The guys from Panasonic hard at work. Will post up pics of the completed job soon!

Our Toshiba washing machine, Mitsubishi fridge and Philips vacuum cleaner came in on Saturday evening~! The delivery guy from Kong Tai tested the washing machine for us and there we were, 2 idiots standing there wondering why nothing happened until the guy told us there was no sound cos its an inverter unit and true enough, I looked down and saw that the machine had indeed started on its washing process! When they brought in the fridge, I wondered out loud how come the design looked nicer than the one we had ordered, then the guy told us that there was no more stock and they are replacing it with the new model (same capacity) at no extra cost! Wahahahaha so happy! Will post pics of these items up soon!

I love my new Philips vacuum cleaner - FC 9150. Really very good suction power! The old Bomba died and revived several times during the cleaning process and it was kinda annoying. I'm so glad the new one came in just in time!

Now we are left with our easy chair from Barang Barang not delivered.... no more stock until 29th Sep!!! Liew.

Personally, although this whole cleaning thing is super tiring, I got to admit that it is actually kinda fun in a way and we really feel a sense of satisfaction after all the hard work and seeing our house spick and span. A small crisis happened though - I accidentally flooded the living room while cleaning the balcony! Biang... there I was, happily pouring pails of water to wash off the detergent and the stupid water went through the bottom of the glass doors and got onto the laminate flooring as well as the living room! Hb and I rushed like hell to clean up the water on the laminate flooring as we were afraid it might be damaged. After we cleared the mess on that area, we focused on cleaning up the mess in the living room. We had 2 mops. Hb stationed at the toilet while I mopped up the water and ran to the toilet to pass him Mop 1 to rinse off and took the nicely rinsed Mop 2 to clean up more mess, then took the wet Mop 2 back to the toilet for Hb to clean while he passed me the cleaned and rinsed Mop 1 and the process repeated, haha. Was kinda frantic during those moments and fed up too, especially when I was yelling at him to bring more pails of water to the balcony and he couldn't hear me cos he was in the toilet refilling the pails and the door was closed! Ok, so now we realise that glass is sound proof. Liew. Took more than 30 mins to clean up the mess and boy, it was so tiring! After that whole thing, we finally had time to take the grapes out of the fridge and slumped on the sofa watching Tv while munching, lol.

- Phebe

Rectifications & Touch-Up

8th Aug 2007 - I took half day leave from work to go up to the flat to settle those touch-up stuff. Managed to settle quite a number of things, like the painting, carpentry, plumbing, electrical stuff...etc. And guess what? Our new TV console is up! Love the black mirror!!! Byebye to the ugly Tv console!

Love our new Tv console!!!


- Phebe

And it became white once again....

4th August 2007 - Hb and I went up to our place and were pleased to find that there were 3 painters this time instead of 1 pathetic painter. Here's the latest change...






Yeah manz.... the red beam now becomes white. Actually I have been thinking about this for at least 2 weeks until I finally decided to give the green light to paint the red to white. Haiz, I still prefer the red but this is ok too. I mean, it makes the house look bigger and more spacious, the magic of illusion. A few people like me, Nicole, Arsie and Famous Meng prefer the red though. Haiz, if not for the fact that Mdm Yik told me once all the furniture are in the whole look will be different and the red may not be nice, I would never have agreed to repaint the red to white. I bet the painter must be cursing us behind his back, lol, for making him paint from white to red and now red to white again, lol.

The entrance foyer~


Study table is up! Love it~!


Kitchen cabinet handles & dish rack are up too~

Artistic view of the WIW

The full height mirror that is not exactly full height no thanks to the glass supplier again!! They're gonna redo it.

Luckily this is correct.


MBR toilet done~!


Common toilet too! Except for the mirror. To be delivered this Wed, haha.

Tata for now~ Watch this space for more updates!

- Phebe

Grumblings about the WONDERFUL glass supplier

As promised, here is my entry about the "wonderful" glass supplier and their works. You would have thought that only carpentry would cause delay, but well, glass works too, and more troublesome as well!

For those who have been faithfully reading our blog, you would know by now that our lil corner is like a glass house, aka fish tank, lol. The construction of this glass house cocked up not once but more than 3 times, and it's getting extremely annoying. First of all, the glass supplier fixed the balcony's glass door at the wrong position. Both pieces should be sitting on the divider that separates the living room and balcony, but yet.... have a look at the pics below and you will know what I mean...

It's freaking ugly!!! MAnz, so pissed! Apparently, according to the glass experts, they were unable to fix both doors at the intended position as it would be dangerous, being too near to the edge of the concrete beam. Their logic made sense. Our ID insisted that it can be done and reassured us that the problem would be solved. Two days later, he came back and tell us that NO, the glass supplier can't fix the doors at their intended position afterall cos of the same reason - safety. He was wondering if we were able to "live with it" but we insisted that he redo the tiling to reposition the divider. He finally relented, but the tiler took a few days to rectify the mistake. See? Kena delay again.

Secondly, the glass supplier took the wrong measurement for the connecting door between our MBR and WIW as well as the MBR toilet's door. Guess what? Kena delay another week as they needed time to fabricate new pieces of glass. Arrgh!

Thirdly, not all those glass works that were completed are perfect. Either they didn't fix a seal, or the lock was faulty, thus, more delay. These are very minor issues that can be rectified within an hour, but they took an amazingly long time. Till now, not all problems have been rectified and it's annoying!

Fourthly, due to oversight of our ID who told them that our kitchen will be housing a thick solid surface worktop instead of a slim one, the measurement for the glass backing was wrong and now, the kitchen glass backing is sitting in our living room collecting dust. They are now fabricating a new piece, but at the rate they are going, it looks like we're gonna have to wait for yet another week, sianz! So pissed! How to handover by National Day you tell me lah??!

Last but not least (I can't recall if there are any further cock ups at the moment, but I am sure there are), the supposed full height WIW mirror did not reach the ceiling and it looks freaking weird!!! Our ID is supposed to solve the problem, but at the rate he is going, I bet it will be another long wait.

This entry is just about the problems we encounter with the glass works. There are also other cock ups we have yet to blog about. Will do so when I have the time!

- Phebe

Overdue Updates for 1st Aug~

1st August 2007 - Didn't have time to upload these until now, but they are not the latest pics. Will post the latest pics later!

HSS feature wall



Shoe cabinet



Study. Now not empty anymore though cos it was installed yesterday, haha!




WIW. With locks and bars now~



Kitchen



HDB contractors did some touch up to the bedroom doors...look at their hideous states now...

Wonder which idiot did this to our common toilet jet spray...it was barely 3 days old... but we've got a new one now though, at Eesy's expense.

- Phebe