Sunday, April 13, 2014

.::. Q1 in photos .::.

Luckily I uploaded most of the pictures before my phone dropped into the toilet bowl and stopped working!

There was our 2nd and last free stay cation at Intercontinental, 2 nights with Cheer Chen's concert.

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We had our meals nearby, Purvis Street. It has one of my favorite hainanese chicken rice and thai food. The hainanese chicken rice is one of the most authentic places left as all of them actually do speak hainanese, with food that tastes my like childhood.

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First Thai, I love the kang kong but the standard seems to have dropped.

And of course...bubble baths!
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Cheer Chen's concert! I love her, she has the voice of an angel and he got tickets for my birthday - emailed to me when he was overseas on my birthday.

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And I try to cook as often as possible, though it's getting challenging these days due to my ridiculous schedule.

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I usually jog on Wednesdays by the lake, because tuition starts at 7.30pm. I've time to squeeze in a jog and dinner before teaching.

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This was dinner alone at Suntec's soup spoon after gym. The husband was attending a wedding. I love the new concept.

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And I dug out my old iPod. The 8-year-old iPod that's still working and was my birthday present.

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And this year's the year of weddings.

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I think this was CNY dinner at our place.

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One of the rare evenings when I'm home and can witness the twilight by the bay window.

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The husband took leave and we went dating. Mondays are usually forced leave for me instead of off-in-lieu for those public holidays that fall on Saturday.
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UntitledI love the Interlace, the unique design and how it's near and integrates into nature. 

My belated birthday celebration on Duxton Hill, and my huge Christmas present at home that I didn't realize.

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Birthday celebration with the girls. It's been a good 15 years.

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The dog, my ever-loyal companion.

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Chinatown and birthday dinner with the neighbors when the husband wasn't around.

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My best tom-yum soup attempt.

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Celebrating Ju's birthday.

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CNY hair.

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I'm crazy about black chicken soup these days. *yums!

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Cute Chikey, with his BFF Rugby.

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One of the rare nights we went back to our old dating places. And he's tired before it's even 10pm!

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Home-cooked meals.

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Many steamboats gatherings.

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Sometime, BBQ.

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Bits of pieces of Q1, not in chronological order because I'm lazy but still wish to remember what was 2014 Q1 like.

Q2 might be a potential change in direction, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

To a great Q2! =)


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

.::. The renovation journey on hindsight .::.

It’s amazing how many people have read about my renovation and are still writing to me for advice more than a year after my renovation ended.  My renovation posts have become the most read on the blog. The somewhat embarrassing part is when closer friends and neighbors tell me that their friends read about my place and had something nice to say. Some ask if they could bring their friends over to take a look. It’s flattering when people see our renovation as an inspiration – Thank you! Yes, it was the most difficult period and painful memories for us, but I'm glad many have benefited from our experience. I didn’t think that I expected such a huge audience when I journal my renovation almost daily (it consumed me) and I think there’re definitely things that I would have done differently if I had the chance again. I usually write for myself, and do read my old entries. It all started as a dream of having my own place and decorating it, and remembering it for years to come. 


For many months, renovation took center-stage of my life and I researched extensively. I read forums about people’s experiences, researched about different materials and their pros and cons, and looked for inspiration from everywhere. It’s just me. For most of the things I do, I spend a lot of time reading up and gathering information before going into it. I don’t trust ‘experts’ who are also sales people – it’s not true that ‘experts’ know best. These experts know best how to cheat you and chop you like a carrot for their own benefit too, knowing that most people are easily convinced. That's partly why I do not want to go into sales. If you’ve seen how sales and marketing people are trained to convince people to part with their money, you would get what I mean. People are always taken in by convincing sales talk and freebies. I don’t ever meet ‘experts’ before doing my own homework and research, and that goes from insurance to things like beauty products. And I seldom commit or buy things the first time I see it, I usually go back to think about it no matter how interested I am. Don’t they say knowledge is power? Things I am into lately are nutrition and fitness, and financial freedom. =)

And despite all the research and effort I’ve put into my renovation, there are still things which I regret on hindsight! People keep asking me if I've anything else to share, and I think these are probably the last few points on hindsight:

1.       Table-top basin

These are what almost everyone seem to be using these days, and I’ve never questioned why or thought of alternatives. They come in different shapes and some in beautiful colors. I really regret getting them because it’s extremely difficult to clean and it reduces counter space. There’re the small gaps at the sides of the sink and between the sink and the tap that is a disaster to clean! I don’t have small hands, and having to clean the small gaps drive me crazy. Water will drip into the gaps and mix with dust before it dries up. Multiply this process many times and you can imagine the amount of filth that has to be cleaned (or ignored). I hate them, and I'd love to change them away if I've the chance!

2.       Black solid-top 

We didn’t get this by choice but ended up with this (let's not go into why). The only reason why I chose black galaxy granite was because it’s durable and relatively cheap. I would have wanted a marble top if budget wasn’t of concern. Anyway, black solid tops are the worst solid-tops to get. It scratches very easily (ours was scratched by the cardboard box of washing powder) and dust is very visible. Watermarks are also very annoying. I’ve to clean it often and then dry it with kitchen paper to avoid seeing watermarks.

3.       Glass screens 

The husband wanted glass screens for a nicer look, although I really didn’t mind shower curtains which come in many beautiful patterns these days. I do agree that it looks nicer, but the beauty does not last! The screen is very difficult to clean and becomes ‘frosted’ with water marks (and dust?) that does not come off even scrubbed with glass cleaners. Worst thing is that the bottom silicon turns black and the metal parts rust (it only took few months). The toilet window is always opened for ventilation and the husband has changed it at least once, and it’s already really black again now.

4.       Lights

I’ve got to admit that I probably got too many lights. Having to clean them can be a chore! I do not like lights and I seldom even on those in the kitchen and corridor! I only on the one at the kitchen counter while cooking, and the living room only uses one of the spot lights and dining light.

5.       L-box & false ceiling

The L-box was added as we were worried that the living room might not be bright enough with 2 rows of 3 spot lights.  We have barely on the cove lights and seldom on the down lights! They say that cleaning will be a headache, and I can’t imagine how much dust has accumulated in the gaps. The other false ceiling is in the room because the husband wanted it, probably since he’s used to having it in his old room. We seldom on it too, and I really think that it’s not worth sacrificing 2 inch of my ceiling for it. A normal single light like in the guest/study room would have suffice.

Things that I’m glad we did!

1.       Brick wall

Because I really wanted it and love how it creates a different feel instantaneously. No, wallpaper or plaster is cheaper but doesn't give the same feel. Moreover, cleaning and maintaining it is really not difficult! I cleaned it once with the magic clean wand, and it was really painless and wasn’t even dirty. I’m not sure why, but I expected it to be dirtier. The wand emerged relatively clean. The top of my fridge was so much dirtier – it was black with clumps of dust.

2.       Kitchen yard windows with top opening 

This is great for ventilation and you can leave it open perpetually because rain doesn’t come in. A neighbor recommended it and our contractor gave us the same price as normal windows although it’s slightly more expensive. I love it because we can leave it open when it rains and wind still comes it. Also helps for people like us who hangs our laundry indoor.

3.       Electrical points

I can’t emphasize this enough. Think of where you would use the plugs and have more of them. Otherwise, you’ve have many extension cables running across the rooms. An additional point may cost $50 but an extension plug will probably cost $20 plus ugly wires.


4.       Haiku fan

It’s really silent and ventilates the room very well. Not to mention that it looks pretty and feels different from the normal KDK ceiling fan. I would gladly pay for another one although it is indeed getting expensive.


5.       Storage space

There’s never enough storage and I’m really glad we did as much storage as we reasonably can. We’ve 30ft of kitchen cabinets, 1 full-height shoe shelf, 2 wardrobes, 1 book shelf, 2 toilet vanity and 3 small cardboards on the bay window. All of them are filled, including the store room racks. And we don't even have kids.


6.       Living room mirrors

I think the mirrors add space and light to the living room and toilet. Cleaning isn’t bad at all.

Our utilities bill come to about S$80/month on average, sometimes lesser. We seldom on the air-con (usually during ironing or for a few hours before bed), cook with induction about 3 times a week, boil water with electric kettle, have a huge 2-door fridge, does laundry 2-3 loads a week, have our modem/repeater perpetually on and have a dog.

We spent about $20K on furniture and appliances above the $40K on renovation. Most of the furniture/applicances were put on interest-free installments whenever possible as we were quite broke then. Most of them took a year to clear. While it’s a great way to earn points/rebates and less strenuous financially this way, do factor in the cost to your monthly budget and pay them on time!

Meanwhile, while enjoying our new home,  I already have lots of ideas for our next renovation (although I’ve no clue if there’s ever another one). The toilet (and kitchen) may be top on my list. Or perhaps it’ll be the future baby room that will get a little renovation done. =)

The thing with renovation is that it cost an arm and a leg (please do your due diligence and homework!) and it’s something that you’ll have to live with for many years (at least 5 for BTO). It’s difficult and disruptive to do minor renovations afterwards. Even if I do not like my toilet solid tops nor the glass panels and my toilet sink, and the L-box, it’s going to be very troublesome to get people willing to do such small jobs and very dirty! As muc h as I've many ideas for the next renovation already, I do think that we'll have the budget to do one nor upgrade our place anytime soon.

I will still reply emails (I'm faster on emails than comments), but I don't think I've much to contribute anymore. Renotalk forums have been a huge source of knowledge, and there's so many amazingly beautiful HDB flats these days that mine pales in comparison now.

Good luck!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

.::. 2014: Q1 update .::.


Here we are, with quarter one behind us. Judging from the lack of updates, it’s apparent that things have been crazy. I’ve no idea where all the time went, and the pace keeps getting faster and faster. Most of the days, I’m too tired to even on my laptop when I get home. It has never happened, till recent years.  During the days that I’m home early, I usually cook and just want to watch some television and laze on my sofa/bed. There isn’t that much time after the cleaning-up anyway. My iphone becomes the most used device ever, and contains fragments of whatever worth remembering. Life has been good, and I have been happy, in a calm and contented sort of way. Nothing too exciting, but nothing to feel upset about either, but I've been overworked and tired. My schedule is so packed that days simply fly by. I tell myself it’s alright to work harder now, just so we can slow down when kids come along and focus on them instead. There’s a lot of anticipation for our future, things that we’re working towards, things that keep us going. And yes, having a warm and loving home to come home to everyday makes everything else feel insignificant. =)

I’m getting used to the new role, and getting up at 5am every morning. There’s a lot to learn and do, but there are things that I like about the working environment, especially being able to end work at 4.30pm. The best thing about working in Tuas is that it makes me pack my own lunchboxes (healthier and cheaper!) and there’s no way I can spend money. I don’t have that much of ambition when it comes to work, and working is just a means to an end of being financially free someday. Someday, when my investments pay me as much as my job do or rather enough for a comfortable lifestyle. No plans for any long vacation this year because I'm too busy, next year perhaps.

Looking at my resolutions, I’ve been disciplined and on track financially, growing my portfolio and passive income. I’m not so sure about the physical and studies part though. I haven’t had enough time for enough exercise and I’m feeling lethargic and tired a lot. I think it’s probably the lack of sleep – 5 hours a day isn’t enough for me and trying to sleep before midnight is a challenge. I haven’t even started revising for my exam in June and it doesn’t help that it’s a weekend of weddings right before my exams. I’m looking forward to the 2 girlfriends’ wedding though!

A typical week is now 45 hours of work, 5 hours of tuition, 7 hours of class. Oh, and one hour of ironing on Sundays, some hours of cooking. Weekends are spent working on our little online business, sometimes on sourcing trips or fleas and other administrative stuff. I’m just struggling to get whatever I can done, including housework and packing lunches. What I learnt recent years is to take a day at a time and just focus on what needs to be done to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed-up.

I haven’t been lucky these days. 2 weeks ago, I had a bad fall and sprained my feet. We were hailing a cab to meet his friends and it took some time to get one. I hate being late and was rushing through the grass by the road. The husband went in first while I slipped and closed the taxi door as I fell. I fell right on the road, between the curb and the taxi, stuck in a small space and in pain. The husband who has went in first couldn’t see me from inside the cab and took him some time to open the taxi door to find me. There I was on the road, in a weird angle and knocking on the taxi, fearing that it may drive off. And so, I was in a lot of pain the next morning and limped off to a TCM. Thankfully, the pain subsided quite abit the next day and I only limped for 2 days. Did I mention that the husband was laughing and saying that he should take a picture of me?

The last day of the quarter was probably one of the worst days. It’s a Monday. My iPhone dropped into the toilet bowl! It began flashing the apple logo and weird stuff after I off it. It’s now dead even after lying in a ziplock bag full of rice in my dry cabinet. I didn’t back-up my stuff! And when I decided that I can’t go to class without a phone and went home, bird shit fell on my shoulders and bag. It was a 5 minute walk from the bus-stop! What are the odds of everything happening at the same time?! It’s so horrible that it almost sound funny.

And so, I believe that the year can only get better. Afterall, it really isn’t that bad, just small things that I probably wouldn’t remember if I didn’t get this down.

To better quarters ahead ~