Happy New Year to all!

Today is the last day of 2006. 5 more hours to 2007. Although this is renoblog, this is also my only blog, where got some much time to handle multiple blogs hor..haha..
2006 has been a good year, got married to my wonderful wife, got a new home, renovation on its way next week. Everything seems fine. :) As we give thanks to the wonderful year of 2006, we must look forward to 2007, plan and prepare ahead with our new year resolution. (.. and figure out how to pay the reno and furnishing cost..)

I have broken down my new year resolution into 3 main area,

• Health and fitness,
  
• Career and academic,
  
• Friendship and Relationship

As promised to my dear dear, one of the new year resolution is to squeeze in 3 gym sessions every week. Hence starting tomorrow (1 Jan new year's day), and Tuesday, I will go gym with dear haha.. This week quota hit liao..haha.. Next week dunno how..
okay okay, should bore you guys with more of my new year resolution. I will go offline to think up of my career and academic resolutions.

Updates on Fridge and Washer

Today Dear did such a wonderful job updating the blog with not just one but TWO postings! Ya today has been a long day, but a fruitful one no doubt. Settled quite a few things today. (Dear! Good job with finding our bedlinens among all the aunties!)

Let me just touch on a few things that Dear mentioned earlier mainly on the fridge and the washer.

The Fridge that we saw today was the Samsung RS20NASH. Beautiful 2 door fridge, 496L.
Let me explain about why this fridge claims to be more power efficient. First, we must understand how to defined rated current.
Rated Current-The input current of the equipment as declared by the manufacturer.
So we all know that Power input = Current x voltage, hence this higher the current input, the higher the power intake. so this fridge takes 0.65Ax240V =156Watts. Not sure what kind of power input the other fridge takes (will need to research soon), but the bigger the fridge the more power it takes. No questions about that. Price of Fridge $990 at Audio House.



As for the Washer, After the advice from my friends who has been selling washers for over 10 years, I am kinda bend towards getting a front load washer. Get some hot water to kill the germs on the clothes!! Haha..

Some shortlisted model , P853 and the LG 10150. Both same price at $399 and 6.5KG, at Mustafa center.


So as of today, we have settled our mattress, bedframe, bedlinens. We roughly know what fridge, washer, hood, hob and aircon that we are looking for. Tired yes, but really happy to be shopping for our new home and furnishing with dear dear. Thanks for all the effort put in to build our dream home together and enduring spending such a long day looking at stuff with me. Love you dear!!

Expenditure To Date + Lessons Learnt Today

Another item added to our Home Building Cart..=)

2 Queen Fitted Sheets from Hallmark $60 X 2
1 King Size Quilt Cover from Hallmark $80
8 Pillow Case from Hallmark $13 X 8
2 Bloster Case from Hallmark $10 X 2
1 Anti Dustmites Quilt King Size $109

Grand Total $433

Good Buy!!! Our Bedsheets are of a HIGH QUALITY one ok!! Hallmark leh..Mai Play Play...Their greeting cards cost $6 to $7 wan ok!!!...511 thread count per 10cm square...Good!!!... Normal ones are about 300++ thread count while really premium ones have about 800++ thread counts..Ours are 100% cotton satin...thou not Egyptian ones..but VERY GOOD already...

Anyway here are some valuable lessons learnt: -
(Future home builders can read our blog and learn from our experiences!!...cheers!!)
1. Quilt or Comforter - Comforter has its cover sewn on it, so if u need to change the cover, u need bring the whole comforter to the laundry. Plus u need to buy several comforter in order to match ur bedsheets.. For quilt, you only need one quilt and buy different quilt cover to match your bedsheets. Plus u can wash your quilt cover more often as u can remove the cover to wash without bringing the whole quilt + cover to laundry...Less hassle..But of cos u need to sun your quilt regularly for better hygiene habits..=)

2. Thread Count + fabric - Sales promoters say the higher the thread count the better...I would suppose so..so it is more pricy for those with higher thread count.. Normal range about 300++ TC...Quality ones about 800++ TC...Fabric...Quality ones are Egyptian ones...but pricy...so best stick to 100% cotton ones...won't go wrong...=)

3. Size of Quilt - We bght a King size quilt even thou we bght a Queen size bed..cos it can rest nicely on the edge of our bed plus you can ensure that the COUPLE won't fight over the quilt on a super COLD night..whahahha...but bear in mind folks..it will mean u need to buy the sheets + quilt cover seperately cos u can't buy in set anymore...those in set normally give Queen sheets + Queen quilt cover..so either u buy seperately or u need buy a KING set and downsize ur sheets to Queen just to cater to your King size quilt...=)

4. Washing Machine TOP LOAD or FRONT LOAD?? - Ehh...tricky one...Good thing about TOP LOAD..U don't need suffer from backaches!!....However, in terms of performance, FRONT LOAD said to be better..FRONT LOAD experience less entanglement (thus less damage to clothes) plus can use hot water to wash your clothes...Bad point about FRONT LOAD, might leak cos rubber might wear off..As per Alan (Hubby's fren at MUSTAFA), just make sure the rubber is dry after use and don't close it when not in use...(FRONT LOAD MACHINES)

5. Washing Machine 6.5KG or more?? - For a newly wed couple like me and Hubby, 6.5kg is more than enough...even big enough for washing bedsheets..6.5Kg (TOP LOAD ones) cost about $200+++ (SAMSUNG) 8Kg ones cost about $400+++(SAMSUNG)..Needless to say, FRONT LOAD ones are more expensive...

6. FRIDGE - Sales guy at Audio House bght up the topic of RATED CURRENT...meaning the consumption of electricity...ranges from 0.X to 1++...The Samsung fridge that we eyed on has a 0.65 rated current (cost about $990 from Audio House..496 ltr)..which is considered quite energy saving cos normal ones can go up to 1.2 rated current...Then again, dunno whether we go gana smoked or not...hehe...

7. FRIDGE Side to Side door?? - Watch out cos large items (in terms of width) might not fit into the fridge......I didn't really tot of buying a side to side door cos it is really v big..my only requirement is that the freezer compartment is below...bleah...=)...so now that Hubby gave me the green light to consider that, I might seriously consider buying a SIDE TO SIDE!!..

8. Water Heater - no need buy a seperate shower head cos the water heater set normally comes with one...but of cos..cannot choose...so might not be nice....keke..so if got spare cash on hand and really can't stand the sight of the shower head...get one u like..*wink*

9. WC - Normal ones (cheaper ones) need to be rested against a wall..while pricier ones can stand on its own..Normal ones cost about $180 to $200...saw one Rigel WC costing about $229....

10. Sink - Saw one kitchen sink along a shop at Jln Besar...2 sink side by side...costing about $299...Just wan to roughly know how much it cost to buy a kitchen sink....As for bathroom sink...normal ones cost about $190..

Gosh...there are so many things going on in my PEA brain now....Information overload...=S

That's all for today ya!!!

Looooooong Day

Agenda on 30th December 2006

1. 8am went for a jog...think covered more than 5Km...knees aching...think I better stop running for a while...
2. Rush home to shower cos meeting hubby...
3. Met hubby at 1030am at Centrepoint Coffee Bean for a hearty breakfast..Museli Parfait!!! My fav...thanks Hubby!!...muacks!!
4. After breakfast, went Robinson fight for bedsheet...was looking at some other brand..then somehow we end up fighting with other "aunties" for HALLMARK bedsheets + quilt cover + bloster case + pillow case
5. Hubby LS
6. Took train to Clark Quay
7. Rested at Mac at Liang Court...Rest feet
8. Went to Audio House at Liang Court..Checked out Washing Machine, Fridge, TV etc
9. Went to see furniture at Liang Court...Checked out dining table + sofa etc..Hubby LS again...
10. Walked to UE Square...wanted to check out Teka Hod and Hoob but to Hubby's disappointment, it was closed!!!....Darn...Pat Pat Hubby...we shall go another day ok
11. Looks like gg to rain....430pm le...so decided to take a break and have a early dinner..
12. Walked back to opp Liang Court to take bus to Bugis for dinner.
13. Had steamboat dinner at Liang Seah Street... I like!!!....Crab is good!!...Total cost of dinner was about $34. More imptly, dining with Hubby is PRICELESS..muacks HUBBY!!!
14. Walked to Bugis Junction to gai gai a bit...Bght Hubby to Seiyu Dept Store..but can tell he is not interested cos he keep following me!!....Bleah..:P...if my Hubby saw something that caught his attention, I will be the one hunting for him at the Dept Store...so I guess he is bent to go Jln Besar...
15. Decided to go Jln Besar with Hubby since not raining...Super tired already...legs aching..+ knees aching...just been exercising for past 4 days..so my muscles are complaining....=(
16. Hubby LS again...Went to Fu Lu Shou Complex to search for Toilet...Waited for Hubby to LS finish...Poor Hubby..
17. Walked to Jln Besar...asked Hubby to buy mineral water for me..cos I think I need to perk myself up...Hubby knows tat I m starting to "fa mung zung" (starting to be edgy)...
18. Hubby asked me take taxi go home..but I refused..cos I know Hubby is also anxious about our new home....
19. Along Jln Besar, checked out some WC, sinks, taps etc...
20. Also checked out some lightings...set our eyes on one fancy dining light...those clear glass tube like kind...$238...for 3 in a row...NICE...I is like wan lor!!!
21. Guess wat??? We walked ourselves to MUSTAFA....
22. Expected...Hubby is excited about going there...=S ...tired...but of cos I don't want disappoint Hubby...
23. Arrived at Mustafa...Saw Hubby's old frens there...Checked out Washing Machines, Fridge etc...Asked his old frens for advice on types of Fridge + Washing Machine...
24. Hubby proceed to check out Samsung TV....
25. Finally, Hubby let me go home...9pm...Phew...I hurrily hop onto a cab n bid hubby goodbye...Hubby wanted to send me home by taxi then take MRT home...silly Hubby...I can't bear to see him take train home all the way from Bedok...So I decided to let him take train from Farrer Park instead...Sorry Hubby for my hasty GOODBYE...cos I don't wan my taxi to hog the road..
26. Wow the taxi uncle like know I m tired....so drove like a F1 driver...reached home at 923pm!!!! Steady...
27. Missed a call on my mobile...Weird number...Called back and it was a coffee shop telephone number...
28. Tot something happened to Hubby...called his mobile...unable to reach him...
29. Worried like hell....call n call n call...sms him too....I realised tat I really love me Hubby lotz...=(
30. Hubby finally called me back..His "aw ta" (faulty) HP low batt....but in any case...m glad my Hubby is safe n sound at home...Hubby even apologise to me for bringing me to so many places today n tire me out...*heartache*...M sorry Hubby..your dear so lousy...can't walk for long...I m sorry instead!!!...sobzzz....

30 events summarized my entire day!!!

Happening?? Yes!! Exhausted?? Yes!! Tired?? Yes!! Fruitful?? Most definitely!!! More imptly, time spent with Hubby??? PRICELESS!!!

Love u hubby...!!!! Thank God for letting me marry such a wonderful man...Amen...Keke

Controversial on the Robinson Vouchers

Hello....it's me...this is not NRAF..something wrong with my BLOG account..so decided to hijack NRAF's account and blog under his name...whahaha...I threaten to blog PORN pics under his name too..and then point fingers at him and cry foul!!..Lalalalalala


Serious Business...Let me list down the expenditure to date: -

1. Sealy 125th limited edition mattress (2399 mattress + 125 bedframe)

Here's the controversial..Hubby was upset that he forgotten to use his robinson vouchers when we made the purchase on Xmas eve...so when he called Robinson, he was sooooo delighted when he was told that he can use the vouchers....Hubby got some vouchers plus I also received a $100 voucher from Aunt Linda for Xmas...Now here's the tricky part..Hubby claimed that he wanted to use the instalment plan since it is interest free..so that we can ease our cash flow..However, Hubby went to purchase some more robinson vouchers online using CASH....of cos the vouchers were purchased at a discount...

Thou I am happy that Hubby got a great deal, BUT I was wondering why do we wan to use real hard cash to buy the vouchers when the purpose of us going for the instalment plan was to ease cash flow...*scratch head*...So even thou we are getting the vouchers at a discount, but our objective was to use our cash on hand wisely right??

Atlas, Hubby explained to me that the purpose of him going for the instalment plan was that: -

1. It is interest free
2. The instalment plan can start just in time so that the plan will end by the time the free 1 year subscription of the card expires.
3. Of cos it will let us have some spare cash on hand!!

Hmmm...sound v logical...ehhh...*scratch head again*...dunno man...Hubby further explained that easing cash flow was NOT THE MAIN REASON why he chose to go for the instalment plan..but just that with the above scenario, it is a "MIGHT AS WELL" kind of reasoning as to why we chose instalment plan...Plus he explained the idea that vouchers are a pain in the ass as it FORCES the consumer to buy something from the store just to use the vouchers...So MIGHT AS WELL use it now and kill it off!!!

Conclusion: my hubby is DAMN wise with his money...Despite this controversial, Hubby has still gotten a great deal on his online purchase of the vouchers...

Great work Hubby!!...but poor me...I think I m in for a hard time cos I m NEVER wise with my money...think probably in future Hubby will suggest that I get daily allowance from him and confiscate all my PLASTICS!!!....scary...

8 January 2007 -Groundbreaking Ceremony

Today got a call from Angeline,

"Brandon, Confirm can hack the wall on the 8th?",

I answered, "erm, yes..."

"Hack the whole wall ah? Including wall behind the door ya?"

"er... ya?"

"okay, I apply for the permit online now.."

I replied, "okay..."

And so our official Groundbreaking Ceremony is on 8 January 2007! *yeah*

To Extend or Not To Extend

Blue Blue Blue...I changed the template of this site...whahaha...sick of the old template..which is sooooo boring..tat explains why I don't blog so often in the past...but little did I know that my hubby's customization were all GONE...but of cos my hubby can't bear to scold me lar...cos I m fun-loving, adorable, pretty, sexy, lovable etc.......=P

We now face a huge challenge in our home reno...And tat is whether to extend our kitchen cabinets or not...Orginally, there is going to be a breakfast counter area...However, in our effort to cut cost, we decided to do away with the breakfast counter...End up we now have a empty space...Haha...and the ironic thing is tat we emailed Angeline to ask her how much would it cost if we were to extend the kitchen cabinets in order to fill up the empty space....whahaha...I think Angeline must be wondering, "These 2 ah siao, wan to save $$ and do away with the breakfast counter, now end up asking me to quote how much would it cost to extend the kitchen cabinets!!" And the extension cost a whopping 1.6 grand!!...Duhz...tried to save $400 on the breakfast counter but end up slapped with a 1.6K quote.

Haha...we just itchy backside ask shiok only lar...cos I rather buy a furniture to fill the empty space than to spend another 1.6K to extend the kitchen cabinets. Hubby, we buy a mei mei breakfast table or wat lar...I still like the breakfast counter concept..just tat I don't want Angeline's $400 wooden plank breakfast counter!!!

Hob and Hood Samples

Wah.. my dear now very active on this blog liao.. cannot lose to her :p Here are some picture of the hood and hob that we like...

We like the glass hood and cooker hob. We first saw the Rinnai promotion chart, and dear dear choose the look. (not function). The hood has a suction air flow of 800m3/H providing better exhaust then those slimline ones.

The hood is a glass hood, black and shiny.. really very nice. We also do not want to go for those design with lots of stainless steel pan support and holders for the hot pots.. making it very difficult to clean.



Many brands also have the type we want. Like i say earlier, we first saw the hood at Rinnai, but i had a look at the actual Rinnai hob RB-28V, the burner is actually shiny chrome. not black.. not very nice. The nice Rinnai one RB-2CG, is made of special glass and is from Japan.. EXPENSIVE! Fujioh also have black glass hob, FH92, inner flame, cost about $320. The Rinnai hood cost $550. Call me weird but dun think I like to mix and match.. :P
BUT... the picture above is from TEKA.. both hob and hood I also like. The website from Teka looks very nice and professional. Also Teka is unlike other common brands that are carried by neighbourhood electrical shops. Might be too pricy for my liking.

Like what dear dear say... another major assignment... :) but I sure we will have fun shopping for it, won't we dear? :)

The Most Impt Place In Our New Home..

Question: Name the most important place in a house.
Answer: BATHROOM aka TOILET

Question: Why is it the most important place??
Answer: Cos this is the place where most people (or rather ME) get their "ling gan"!!

Whahahaha



But headache man!!! So many different brands and models to choose from. But for a start, maybe my HUBBY and I should check out these places and their prices...Jalan Besar is THE place for the bathroom stuff...

1. Sim Siang Choon
2. Poh Joo
3. Eng Soon Huat
4. Royal Fanco
5. Asia Excel (at IMM)
6. Lookz
7. Hoe Kee
8. Rigel

Looks like this is another major assignment!!!....

Preliminary Budget

Alrite...it is me again...Told u that I be BACK very soon...so here I m, ladies and gentlemen!!!....Let's get down to business...Now that the numbers from our ID, Angeline, is more or less fixed (bounded by the contract..can go higher but not likely to be lower..whahha..), I think this is a good time to put up our budgetary numbers...so that we can visit this site again for reference and see how we varied from our budget!!!...

Quote from Angeline 37K
Aircon 3K
Hood + hob 1K
2WC + 1 kitchen sink + 2 bathroom sinks 2K
Curtains + blinds 1.5K
Wiring 2K
Lightings 2K
Furniture 8K

Grand total 56.5K

Breakdown for furniture:
Sofa 1K
Dining table + chairs 1K
TV Samsung Plasma 2K++
Fridge 700
Washing machine 800
Microwave oven 600 (we shall get one tat can bake, roast, grill etc!!)
Thermoflask 60
Toaster oven 30 (my hubby is a bread person...see his cutey bread face!!..whahha)
Mattress FOC (courtesy of my hubby's wonderful SIS....Thanks SIS!!..)
Divan + bedframe 500 (I take 2.5K less 2K contributed by SIS)
2 fans 200 (my hubby wants me to write in stone n swear to god that I will not waste electricity....=S)

Whatever balance will be used to buy study table and any furniture to deco the empty area in the kitchen (if we are not gg to extend the kitchen cabinets)...

Hmmmm....so did I miss out anything????

Thou I m finance trained by profession...this budget still needs the approval of our Finance Minister...MY HUBBY....

Rare Appearance

Ok ok...Yes..I MIAed and now I m back!! Don't understand how come some people can blog everyday when I don't even have time to surf net..haha..guess it is a habit..and blogging is something that I find boring...I prefer reading others' blog..

Oh Well..back to the progress of BHCC's home building..ID settled, layout more or less settled, tiles settled, start date of reno settled..what's next?? Bloody hell..still got lots more to do man!!...still got to buy WC, then must choose colour of WC..then still got flushing system to ponder over...and next is to select ur hood and hob...then must ask urself whether u wan those chimmy kind or slim design kind...hob must choose from induction kind or those normal ones..then stainless steel or glass?? if glass..black or white glass....and the list goes on n on n on...*yawn*..

One step at a time..I feel so accomplished when my husband and I settled the mattress today!!..headache man!!..must choose from the type of coil, then memory foam or latex..then box type or just the normal plush type..*arrrgghhh*...just give me a ti lam la...I can sleep just as well..haha..but since my hubby wants to buy me a QUALITY mattress..then better choose the one I like..hmmm...but the one I like..he say "dear...please don't go near to that one...".....why???....cos tat mattress alone..(sealy brand) cost a cool 6 grand!!...whahhahah....

Conclusion..we bght the Sealy 125 anniversary series!!...box top...dunno wat material..dunno wat coil...but we manage to get 4 free pillows..and 2 mattress cover..courtesy of my hubby..so clever..know how to bargain..like those aunties at the wet market..."give me $2 of this veggie...then give me some free chillis lehh..don't like tat lar..everytime buy from u one...." haha..Well Done Hubby!!

okok...I hit my quota for the day..blog enough le....

Stay tuned for my next posting!!!...which is coming up VERY soon...anyway..I m "you yi ke zhuan"...so tat's explains the title of my blog...RARE APPERANCE..

tata folks!!

Our Sealy 125th Anniversary Edition Mattress

Today we went to Centerpoint Robinson to compare the beds one last time before we make our purchase. Robinson took one of the expanded wing to do a section purely on Mattress called "The Bed Shop". A very nice and cozy place, and unlike normal bedding section of shopping centre, they turn the light down with new smoothing setting, really suitable for sleeping hence The bed shop.

After our last try, we convinced ourselves that Yes, we love the Special 125th anniversary edition Posturepedic mattress. Also I have been shopping around for the prices of this mattress and knowing the Robinson (with the Robinson-OCBC card addition 5%) is the cheapest place to get this mattress,( Believe it or not it is even cheaper then shops at IMM) hence this lucky sale person got our sales with having too much trouble.

Paid for our mattress on a 12 month interest free installment and arrange for delivery on the 12 Feb 2007. On this matter (sidetrack abit), I got into some minor quarrel with dear dear over choosing the day and together with some other minor issues but thankfully everything is forgiven and forgotten. Another reason why I love my dear dear so much... Love you lotz dear.

Air Condition and Mattress selection

Details with Angeline has been handled by dear over email, good thing is that we still have time to make changes all we need to confirm is the color of our the main tiles (ie exclude the decorative tiles), hence most things that need to be finalised are already well accepted by us. Hence we can slowly decide on the outstanding issues such as:

• what to do to replace the area that used to be the breakfast table, (extend cabinet? Put paintings?)
• How we want to lay the decorative tiles? ( one track or two), along the wall and floor?

Hence moving on, its time we do some research on aircon. As much research and talking to aircon deals, we sort of have a idea what we want to get for our aircon already. As of this very moment, we are down to 3 choices,

1. Mitsubishi Starmex system 3 with the 10+13+18 combination (see picture) Price $3000
   
2. Mitsubishi Starmex system 3 with the 10+13+13 combination. Price $2900
3. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (sister company) system 3 with 10+13+13 combination. Price $2580

Seems like the MHI on is a better deal right? But my concern is that it is cheaper only because it is smaller unit, (21000 BTU) as compared to 28000 for starMex. Also I also like the easy clean function of the starmex very much. Hmm.. more thing to sleep over.. and ponder..

today actually quite fruitful, we has also more or less decided on our mattress after only 2 visit to Robinson..... *drum rolls again*......

Tile Selection

Went to UBI to Intradesign showroom to select the tiles today. Quite happy with the colour that we have agreed with our Designer, with a few doubt on the glass decorative tiles.

Layout Finalized

My Dear Dear met up with the ID (Angeline) last week without me as I was tied up with work. Dear managed to settle many issues with Angeline, despite my absence. Apparently this two woman can see eye to eye with each others ideas and the design is finalized (Mostly likely because I am not around). Both woman agreed that I am very "uncle" on my Nayatoh Door request. >_<


As per my last posting, the layout has been finalized, changes made from Angeline's first design was the bedroom wall. Instead of keeping part of the existing wall for the feature wall to mount the TV, we decided to hack off the entire wall and built a new feature in the middle of the room. This solves the minor issue that the TV is not position at the center. Symmetry is more beautiful hor? Hee Hee

Another chance was the removal of the breakfast table. The breakfast table was initially design to be facing the wall beside the fridge. A small wall table which my dear don't really like. Hence we decide to remove that. We will leave it to later to figure out what type breakfast table we really want to put there.

Okay, time to show some picture of the sample of the laminate we will use for the feature walls and shoe cabinet. This one the colour a bit distorted. First picture is suppose to be colour for the feature wall and shoes cabinet. The glass also is part of the design for the feature wall. Black glass so classy hor...

Lastly, Angeline wants to use this bright orange glass for the kitchen cabinet. So daring. Haven't really discuss with dear dear about this colour.

Okay time to sleep.. Saturday 1030am appointment at Ubi to see our floor tiles. So exciting. Counting down to the start of the reno....

Floor Layout- Before and After :)

Just Married...

A bit off topic, but since it is BHCC home and no home is complete without LOVE, our marriage cannot be unmentioned in this blog right? :)


As per last entry, we collected our marriage certificate last week and proceed with the ROM ceremony at Amara hotel on Tuesday. Apologies for not having pictures of the ceremony as they are still current with my cousin-in-law who was in charge of all our photo taking. That was really a very busy week for us but we were happy that our ROM ceremony were superbly well and everything was perfect. hmm, think will get my dear wife to continue on blogging of this very happy day of our live. :)

Dear, we are really not bloggers hor? But we try to blog all the priceless memories loh... We don't follow all the very free young people who blog about what they had for lunch.. Haha...