THE SUN HASNT SET?

i was putting the kids to bed when i notice the night skies were extremely bright?!

and this is what i saw

not just from one chimmey...
there were at least 3, maybe 4
and it carried on till 1+ and it's still burning!!

UPDATED: 13 JANUARY 2012
for the past 2 weeks, same scenrio spotted but the fire is slightly smaller. guess it's going to be a common sight.

WE ARE MOVING!

we arranged for the guys from The Helping Hands for our big move today!

apparently this 14-footer is a bit too squeezy for our stuff - even with our car, the guys hardly got space for themselves after they loaded all our stuff!


while the movers are unloading, my mum helped me prepared this for 谢土. items consists of oranges 大吉大利, daikon 好彩头, garlic 蒜 = 有钱算 (supposed to get leek but couldnt find), and tau kua 官 = 升官 (kua & 官 sounds similar in teochew).

now that we have officially shifted in, it's time to unpacked!

but wait! this isnt the end of this blog. now that we've shifted in, it's time to put those heater, hob/stove and carpentary work into good use. will be doing reviews for these items shortly.

GETTING READY

all reno and carpentry work were completed. now all is left is the delivery of the planter cover which will be delivered after the new year.

i cant believe the whole reno process took us 2 months (the workers seldom work on saturdays & sunday till the later stage). anyway, we cant conclude job done until the planter cover and warranty on our granite top are settle.

anyway, the big shift is tomorrow. and we are here today to do the a final clean up of the place as well as to add a finishing touch - the curtains.

the exact material isnt this shiny - must be the flash. anyway,
this is a 90% blackout material from turkey
matching tassels only for living room and MBR
our living room - note the newly installed suspended tv console
everything seems to have fallen in place, we are ready to shift in TOMORROW!

DAY 60 OF RENO . NEW FURNITURE

the carpenters are working furiously to complete as much work as they could for the arrival of our bulky furniture today.

supposed to have shifted in today because according to FSM, today is an auspicious day. but then again, there are still minor work and touch up to be done.... anyway...

first to arrive. our transformer coffee table from casa italy.

before transforming
pulls up the lid and you got a higher table top
our sofa came next. a 3+2 from casa italy but there was slight problem with the structure. so... at this moment, we have only our 2-seater
the tv console came after lunch. note, it's missing a glass panel in the front...zzz, which will come the next day. BTW, this exact same piece is going for SGD999 EXCLUDING DELIVERY & INSTALLATION CHARGES. I got this at ...of course, less than 999!
married the sofa and tv console... the room is completed!oppps, that CRTV is for testing purpose only. a 37" LCD TV will be taking it's place after we officially shift in
ID also arranged for gas activation today! HUAT ARH!
the kids' canterbury solid wood beds from Picket & Rail

the last furniture to arrive is the dinning table! waited the whole day for it to arrive - dinning table came at dinner time. It's almost 1930hrs when the arrived
completed with chairs.... our dinning area
despite being an auspicious date, there's minor hiccups on our mini-shift in...zzz. our 3-seater sofa got to be delivery on another day due to structure problem. the missing glass panel and if you notice, there's only 2 dinning chairs. the other 2 will be delivered on another day due to different designs.

anyway, so far so good. we are expecting our suspended tv console to be within these 2 days, just before the big shift on 27 dec 2011.

DAY 58 OF RENO

plumber is here to today to fix up the heater, various toilet accessories in the common toilet as well as the tap at kitchen sink.

glass cabinet with glass shelves
toilet paper holder
bidet spray
25litres, jovan storage heater
changed the original tap in service yard into this. many neighbours complained the HDB version cant fit into their washing machine. the extra outlet is for misc washing in the service yard
plumber at work
my rubine sink with pozzi tap
98% of the reno is now completed. just waiting for the suspended tv console to be up, minor paint touch up and we are ready.

DAY 57 OF RENO

finally, the granite top is here but I'm too shock for words!

does this looks like a top mount sink to you?
i cant believe after so many instructions they still did it wrongly!
so many smses, confirmation and reconfirmation....anyway....

the overall looks feel good
now waiting for the big day to come. have arrange delivery of my new furniture, plumber, city gas activation all on 19 dec 2011. stay tuned.

DAY 56 OF RENO

my feature wall is up!

from left to right, toilet, study and kitchen
wardrobes almost done except for mirror installation

my Walk-In-Wardrobe
tofu case cum mirror desk

wardrobe in JJ's room. the painter has also finished the final coat of paint
jas's huge wardrobe. layout is same as JJ's but her's is bigger by 2ft.
we also shifted our rack for the storeroom from the previous flat.
it fits nicely into the new flat

DAY 54 OF RENO

the feature wall is up and almost 99% completed.

the most expensive doors in my unit
kitchen door
kitchen cabinets all done. still waiting for granite top
cabinet in common bathroom
mirror cabinet and suspended cabinet in MBR
coming up, wardrobe in various bedrooms and my suspended tv console in the living room.

DAY 53 OF RENO

I'm really happy that finally someone is making up for all the time wasted over the last few weeks.

It's already 1800hrs on a saturday evening but the carpenter is still fixing up the handles on our sliding doors.

He's glad to see us too cos he needs to clarify a few stuff with us and it's really troublesome to go thru the ID.

partition for study room
this feature wall (aka partition) that stretches from common bathroom to my kitchen including a custom made door + door frame for the kitchen is the most expensive item for my whole project
a bigger picture of the feature wall. the big mirror cabinet in the foreground is for MBR
my black and white kitchen. awaiting for granite top to complete the picture
top cabinets with my rinnai hood. it's not without a reason i call it the piano kitchen
bottom cabinets and drawers. all the laminate used are high gloss piano laminates, thus the name piano kitchen
a very tiny stainless steel dish rack above the sink counter
next week, work will continue for the doors to the concret support in the kitchen. the feature wall will be up and ready, plus the installation of the suspended tv console in the living room.

DAY 52 OF RENO

things are fast and furious all over again. and it's good to know that the carpenter is sweating away fixing up the stuff way past 1800hrs.

this custom made kitchen door + door frame costs me SGD700
cabinet beneath the vanity top in MBR
suspended cabinet in common bathroom
shoe/display cabinet, main door view
shoe/display cabinet, living room view
the carpenter said that he will be here till Saturday to finish up the necessary.

this is only for living room area. the wardrobes are still MIA.

DAY 51 OF RENO

can you believe that is absolutely NO WORK DONE for the past 2 weeks?! i'm fed up of kpkb-ing at my ID to speed things up. and i think he's equally frustrated abt me breathing down his neck! so we hvnt call each other for the past 1 week - no calls, no sms.

a very naive me still believe that the place can be ready for x'mas. was very pissed when i had to postpone my shift in date from 19 dec (the best date to move according to my FSM) to 27 dec (an ok lah, good date).

anyway, i was here today to clear my mail when i notice my windows are open...mmh, so went up and finally - it's here. (my ID didnt inform me abt the installation).

a portion of my SGD4k feature wall! honestly, i dun like it cos it makes the whole place seems SMALL, and not forgetting, it blocks the air circulation and natural light.
my shoe/display cabinet. half way done - it's going to be way up to the ceiling.
base structure of my kitchen cabinets.
top structure of my kitchen cabinets.
as there's lot of tools and material on site and without a proper camera i merely took a few quick shot and make a haste exit as not to disturb the flow of work. will be back for more shots later this week.