marshmallow

we already have the installation done but don't plan to take up optic fiber plan cos it's quite expensive. you can still subscribe to normal home broadband... so you can get internet access immediately mah unless you really need the high speed from the new opennet~

kids nowadays still play marbles? the uncle engineer in my office, told me that the "marble" sound is due to expansion/contraction of building materials within the structure, as Singapore is very hot in day time but cool down pretty fast in night time.

It's more about the workmanship... Top mount one also will have leakage if the sealing is not done properly... my parent's home and my sis home have been using undermount for soooo many years and never encounter water seepage.

On the COV payment, when to pay will depend on how much your COV is. Look here: (under subtitle "Finalise Buyers’ Resale Financial Plan") http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10321p.nsf/w/...nDocument#First if Cash Payment < 10% of flat purchase price: Pay full amount during 1st Appointment, by cash or by cheque if Cash Payment > 10% of flat purchase price: Pay 10% during 1st Appointment, by cash or by cheque Pay remainder during 2nd Appointment, by cash or cashier order. No cheque. of course, cash payment can also include things like e.g. cash payable if one cannot obtain enough housing loan... but let's assume that you are able to get whatever housing loan necessary (HDB loan), then cash payment will mean COV only. Let's illustrate with an example: Taking HDB loan: Case A: COV < 10% of purchase price: Flat price: $400k COV: $20k Purchase price = $400k + $20k = $420k 10% of $420k = $42k > COV Hence, during 1st Appointment, you need to pay: COV minus 5k paid during OTP (HDB considered this 5k as "cash paid") = $20k - 5k = $15k --> Cash paid during 1st Appointment Case B: COV > 10% of purchase price: Flat price: $400k COV: $60k Purchase price = $400k + $60k = $460k 10% of $450k = $45k COV = $60k > $45k --> So cash payment will be split: During 1st Appointment, you need to pay 10% of purchase price, so: = $45k --> Cash paid during 1st Appointment then, during 2nd appointment, you need to pay the remainder, minus off the 5k from OTP: = $60k - $45k - $5k = $10k --> Cash paid during 2nd Appointment Hope this helps

hahahaha talking about meatball makes me hungry... i was planning to get a $2 one from Daiso, but dunno why my hubby violently object the idea of having a stool *in Daiso* Me: I need to get a stool. Hubby: for what?? Me: for many uses lor... Hubby: like? Me: to reach for stuff at higher places, to sit, to.. erm... don't you use stools at home before??? Hubby: No. Me: ............................. Hubby: can't u you chairs for these? we have plenty of chairs at home! one more thing at home, one more thing to clean.... Me: err..... (run out of words to explain) Didn't expect him to get so touchy over a small stool... LOL... that's why till now i still haven't bought any

my parents have used Brandt and Whirlpool before... both as reliable as their "big eye" front-load brothers

LOL.... really heng ah... sometimes really can't visualise until you see all the items put together... the point that really made me LOL was when he tried to bargain and said "12.5 inch"... hahahahaha

yo froggy! i guess the upper cabinets are not lost only to the beams, but to conceal the piping as well... i dunno why must HDB design the kitchen this way, but so far from what i have seen, 99% of the kitchens have the upper cabinets wasted this way..... sigh. maybe your contractor just assume that you know

won't the floor be very slippery if it's cement screed?

problem is... my storeroom is already full since day 1 of moving in i noticed that old HDB has smaller storeroom than new HDB~ hmmm roughly how big is the box? never buy christmas tree so really have no idea... hahaha i sound so "mountain turtle"

wow... nice to have christmas tree! i'd love to get one too but really no space to store it after christmas...............

wah... i had a hard time differentiating the 3D and the actual photos... well done! maybe our house (older 4 rooms) looks bigger since is > 100 sqm. my hubby also commented that new 4-room of ~93 sqm actually looks smaller than old 4 NG of ~91 sqm, probably due to the layout

yup opp blk 22... my uncle stays in blk 22... it's a nice place! you guys are lucky to get a place there... i had no luck with the balloting

LOL froggy... *high 5* my height measurements so far has been ranging from 150~152cm, so taking average, it would be 151cm talking about stool... i need to get stool too... but do be careful when using stool in kitchen~ can fall off easily if we are not careful... my hubby is not tall, but even if he is tall, he won't bother about the height of work-top cos he never uses the kitchen anyway he gave me full control of what i want in the kitchen~ haha

bleah.... my t-blog is becoming like monthly report okie i shall continue with... The Kitchen Story (again) - what's with that step? Some may already noticed that I have a step-down for my kitchen work-top, near the corner of the "L" shape kitchen: thanks to my daddy's reminder, we decided to lower the bottom cabinet on the hob side by 3 inches, so the height is 31-in instead of the standard 34-in. i totally didn't think of this until one night... Dad: remember, your hob should be lower than the "standard" work-top height. Me: why??? (1st image in my mind: sleek, flat, modern-looking work top with built-in hob replaced by the old-fashion image of drop-down for stove.... and cleaning will be troublesome) Dad: because standard height will be too high for you mah... don't you feel tired after cooking?? Me: oh... ya hor. Only when my dad mentioned this, i recalled my sore arm was after cooking at my sister's kitchen, which has the "standard height" work top... not to mention that my hand almost kenna burnt by the big, powerful fire from the hob. okie, i'm using induction hob, so being burnt won't be an issue. but how about sore, tired arm? i'd prefer to work my arm muscles at gym and not kitchen i guess for most pple, the standard height won't be an issue, but i am really not so tall..... so daddy's suggestion is really valid (for those interested to know my height... read the discussion here ) Dad: and ya, the top cabinet... try to make it lower than the "standard" too. Me: why? won't it be too low and i hit my head at the top cabinet? Dad: our home's cabinet is also lower than standard mah... have you ever hit your head? remember you're short, you know? (ouch!) Me: ........................... Dad: i requested the carpenter to make the top cabinet lower (note: my mom is even shorter than me). The carpenter kept saying it won't work and refused to do for us... in the end i insisted him to follow my idea hahaha Me: hmmm good also la... no need to tip-toe every time when getting things from top cabinet... Dad: main point is, when the top cabinet is lowered, you can't have it too deep, else your head will really kenna hit i made it slightly more shallow than the "standard" depth too. Me: oh........ Me: but won't the hood be too low? Dad: lower is good mah... better suction hahaha so after that, we measured the cabinets at home... and i made some adjustments after doing some testing on my own (like... test out the appropriate height with different tables at home ).... ...and we came to this plan: decided to lower the work-top all the way from the hob to the end of the dry area: if i just lower the hob area (something like a "U" shape depression), it really doesn't look good and reminds pple on kitchens back in 80s.the depression for the hob will be wasting a lot of space, cos you need clearance around the hob.flat surface should be easier to clean than a U-shape depression.... when i told Henry about my idea.... Henry: huh? so old-fashion? nooo lahhhhh.... Me: can lah... won't look old-fashion... (show him drawing) Henry: oh like that not so bad... your cabinet so low? Me: ya... i am short mah. Henry: i am also short wad, standard height can la... too low will hit your head. Me: can lah... also the top cabinet will be more shallow, so won't hit head de... Henry: (shocked) huh?? how shallow you want? Me: 11-inch? Henry: cannot la, standard is 13-inch... Me: why cannot? Henry: your hood ah, your hood will not get good support if top cabinet is too shallow... so 13-inch hor. Me: 12 inch? Henry: 13 lah... Me: 12 lah... can one... Henry: Aiyahhhhh.... 12.5-in lah... cannot tahan you liaoz... Me: 12 lah ^_^ Henry: Don't regret later huh! Well, finally he did made it 12-in in depth so far, no regret in modifying all the dimensions out of the "standards"... many pple commented that my hood looks very low, i just smiled when they comment... after all this is my kitchen, the most important thing is that it fits my needs Noob Lesson 6: if you need to, don't be afraid to venture out of the "standards", though many pple will tell you not to

i use the hood everytime i cook... though the recycle type allowed in HDB may not be the most powerful, it's effective enough for me especially for the cooking smell... once the hood is on, smell will be gone pretty soon. at first i wanna get the Fujioh hood too but after learning that you have to screw/unscrew to clean the interior, i dropped the idea and purchase another one instead, which uses carbon filter and it's less hassle to clean

oops noticed that i missed the actual pics... LOL i thought the actual photo is 3D nice leh! so when are the furniture and stuff coming in?

LOL... yup good excuse to get new stuff hahaha my hubby and I both prefer "moveable" items than built-in, so we have the flexibility to change anytime we like... keke for me, i normally dry the pots/woks on the dish drainer or work top, then put it back into cabinet after they are dried (i have one compartment for all the pots/woks at my bottom cabinet ) my father will actually heat the wok on stove until the water evaporates, and keep in cabinet

mine is the other way round... instant heater 3kWh, storage heater 1.5kWh. cos HDB rule says those homes with 30 Amp mains cannot storage heater > 1.5kWh following your calculation, for my case: 2 pple, each shower for 15 mins. 15 x 2 = 30 mins. For instant heater: 3kW/h x 0.5 hr = 1.5kW For storage heater (switch on for 30 mins): 1.5kW/h x 0.5hr = 0.75kW So actually i save electricity by using storage heater

*raise hand* meatball rockz!!

This is the 3D drawing... how about the actual "product"?

this is very true... i've read in this forum before that someone's power bill actually reduced after switching to storage heater. i prefer storage heater cos i love hot hot water, and always feel that water flow from instant heater is just not as strong and "shiok" compared to storage heater, even when we're talking about normal shower heads

the grade is usually printed on the stainless steel piping itself... if one is kaypoh enough to look through your house' piping, should be able to find Stainless steel 304 is more than enough - even in chemical industry, 304 piping is commonly used for water. actually, rust is also caused by oxidation of iron... just like copper oxidises to form copper oxide mah... i dun quite understand why ppl have an issue with stainless steel rusting (very minimal usually), but dun have an issue with copper oxidising (can be quite obvious) if you ask me, i'd prefer iron (III) oxide than copper oxide.

in this case, the HDB officer misunderstood your wife's pay... cos the one-time pay out by the company should be considered as "bonus" and should not count towards the combined income calculation... quite similar to my case last time

Are your toilets far from each other? cos if they are, by the time the water from the storage tank reaches the furthest toilet, it would be cooled down, and the flow is also pathetic . how about using instant heaters for the 2 toilets that are less frequently used?