manutd1972

i'm sorry to say....but at present, thr is no law to protect the rights of a man caught in a divorce. whether just a husband or a father, the law, by virtue of the Women's Charter, only looks after the interests of the woman in a divorce. even in our modern society where so much has changed, and women's rights, status, education, employability, earning power, financial position etc etc etc has improved by leaps and bounds, the law unfortunately has not caught up wif "modernisation" and maintains that the female is the weaker sex and in a divorce, would be highly subjected to gross abuse, be taken advantage of, or be left in a hugely distressed state. Thus the great level of protection accorded to women by the Women's Charter. As for us men, too bad for us. we can only hope tt when things go wrong, d woman we married and are nw divorcing, would be fair and rational.

this actually does sound logical, if u look at the history of movies on discs. started wif Laser disc, den VCD, den DVD, and now Blu-ray. and nw wif internet connectivity being so prevalent and affordable, plus the increasing popularity of media players/boxes, it just might happen a few years down d road. but i think the physical discs will still be sold, in whatever format that is more popular in the mass market, and downloaded media will be another avenue of obtaining our movies. just like online music nw, in time to come, we will have online movies and stuff. download, save onto a HDD, and watch it whenever u want. pause it anywhere in the movie, bookmark it, and come back to it on another day or time. to be honest, i've nvr seen a Blu-ray movie before so i cant really understand when ppl talk abt d better details, higher def, better sound etc. To me right nw, d current DVDs r gd enuf so no impetus to "upgrade". i'm waiting to see if they'll come out wif a Blu-ray recorder, instead of just a player.

ok, i just checked wif my own unit. didn't know this earlier, but Xbox 360 console can play DVD and music CDs. dunno abt Blu-ray cos i dun hv any Blu-ray discs.

hmm....for me personally, i wldn't get any sort of gym equipment liao. i once had a bench where u can do presses, leg curls n extensions. upside: can exercise all u want. downside: takes up a lot of floor space. and if u dismantle it n keep it, den set it up when u want to use it, chances r, u'll leave it in the storeroom aft some time, nvr to be used again. i haven't started yet due to an issue wif my carpentry tt's affecting the cables connection. bt hv tried it for a few days while at my previous place. depending on the games, u can really feel ur sore muscles the next day. it's like when u play Wii for the first time. say when u play a boxing game n u've never played it before, d nx day, u'll feel ur arms and pecs aching a bit. i wld say most of the games give u a cardio workout, rather than muscle strengthening or building. for that, i think nothing beats a gym equipment. but if u're just wanting to maintain or improve ur stamina, den Wii or Kinect shld be able to do the trick. just nd to buy those fitness-biased games, like Wii Fit or Kinect Trainer (or something - the game tt comes wif a heartbeat monitor).

er...i suggest u take the $140 one. the Ikea blinds hv been getting a lot of negative feedback here on the forum frm users. seems a lot of them claims tt the mechanism gets jammed after some time of usage and the blinds dun always roll up in proper alignment. i thot of using them too, to save costs, but decided the risk of eventually having to spend more again to get proper ones kind of put me off. especially when i consider the price difference is only about $200 for all the windows in my whole 3-rm flat.

think tt $270 Wii is only if u buy 2 games wif min price of $39.90 per game or something. den when u add another set of controller n nun-chuks, and if u wan MotionPlus for both controllers also....total price might come up to closer to $400. i've been looking at Wii for a few months liao. my sole purpose was to use it for exercises so my original intent was a Wii console, 2 sets of controllers, Fit board, and Wii Fit. this combi would hv cost over $500+. den Kinect came out on 17th for special preview, 18th for public. i went to Plaza Sing on 18th to try it out. bought it on the spot aft trying it out. Xbox 360 console wif Kinect sensor is $469, plus adding one of the Sports games to use for fitness exercise, total is only slightly above $500. and there's no controller to add in future etc, shld u wanna "upgrade". no running out of batteries while playing a game, no sitting down and playing using only ur hands, exercising only ur hands and arms. it's a whole body workout! uber cool and immersive. and shiong....very tiring! they even hv this Fitness Trainer game tt comes wif a heartbeat monitor tt u wear on ur wrist as u workout, n u can choose the intensity level at which u wanna work out. not cheap this game....but it beats paying for a gym membership, packing ur workout clothes, actually going down to the gym, showering aft the workout, n den getting back home aft d gym. wif Kinect, u do all these at home. no more....aiyah, still nd to drive to gym, look for parking...sian la, dun go workout liao. or even if u r disciplined to go regularly, thr's the on-going regular cost of a gym membership. Kinect is 1-time payment and tt's it man. i'm definitely gg to be much fitter in the coming months....hehe...

it takes commission-based salespeople to be able to understand the difficulties faced by agents. too many consumers see things only frm their perspective. expect heavenly service, but only willing to pay peanuts. over here, commission of 1-2%, oredi so many consumers complain. wait till they go to Taiwan/Australia(cant remember which one liao) and buy/sell a property there. their commission is, i think, 7% or higher!

u can always specify which direction of lay u want. if u dun say anything, they will lay it according to the room entrance, and not according to any windows in the room.

Yes, the direction of lay is normal, as are the tonal differences. This makes it look more like natural wood flooring. As for the skirting issue, DrAnarchy has explained it very well oredi.

ID, yes. Contractor, no. those contractor but wif ID know-how, u decide if u can trust his taste and know-how. as for bringing them along for shopping, i dun do that. cos if u bring them to some budget place, some of them will form a pre-conception in their mind tt nothing nice and design-worthy can come frm a budget place and hence, reject all ur choices frm tt place. wat i do is i just take pics of the furnishings i like, show it to him, ask for his opinion. but remember this, no matter wat, ur ID can suggest but ultimately, decision is yours. I knw some IDs will insist on their choices. they're very insistent cos they want to feel very proud of their overall design. Others are more flexible and are able to accept owners' choices so long as the furnishings' designs and colours do not clash with the overall theme. just bear this in mind when making ur individual choice against ur ID's recommendations: u spend tens of thousands of dollars engaging an ID to develop ur place, den u go out and spend a few thousands on a piece of furniture tt looks out of place in the overall scheme of things. a bit penny-wise, pound-foolish rite? spending a few Ks to "destroy, disrupt" tens of Ks of design work.

if u knew WHAT u want, u dun nd to view 8 units. u only nd at most 3 units. cos if u knew what u want, u wld hv briefed ur agent properly and he/she wld hv arranged for viewings of units that comply only wif ur requirements, and passed over those that dun. this is so as to save ur time, save their time, save the sellers' time and save the selling agents' time.

huh? original skirting? they all come wif matching skirting. wat the sales guy talking abt? as for attaching photo, u can look at this: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1142

agree to a certain extent. but to be fair to all, let's try and look at things frm an agent's perspective. they hv no basic salary at all. all their income is frm the commissions they earn. they also hv their commitments and nd to earn a living to feed their family. we appoint them to sell for us, but dun sign exclusive wif them, they spend money marketing our property, but another agent manages to sell it for us. so this successful agent gets paid and his expenses on marketing our property is recouped. wat abt the other agents who also marketed our property? their marketing expenses is all money down the drain. time and effort spent without any returns, dun even talk abt break-even. it's a negative for these agents. if we were in their shoes, do u think we wld do our best to market a property if we knw there are a few other agents marketing it as well, and there's no exclusive signed at all? as far as their industry is concerned, each agent is like his own businessman even though they belong to a particular agency. the agency only provides the infrastructure to conduct the business. hw the business is run, it's up to the individual agent, so long as they dun run afoul of the law. so like all businessmen, a business has to be profits-driven first, in order to survive and succeed. once established, changes can be made to the way the business is run so that it is also more holistic and not just profits-driven. most businesses which start immediately wif an holistic approach typically dun survive beyond a few years. tt's the "evil" of capitalism. can't be helped. our market is simply not big enough to enable such lofty business models to survive. think abt it this way: if an agent is GUARANTEED to provide u excellent service, go the extra mile all the time, takes care of all details, big and small, and basically gives every single customer of his, a successful and smooth, headache-less transaction, be it sale, purchase or rental, but he charges 3% commission. Would any of us really sign this agent on? Would there be enough such willing customers to engage this agent such tt he will be able to earn a respectable living thru our business? In our society, sadly, i dun think there will be enough such customers who're willing to pay. in my 12 years of doing sales, i've seen enough of us SG ppl to say tt most of us are (translated frm Hokkien), want cheap want green plus must be good. what is cheap can sometimes be good, but what is good, is usually not cheap.

maybe u wanna post some pics so we can see? for laying direction, u can choose but usually, it wld be laid such tt when u stand at the bedroom entrance, the planks will run across you, frm left to right, and not away frm you. as for running tones (cant cfm if wat i think is the same as wat u mean), it is normal. depending on the colour u chose, some may not be obvious. bt the purpose of laminate flooring is to replicate the look of parquet flooring, and so it has running tones to make it look like parquet. i recently installed Quick-Step Eligna series in my room and i chose a dark Oiled Walnut. the running tones quite obvious, but the overall look....i love it man!

tt's why i'm not installing a gate for the time being. aft reading all the negative reviews of all the budget wrought iron gate suupliers mentioned here, i've decided not to save on the gate and pay 1-time pain for proper, good quality ones. And i figure those frm MetalWorld would qualify since they have done govt projects before. dun think they'll skimp on quality. and i made this decision before reading "edenstrauss"s comments. and yes, their cheapest gate is from $600 onwards. and tt's why i can't install one nw...cos my reno budget oredi busted liao. no more flesh to cut elsewhere to squeeze out for the gate. so save up first...

>$9000!!!?? What are u doing tt's costing so much? I've so far only heard of $5000+ for electrical works. $9000 definitely takes the cake, for me. my reno is completing soon and i'm quite happy wif my electrician's work, helpfulness and quote. very reasonable price and the switches are very nice. using Clipsal aka Schneider Electric's Vivace series. can PM u if u wan his contact. u dun hv a contractor? u're coordinating ur whole reno urself? why nd to calculate quantity of tiles required and buy them urself? Sorry dex, OT in ur t-blog.

Use a floor-standing fan. With your low ceiling, by the time u install false ceiling plus a ceiling fan, one only needs to stretch one's arms upwards and one can touch the fan blades liao. dun even need to jump. and if there's no space between the fan blades and the ceiling, den there won't be much air in between for the blades to draw in and "blow" downwards. u will experience the similar thing as ur friend.

do u intend to have any fixed telephones in your home? if yes, den u will need at least 1 telephone point for the fixed telephone line. as for your computers and internet access, what internet service do u subscribe to? SCV Broadband? SingNet Mio? M1? If it's SCV, den u dun need any telephone point for internet access. All u need is 1 SCV point and a wireless router. Connect the wireless router to the SCV point and all your computers can have internet access wirelessly via the router. If you're using mio or ADSL modem, then u only need 1 telephone point (excluding the telephone point being used for the fixed telephone). Again, connect a wireless router to the telephone point and access the internet wirelessly on any of your computers. dun get conned by the electrician. he's not thinking of wireless access at all. he's thinking all using wired connection, tt's why wherever there is a computer, he tells u that u will nd a telephone point there. this method to me, is doing extra for nothing, spending extra money unnecessarily. As for OpenNet, i'm not too sure but i think services are still limited at the moment, so as long as u oredi have the fibre-optic cable and termination point in ur home, u can just leave it where it is and ignore it. if u wan to access the internet thru OpenNet, den u need to subscribe to 1 of the OpenNet service providers. At the moment, i dun think there are any fibreoptic-ready wireless routers available in the market. So if using OpenNet for internet access, then wherever u hv a computer, u will need 1 OpenNet termination point. Suggest u check wif OpenNet service providers for details. i may not be correct cos i didn bother to ask too much. This technology still in infant stage, i wun sign-up nw, so didn bother.

best not to place a ceiling fan above the sofa, lest kids jump up and down on the sofa and stretch their arms upwards in an attempt to touch the fan. dun wan to imagine the possible consequences should the fan be on when someone tries to do that.

haha....it's precisely because of the rust and pitting that he termed it "natural aging". anyway, it has since been thrown away liao. it was just standing there, not being used to support any plants or anything, and my corner unit neighbour told my ID's hauler to throw it away. i asked her if it was ok wif the other neighbour, since it belonged to them rather than to corner unit neighbour, and she said she'll ask them. den nx site visit a few days later, it was gone. so i assumed she had it thrown. the other neighbour didn come and make noise to me, so ok la. so long as i dun get caught in any crossfire between them.....if there is one. haha....

i will NEVER buy any LG products in my lifetime, no matter how good, or how value-for-money the product is. Simply 'cos of their warranty and after-sales service. i had related my experience wif their after-sales in another thread on electrical appliances and as far as their warranty is concerned, the conclusion tt i get thru' my own experience and also that of a fellow consumer seated next to me, who sent in his LG handphone, is that........there is no warranty. Whatever fault that they can deny, they will deny tt it's a manufacturing defect and claim it is either normal wear and tear, or operator fault. 1) laptop flickering screen within first 2 weeks - operator fault? need to re-format HD and re-install OS? to me, it's a load of crap and utter incompetence of technical staff. my IT friend fixed it for me without re-formatting or re-installing anything software. simple case of incorrect default settings from factory. get this? incorrect settings from factory. the own manufacturer also dunno hw to set up the software to work properly wif their equipment. 2) internal plastic component breaking within 1yr - normal wear and tear? to replace a small piece of plastic, i hv to pay over $100 to replace the whole laptop casing. normal wear and tear? within 1yr? i've used 2 Acer laptops, 1 Acer desktop, 1 Creative desktop, all for multiple years. Never had anything plastic or metallic break within the first year. in fact, nothing broke within any number of years that i had the equipment with me. i still hv an Acer laptop (oredi 5yrs) and an Acer desktop (4yrs) wif me and they're still working perfectly fine. i can only conclude tt my LG laptop used lower quality materials compared to those other brands I had. 3) customer next to me sent in his LG hp for repair. 1 week old. battery not charging at all. when hp says batt fully charged, once un-plugger frm charger, batt will show "low batt" after a couple of hours. this is wat i overheard from their conversation - technician plugged hp into a charger, showed customer tt the batt was charging, and claim since batt is charging, means batt not spoilt, not a claimable warranty as it's not a defect. indirectly implying it's operator's fault. batt still had it's manufacture date sticker pasted on it. customer went bonkers. so after the above, do i still wanna part wif my hard-earned money for this? at the risk of having the product break down on me and den have them tell me it's not covered under their warranty? i've made my decision. those who read this are free to make their own decisions. this is my experience wif them. believe it or not, up to u the reader. (added during edit) oh btw, my LG laptop is now approaching 1.5yrs, and the fan is oredi making a lot of rattling noise. my 5yr-old Acer laptop.....can put it next to a sleeping baby and u won't hear a thing.

true true....for collectors.... as for me, i'm just like "everton"....just need to fill my white, empty walls wif sth nice and pleasing to the eye. heck, i can even accept art prints.....lol....but putting up an art print of van Gogh's "Starry Night" or Edvard Munch's "The Scream" feels kinda like.....counterfeiting or deceiving oneself or...dunno hw to describe it. it's like "u wanna hv the real thing, but can't afford the real thing, so take a cheap copy, and den be mocked by others for using a cheap copy" kinda feeling.......

Also got Philips. But you're right, no 46". I'm also looking for a gd deal on 46". btw, most of these booths running hourly specials tend to actually belong to dept stores, such as Courts, Harvey Norman etc. Usually only Sony will run their own booths. The other brands tend to leave it to the stores to promote their products. But it's also possible that Samsung and LG run their own promotions. But I would NEVER buy LG. Samsung's not bad but i find the 5000 series not good enough when compared to other brands equivalent. i saw some pixelation in certain scenes when i was there earlier. A bit surprised as I didn't expect it from their widely-popular series.

how to get those paintings wif just 100-200? i love Binh's "Nude" but it's a whopping USD4,800! Trung's "Hoi An" is **** nice too....but i dun even dare to guess hw much it'll cost. it's marked as "Price on Request". Now we knw tt's another term for "Such high price you won't be able to afford it if you had to ask".....lol.

haha...for me, still ok. cos my corridor is one of those old types, very wide to start with. so even though they have lots of plants and other stuff, the space is still wide enough for 2 person to walk side-by-side. it's just the stuff tt they put there. u knw la...hw some flat dwellers basically use the corridor as their storeroom from nature. there was this metallic piece, a little like a bar stool without the cushion, tt was sitting along the corridor, totally rusted and severely rotted. one supplier commented tt it's a very interesting design - natural aging.....rofl.