mae29

Hi, Triple 6s Welcome to my blog and thank you for reading up the post on my aircon selection. I choose this brand as I was told it is the latest design / release in the market with Ionisers, better power, etc. Infact, I really DO not like to buy aircon from big players like GC or BD, as they sub-contract to other installers. Moreover, they provide only one Trip to install everything for you in one day....and the person who came are the Technicians, not the key staff. For this company AirCon Design, the installers came twice....one trip for installing the trunkings, and another trip to install the aircon FCU & compressors, after your house is ready / painted. Then, when my house is ready for handover, they came back again with the remote control device and test run the systems for me, and handed over the warranty cards at the same time. So, they came 3 times to my house!! Other players will charge you additional trip (at least $80 extra) for returning second time. The most important lesson learnt for me is their reliability...I do not have to worry about workmanship & quality of material used. So far, after 3 months, I am happy with the choice of brand.

Bro Kobe, Thank you for the compliment! My friend said I look better in person which I agreed I wasn't well on that day when photographer came. I wanted to take off day when the photographer came, but work is too busy, so no time to doll myself up! My face was also full of pimples! Let me brave myself up and post a close up view of face photo here (taken on the same day).

The one shown in the picture above is suitable for Indoor drying. I have installed another model which is retractable & extendable for outdoor drying, which is very sturdy & easy to use. I seldom retract it as I can leave it at drop height for drying bath towels when my children step out of bathroom. See here for more details: My Retractable Laundry Hanger for Indoor & Outdoor drying

On the subject of 'Health', let me show you the 'Flying Stars' Natal chart of the resale flats which my younger sister paid $1K deposit but didn't exercise OTP because of major feng shui flaws, both interior & external landforms! Take a look at chart which I plotted for the house...see what is compromised? - See what is the flying stars combination at the Dining area - See what is missing in the NW & SW sector (according to 8-mansion theory).

Hello all sisters & brothers here Thank you for your well wishes & I am fully recovered from a bout of flu & fever. Health is Wealth! We must take good care of ourselves to ensure a long, happy, self sufficient and healthy life! I know feng shui and my priority at home is not to enhance Wealth, but Health! Why? Because health is more important than wealth, isn't it? A wealthy person may not be able to enjoy all the good things that they can afford them if they do not have pink of health. Stay Healthy Always!

Yes, this includes the wallpapers, toilet/sink accessories, aircon, lightings, 2 doors which I changed them, laundry hanger, electrical installations (which alone is already $5.6K)and Blum systems for kitchen cabinets & soft closings. Furnishings are all the purchases of electrical appliances, dining & sofa set, a;; soft furnishings including mattresses (which alone is approx $10K already). So, you roughly can guess how much I paid to ID firm for the renovation works including the carpentry.

Hi, adidaem Thank you for popping by....and your little gesture surely melts my heart! I have a scanned copy posted here, but the digital version will definitely have better resolution and I really like to keep it for rememberance. I will PM you my email address shortly. Thanks again for your kind initiative which truly touched my heart.

My Space column.... Here is the full article published on 1-May-2011:

Sis BunBun I am glad to offer my humble advice to you! I am also grateful for what you have mentioned to Drexter. This shows my friends here have read my reno journey & remembered all the comments made in my thread here! Kudos to you & friends78 who can even remember how my ID forked out his pocket money to pay the wallpaper guy to use up the balance materials my ID saw in the store during housewarming!! Words cannot express how much I am touched by your kind comments here.

Bro Kobe My ID will be glad to see this post! But, wait, when you become his boss, you will also get annoyed that he is spending too much time on a customer project! Not all bosses realize the importance of good customer support is vital to their firms survival. Look at what happen to my post-reno works now. If not for my ID, they will take donkey years to revert. The PM replied me last Wed to 'give him 2 days to sort things out'. So, you tell me how many days are we now since Wed? My ID still asked me on Thursday nite if his ex-manager had settled the plastering on wall, but the manager like 'Bo chap'. Since ID had asked me not to worry, he will help, I'm now leaving this plastering cracks to him. My ID came over with his SIL & nephews to ser my house this afternoon & he said he will call that PM to expedite.

Sis Jupiter & friends78, Bro Drexter & r104_For Thank you for all your concern which really warm my heart! Thanks also Maydream1 who sent her regards via SMS.

Bro, Kobe looks like all things are Round & Curvy like your doors

Bro Kobe Really envy you guys have time to shop around for bargains! For me, although my renovation period was within December's Xmas sales, I wasn't making good use of the opportunity to grab bargains! I am not even concern over brands of the accessories, except for mattress which I'm more concern over quality & support. Well, next time when I have chance to renovate again, I will plan the purchase early. Now, can't wait for your EM to be completed!

Sis, Ely Finally see you posting up the progress photographs of carpentry works. I am really lusting over the pots & pans. They look close to my AMC series (mine is 7 piece sets cost >$3k including a pressure cooker). Though I'm not cooking at home now, you may notice I didn't even have a cooker hood, I do find it Important to invest in a set of pure good grade stainless steel pots & pans. I hate the Teflon or whatever non-stick wok or pan, which ended up sticking & burnt somehow. Now, my 10 years old pots & pans need re-polish to shine again. Talking about budget, hmmm, I can claim mine exceeded the most! When I saw my neighbor spent $36k, I thought my reno will be around range. But, I want everything new in the house from floors to ceilings, from doors to windows. Even the Queen Sealy Kingsbury unicast mattress was a must get item, as I thought it is as important to invest in a piece of mattress with good back support. In the end, my budget exceeded "not alot more", but double!! Now, waiting to admire your house***

Hello sis & bro The article featuring Me & my kitchen is published in Sunday Times today, page 40, Invest, My Space titled "Double access to home like no other". The reporter had chosen the caption because of the unique 2 doors to our house. Met my Neighbour and they curiously asked if I'm a Hainanese as my surname is rare. Then, there is another Neighbour "wow" at my work designation. Most of the time when we met, we didn't talk about our occupation, just that they know I work nearby and I walk to work. I have been busy & unwell...will reply to my post here later.

Yes, I cure the negative stars yearly! Ofcourse, I will activate the good ones.

Hi, Bro Drexter Talking about budget, I myself thought my reno will be around $40k, when I saw my Neighbour spent about $36k for their basic reno. Results quite nice. Months later, their laminate flooring started to give way, bubbling. At the same period, I decided to renovate our 30 year old flat. Look around reno talk for ideas & reading blogs. Decided to call few recommended ones, and some unknowns including IDs and contractors. In total, I called 9 firms, 6 of them in the beginning, and 3 of them a month later when all quotations exceeded my budget. I made a spreadsheet & do comparison of all quotations line by line items, just like how we evaluate tender summary. Then, discover the cheapest 2 quotations came from one ID & another Contractor. Decided to talk to these 2 lowest offer & negotiate for revision. The contractor even asked me to write down my offer & he will accept it!! As for that lowest ID, he does not show keen interest & never follow up. In the end, I dropped both of them like hot potatoes when I found that the prices of dome items by contractor is higher than IDs! Worst still, I just discovered the tiles quoted to me is upto $2.20. Can you imagine how much I need to top up for my current homo tiles @$3:60 per sf. Then, at that moment, Donny still called me & want to discuss my quotation, even though he knew that I was 99.9% going to award to lowest offerer. My son also told me to look for ID since our reno exceeds $50k, so we can get coordinated design & colours. For me, I know it will also save me the trouble & headaches as my reno is extreme. True enough, there were problems along the way & contractors will call ID to solve, not me. Take the leakage on my downstairs Neighbour for example, I don't even knew about the problem & ID also never disclose to me. I only found out when I bumped into my ID during my daily site inspection when he arranged to meet the HDB officer & Neighbour. When each activities is completed, he will take the initiatives to inspect personally. Even a simple piece of small tile to cover the floor trap, he also lifted it up to inspect & he detected the missing collar which HDB forgotten to install 30 years ago!! When his 3D drawings are ready, he took the initiatives to check with my sons, especially the youngest son when he knows of his stubborness. Then, when all contractors 'siu kang' days before CNY, he had to call his Neighbour to come to repaint my rooms when all of them decline to help. All I could say is my ID always takes the first step to face problem & solved them without bothering me. Most people will face headache when selecting tiles & laminates. For me, all these is like a breeze to me, as I was sitting aside while ID squads up & down shortlisting the tiles for my approval. The same goes for laminates & I had so many revisions made to my MBR. Just last nite, he texted me near mid night to ask if the Project Manager followed up the plaster wall, even though it was my project which gave him problems & leading to his resignation. The most valuable lessons I gained is his loyalty & he takes responsibilty as though he is renovating his home, giving me good quality material. Those friends who visited my house can vouch - especially the quality of material for our pole system wardrobes!! When reno is near completion, I still haven't buy broom, mops, pails, brush, etc. All these were bought by him & he even lend his hands to help clean the place, knowing I am fussy, but just too busy! Even the trap for cockroaches the subject topic discussed these days, were bought by him.

Hi, sis Yes, my bedroom is in East sector where Yellow 5 star resides this year. So, metal object to weaken the negative Earth energy.

For a Good Laugh...election fever & emails circulating "I need your urgent advice about employing a maid. As a busy mother, I need someone reliable to help out at home. My maid is from Profits Agency Pte (PAP) and she has worked for me for a long time. Her mother worked for my parents and did an excellent job, so I had faith in her. For several years her performance has been very good, but recently she has become arrogant and insensitive, and is making lots of mistakes. For example: 1) She flooded my kitchen – she told me that the drain pipe has blocked (she was supposed to clear it once a month but didn’t). Then she assured me that it is very rare and won’t happen again in the near future. Guess what? It flooded again within a year! 2) She didn’t close a window and my terrier dog escaped. I was so worried cos he is dangerous and could bite lots of people. After the incident, she didn’t apologise and just shrugged her shoulders saying “What to do, it has happened.” Fortunately my neighbor found the dog and we locked it up again. 3) Without consulting me, she has been bringing in strangers for my house's maintenance work. She says they charge low wages and keep costs down, but they eat my food, make a lot of noise and rest on my bed. I think they even tried to seduce my husband. It stopped feeling like my home, more like a cheap hotel, and I don’t always want to come back at the end of the day. 4) When she first came to work for me, I instructed her to clean the different parts of the house at least once a week. But for some time she has stopped taking care of the bedrooms of PP and H; they are now dirty and messy. I asked why and she told me that the kids had been disobedient, so she was neglecting their bedrooms as a punishment (she has forgotten that she is paid to clean all the rooms). Even though my maid has worked for me for many years and I value what she has done in the past, I think she is now getting complacent. Her attitude is imperious and dismissive. She ignores my comments and basically treats my feedback as "noise". I wrote to the agency about her behavior; they assured me that they are the best agency around and all their maids are “Commited to Serve” – but I think it is just rhetoric and I don’t see that in her actions. Her salary is much higher than maids in other countries, but the agency say this is to keep her honest and stop her moving to another employer. They say there is a limited supply of maids, and Singapore isn’t big enough for more than one good maid agency, so I should not trust their competitors. I have to decide whether to renew my maid’s 5-year employment contract. When we discussed this she said that she is now part of a team, and if I want her I must also accept her friends doing part-time work for me. One friend is very inexperienced, can't do basic tasks or explain what she intends to do. I suspect that she is actually underage. When interviewed, she only seemed interested in her days-off and visiting Universal Studios. When she couldn't answer my questions she stomped her foot and exclaimed, "I don't know what to say!" But I am still expected to pay her a high salary. Now there happen to be a few other maid agencies - Workhard Pte (WP), New Solutions Pte (NSP), Super Personnel Pte (SPP) and Star Domestica Pte (SDP) - that offered me some helpers who seem sincere, genuine and intelligent. They are keen to work, willing to assist me and have a good attitude. I know that they may take a bit of time to learn how everything works, but frankly I am inclined to give them a chance. People say that the devil you know is better than one you don’t. But I feel that I can’t tahan my current maid anymore. Do you think I should sack my current maid and try out a new one? Appreciate your advice. Footnote: I live in Tanjong Pagar GRC and it seems like I have no choice about my maid agency afterall - I will have to stick with my current maid. For those of you who are fortunate enough to have a choice, celebrate your blessed privilege and exercise your choice wisely. My best wishes to you

Top 30 Highest Paid Politicians in the World all Clean sweep by tiny Singapore in the Guinness Book of Records!

Finally my Brother-in-Law came last week to help assembled the Ikea white cabinet: Decided to keep this cabinet in my MBR for my feng shui and course books. You know why I have these items in my bedroom? Did you see the dumb bell? This is where I place the remote control switch for the lights in my bedroom:

Hello, Sister BunBun Yup, my friends here also commented cannot catch up the thread already as it is moving very fast. Like I mentioned in several post, there is some form of 'energy' which will somehow influence you to move house at certain time of the luck cycle. If you are entering into your good luck cycle (Heaven Luck), but the house does not support you (Earth Luck), you will move house (Man luck).

Hello, BTO.sg Thank you for your compliment. I will send you my feedback via email to you.

Hi, adrielx Thank you for your kind words & I'm glad to share my humble knowledge to all. I will keep this thread alive with feng shui info.

Hi, Sis Ely This is unique. Where did you buy it? Online ?