taichipanda

Wow... nice layout! Hack away the walls between kitchen and living to create an open concept kitchen cum dining with island counter top.

alkaline water somehow neutralize the acid in meat, get rid of the smell... alkaline water also has smaller water molecules, can bring out the intense fragrant of spices and can penetrate meat and bone more thoroughly so meat cook faster. Try soaking white fungus in normal tap water v/s alkaline water, the later use shorter time to fully soften that dried herb.

9. 3 pieces for moi, 3 pieces of mom, 2 pieces for betty. 10. What is bah kut teh? Can eat? 11. Waa... yummilicous! Can I have another bowl?

5. Boil at high heat to reach boiling point 6. Scoop out the floating residue 7. Continue to boil at low heat for another 40 mins 8. Done! Look at the clear soup. hehe...

My bah kut teh recipe... 1. Song Fa Bah Kut Teh spice 1 packet (2 bags inside) + 20 cloves of garlic 2. 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce + 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce 3. 1 kg of pork rib 4. Put all the ingredients in a pot of 2 litres of alkaline water

where got scratch proof counter top? solid wood (oak, beech or birch) or 100% acrylic, both can be scratch.

I saw the round leg from ikea, is new one with small diameter. I kept 4 white one i torn from my sis in law computer table, the diameter is much bigger at least 2 inches across.

that area is really difficult to find parking... friends turn turn turn and turn ended up park at Lorong 17. when ordering the XO fish head steamboat, you can add extra ingredients at extra fee, we usually add golden needle mushroom, add fresh scallop, add sea cucumber, add dung owe, add extra portion of fish meat (red grouper), can also add extra serving of XO. the last 6 of us were there, bill came to about $110, got also order a few dishes + drinks. i want to gather some friends to try my improved version of XO fish head steamboat with special soup base and extra power ingredients.

haha... the one my designer brought us (me & wifey) to is located at Geylang Lorong 15, the name of coffee shop is call 廘港小镇, yellow sign board. we also brought our friends there to eat, they all love it but they say they dare not come that part of Geylang to eat (no prositute but many many contractors and uncle eat and drink there).

i'm not so high tech. take photo can lah. dont know why suddenly think of xo seafood steamboat... the soup base use alkaline water boil with XO, dong quai, ginseng, red dates and gojizi, dry scallop, white fungus and whole chicken boil over for a few hours, when use with steamboat will be consider as double-boil. ingredients include red grouper, crab, prawn, fresh scallop, sea cucumber, golden needle mushroom, japanese flower mushroom, black fungus, dong hoon, white cabbage, raddish and dung owe.

dong quai and ginseng too heaty; gojizi and garlic dont go well together with bah kut teh, boil with whole chicken to make steamboat soup base will be nicer. dong quai and ginseng are heaty herbs, chicken is cold, just nice to neutralize the heat.

Dont tell me you order a solid wood counter top 182cm X 62cm as work top for your study table? hehe... me too.

I have asthma... so my painter quoted me Nippon Odourless Easywash 3+1 coats. I was given some 20% leftover just in case i want to touch up. The color i chose is white, if you want i can go back to look at the color code on the tin. http://www.nipponpaint.com.sg/wp-admin/images/products/20.pdf

another tip on the salty part... dont put too much salt cos everyone taste bud are different, not salty enough later can add soy sauce or dip into a small dish of soy sauce. my bah kuet kut teh i use the ready-made "Song Fa" powder 1 packet (inside has 2 bags), 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of light kikoman soy sauce, 20 medium size whole garlic over 2-3 liter of alkaline water. Put all ingredients into room temperature water and bring to a boil on big fire, then slimmer boil on medium-low fire for another 30-40 minutes. yesterday i didnt cook, high chances will cook tonight, maybe i shoot some pictures to show the process.

mapo toufu is very yummy... cannot use big strong fire after all ingredients are added together, must slimmer cook over low fire preferably with a lid with small hole on it. almost every weekend, i cook bah kuet kut teh... i love the meyer pot i bought, the lid comes with a small hole for hot steam to escape, on my rinnai 2cg hob, i use the smallest setting to slimmer boil the soup for 30-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the rib meat. if use my usually pot, it will overflow every few minutes, if without lid the soup will dry up every fast, adding more water is not nice.

I am surprise why your plumber never install cut off valve for that pipe so your husband no need to run downstair to OFF the main. If OFF main means whole house no water. From your incoming main from downstair, your plumber should run separate pipes for various group of water appliances, and a cut off valve must be install at every pipe leading the the group of appliances and another cut off valve at each appliances (washer, water heater, WC, bidet spray, basin, kitchen sink, filter system... etc). I can show you the water piping at my place if you want to see so you know what to expect from your plumber. I have a feeling your plumber is shortchanging you.

Thanks for liking my house. I have to apologise that i am unable to share my ID contact and quotation as the designer is a family friend and their company only undertake government tenders, landed properties and condo projects. They dont undertake hdb flat unless is someone they know or is friend. I cant share my detailed quotation with you as they are friend-friend price; same quality if go ID firms outside will cost easily another 50% more.

Hi edenstrauss, There are 2 types of tile; ceramic and homogeneous. The former is popular some 30 years ago, easy to crack and chip off if you drop a vase or cup onto it, the base is made of red clay and is different color from the top layer. Homogeneous tile made it debute in the 90s, the base material and the top layer is of the same color and texture, the structure is very dense thus they are very tough and hard, dropping a vase or cup onto it will not harm them (just imagine throwing egg against a rock, the rock crack or the egg crack?). My living room and bedroom are using glazed homogeneous tile which is even better than normal homogeneous tile, not everone can accept glazed effect, the reflection is like water rippling effect; normal homogeneous will have a mirror like reflection. Tiler with good skill and workmanship, no chance to have any hollow tile. My tiler told me they will do a good job at first go and move on to the next project, where got time to go back to relay. This group of tilers lay wall covering and flooring for operating theater in hospital that must pass stringent check. If hollow tile they need to redo whole area all over again, not just remove that few pieces of tile. My 1/2 cent.

Better be sure induction hob got what type of safety feature(s) build-in. I know about the timer, but dont know for what use.

Dangerous specially for blur people... if leave pot or pan on induction hob and it still ON, can still burn down the house. Next time got children more danger, imagine your kid go pull the pot of hot soup. Use induction hob must install quartz counter top due to heat resistance... acrylic/polyester counter top will melt if place pot direct on it. Kirk, your reno so slow.

DIY is cheaper and extremely satisfying.

This is what i paid... bear in mind this is friend-friend price so mark up by main con is not a lot. Cat6 LAN point - 4 @ $100 each 13 Amp power socket (double) - 20 @ $60 each Lighting point inclusive of switch - 14 @ $48 each Installation of Light - 9 @ $8 each 15 Amp power socket (for aircon) - 1 @ $120 Hood point with switch - 1 @ $80 Telephone point - 2 @ $30 each SCV point - 3 @ $100 each Supply and install new 10A (for lighting) and 20A (for power socket) ELCB to DB - lump sum of $420 Whole house new wiring Total $3,324.00

Not sure about others, for me the major cost in my renovation is the high end carpentry works + the CaesarStone quartz counter top ($20K), next is the tiling works ($10K), total cost me $46K. Compare to some ID firm that quoted me high of $50K to 70K. Btw, mine is a tiny 3 rooms hdb flat. Hacking and rebuilding rooms to change layout is quite costly. Yes if you want it to look good. Usually hack and rebuild first, then lay new floor, next run new wire for the new room, may need new false ceiling or L-box if you have high ceiling (2700mm & above). Maybe you can share with us how big is your hdb flat, what renovation you want and how much is your budget? Many forumers here have gone through at least one renovation in recent 1 year and should be able to provide some suggestion.

I see. Use induction hob it is best not to leave any magnetic pot and pan on the hob after cooking.

If you custom build for $20K and can last you 20 years (staring at same design and cannot re-arrange) v/s you buy ready made for $5K and last you 6 years (every 6 years can change new design and can re-arrange if tired of the arrangement), which one would you prefer? There is no need to occupied all space with furniture, especially space are limited for a small hdb flat.