zihui

Thanks soonliew How's the progress on your place? Moving in soon?

I've been spending the past few days putting our oven to good use, preparing the CNY goodies because I enjoy playing around in the kitchen while the hubby enjoys stuffing his face with whatever comes out of the kitchen. So instead of deep frying the crab sticks, I took my colleague's advice and decided to oven bake them instead as it's healthier this way and still tasty. OMG it was so difficult! In the past when I prepared the deep fried crab sticks, it was so easy that I could do several containers at a go for all of my relatives. Using the oven, temperature control became a huge problem as they would burn and become inedible. It took me several attempts before I had enough to fill up 2 small containers. And the best part is that CNY isn't even here and the hubby has already polished off one of my 2 precious containers... ... *facepalm* The pineapple rolls were a lot easier to make so I've been spending my spare time on weekends filling up container after container of pineapple rolls to hand out to my relatives. Here's a couple of quick photos - Fresh out of the oven, smelling fantastic: Close up of the pineapple rolls: YUMMY! hahahaha Super not shy lah, tooting my own horn. I'm just raving about it because I love how the house smells after a bout of heavy cooking / baking. I find it so warm, comforting and the house feels like it's filled with love. So on that note, I would like to wish all fellow Renotalkers a VERY HAPPY YEAR OF THE HORSE! May all of you enjoy the prosperity, peace and good fortune in the days ahead!

You guys are so cute! My husband was laughing this morning because he was checking his instagram and realized that Leia had given a shout out on Instagram to 'Aki's papa'

We've gotten him LOADS of chew toys but he very much prefers our hands and feet. We've now resorted to applying medicated oil on our hands and feet so that he'll leave them alone. His teeth are sharp! OMG... I know that Alan attracts quite a lot of positive and negative feedback but from what I've read, I thought that the biggest complaint about Alan is that because he's so busy with his numerous projects, he keeps forgetting what he's promised to you or what he previously discussed with you. I didn't know that his work is so shoddy... ... *shakes head* yeah, he's following your Instagram account. makanology hahaha. He likes to look at your dog and food pics. he doesn't really post aki's photos there - he normally posts them on FB instead =)

Oh my god, he is teething now lah He isn't biting our furniture yet, but he's nipping away at our hands and feet... it's driving us crazy! We're trying hard to correct this bad habit of his but it's proving to be very difficult... I know, I read about it in your blog Can't believe that contractor's poor work! btw Leia is super cute can? My hubby is following you on instagram

Loving the bedside lamp, greg!

*waves back* I pop in once in a while loads of photos taken but no time to update yet... auditing period right now hahahah you're so cute! I know exactly what you mean! I was humming happily and as we were cleaning our new house for the first time. Last weekend was our 1,536,082,2490th time cleaning our house. The happy humming has been replaced by silent cursing and the has been replaced by

Hi Makan! Havn't chatted with you in a long while! He's currently teething, which translates into a lot of nipping and biting of our hands and feet. Trying hard to wean him off this irritating and dangerous habit. He's also shedding his baby fur which means that my house has been transformed into a winter wonderland. The hubby has taken to putting a lint remover in his car so that we can 'brush' ourselves down before heading to the office... He reminds me of a white tasmanian devil... ... but he's picking up commands reasonably well though. Here's a photo of him practising the 'Balance' trick with his treat... Other than that, he keeps ka-jiaoing us to play with him so there's very little peace anymore. Never knew that a Japanese Spitz was such an active dog... even when we're watching TV in the living room, he'll grab whatever toy he likes and comes over to badger us to pay attention to him. Such a needy baby!

Congrats iceage!! Time passes by so quickly! Before you know it, the 24th will be here and your reno will be more or less completed! Sorry for the excessive use of exclamation marks but I'm so happy for you.... because after this comes the exciting part of packing, moving and the endless rounds of cleaning! hahahahahhaha

I understand your concerns At least this shows that you're a responsible person who thinks very carefully before committing to a huge responsibility like getting a pet, unlike so many people who buy pets on a whim, regret it and then either dump the dog or try to give it away. *blood boil* Just 3 days ago, there was a link about an abandoned Husky over at Boon Keng. When Grace (the Husky) was found, she was dehydrated, emaciated, her body was shutting down and was just waiting to die - here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-the-Abandoned-Husky/765756080118466 People like that really make my blood boil.... .... How can someone just toss their companion away to await death by the rubbish collection area? I also commend you for taking so many things into consideration instead of just giving into your desire for a dog. *thumbs up* If and when you finally decide to get a dog, i'm sure you will be a very thoughtful and responsible owner! However, I disagree when you say that one of your concerns about not wanting to get a dog is because you don't wish to grieve again when it dies, just like how you grieved for your previous dog when you were young. That's like saying "I don't want to enter into a relationship because I don't want my heart broken" or "I don't see the point in doing up my house nicely because sooner or later, I'll be selling this place off". For me, I've never had a dog before but I can only imagine the heartpain i'll go through when Aki finally dies (thankfully, by right, this is something that I won't have to face for another decade). But my hubby has had several other dogs and he's also been through the stage where a dog of his dies. He too grieved and cried, but it hasn't deterred him from loving another dog. Instead of focusing on the pain you'll feel when it dies, you should focus on the joy, pleasure and happiness that you will bring to each other throughout its lifespan instead.

hahahahahah HIGH FIVE i think we all face the same problems where budget is concerned - after all, if money isn't an issue, we'll be going for the very best items possible However, now that we've actually lived in the place for several months, we kinda do regret not buying the slightly better item. Take for example our living room TV - we love it! The color is rich, the size is perfect and we're having loads of fun watching it. However, we look back and realize that just for $349, we could have gotten a much higher end model (same brand) and we start wondering if we should maybe have spent that little bit more to get the better TV. After all, this is a purchase that we're not going to change on a whim and has a shelf life of what, 5-6 years? But the one purchase that we both regret was our Toshiba Smart TV (the very first thing that we bought for this house even before we got the keys. Think the photo is on page 2 or 3 of this blog) that we're using in our MBR. We thought that it was a good deal at that point in time... only to realize that if we had waited until the end to select a TV for the MBR, we could have gotten a much better TV for the same price. In terms of color, functions etc, the Toshiba TV is the weakest of the lot. hahahhahahaha I can understand... a dog really brings with it so many extra burdens and headaches Just the other day, I was telling my hubby that our house would be so much cleaner without Aki in it. But then again, I've reached the point where I can't imagine going home and not seeing Aki there

That makes sense and where 99% of people will place it unfortunately, we didn't place it there. we bought the copper bust for fengshui purposes it's actually sitting in our dining area, close to the window. I'll try to take a photo of it tonight to show you how out of place it looks hahahahha

hahahah yeah, he was really reliable and fast. but i don't think my mission is fully accomplished yet... we are still doing little touches here and there every weekend we havn't even held our housewarming party yet! hahhahahaha

Likewise *beam*

Of course you may! Here you go: 1) Yue Minjun: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13822771482 2) Movie Posters: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=8106685556 3) Rugs: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10307247429 Happy shopping!

You're very welcome! Happy New Year to you and your family too!

Hi mariohoho, Of course you can! Here you go - http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=19424415155 Happy shopping!

Oh I see hahahaha no worries at all, EmPro. You really are the Pro! Like that you can also figure out which unit mine is.

Hi flowy, of course you can. Here you go - http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=26031812762 Happy shopping!

Yeah, i just noticed from your profile that you own an EM over at Woodlands But how did you know that my unit is the one with spotlights outside the main door?

Before it slips my mind, here's wishing all Renotalkers a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope that all of you and your families have a very prosperous and fruitful 2014, enjoying your familial bliss in your beautifully renovated homes!

OH MY GOD how do you know??? You're absolutely right - my unit is the one that's permanently lit up with the spotlights outside the main door Are you one of my neighbours????

hahahahaha High five, Bellet! I've lost count of the additional costs that were incurred by this warped reasoning... ... Just yesterday evening, the hubby and I were walking around Best Denki @ IMM after dinner We came across some lovely huge LED TVs and I told him, "See? If we had paid just a bit more that time, we would be happier with our choice of TV..." Hi simplehuman, I most certainly can Here you go - http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13822771482 Enjoy shopping!

Hi VicnJac, You've got PM!

Hi sherting, I paid a total of S$391.41 for shipping via Peeka. Really ordered a lot this time around... so we had a total of 24 packages. The photos that I took were only a small portion of the stuff that we bought hahahaha Some items were small but extremely heavy like a copper bust of Beethoven.... don't ask hahahaha Of course I can, Makan! So sorry for the late reply, was away on holidays. Which items are you interested in? Let me know and I'll share the links accordingly. Too many to list out all because the order comprises of around 60+ items in all hahahaha