zihui

All in all, it was a very busy weekend. The HTB was away for his stag party in Bangkok for the weekend with his boys while I had my own hen party with my girls on Saturday night. Before heading out to the hotel to meet my girls, I spent the best part of 6 hours at the apartment checking on the progress of the renovation, overseeing the delivery from Peeka as well as unwrapping the boxes. It felt like Christmas came early hahahaha. JT and his team were working through the entire weekend to ensure that the targetted handover date of 30th Oct can be met. Here are some photos of the progress thus far: 1) As per our FSM's instructions, the main door had to be tilted to a precise angle. So JT's team was there since 8 am ensuring that the door frame is up in place so that there won't be any delays to the installation of the new main door next week - By the time I left the apartment at 4+ in the afternoon to head over to my hen party, the door frame was finally more or less in place even though the unit looks like a war zone - 2) We've created a storage cabinet underneath the staircase. This'll be where we'll put the vacuum cleaner, our golf bags, well basically everything that we can't fit into the storeroom which will be converted into a shoe cabinet - 3) The staircase's cove light's frame is up. Now that our LED lights have been delivered, we can expect a lot more progress next week. JT gave me a schedule update and if I remember correctly, the electrician will be coming over to do the installation of the lights either today / tomorrow (sorry, the closer I get to the final stretch, the more my memory is failing me). Here are some photos of the cove light's placement and size - View from the 2nd storey: How it'll look like from the ground floor - Really hoping that it'll look good once the lights have been installed and the box-up is in place *fingers crossed*

Certainly will do so! Thanks mark!

Thanks for the kind words greg! I'm totally in love with the outcome. After a good grinding and varnishing, coupled with the chemical wash, it'll look even better! For the first batch (to be delivered on Sat / Mon), I mainly bought all the sinks, basins, toilet accessories, lights and more lights. Basically all the essentials. I'm leaving the decorative items and fun stuff for the 2nd batch of orders. Compiling my orders right now! hahahahha Expect a photo avalanche starting from next week...

Went over to the apartment last night after work. I'm very happy with the progress! Apart from the 2nd storey flooring (all 3 bedrooms and the walkway), the steps of the stairs have been plastered over with the Burmese teakwood parquet laid on the top of each step. (Ok, i totally don't know how to describe it hahaha. Check out the photos. Sorry for the poor quality - there are NO lights at all in the house so I had to quickly snap the shot before the sun set) The plastered surface of the staircase steps - How the steps currently look - The white plastered portion of the steps will be painted over using our selected shade from Nippon Paint. More Burmese teakwood parquet will be applied to each step in order to 'round out' the edges. I don't know how to phrase it so I'll have to wait till it's done to take photos. The glass staircase sides and the railings are already completed, but JT has asked them to only deliver and install them close to the end to avoid anyone breaking the glass by accident when moving bulky items. Other things have been put in place also, but due to the lack of natural light, I didn't manage to take photos. For instance, the WCs have been installed, the steel frame for the staircase cove light has been erected, the L box at the living room is looking amazing (the workers were still there yesterday evening smoothing out the grooves of the false ceiling when we were there) Things are progressing very very quickly now. Peeka contacted me yesterday, telling me that their logistics company will be contacting me today to arrange for the delivery of all my loots either on Saturday / Monday. Within the next week, all of our purchased lights will be installed (we're having LED downlights all over the house, including our toilets which is why we've put false ceilings and box ups almost everywhere), our bathroom accessories (including the sinks, rainshower, misc accessories etc) will be installed, all the doors for the apartment (my unit currently has ZERO doors. we don't even have a main door! hahahaha We're still depending on the wrought iron gate and a simple bicycle chain to keep strangers out) will be installed, the painting of both floors in our selected colors, installation of the aluminium works, installation of the glassworks (including staircase glass sides & railings and bathroom shower screens) etc. The kitchen carpentry will be delivered and installed on the 23rd of Oct.... WIW to be delivered at the end of next week..... I AM GETTING VERY EXCITED NOW! We're entering into the final stretch of the renovation period. Just yesterday evening, JT was telling us that this has to be a record for him - completing the major overhaul of the entire unit within 1 month and 10 days (tentative handover date has been pushed to the 30th/31st of Oct instead of 27th, but that's my fault because the works were held up with the delay in the delivery of my lights, basins, sinks, taps, rainshower etc from Taobao) and he's very proud of what's been done. In fact, he pointed out to me that apart from the marble flooring on the ground floor, we have retained absolutely NOTHING from the apartment. Everything is being done from scratch, made even more difficult by the fact that the apartment was in a really bad shape before renovations started. Starting from next Monday, the HTB and I will be going down to the apartment almost on a daily basis (home run stretch what) so I'm looking forward to taking many many more photos and updating more often!

Oh I should have totally face-palmed him INSTEAD of facepalming myself! *evil grin* Anyway we've managed to find a spot for it in the Recreation Room so I guess he's happy. In any case, I've already earmarked the storage cabinet underneath the staircase for the storing of the vacuum cleaner, our golf bags etc since the existing storeroom will be converted into my shoe cabinet *teehee* Thanks for the suggestion though, MHB!

Thanks Vi! Not confirmed yet... they might arrive next Monday.

Actually, I agree with lala81 here. We are using downlights for EVERY room, not just the MBR and the living room. Naturally, this facilitates a need for a false ceiling in every single room. I guess it boils down to whether you 'ai sui or ai lui' hahahahhahaha

JT's Daily Update (17th Oct '13) And the Burmese Teakwood Parquet flooring for the 2nd floor is finally complete! Apparantly, after the Parquet flooring is laid, we now have to leave it there for 1 week for the glue to try. Next Wednesday, the grinding and varnishing of all the parquet floors will take place. In the meantime, while waiting for the glue to dry, we are going to proceed with the installation of the storage heater as well as the painting of the 1st floor. Pictures of the process - JT's team 'ramsetting' the Burmese Teakwood boards onto the plywood base - And one skinny fellow hiding in one corner - The final product! Very pleased with it. *beam* I can only imagine how much better it'll look next Wednesday evening after the grinding and the varnishing have taken place. In additiion, we finally purchased our Joven Storage heater today. Technically, we didn't purchase it - JT did. After doing our research, we decided to buy it from P** J** - but they're only open from 8.30 am - 6 pm daily. So we asked JT if he was willing to drive down and get it for us (Cash and Carry) - and he agreed! So the installation will be taking place soon! We decided to go with the 35L Joven storage heater. But best of all, I called up Peeka Singapore to double check on the ETA of our shipment from China. It's confirmed that our loots from Taobao will be arriving sometime this afternoon or latest by tomorrow morning. Therefore we can expect the items to delivered to our house by Saturday or latest by Monday! FINALLY!!! *huge beam*

hmmmmm thanks for the suggestion. i'll think about how best to camouflage it.... or maybe i should go the other way and go FULL TACKY to showcase it. turn it into the centrepiece of a crazy room hahahah I'll pm you regarding the cost

hahahahaha if we really do that, before you know it, the SPF will be at my door asking to see our license and papers we can buy / bring in the arcade machine for personal pleasure, not for profit. Sayang right? hahhhahaha

LOL the furniture are the fabric of the place so of course I'm interested in seeing!

at least they found out about the damage, so take heart from that! we demand more photos!

hahahahahaha that's a good idea the closest friends get to play for free friends who aren't as close have to pay 20 cents per game then those we secretly dislike have to pay the full price of 50 cents per game ahhahahahhahahha

Didn't go down to the unit yesterday because we were too busy with preparation and running around for the other big event. We did however find time to head down to the shop to physically check out the arcade machine with the refurbished games. Unfortunately it's a Neo Geo multi-game card, so game titles that fall under the Capcom family won't be available to us. Nonetheless, with approximately 100+ games inside the arcade machine, there's enough there to keep the HTB and our guests entertained for quite some time. But one thing that bothered me is that the arcade machine is really quite old and unsightly. I spoke to the business owner and he said that they will change all of the panels, screens and the buttons to the latest 'Sanwa' models but with regards to the exterior casing, there's not much they can do except clean it up before delivery. They'll help me check with their supplier to see if specially made decals can be obtained for us so that it doesn't look so.... arcade-y. Does that make sense? Do any of you know of specialized decal / sticker stores? I've checked with my decal guy but he doesn't do such small decals Photos of the (large and unsightly) arcade machine - The 'versus' machines are available too, but it doesn't make sense to get 2 machines since 1 is already too much of an eyesore. We'll most probably be getting this particular machine, although the owner will be helping us to check to see if there's a newer one in a better condition: As you can see, it really is quite unsightly. A couple of strategically placed large stickers / decals would spruce it up a fair bit. Any ideas on how I can make this less of an eyesore?

Yeah... we've decided to go for the arcade machine and to skip the KTV system for now. Due to budget constraints, we can only go for the most basic model and can't soundproof the room. This'll result in us not really enjoying the sound and the system so we might as well wait until we have more money before going for a better model. In the meantime, we'll just have to rely on the good ol' KTV pubs for our singing fix! To be honest, I didn't even know he was working. When we met him last week, he told us that he'll be taking a break on Sunday. Then we were surprised when we saw his car in the carpark. He said that he's running out of time and wanted to settle everything on the ground floor before starting work on the 2nd floor today. That's why when we arrived, there were 2 groups of workers - one group handling the tiling in the ground floor common toilet with the other group doing the tiling up of the foyer.

hahhaahahha I'll be heading down to physically see the arcade machine tonight. hopefully they can make it look good... ... Will keep you posted!

JT's Daily Update (14th Oct '13): As per my previous post, basically I went down to the unit last Sunday to show my parents around the place as well as to check on the progress thus far. As of now, all of the tiling and grouting on the 1st floor is complete (balcony, kitchen as well all 3 toilets in the unit). Since we were there, we confirmed the paint colors for the entire house as well as the colors of the bedroom doors, main door and the toilet bifold doors. The false ceilings for the entire apartment are already up, wiring is done and waiting for the arrival of the lights (sidenote, I called up Peeka this morning and they assured me that the items will arrive in Singapore by this week, although they were unable to provide me with a firm ETA). After the lights arrive, JT estimates that it'll take around 2 days for the installation. The door frame has also been erected in place to tilt the main door to the FSM's specifications. In the meantime, the overlying of the timber flooring on the 2nd floor has begun! Here are a couple of shots of the workers laying the plywood base in preparation for the timber flooring: Let's see - in addition to the 2nd storey flooring, this week we can expect to see *fingers crossed* the installation of all the toilet WCs, the sinks (and other toilet wares). Can't recall if the painting will take place sometime this week or the next. Final steps will naturally be the installation of all the carpentry, the balcony awning and the glassworks..... I'm literally buzzing with excitement!

hahahahaha it's ok, i'm sure the other neighbours are glad that there's minimal noise pollution. I went down to the place last Sunday with my parents to show them the progress but because there was a lot going on at the same time, I didn't have the chance to take photos. The overlay of the timber flooring on the 2nd floor will begin today. All the doors have been removed and the new doors will be put in place today. If JT sends me any photos, I'll be sure to post them up. Or else, I'll be heading down to the unit tomorrow and will take photos of the update. On an unrelated note, JT is a happy man because on my level alone, THREE other units' owners (my future neighbours) have come to view the progress of the renovations, admired his handiwork and taken his namecard because they want to do some renovation works to their own houses. JT has told them that the estimated date of completion of my place is the 27th of Oct so he'll be able to check out their units only after then. He even joked about opening a small showroom at the void deck of my block as it seems to be lucky for his business.

hahahahahhaha This is what I call win-win: Either I get to go to Paris or he decides not to get the machine! But this is a risky strategic move - if I play my cards wrongly, he might just decide to drop the arcade machine and use it as a bargaining tool to never bring me to Paris... *sad*

That's a very good way of looking at it! Now I'm going out to buy my hello kitty sandwich maker and there's NOTHING he can do about it! If he dares to whine, I'll just point at that ugly arcade machine.

HAHAHHAHA I 100% AGREE WITH YOU! hahahahhahahhaa but the truth is..... he didn't really give me a choice.

The HTB and I had a long talk over the weekend regarding the entertainment room. We have decided to compromise - we will be getting the arcade machine. But we will skip the KTV system purchase. Based on our current budget, we will only probably be able to get the most basic entry system for the KTV system. With no soundproofing and proper AV equipment, it won't be as fun. So if we feel like singing, we can always go out to the ktv pubs that we frequent all the time now anyway. Therefore... we are heading down to physically check out the arcade machines and to place our order this evening after work!

HAHAHAHAHA i think it's impossible to open a pub already On sunday, JT and his crew were completing the tiling on the 1st floor and the foyer because they have to start on the timber flooring for the 2nd floor by today. Then he received a call from HDB (or whoever the relevant government body is) asking him why he's working on a Sunday and creating a disturbance. According to the person on the phone, they received a 'complaint from one of the neighbours'.... ..... Can you imagine the outrage in the quiet neighbourhood if I really open a pub? hahhahhhaha

hahahahaaaahha Suddenly i think there will be a lot of gatherings at my place. he has his regular MJ games and my friends want to come over to cook and bake too but i doubt we'll have karaoke nights. the KTV is largely for personal enjoyment because if other people are here, it becomes a public embarrassment hahahaha

erm... don't tell him this but he'll probably only get 10-20% of the WIW. he's often complained loudly (in company) that he should just buy the camping tent from IKEA, put all of his clothes in it and dump it at the balcony. but a girl normally has more clothes what... .... a custom made shoe cabinet, no. i'm going to put all of my shoes in the storeroom. that's why i'm making a storage cabinet under the stairs so that the non-important stuff like the vacuum cleaner and our golf bags can all go there.