countrylover

For this reason, I chose an unit that faces away from the MRT track. Not sure how much it helps though, cos the fact is, no matter which level our units are on, sure can hear the MRT. Heard that the noise tends to get amplified the higher we stay. True or not huh?

I'm working towards the modern country look, not the classical and "old old" country look if you know what I mean. Not geared towards any pure country style but a mixture of cottage, rustic and shabby chic. I'm also hoping to be able to update my blog soon but we've been quite busy with work, thus could only work on the reno on wkends. Since we DIY most of the things, so it will take a while more before everything gets done. Currently working on the feature walls for the MBR. If you are looking for unique stuff, why dun u try looking overseas like ebay? That's where I got most of my decor items from. LOL I also recently got a train station clock from Yahoo Auctions...shabby chic style with sweet roses. Don't have a photo with me now, but will try to take some when I'm free.

Wow, I'm impressed! Loved your choices of lamps and lighting fixtures especially. Can I check how much you paid for your Tiffany lamp from Cottage Crafts? Where did you buy the rest of your lightings from? Keeping my fingers crossed that that I could achieve the country-flavour I'm dreaming of after the renovation.

Thanks for sharing. Love your kitchen cabinet! Is yours a new or resale flat? Cos kitchen looks huge. Care to share how much Forest quoted u for the cabinet?

Usually, each area is served by 1 or a few exchanges (depending on the population). Therefore, even if we stay next to each other, our telephone numbers might start with different prefixes. When customers request to retain their old numbers and their new location doesn't reside within the same exchange, they will need to subscribe to Number Retention Service or Call Routing Service. Actually for such services, there is a phantom number assigned to the household (ie prefix belonging to the exchange), which customers are totally unaware of. Calls to the retained number will still reach the old exchange, then routed to the exchange which the customer is staying. I don't know how to explain the technical details, hope I'm not confusing everyone here. LOL

Cool...must have cost you a bomb for the carpentry works. Heard that Forest's carpentry works are very expensive. Did you engage an ID for the rest of your reno works? Looking forward to seeing photos of your country home.

Does anybody know if lightings bought from USA can be used in Singapore? USA's voltage standard is 120v while Singapore is 230v. From my understanding, we'll need a step-up converter. But how to attach the converter to the lightings huh? Will the electrician know?

There are some places in Singapore that you can consider eg Cottage Crafts (Stamford House), Creations from the heart (Anchor Point), Laura Ashley, Zara Vintage (Bussorah St). Frankly, almost all of my country-style decor are purchased overseas. There are limited items in Singapore and they are very costly. Find that it's cheaper to ship from US or Aust. You can consider shipping via vpost if buying from USA, can save u money if u combine purchases from a few merchants.

Haha...thanks for your interest. Been quite tired and lazy to take photos to update my blog. Just to update, we are working on our feature walls now. We are preparing the timber and bricks, should be able to start fixing them this weekend. Will try to take some pics these few days to upload here.

I saw this gorgeous ceiling fan with lights for children's room in ebay. Any idea if this is avail in Singapore?

IMO, any thread in a forum has the tendency to go OT sometimes. But we discussing about doing voluntary work to make this estate a better place to live in, so still somewhat relevant? Agree though that discussions shouldn't be too political, if not the govt will come knocking on our doors!

Hi there! Glad to meet a fellow forumer who's also into country/cottage/shabby-chic whatever u call it "unique style" like me . I'm currently in the process of renovating my country home. Faced similar problem of not being able to find a suitable ID who understands my style, hence I've decided to take it into my own hands. No ID for me! We are basically getting our sub-contractors to do the major works like flooring, windows, kitchen cabinet etc. The rest we'll DIY as I believe we know what we want best...saves us the headache of having to coordinate with the ID. Really interested to see how your reno will turn out. Must update your t-blog!

Hiya, I'm not senior lah. Just only got my 5-year long service reward last year. But I should be around for at least another 2 yrs or so. Cos got my flat via the priority scheme, so can't resign within these 2 yrs, if not my flat kenna confiscated. LOL

To be a good Grassroots Leader, the mindset is very important. Just like what Zirhk has pointed out, his intention is to make his neighbourhood a better place to live in. Unfortunately, some volunteer with the wrong intentions eg to enjoy more privileges etc (have seen many of such "yao gui" people during my last 7 years in community service). Only when we start out with the right intentions to help people can we put in our best in serving the community. Trust me, I've seen people who claimed that they join cos they can get free makan at events! My time is limited, having had to juggle with work, family and community work. However, I try my best to contribute watever and whenever I could. And it really does make a difference when I make a resident smile, whether or not my committee appreciates my efforts or not.

Actually WEC is also open to the public, any lady who's interested can just approach the CC to enquire. Usually we start off as observers, and will be invited to join as a member if the committee finds us suitable. In a way my interest in doing community work was influenced by my dad. Currently going into my 4th term. I got my flat under the Grassroots priority scheme. I remembered there were abt 10 over units in Blk 90 & 91 allocated for grassroots leaders. But applying under this scheme also doesn't guarantee us a unit, as we TOO need to go for balloting. But I believe it will be easier than the public balloting. Also, you can only apply for a flat in the constituency that you are serving. In fact, didn't expect to get an unit cos Tanjong Pagar GRC is so huge, I believe there are many other grassroots leaders eyeing our estate too. I guess I'm lucky, cos my queue no. was 2 during the 1st day of selection. !! The disadvantage is, we only had that 10 over units to select from, unlike the public balloting whereby you had choices of all units avail. I heard that this was because the govt wanted grassroots leaders at strategic locations in every block of flat? Not sure how true though. Found this from the PA website : "The Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) is a people’s movement that grew out of a time of tumultuous political change and social upheaval. Formed as goodwill committees, the CCCs play vital roles in maintaining good race relations, improving the lives of residents and act as a bridge between the government and the people." What do u mean by politics-linked? I guess this is also quite a grey area. In fact everywhere we go, whether work-related or otherwise, if you know some big-shot there, sure can get some personal recommendation. Actually a lot of things are going on, but not good to share in public forum.

There's no contract or bond & stuff like that, so we can still resign during the term. Just to explain, sub-committees like WEC, YEC etc serve a targeted group of people in the community, unlike RC whereby you serve all residents in the constituency. WEC : Woman's Executive Committee (organises activities/courses for children/women (family); looks after the welfare of women) YEC : Youth Executive Committee (organises activities/courses for youths; looks after the welfare of youths) CCMC : Community Centre Management Committee (usually made up of grassroots leaders with many years of experience; they oversee the running of sub-committees, RC) Is your dad currently an RC member? IMO, many people have a misconception of what RC does. It all started out as a committee which addresses needs of residents, but now ended up as a bao ka liao committee. For eg, some residents with family/neighbour disputes ended up looking for RC Chairman to be mediator. Or residents with toilet chokage, instead of calling up the Town Council calls RC members in the middle of the night! As funny as all these seem, some residents really take the RC for granted, thinking that they are there to solve all their domestic issues, when their time should be spent addressing more urgent issues of the community instead. !! My dad was a Grassroots Leader for over 30 years. During the time when he was RC Chairman of our constituency, I was so annoyed with residents coming to knock at our doors in the middle of the nite over petty issues. But quite funny when I think about it now. LOL I'm sharing all these not to discourage anyone from volunteering, just to give u a sense of what to expect. Of cos these are some worst case scenarios. Knowing the ugly S'porean mentality!

Ikea has some country-style furniture, but I can't really vouch for their quality. Saw a queen-size bedframe about $400+ I think. I'm considering getting a 4-poster bedframe too. IMHO, if a ready-made and built-in wardrobe costs about the same, I would go for the latter...cos at least it goes all the way to the ceiling. My living room furniture is mostly teak wood, all bought from Picket & Rail.

Great to hear that! Must make a trip there during supper one of these days to relive my cravings!

$3.3k for a bedroom set, quite expensive leh. You are not considering doing a built-in wardrobe for the bedroom? Will probably cost around $2k depending on the size. Have u been to the country furniture warehouse sales at Eunos area? I'm planning to make a trip there these few weeks, believe can get a better deal than the retail outlets. Heard that the Picket & Rail warehouse sales at Mandai has good buys too.

For many years, I used to frequent this old hawker centre that is opp. our estate...hmm, not sure of the name though. It's about 10 mins walk, quite near to the Ridout Garden. Have not been there for more than 5 years, hope it's still there! The fried bee hoon/nasi lemak is superb...especially the chicken wings...yummy!

There is a term attached to grassroots volunteering, usually 2 years. So every 2 years, they will nominate new office bearers for the specific committee eg RC, WEC, CCMC etc. Hehe...u guys should volunteer earlier mah, then won't have to compete with the public for balloting of new flats in our estate. Grassroots leaders, after serving for 1 term, are entitled to apply for new flats in mature estates under the Grassroots Priority Scheme. I'm a grassroots leader with Radin Mas WEC. Might want to consider switching over to the WEC in our constituency after I move. Great to see that you guys are interested in doing voluntary work! Keep it up! It's really good to be able to volunteer our free time to making our neighbourhood a better place and address needs of fellow residents. For those who feel that they don't have much time to spare, can consider joining the sub-committees like WEC and YEC. Usually for RC, it requires more time committment.

Maybe can share more on the variety of country-style furniture available and the price range. Thanks.

Very important, need to look at the breakdown of their individual items and compare with other IDs. My sense is that, companies who give lots of freebies tend to do high markups on the individual items. They won't be so stupid as to give u freebies and end up making losses. Also, what's the model/brand of the freebies they are giving? For all we know, could be some cheapo made-in-China brands. Even heard of some IDs who advertised the freebies, then end up tell you no more stock! Then substitute with some cheapo items, tell customers to take it or leave it!

Has anybody been to IFC at Sungei Kadut? Was recommended by a fellow forumer of this shop specialising in country-style furnishings. http://www.ifcsingapore.com/tenants/country.htm

According to my HB, the body landed at the open area near to the inside walkways, so the man must have jumped from the corridors. He mentioned that the man is an Indian, could even be a foreign worker working in the construction site nearby. He said that he walked across the same area 20 mins earlier! Hiya, I keep reminding him to avoid walking across the area and take the roundabout. Gosh, can't imagine what will happen if a body were to land on a resident who's walking across! Not to mention a body, any potential killer litter by some inconsiderate resident would have been fatal.