kastlekonfusion

Hi Yan, I hope your ID is joking about charging you for throwing away such small items! I'd very much preferred to get the type of bamboo holders that was in the pix you had posted as it's better than those with rivets. I broke 2 of the 8 riveted bamboo holders before; hanging just a queen sized duvet on a bamboo pole. Anyway, we didn't think we could get 3 sets of the same type of bamboo holders we wanted so we settled for the most common type. We bought 3 sets of those riveted aluminum bamboo holders and sprayed painted them white over the weekend. Well, if the rivets were to give way again, we now have a rivet gun to fix it. Hope it would last. KK PS. If there is no takers for your bamboo holder, please drop me a PM as my friend just saw our spray-painted bamboo holders and would like same.

Sounds like Pimento....he's super possessive and doesn't like any other bunnies to get our attention. We managed to pair him with another bunny who's super "tidah apa human" so when any of us approaches the bunny playareas, he gets the most attention. It's very endearing to see bunnies grooming another or when they snuggle up to nap. Would you prefer to find Xiaobai another lop angora or similar for companionship? Perhaps when you are ready, you could consider adopting a bunny from House Rabbit Society of Singapore instead of buying one. Btw, does Xiaobai bite wires? Some of our bunnies love to bite wires; vacuum cleaner wire "kenah" chewed off a little; telephone wires too. So now, we even make a special opening for the sub woofer in the custom made tv console so that the bunnies won't get to the wires behind it and keep all wires off the floor when they have free run of the apartment. No tatami floor mats either. KK

Hi Pinkpetter, You've got a cute lop there. Is she litter trained? Homogeneous Tiles We had stayed in an apartment with homogeneous tiled flooring. Easy to maintain. A little tricky for bunnies to hop around but they will get used to it. When we had a bunny gathering, we put a rug like the green one so it's easier for the bunnies to stand on to munch their veggies, hay and pellets. . Ceramic Tiles Easy to maintain too. We didn't have to rush to clean up any accidentals. Easier for bunnies to hop around. . Not sure what are these tiles but this set up is in the balcony and we just wash the balcony once a month; didn't have to bother too much if the bunnies had any accidental urine spots on this type of flooring. Laminated flooring We know of someone who has 2 bunnies and they have laminated flooring throughout except for kitchen and toilets. They only allow their 2 bunnies free run of the hall when they are home. So far, no complains from them about their bunnies digging into the laminate flooring. We have another friend with a dog at home and they have just moved into a new place with laminated flooring too. Whenever the dog walks in the flat, there is this 'klack klack klack' sound on the laminated flooring. We considered laminated flooring too. It's mainly the sound of footsteps that we rejected the idea to have laminated flooring. Marble & Terrazzo Flooring If your bunny urine on terrazzo or marble flooring, you have to wipe it up very quickly otherwise it will stain the flooring. Cement Screed We have 8 bunnies now; 3 bunnies at a 2 storey playhouse that Tom built at the recess area and another 4 playareas set up for the other 5 bunnies in the front room. Our flooring: cement screed. Our 2nd choice If we didn't have to consider the possibility of the cue ball or any of the billiard balls falling off the table that might damage the flooring, we would have homogeneous tiled flooring. KK

Can try Self-Fix at Vivo City

Hi weevenge, Whilst shopping to furnish our new apartment, we'd encountered various good and bad CS; and these are the few recent ones that I can remember:- System Error We rang up Ikea Tampines {IT} for an item and were told that they have 14 units of this item at that store [none at Ikea Alexandra]. Thus we drove from Telok Blangah to Tampines just for that item only to find that there was a "system error"; they couldn't find the item in the store except for those on display. What else can they do other than apologize for the inconvenience. *sian* Free ice cream? That'd be good CS! Could have taken down our request We visited Ikea Alexandra {IA} earlier to get 3 ceiling lights that we had seen at both Ikea stores before. However, {IA} does not stock this particular light now. We spoke to a department staff but were told it's probably available at {IT}. He suggested that we visit {IA} again after 15 September for that's when the lighting department would be ready. Could he had arrange for the lights we wanted for collection at {IA}? We do not know as we couldn't find him to clarify that. *sian* Wasted a trip down to {IA}.... didn't accomplish what we set out to get; bought 2 quilt covers and a fitted sheet instead. Good CS encountered so far Home Fix's CS is good. They took note of the SimpleHuman sink top wire shelf we wanted which was available at another store and have it arranged to be picked up from a store most convenient to us. HomeFix@HF Best CS encountered so far We bought most of our light fittings from Chan Huat and have this foyer light which has been a constant trouble [still is ]. We rang up Ms Sammi a few times and she is so ever patient to assist in rectifying the problem. She even visited us to collect this light fittings; return the light fittings; arrange for another replacement; arrange for yet another site fitting. So paiseh to be bothering her over the same light again and again. Ms Sammi from Chan Huat....she's the best CS! Cutlery Tray Exchange - HSW@HF We bought some household items at HSW@HF recently and after a few days, we re-visited HSW@HF with a cutlery tray that we bought by mistake as it didn't fit the drawers. Our exchange was entertained and we got another cutlery tray that fit. Mr Tan, the store manager attended to us on both occasions. This store manager is probably very good with managing a store and dealing with customers he meets in person. We have not spoken to him on the phone for any issues though. Based on what you had recounted, he should really work on his telecommunication skills. I do hope you'd a more pleasant experience getting a replacement for the item at the store. KK

Hi Yan, We have been looking high and low for bamboo pole holders like the one in your pix. Any idea where to get these white powder coated bamboo pole holders? Btw, our painter did the grills and gates without dismantling them. You've got some nice floor tiles there. I suppose your painter would have to take extra precaution and use more masking tapes to ensure that there are no accidental spots on the floor and the surrounding area. KK

25% extra for customization of each mattress dimension We bought a custom made Dunlopillo mattress from Harvey Norman, Millennium Walk last year for an XZQT daybed that we have for 6 years. We had the length of the mattress extended and we had the impression that it was at 25% on top of the normal mattress price. We'll have to check on that one when we find the invoice. Months before we moved in July, we considered getting another custom made Dunlopillo mattress with the length extended and the width reduced. We checked with Harvey Norman, Millennium Walk and were told that it will cost us 50% more for change in the length and width to the single sized mattress. Another company we visited at a Singapore Expo home show sometime last June quoted same too. We have yet explore other possibilities as we had been busy with our move and setting up our new place. Custom Made Dunlopillo Mattress Review We had this XZQT daybed that came with a foam padding which was getting embarrassing to sit guests at as one would tend to slope towards the person sitting in the middle. The customized Dunlopillo mattress turned out to be a perfect solution for the daybed; definitely more comfortable to sit on! It being a mattress, it's naturally comfortable for one to lie on. The delivery of the mattress was made as promised. European King Sized mattress Perhaps you might want to check out the forum posts at expatsingapore.com for this topic, ie http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index....0543.msg1374157 http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index....9864.msg1299521 and the like at other expat-frequent forum discussion boards; or do a search on http://www.yahoo.com.sg. I suppose you might be looking at getting an European King Sized mattress or the like. Good luck! KK

I think your ID will be charging you for hacking of the wall tiles. We didn't hack off the wall tiles and it's cement screed for the floor and walls. We do heavy cooking and have yet find the best solution for the back splash at the stove area. With the cement screed, we thought we will try it out to see how it works for the first few years. We might paint it when we get bored of looking at the same bare cement screed back splash. Then after a few years, if we got bored with that, we can opt to do a few rows of tiling or put up tempered glass back splash; or paint something else. There's a suggestion I chanced upon on those kitchen improvement weekend project sites that demonstrate the use of vinyl tiles. Perhaps not applicable for those who cook often.

Apologies. Feel that it's kind of off topic to use yan's blog to answer your question. Perhaps you can click here to read the replies that I had posted on the blog about the flat and the price. If we raise just that corner of the kitchen flooring, then it's rather awkward to stand there to cook. We try to minimize any step so to make the apartment wheelchair friendly. Intend to stay there till we kick the bucket lah, so better take into consideration such things.

Surprised us too. Here's 2 pixs of the hacking works done to our place. [Click here for bigger pix] [Click here for bigger pix] The workers hacked until they got to the original flooring for other areas of the apartment but when they got the kitchen dividing wall, they were careful not to disturb that beam on the floor. Odd, isn't it? We didn't know until a day before the wall hacking exercise.

Pinky Elephant's belly clever clever too

Skin problem Have you checked with any dermatologist about your hands? Many years ago, I had a problem with washing too. It was so bad that the areas around the folds of the hands cracked. So painful. The dermatologist suggested that I should wear gloves to clean and also, prescription a rich hand cream which helped. I find wearing gloves rather difficult to wash dishes; can't feel if I have rinse the dishes properly. For a few years, when it comes to heavier washing, my husband would help out to soap the dishes and I'd do the rinsing; that lessen the problem with the itch. Now, we have a helper and that's easier as I only do the dishes when we have a party. Dishwasher friendly metal filters When we bought the hood, we were told that the 3 panels of metal filters are dishwasher friendly. Of all the things to wash, I find these metal filters the most difficult to tackle. Thus, we started looking for a compact dishwasher and found that the Fisher & Paykel Single Drawer D/washer DS605SS to be most ideal for our purpose. Price We bought the Fisher & Paykel Single Drawer D/washer DS605SS from Harvey Norman at $883 + $132 for the extended warranty. I think the recommended retail price is $978. If you pay cash, I think you might get even better pricing. We put our purchases on those zero percent interest installment repayment plans. By the way, we were quoted $909 for this dishwasher by another retailer. Can't sing praises about it yet Anyway, the dishwasher is still sitting in its box, awaiting for the kitchen cabinet to be done and for the plumber to be over to put it in place. Thus, I do not have any comments to contribute how good it might be. KK

We bought a resale unit which is of 2x3rooms type. We hacked off many of the walls and for the kitchen, we are actually using 3 quarters of the kitchen of the left unit and 1 quarter of the kitchen of the right unit. There is an overhead near the hobs and below that area, there's something which HDB officer had highlight NOT to hack off. Something to do with the similar overhead beam for the unit below ours. So sian.

Hi, Where did you get your real plants from? We went to both Ikea stores but the selection was pretty limited. We are hoping to get some bamboos with leaves and maintain that instead of having an artificial plant. Also, we would like to get some round leaves plants along with ginger flowers/plants if there is. Have you seen any? Thanks, KK

Oh? Not worth it uh? We read the website and was impressed with the technology. Anyway, even if we want to buy, put where? Uncle John is over 1.9m tall and it'd be dangerous for him when he visits us. I'm about 1.65m tall; I think I might be able to touch the blade if I stretch my hands up. Sian.....such a low ceiling.

Hi newhouse, any updates from sycamore makers? KK

Hi, Did you get anything from Rigel? We are planning to visit their showroom for the senor tap, senor soap dispenser and waterless urinal. KK

Here's the link to a discussion on ceiling fans. What do you think of this Sycamore fan? Perhaps you might want to check out Sycamore Technolgy and understand how it works. We were planning to get 5 of the Sycamore fans but we do not have the ceiling height clearance to install these ceiling fans now.

The ex owner of our unit overlaid the tiles, perhaps twice and had many false ceilings, cornices throughout. When we first visited the unit, we felt like Gandalf in a hobbit's house! During renovation, we were told that the part of flooring in the kitchen can't be hacked. That's disappointing to hear as we were hoping that with just cement screed flooring, we could have a higher ceiling clearance. We'd like to get ceiling fans but we do not have the minimum height clearance. Would you be having any ceiling fans?

Hi Secret AG, Did you get a glass swing door for your kitchen entrance and how much did you pay for it? KK

oh dear, sorry to hear that your glass swing door was shattered. i'm just as worried when i read about your incident. we will be having 2 sets of glass doors installed in the kitchen entrance and the MBR bathroom entrance. our first thought was that the hinges for the door might have come loose, thus the glass door fell to the ground and shattered. did you find the whole glass door on the floor in pieces? were the clamps on the floor or still attached to the frame? btw, what is the thickness of the glass?

Looks like you'd need the frames for the door hinges.

Mop or Wash Kitchen Floor I'd choose the latter as I find it rather tiring to mop floor; rinse and wringer mop a few times to finish mopping the kitchen. And we do heavy cooking. Move fridge to clean area underneath fridge The empty fridge is already too heavy for me to push it even with the rollers, least talk about me moving the loaded fridge. I'm a fuss spot, typical Virgo but in this aspect, I won't want to go look underneath the fridge and bother ourselves too much over cleaning that area. Also, I won't want to trouble my darling to move it. Washer base Recently we had Fei Onn [one of the workers] over to extend the washer base as we had given the wrong measurement of the fat washer. With the extension, it is now easier to reach the top washer. As for cleaning the area underneath the washer, I'm not sure if I'd be much bothered to do that. If anything, I suppose I'm quite likely to hose that area.

What about those at Dian Xiao Er outlets? Any idea where to get those?

will certainly try that! am i glad to read that there is a remedy and i won't have to replace the nice lookin' wooden rice bucket. we didnt have the rice bugs infestation for years until we bought those little packets of rice to try. annoying. i'd have to be careful next time. probably put those in air tight container with cloves of garlic and watch what happens; could be like watching paint dry! anyway, thanks a million xaleysan for your suggestion! our place is still very much in a mess...........*wonders where's the rice bucket now*