Remember 303 - Dining Sideboard Wannabe

Originally we were exploring if we could build shelving at the inlet by the dining area to house a microwave. However it didn't work out and so we ended up with two simple planks across the inlet. The only brief consolation was that it help to hide the wiring for 2 power sockets at the bottom of the lower plank.

It was a pretty neat place when we first moved in. We had the medicine box at the top shelf together a couple of the decorative plants. Lower shelf is where all the wine bottles were kept. The rest of the clutter you see now wasn't there initially. But as time goes by things started piling up.

I'm still trying to figure out a spot for the wine bottles in our new place. Maybe a wine rack in the storage by the dining table? Whatever it is, I'm gonna miss this tiny spot.

Marble-licious

Norman has introduced a marble supplier, GEM, who he claims may carry slab cut marbles within our budget of $12K. I was particularly excited to hear it and so we were at the supplier's showroom at Ubi last Saturday to view the range of marbles they carry.

The place was pretty stunning with large 2.5m by 1m slabs hanging in gallery rows across the room. They had a wide range of marbles and we were excited to finally see real samples of slabs which shows off the lines and patterns of the marble clearly. After closely examining the selection, we shortlisted a couple of light beige ones for the flooring. One darker marble caught our interest, the Blue Princess, and we requested for a sample as well with an eye for that to go as the master bedroom feature wall.

I couldn't help but put the samples for a comparison, together with 2 we picked from Hafary. Moonstar Beige was the initial marble we were going for until Norman suggest that we explore other suppliers.

So we have the 4 shortlisted from GEM.

1. Mengla Lisa - The sales manager was strongly recommending this. I like the shade but didn't like that there were pin holes and many watermarks on the marble. What's more ... at $320/sqm it came up close to $18K for 56sqm. Sorry but I wouldn't pay that kind of money for what I find is a sub-par marble. I suppose they are pricing it that way for the exclusivity. They claim they are the only supplier who carries this marble ... there must be a good reason why lol
2. Anatolia Beige (one below Mengla Lisa in pic) - I like the distinct lines but the shade is a little too dark for my taste. Again expensive at $280/sqm
3. Kavala White - Another GEM exclusive marble. Like that it has less distinctive lines that can get busy. Interestingly we were quoted $200/sqm for it. I suppose it is one of the lousier grade marbles in the white category when you compare it to the likes of Volakas, Calacatta, etc. This is the only one of the 4 which fell into our budget
4. Sandalwood Light - Woody tones and lines make for a stunning look. Sadly it was darker than I had expected. At 250/sqm it was also out of our budget

The one beside the Sandalwood is the Blue Princess. It's truly a stunning marble with dark bluish tone with bright orange lines cutting across. If we can squeeze out some budget to the tune of $3-4K, I think we might take that for the TV feature.

Having seen that there are other suppliers out there, I've been searching the internet for other suppliers to organise viewings too. It never occurred to me to do so till Norman pique my curiosity with another vendor. Now I'm thinking, "what if there is another supplier who carries a slab cut marble in the same shade as Moonstar Beige and yet with a reasonable price?" Hafary is not a primary marble supplier ... its focus is on tiles. So they are unlikely to be as cost-efficient on the marble front. 

So the hunt for the right marble begins!

A Shocking Seizure

A parent's worst fear, watching their baby in dire condition and not being able to do anything to rectify it immediately. I hope it never happens again. The anguish and silly thoughts of loss is truly unbearable.

Emily has been running a fever since Saturday. We are at home on Sunday since we couldn't go anywhere. It was time for her medicine and since she hadn't ate we asked the maid to feed her milk. We had just sat down to have our dinner when the maid suddenly shouted "Mum mum mum mum!!" constantly.

We dashed to Emily immediately and there she was having fits. I instinctively took over from the maid who had put her finger into baby's mouth to prevent biting. It was truly shocking and numbing to see her shaking uncontrollably. At one point her eyes started rolling upwards and not knowing what we were dealing with, we were shouting at her to stay with us. Thankfully I had the natural instinct to turn her to the side when I notice she was choking.

Meimei dialed 995 for an ambulance and calmly instructed the maid to pack. I love her ... she has this much needed clear-headedness during times of danger and stress to drive the situation. I, on the other hand, is just a mess. We packed and made our way quickly to the void deck. Surprisingly the ambulance was here a couple of minutes after our call. Meimei carried Emily gingerly in her arms and accompanied her on the ambulance while I drove with the maid to KK Hospital.

It was only at the hospital that we discovered Emily's fit episode was not life threatening. Thank goodness. It seems these happens to 3-5% of children and they usually out grow it by the age of 6-7 years. But since Emily was only 15 months old the doctor decided to admit her for further observation.

Meimei wanted to stay with Emily badly but she herself was running a fever so we couldn't risk it. Since only one caregiver could stay, it was up to me to take good care of Emily. I made a quick trip back home to bath and pack for the next couple of days at the hospital.

Over the next 2 days Meimei and Nyama would come first thing in the morning to check on our little precious one. Everyone was worried sick about her. My dad even came down too after hearing about it from Mum. I was happy to get some time to rest during the day since I keep getting up during the night to watch over our baby.

Interestingly I was getting curious looks from the other mothers and nurse in the ward since I seem to be the only male staying over with the baby. Well to be fair it would have been Meimei if she wasn't sick but still ... they kept looking over to see if I knew what I was doing. I think I did alright hehe *proud stance.

I'm glad we were warded. The nurse would come every hour during the night to check on her temperature. We'll never be able to keep that level of vigilance at home. Her tests came back positive for Influenza A but nothing else life threatening.

Although she was running a slight fever we were allowed to bring her home today since she has not add another Febrile Seizure during the stay. For us its not a done deal yet, we still have to shoulder through the week to make sure her fever breaks. We were under strict instructions to come back for follow up should the fever persist past Thursday. I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well!

Remembering 303 - The Monster Storeroom

The original 303 had a traditional longish storeroom where you lose a third of the space simply because there has to be space for the door to open. And then you lose another quarter to cater for a tiny walkway to the back of the room. It was the first thing on my mind to hack away when we first view this unit.

So hack we did and we came up with an alternative storage space. The foyer had been underutilised by the previous owner, they put 2 traditional chinese teak chairs and a coffee table there. The moment I saw the space I knew what I was gonna do to with it.

We build a wooden frame with casement door at the inlet which is a whopping 90cm deep. And instead of building the carcass behind the frame, we left 4 doors empty for metal racking, which saved us quite a bit on the carpentry cost.

So what we have is a stunning monster of a storage space. And because we utilise the existing foyer walkway, none of the storage space is wasted and everything is easily accessible.

We love this so much that we purposely moved the kitchen door just so we can build the same type of storage at 405. I cannot imagine living in a house without this amount of storage. Things would be laying all over the place!

The New Mc LaoSai

An upgrade to Mc LaoSai, with bright red coloured buns as warning to the unwary.

15 Months - Mumbles of Papa & Mama

Emily is finally mumbling Papa and Mama though not distinctively to address anyone of us. Nonetheless we are glad there is progress. She is a roadrunner now and will dash across the rooms, sometimes with her eyes closed ... which of course scares the wits out of everyone else.

Showing off her new Pediped shoes

Helping Nyama with Diaso loot

Sitting on the glass pane guard railing

Our Little Miss SunShine *kiss~!!

The Papi lap sofa ... comfy~!

Father & daughter TV time~!

A rare Girl Girl look moment~!!!!

Walking about in adult slippers

She has natural musical inclinations

Finalising The ID

This has been a tough choice for me. I've had my arguments with Meimei and at some point was ready to give up on the whole renovation nonsense. This whole process of choosing for an ID has put a toll on us.

In terms of cost, Jerry was $3k lower than Norman's. If it was my decision alone without any repercussions, I would have gone with Jerry. He seems easier to work with and is willing to go out of his way to come to our place for all the renovation discussions. Norman, on the other hand, seemed disinterested in taking our business. He never suggest to come to our place to get to know our taste. Meetings with him was always at his convenient timing and his office.

Again it is not my decision alone to make, no matter how hard Meimei tried to point out that I have the final say. We had asked for feedback from other family members and the general comment was that Jerry's renovation wasn't good. So if I took Jerry and it turns out the renovation for 405 wasn't good, I'm likely to be hearing it again over the years.

It wasn't much of a choice. As I explained to Meimei on the decision, I rather suffer through 4 months of crap than hear the complaints for the long term. I'm someone who is easier to forget about things than Meimei. She is able to remember all the things she find nasty since the first day of renovation many years ago. It's better for me to live with the unhappiness since I tend to forget better.

So with a heavy heart and ernest to get this over and done with, we are going with Norman for what I call 'perceived quality'. I hope I am wrong and it all turns out well. But I can live with it if it all falls apart. 

'Abandoned' Friends

Emily likes to leave her friends laying around the house sometimes.

ID Selection: The Atas ID

This ID came in after John was out. Meimei wanted another one to 'compare' with Jerry. So I asked around in office if anyone had a good ID to recommend and came up with ID firm. I shared it that night with Meimei and coincidentally she came up with the same firm from her ex-colleagues. 

The one couple of notable comments about them was that they are expensive, but their quality and workmanship is good. So we contacted Meimei's ex-colleague's ID Norman for a meet-up at his place.

The office is nicely done up with an area for a showflat to showcase the firm's carpentry and specifically, Blum hinges and Caesarstone countertops. It seems they have special tie-ups with these suppliers and am offering the premium fittings on all their carpentry.

We went through the same motion of describing what we envisage for each of the rooms. The customary ??? look at our marble request came too. He seem accommodating enough to our needs. Only thing that stands out for me was when I asked for mirror finishes on the dining room storage sliding doors. He didn't seem keen on it and mentioned that there will be issues with the weight. I thought, ok if this is your way of keeping 'quality' by rejecting everything that is special instead of exploring for solutions, then I question whether if it is really worth spending on quality achieved through avoidance of design.

Anyways overall I found him a little aloft. Somehow I get the feeling that he doesn't really want our business. I can't put my finger on the exact point but he seems to be trying to push us away. Well maybe our budget wasn't enough for him to work with .... 

ID Selection: The Contractor ID

As shared previously, Meimei seems bend on getting another ID and has been asking her colleagues for recommendation. So here comes John who has received good reviews for his work on renovation forums.

The caveat is that he is leaving his current ID firm and striking out on his own. Ok, so this is a contractor ID who may not have the baggage of fixed margins and high overheads of larger ID firms. So we met him and he came across as a down to earth fella who listens to our request and design ideas.

As with other IDs, they were surprised that we are looking for marble tiles and parquet for flooring. It seems the common trend now is homogenous tiles and vinyl flooring. But oh well you can call me old school but I find the charm of marble and parquet flooring irresistible. So anyways we discussed and gave him our revised budget of $80K when he asked for one. 

The most memorable part of our first meet-up was that he kept reiterating that since he is now his own boss he can dictate his cost and margins and will be able to give a good price. I was happy to hear that but didn't let my keenness show. He went on to tell us how his other clients love his work and how he never takes any project which is less than $80K. He came across as over confident of himself if not bordering on stuck-up. But ... that's ok I can live with your attitude if you can give us a good price. The other thing that bugged me was when he couldn't fit parquet into a $80K budget and asked for $5K more. I gave him a flat no and a smile with "you are the boss now, give us a good price lar!" before sending him off.

He came back a week later with a rather surprising quote. It's exactly at $80K but with lesser items than what our ex-ID Jerry had quoted. There is also a fat 'discount' of $6K on the quotation and has now included the parquet. I took it and did an item to item comparison with Jerry's quote and every item was more expensive by 5-10%. Oddly enough Meimei still thinks he is a better deal than Jerry ... Argghhh. This caused quite a bit of tension for a couple of days.

Eventually I stamp my ground and asked Meimei to notify John that we are not going with him. This triggered an interesting turnaround ... He asked for my number and decided to discuss with me directly. I shared with him that our approach with ID hunting was to give a reasonable budget and see which ID gave us a better deal. He asked for the difference between quotes and I gladly shared with him. He promised to get back in a week.

And sure enough he did and gave me good news "$80k include 6ft to feature and console, 2ft shoe cabinet and curtain pelmet . Can be done. Which else you still require? Since I promise my offer to be better let me know I throw in as well." Great ... now that you are not getting this job you are turning around and being accommodating.

I really don't know where he got his confidence from in the first place when he was boastful of his achievements and ability to price things cheaply but yet didn't deliver on that promise. He is leaving his current ID firm and setting up his own. I checked his new firm and its a sole proprietor incorporated just last Aug. Its not HDB approved contractor and not listed on CASETrust. How does he think that he will be getting a lot of business such that he doesn't need to compete on pricing?

Anyways only he knows what he is doing. I've lost all trust in him when he came back to offer a better deal. I can't work with someone who is obviously not sincere and requires me to constantly watch my back to ensure he doesn't pull a fast one over me.

No thank you. I declined him politely the next day as Meimei insisted and breathed a sigh of relief ... good riddance!

ID Selection: The Ex ID

We were at HDB for our first appointment last Tuesday and since its all systems go now, it is time for us to nail down an ID. The seller was willing to give up the initial request of 2 months extension so we could start our renovation immediately after getting the keys in July. This also means we are 'late' in selecting our ID and need to make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

Originally we have been working with the same ID Jerry that did our current home. We already had 4-5 sessions and he was always very accommodating, traveling to our home and working late from 8-10pm. I appreciate how he tries to keep the renovation within our budget. He quoted some of the items at cost. For example, for the false ceiling he ask that we pay directly to the contractor as he has 0% margin on it and typically there is little risk or need for warranties on ceiling works. He also tried to keep our cost down by advising cheaper alternatives of getting a renovation item down. Like for the window ventilation fan, he asked that we engage a window supplier ourselves and we can get a better deal on the fan as well rather than going through him where he is mandated by his company to markup on all renovation items.

I'm keen to engage Jerry for our next home as the current one was done up pretty ok by my standards. I like how he is accommodating to our sometimes whimsical ideas and questions. However it seems I'm the only one who thinks he is the right ID for our next home. It's clear from the get-go that Meimei has her doubts about him and has been seeking for other IDs to replace him.

She has a number of gripes about the quality of renovation of the current place. She doesn't like that a few (and it really is only a handful of small pieces) of the laminate pieces have came off. She complains that the wiring wasn't done right and that's why we keep getting trips, she has a point here but I don't think its purely his fault since he wasn't the one laying the wires. Her point is that his recommendation of electrician is questionable. And then there is the infamous aircon contractor which made a whole mess of everything.

Although she has her point, I'm of the opinion that any renovation would have some imperfections given our limited budget. 'You get what you pay for' is the common saying. If we have a limitless budget I'm sure we can ask for the sky.

That said, there is the other factor of family opinions which we have to respect as well. My father-in-law thinks Jerry only seeks to satisfy our wants without really giving us good advice on whether some things are practical or not. To me, this is a toss-up and something hard to judge. If you ask another person looking for an ID, an ID who listens to a client's ideas and getting what he ask for is a prime criteria.

So how do you judge? Choose an ID who listens to you and tries to translate your ideas into reality. Or someone who has his own ideas of what is best and makes you go his way?

A Dent In Our Wallets

Since we are moving next to our parents, we are unlikely to ever move again unless HDB en-blocks us. So this is our one chance to get the renovation done up well. We had experiences from our first so we are more confident of what works and what doesn't.

For living and dining flooring we both agree that marble would be ideal. Meimei offered to front $10k so that shows how much she wants it. I'm keen on marble too, my parent's place is broken marble so I can attest to the coolness it brings to the room. We just need to find a pattern that can take scratches and stains. Homogenous tiles has worked well in our current home but I think we are ready for a change.

For the bedrooms Meimei is leaning towards Vinyl. I, on the other hand, is dead set against it. If something has to pass emission standards, it is not safe. And looking at the recent emission scandals by Volkswagon and Mitsubishi, there is no guarantee the 'passed' flooring actually meets health standards. Imagine inhaling the toxic fumes as you sleep every night ... Argghhh no way I'm subjecting our kids to that.

So I'm electing for parquet or timber for our bedrooms. I like the warm and softness of wooden floors. Meimei finds the traditional colours of teak off-putting so we are looking at lighter shaded woods like European Oak or Canadian Maple. But of course these come at a premium price and hopefully our budget can take them.

Interestingly, this two item alone adds up close to $40k. The IDs we met puts it down to having to use the pre-pack sand mix HDB is selling. However digging deeper into the actual cost differential, the mix would cost homeowners only 2-3k more. So it looks like renovation firms are profiteering across the board with this new sand ruling. Jack up margins and lay the blame squarely on HDB. Homeowners can't help but accept the higher prices grudgingly.

For the rest of the house we are keeping it simple. The standard works on kitchen and bathrooms are a must. We are targeting to keep carpentry at a minimum. Half of our $60k budget when we did 303 went to carpentry and we try not to do the same this time. It's off the shelf if we can help it so we don't fix ourselves to any design or layout.

Even with a more sensible requirements this time, the average quotes we are seeing are in the region of $80k. This is something I don't get .... it took us close to $60k to overhaul 303. Now giving it a 10% increase for inflation and reducing the amount of carpentry (it's about 10k now), surely we didn't have to pay more than $70k? What has come of the renovation industry? It looks like they are upping their margins in tandem with the sky rocketing property prices.

I'm hoping we can get a lot done with our limited budget. I know we are asking for premium items such as marble and parquet but surely that shouldn't put us that far off our original $60k budget. But having met 2 IDs, I've already resigned to having to up the budget to $80k. I think our ID pick would boil down who can give us more for that budget. And the focus would be on the essentials such as flooring, things we can't do after moving in.

14 Months - Still No "Papa" "Mama"

She hasn't start talking yet even at 14 months. She seems to understand what we are talking about but she refuses to utter proper words. She is rather contented to use her "erh erh ah ah" and finger pointing to express her wants. She has new found freedom now that she can walk and everyday she looks to get steadier and bolder.

Durian!!

Braving the playground slide

'Homebase' is always the safest

"Come sit with me"

Slurp Slurp

Why it is still so far away?

*Muach~!! 

Pretty Tulips! I wanna touch~

A Day At The Gardens

Today's our first outdoor excursion with Emily. Well technically Hong Kong was the first but thats a different thing altogether. We were packed full with gear to make the trip as comfortable as possible.

Mama had suggested to bring Emily to Gardens by the Bay and not always to the shopping malls. She wants her to have exposure to all the greens and lively atmosphere. Since it was the Mayday holidays and there was a one for one promotion for tickets we obliged and made our way to the Gardens early in the morning.

Unlike the previous trips to the Gardens, this time we weren't actually watching the flowers and greenery. All eyes were on Emily ... we are doing this for her after all.

“小朋友，我们不要摸这些漂亮花朵哦。”

花花好漂亮！

我.....要.........

我偏要摸......

“惨！爸比你是帮凶！我们快跑！”

“萱萱，妈妈看到了哦！”

以后请不要给我穿凉鞋➕袜子....很土

She is fascinated by the plants, flowers and generally people. I think the cool weather in the dome helped too and she was happily running around. We did have to keep a close watch on her ... she has this tendency to pull whatever she can get her hands on. Imagine her getting a grip on the tulips ....

为什么不可以摸这些花花？

我刚刚偷偷摸过了😁

Flowers At The Garden

One of only a handful of pictures on flowers. The rest were of baby.