Loving Slippers Like Mummy

Bedok Kids

"We are now officially Bedok kids!" quip Meimei. That's right, its been a week since we moved and I think we have settled in nicely.

Interestingly, I'm more familiar with this area than I am with the Tampines 201 market. We never really eat or shop there even though we have lived there for 6 years.

As for OO, I think she is loving the proximity of the basketball court where she can kick and chase her ball-ball.

And she is fearless at the exercise park. She can skip the children's playground but every evening trip downstairs entails a detour to the park to play on the exercise machines. I think we might have a future gymnast on our hands :-)

Now the only thing 'missing' is the 216 hawker center. It closed for a 6 weeks renovation the Monday after we moved in. So we are patiently waiting for it to reopen so we can have scrumptious breakfasts everyday!!

A Better View

Apart of the obvious improvements in amenities and convenience in moving to 405, I've come to appreciate that we now have a better view out of our window. And its made more clear when OO would make us bring her to the window so she can check out what was happening at the basketball court in front of our block; or stare into the distant blocks; or simply call out to the many cats and birds on the ground.

OO didn't use to like to stare out of the window at 303. As much as the view was unblocked at the living room, we are staring into the rooftop of the next block just 20-30m ahead. The master bedroom and middle room faced a main road but the view is partially obstructed by the concrete sun shade beam.

405's view is sharply different. This is the view I get from my desk while writing this blog post. It's a view I've always dreamt of when I was young. How nice it would have been if I was able to lift my head and watch the sky when I'm tired from studying or surfing the net on my computer. The vastness of the view is simply unbeatable and I foresee spending many hours staring at the mundane on-goings outside our windows.

I think Meimei disapproves that I carry OO to stare out the window so often. I get it, it's like being a couple of vagrants wasting their time away staring into nothingness. But for the moment, I'm ignoring the criticism and enjoying the view. Much work and money has gone into this move, I'm gonna enjoy it as much as I can.

Immediate Defects

I don't believe any contractor can ever achieve zero defects on renovation. Some defects you just do see or don't surface until you start using the place. I'm somewhat calm when there is something that is not right. So long as the ID acknowledges it and promises and eventually fixes it I don't give the ID too much heat that thing were not perfect from the moment we move in.  It will set me off though if he tries to give a crap excuse. 

In Norman's case, I cannot say it was totally easy with him but only on a few rare occasions did he give me a bad explanation. He was mostly upfront about the defects and always offer to fix them promptly. And such was the case with our plumbing. Just a day in and there were leaks.

The common bathroom sink was leaking badly. There is a pool of water after a day's use. How the plumber miss this is beyond me ... surely you would have tested?

There is also another leak in the master bathroom. The bidet was dripping water and that was with the water control half turned as recommended by the toiletries vendor. This wasn't the plumber's fault but more related to a product defect.

Nonetheless Norman promised to send the plumber first thing Monday morning to have a look and rectify the leakages. These are the only major defects that surfaced right after the move. I'm sure we would find more over the course of the next couple of weeks as we use the place more.

The Big Move - Into 405 We Go!

We arrived at about 1.30pm and the movers begin their unloading.

Again everything was being loaded into trolleys and moved to the lobby. Every soon the lift lobby was filled with towers of boxes.

Another team came up to lay cardboard to protect the flooring. Soon enough the place was filled with boxes. Every room had at least 10 boxes and we had to leave the storeroom boxes at the area beside the kitchen entrance as the boxes were too tall to fit into the shelves.

In all it took about 3 hours and when we were finally done it was close to 5pm. Again the baby cupboard took a long time. The supervisor who dismantled the cupboard couldn't figure out how to put it back. And when he eventually did with the help of 2 of his colleagues they broke one of the supporting bars at the back of the cupboard ...

There was nothing we could do. We didn't get insurance but even if we did the premium and excess are going to take a chunk out of the payout for the cupboard. So the extra $60 we paid for the cupboard assembly is as good as money gone down the drain. So much for one of the best movers in Singapore. Total bullshit.

But we are not getting angry over this. Today is our grand day moving into our new home. No sense trying to iron things out with the movers. I'm taking the high road and just telling myself we are never moving so they are only going to make money off me once, that's it. If anyone asks me in the future about Shalom, I'll just relate our experience and warn them against this mover.

We ended the day with our first dinner at 405 with takeouts from JinLong. Phew! We have finally moved in! What a relief!

The Big Move - Out Of 303

We were up till 3am last night ... There is just so much loose items to pack that we gave up sorting the items nicely towards the end of the night and simply chuck them into the boxes. We'll have to sort them after we move. We have close to 90 boxes to transport ... I cannot understand how we managed to amass so many things over a relatively short 6 years.

We woke at about 8am and sent OO over to parent's place. I came back close to 9 with breakfast and the lorries from Shalom are slowly arriving.

The movers were efficient, moving the boxes and large items out quickly. The bottleneck was the lift and slowly the boxes start to pile up at the lobby.

However when it came to baby's room we were given told that we had to pay another $80 for the dismantling/assembly of the 3 door cupboard. What? Why do we have to pay extra? We are already forking out $1,476 for the move and now while moving things halfway you are asking for extra $80? This sounds like the racket I've been reading online about where movers try unscrupulous tactics to elicit more fees.

Shalom's surveyor was at our place to view all our furniture and it was stated clearly that the $1.4K included necessary dismantling/assembling of furniture. The movers stopped everything when we told them we were not going to pay and the supervisor ask us to contact our surveyor Alan. We couldn't get him on the phone and had to call the office to contact him instead. Eventually we reached him and he insist we have to pay but offered a discounted rate of $60.

Now ... what were we supposed to do? Today's the big day for the move, half  of our items are already in the trucks. We had to suck it up and curse our silly belief that a so-called 'big' company mover like Shalom will not pull a fast one like the smaller Ah-Beng movers.

They eventually got everything into the truck at close to noon. Gosh ... 3 hours to get all the furniture and boxes into the trucks, which means it take the same or more to move things into our new place. We break for lunch ... I bought 10 packs of chicken rice for everyone. I know it may seem silly to be spending extra bucks for the movers after the nonsense they try to pull, but better do this and hope they don't try other games. After the cupboard they may try other tactics, I'm trying to prevent them as much as possible by getting on their good side and play on their 'compassion'. Hopefully treating them to lunch will help. Haiz ... it's going to be a long day ...

A Maze Of Boxes

Meimei has been diligently packing the place while I was in Australia. Her focus was mostly on the study and the kitchen where she had to direct Mama and maid on how to pack the pots and plates.

Since coming back to Singapore late week, I've been packing every night. The entire house is in a mess and the boxes covered a good part of the study and living room. When OO saw the study being filled with boxes, she let out several sad cries. The study has been one of her play spots so to see it covered with boxes seemed to overwhelmed her.

The living room begin to fill steady the past week. It's a challenge to walk around and more so for OO who isn't used to so much clutter. We are moving tomorrow and we still have many stuff lying around the house. The heavy stuff are already in the boxes and now it's just couple of the loose items plus mostly OO's stuff we will be packing. Tonight's gonna be an all-nighter to get as many items as we can into the boxes. Jia-you~!!

Touchups Round 1

We met Norman last Saturday to go through a round of defects before moving in. There were a couple of key things such as the un-lockable bedroom door, leaking in the common bathroom etc. Others are minor cosmetic touch ups we would like done before moving in. I'm sure we'll have to run through this again after we move.

His tiler was also here on Monday to tile up the remaining portion of the master bedroom bathroom beam. Our neighbours had finally mended their bathroom last week, just in time for us to complete the bathroom before moving in :-)

We'll gonna have a few more rounds of touch-up after we move in. Those would mostly be for the wall paint and corners due to the move. Hopefully nothing major pops up after this. It's no fun having major works once we have moved in.

19 Months - Starting To Climb

I was just away from two and half weeks and OO seems to have grown years! She's learning to play make-believe and attempting to hone her climbing skills to escape the playpen one day ...

She's no longer getting the rocking horse in the playpen. She hasn't fallen before (*touchwood) so she doesn't comprehend when we tell her no. I don't think we can keep her in the playpen for much longer.

Wiping Meow's mouth

Slinging Meow for a nap

I love seeing her play make-believe. It's an important milestone where she starts to learn and dream. Maybe she is ready for school playgroup?

Off to 'Gai-gai'!

Playing 'Book' with Nyama

Sour yet so shiok!

"See, this is where you should type"

 妈妈我知错了！

Folderable Trolley

Great for carting things around. Pretty expensive at $85 but worth every penny to save my back.

Dressing The Windows

To complete the look of the new home, we installed full length floor to ceiling curtains in every room. They make the space look classier and more luxurious. 

It was a little darker than we had expected but Norman insisted that it matches our overall design and carpentry. I suppose it takes some getting used to - we had light beige curtains at 303 so this darker brown seems to eat up some of the room space.

And then we have an unique installation between the living and dining room. Our living, dining and balcony area adds up close to 62 square meters. Whichever way we position the aircon, another spot is going to be stuffy and warm. So we decided to sacrifice the living room and position the aircon unit at the dining. To keep the cool air in the space, we are using a full length curtain which extends between the dining storage and opposing wall. It looks rather odd but works pretty well in keeping the dining area chilled.

The 2 common rooms had lighter wheat shade of curtains which brightens up the space. These made us regret a little that we didn't choose a lighter tone for the living, dining and balcony curtains.

The master bedroom curtains are the only ones which are matte. It wouldn't be cozy if it was glossy like the rest of the rooms. I think out of the 3 designs I like this one the most.

I didn't have time to go scout for different vendors so we went with our ID's preferred curtain supplier. I like how the curtains turned out though at $3,650 it was rather steep. But I've come to expect that any vendors they recommend will come at premium prices. Just hope it is truly quality we are getting and not just us absorbing the commissions that feeds through their ID/vendor relationship.

Digital Locks & Laundry System

The laundry system and digital locks are being installed today. Oddly enough I seemed to have forgotten to take any photos of the laundry installation!

I got the digital locks from the folks at MyDigitalLock, together with the laundry system, door viewer and door closer. The installation on the main door was smooth, you can tell the installer was very experienced. However when it came to the gate installation, we found out on the spot that they did not have stock of  the Yale 323G model I ordered. How can that be ... I placed the deposit a month ago!

So I took a call from the salesman that sold me the locks. He was apologetic and offered that if we would like to install today, he can offer a 'free' upgrade to the 424G model. What a load of bullshit. The 424G is retailing at the same price so what nonsense is he sprouting. Plus how can you come down for installation without checking if you have the lock on-hand.

Simply put, they were trying their luck and asserting pressure for us to take the other lock. If we don't we would have to wait for the stock of 323G to arrive and reschedule another installation appointment. I felt being driven to a corner. And sadly since we were going to move in soon, we acceded to the proposal. Phffff.

Overall the installation was good. If not for the no-stock crap I would have highly recommend them to friends. But that's too bad, it's things like that that turns a good review sour. And in truth it's justified because you are engaging a full suite of service. So however good you are in some areas, you are still going to be judge on the parts you have failed. No one is going to take only the good parts and ignore the glaring negatives.

Remembering 303 - The Dining Room

I think everyone is going to miss the dining area. It's such a comfortable area, not in the way of any passage, big and spacious enough to house a 1.6m long table and 6-8 seats. I doubt you can find such a big space in new flats.

It's situated in the center of the flat so it has become the defacto gathering area for friends and family. I will always fondly remember the hot pot meal gatherings we have with friends at this dining area.

Wallaby - Going Home

We checked out early in the morning and spend the day in Stockland Rockhampton mall. It's like any shopping centre you can find in Singapore. We had coupons for lunch at the food court so we were well covered for our meal.

I made sure to raid the Coles supermarket to get Tim Tam chocolates for the colleagues and family. That's pretty much it, Vik and I found a spot for beer and wasted our afternoon lazing there. The only thing I can think of is the trip home back to the warmth of Meimei and OO.

We had dinner at a football club of sorts in the evening and then we were off to the airport. There was some anxiety and fear when they announce that there was some technical issues with the plane and we couldn't board.

Eventually they resolved it though I was skeptical of the 'repairs'. It's such a remote airport I doubt there is any expertise to repair a commercial jet. But we didn't have much choice other than to board the plane. I want to get home!!

Wallaby - R&R

The R&R is nothing to shout about. I wonder if it would have been better to simply fly us home immediately after the exercise. My platoon mates seemed to enjoy it though. The last time I was here we were rushed through the Capricorn Caves and there wasn't much to see. Another group is going there so I hope they have improved the experience since 2007.

My group were assigned to go Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary. I thought it was a much more fun experience being able to get close to the animals and literally touching them. 

We were each given some feed and the animals would come up to nibble off your hands. We were there for about an hour and then usher off for lunch at Keppel Bay Sailing Club at Yeppoon.

Lunch was pretty good and came in large servings. It's nothing to rave about if you compare it to the view though.

It's a stunning view from the diner, more so after being in the forest for the past 2 weeks. The waters look so pristine and clear, very different from the waters at any beach in Singapore.

We were whizzed off for a quick grocery stop and then to the motel for a welcomed rest. Dinner was at a student cafeteria of Central Queensland University. It's mess food really so it was quite dull. Oh well, I shouldn't be complaining about free food isn't it.

Everyone went for drinks at the clubs after dinner except me. I was the only who preferred to relax back at the motel. I guess it helped that I didn't have much Aussie dollars on hand and didn't want to spend it. So I opened a pack of chips and a bottle of wine and drank quietly at the porch to our room.

We're going home tomorrow so I rather settle for an early night's rest.