Back to work

Finally our big day is over and now we're back to work. Last week was quite packed for us. On 20 Nov Thur, we took leave to settle some stuffs. Firstly, we brought things like 嫁妆, clothes and things we bought for the house (eg. thermo-flask and cloths) to our new house. There, we cleaned up and unpacked our stuffs. We also 安床 before we leave for Suntec to drop off wines and ang bao box at Pearl River. After that, we went to our bridal studio to pick up our gowns and coats. Lastly, I went for manicure and pedicure while Justin went back to our house to see our coffee table delivery. Fri was more relaxing as we've settled most of our things. We only went back to the studio to change the coats and collect flowers. I was so nervous that I only slept for about 3h.

22 Nov Sat, was one of the best day in my life. Really had fun meeting people and I really thank everyone for attending and the Bros & Sis for helping out in the wedding. Although I was so so so nervous for the entire day and I couldn't find the necklace and earrings the makeup artist lent me, everything else went on smoothly and I really feel so fortunate. I love you Justin hubby!

I'll upload some photos when I got them. Probably some time in Dec when we're back from Australia. :)

过大礼 16 Nov 2008

Exchange of gifts - 2 bottles of wine, 2 boxes of 礼饼, 8 oranges, longan, 聘金 and 四点金 ang bao from the groom's side; 2 bottles of juice, 1 box of 礼饼, 8 oranges, return of 聘金, 家婆裙 ang bao, 家公鞋 ang bao and 新郎 birthday ang bao from the bride's side.

Justin & Auntie Eileen bringing the gifts back.

Finally bought a microwave

We went to Harvey Norman on Sun 9 Nov as they were having some hot sales. There, we saw this double grill/convention microwave oven selling at $329 (usual $429).

All along I have been looking at Panasonic microwaves and those without a pull-open door. However, this Sharp microwave is so attractive, in terms of price, functions and appearance. Using our $100 voucher, we bought it and added an additional $55 for 4 more years of warranty, a total of 5 years.

We also went to Carrefour and bought a blue grocery trolley at $16.90 and a clock for $42.90. The design is really nice and suits our living room well as it's mainly glossy black in colour. Looking forward to hanging it up. :)

Sat 25 Oct 2008

Part of our furniture is delivered, although we expected all to be here. Our coffee table will only arrive in early Nov. We went to Jurong Point and Chinese Garden to buy the light bulbs and some other small items like lighter, metal bowl and packs of dehumidifier. Too bad the blueish lights in the 2 bedrooms do not come in warm white. The blueish tone will disappear after months of usage.

The glass of the dining table is sprayed black and now it looks opaque. The table runner was bought from Bangkok way before reno starts and it matches our house well.

View of the dining and living areas in white and warm lightings.

The CPU holder was delivered.

Before and after changing the light bulbs of the headboard.

Another view of the MBR. Behind the TV is the walk-in-wardrobe.

Our White Kitchen

On Tue 21 Oct, by right the rest of our furniture should be delivered but Melvin and guys didn't turn up. We couldn't reach him on his hp and shop no. So in the end we stayed in the house till 10+pm to write down a list of items we need to buy, touch up the edges of black laminate with marker and take down the light bulbs that we want to change. We also brought up things that we bought like toiletries and cushions to the house.
Our kitchen is done up. :) Below is its transformation from Feb to Oct.
Empty kitchen
Kitchen base
Cabinets done up
White solid top in place
Electrical stuffs and s/s railing
Orange glass backing
Present ^.^

Ikea & TANGS stuffs

We spent $120 worth of vouchers at TANGS to buy Tefal iron, anti-bacteria cutting board and 1 set of knives(2pcs) and scissors. We asked a friend of ours to get it for us as her mother works at TANGS. Collected the items from her on 12 Oct. On that day, we also bought 2 huge cushions at $16.90 each at Sun Plaza HomeStyle.

16 Oct, we went to Ikea and spent the final $20 voucher we had. There are quite a number of things we can buy but we limit our purchases on our immediate needs. In the end, we bought a dozen of glasses for $6, 5 packs of 5 hangers @ $1.50 each, a laundry bag for $ 5.90, a waste bin for $3 and 2 small brushes for $0.90.

On the coming Tue 21 Oct, the rest of our furniture will be delivered, finally. :) We've been waiting for it since the beginning of Sept. Slowly everything will fall into place and we can move in together after our wedding in Nov.

Waste bin

Laundry bag

More shopping @ Robinsons Centrepoint

On Sat 20/9, we were at the house to do some cleaning while waiting for HDB contractors to come and touch up the kitchen and common toilet floor grout. The wok we bought from TANGS was also delivered. The HDB worker came late but did a thourough job in touching up the grout. I can't tell the quality of the workmanship yet as it takes some time for the grout to dry and set. We'll take some photos next week.

We went shopping at Orchard on Sun. It's so nice to look around and shop with vouchers. :) Went to TANGS, TAKA and Robinsons. At first we thought we should wait for Robinsons' end of year sale but there was also a sale going on yesterday that was good. The best deal that we've seen so far for pots/saucepan is at Robinsons - WMF brand of 5 diff sizes of pots, a steamer compartment and a saucepan cost only $150. Moreover, by spending $300 at the Home Section entitles us a $50 voucher. Therefore, we bought the pots/saucepan, 2 sets of quilt covers (free 2 small bolsters) at $129 each, two 2 litres containers for boiled water at $13.50 each and a plastic sieve for $3. In total, after using all the vouchers, we spent $188. These will be delivered to us on the coming Sat morning. Looking forward to more shopping!

Shopping at Ikea

On Thur 11 Sept, we had a nice time shopping at Ikea after work as we have some vouchers to spend. We bought several items that are useful and reasonably priced.

Kitchen accessories. Grundtal cutlery stand ($9) and stainless steel s-hooks (5pcs for $3). The white container is made of polypropylene plastic and has holes at the bottom to drain water.

Cheap Borris doormat bought at $1.50. It's dark blue and measuring 60x40cm. It has latex backing, thus it's non-slip and can keep the mat in place.

MYSA RÖNN quilt with a warmth rating of 2, thus it's suitable for everyday use. The outer layer is made of 100% cotton while the filling is made of 85% duck feathers and 15% duck down. It costs $45 for a queen size (200x200cm).

We also bought 3 packs of 4 aluminium hooks for hanging of clothes at $4/pack. We will fix them behind the doors of bedroom and toilets.

1st round of cleaning

On Sat 6 Sept, we went to the house to start cleaning. We vacuumed and mopped the floor with detergent. This is the 1st time the floor feels so clean. The house seems so big when it comes to cleaning. Vacuuming seems endless! It's also a good form of exercise for my arms as I suffer from muscle ache the next day. We also wiped the cupboards and feature walls with water. We would need to buy the "Mama lemon" to clean the cupboards etc. The glass and mirrors also lack shine and will be cleaned after we buy a ladder. Too bad we can only clean the house during weekends when we're free, so it'll take some time. Really looking forward to moving in when everything is settled.

21st Week of Reno - 25-31 Aug 2008

We have come to an end of the our reno finally. :) The main door and gate are locked on Sun after the painters came to touch up the main door and door frames. The black markings on the floor were also cleaned up, although not thoroughly. We'll start cleaning the house and change the light bulbs soon. We also thought of asking the HDB touch up the grout in the kitchen and toilet.

Touch up of the door frame paint is done.

The main door is painted with glossy white paint as the previous matt paint gets dirty easily. There were many black prints and hand marks on it, so Miko suggested to us to paint it glossy. The result is much better than the previous coat.

This is how our main door and gate look like from outside.

2 small, transparent stoppers were added in our walk-in-wardrobe to prevent the mirror from hitting the wall when opened to wide.

Arrival of study table and bookshelf

Tue 26 Aug evening, our study table and bookshelf were delivered. We thought that the coffee table is also ready but it'll only be here in a week or two. They took the dining table glass top back to their warehouse to spray black. Therefore, they'll deliver everything in Sept, together with the CPU compartment and our free bolster. :) We are really satisfied with their product and service especially. Melvin, the boss, is very cautious about not damaging our floor and furniture. We don't mind getting all our furniture from him and highly recommend it to everyone.


Our 'walnut' series of study table and bookshelf. We're the 1st customer to purchase these in 'walnut' and they turn out nice! The study table legs can open up to hide wires, an idea which we really like.


Study room. We're going to change the bulbs of the light as the colour is really blue. The room also looks rather dull and dark.


Our bed is finally moved to our bedroom. It's so nice! It's actually still quite spacious between the bed and the wardrobe. The bedroom is now my fav part of the house. :) The headboard light is of different colour. We'll just remove it one day, together with all the other bulbs we want to change and go to one of the shops at Chinese Garden to buy.

20th Week of Reno - 18-24 Aug 2008

On Fri evening before our Jap lesson, we made a trip down to French Bridal to see the layout of our photos. Overall, we're satisfied with it except for 2 pages which we asked for re-do. We took the soft copies home too. Here are some of the photos...





The house's main door is painted white while the gate is grey. Our unit stands out from the rest as a result. These photos were taken using the hp, thus quality is rather poor. On the coming Tue, our coffee table, study table and book shelf will be delivered. :) They will also paint the dining table glass top, touch up the legs of the sofa and fix the bed up. Better quality pics will be uploaded then.

Outside and inside of the house

19th Week of Reno - 11-17 Aug 2008

The main gate, living room and bedroom door frames are all painted and touched up, only left the main door to paint white. However, there're still some more things to touch up.


Doorframes painted. The colour is about the same as before. The main gate is also painted the same colour.


These 2 areas still need to touch up.

Last week my father-in-law mentioned that we should paint the circuit box and after painting, it really looks so much nicer! All switches in the house have wires hidden. Nice and neat. :)

Kitchen orange glass backing is done. After days of getting used to the orange tone, I actually find it quite nice although I didn't like it at 1st cos it's too dull.