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Do you know there's shuttle bus service from JE MRT to IMM? and in fact, I think they are increasing the frequency of the trips, in anticipation of the inconvenience caused by the construction of the new Jurong General Hospital (JGH)... LOL... I usually take bus or train to JE MRT, then take shuttle bus over. unless, I'm on bus 99 la, which stops along the road... then that will be a bit more problematic. But i think from your place, you can take 334 or 98 to JE bus interchange, then take the IMM shuttle bus service lor...

Can share some design strategies? thanks.

I was at IMM for lunch just now. Visiting a IT vendor at Creative Resource earlier this morning.

What about the sound leh? I know got those Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode... gd for channel surfing, when the main tv channel you are watching is showing commercials. LOL... According to my sis, my bro-in-law's old house - every room has a TV. so everyone watch tv in their own room and watch what channel they want or play (wii, xbox) what games they want.

Yah.. that's for home cinema projector. Not the most high-end, but pretty decent. If using lau-pok office-type of projector. think less than $1K can get liao. But of coz the quality also CMI la... and maybe the lumens rating also not very high. RimBlock also said, if you are bring some mid-range LED tv for 42-46" ... it can cost up to $2-3K also. But of coz, there's the maintenance issue la. as mentioned, the light bulb can only last for 2000-3000 hours, and also depends on how heavy is your usage. So I'll prob really just use it for movie watching and house party. Normal tv watching of news, drama serials, can just use a cheaper 42"-46" LCD or plasma TV... hopefully $1K-$1.5K or less.

Can watch in the afternoon. But of coz, gd to put down your curtains to make it more "conducive" for watching la. There's different modes (in the projector) for viewing. One of them is "living room"; i suppose it will detect the ambient light conditions, and adjust the "power" of the projector to produce a brighter image, etc But according to RimBlock, it will use more power and hence shorten the lifespan of the light bulb, which is rated at 2000-3000 hrs. if 3000 hours, 1 day use abt 3 hrs on average (assuming after work), can last maybe 1000 days (~2.7 yrs). Each light bulb costs a few hundred dollars though. But as RimBlock puts it, if you use it to watch enough movies at home, you would have saved enough to buy the next light bulb, when the current one blows. and also it's a freaking 100" (diagonal) wide screen. totally shiok for watching blu-ray movies, and of coz playing my wii games and maybe xbox360+kinect (praying for my colleagues to get it as my house-warming gift... LOL) RimBlock has also put the price in one of his post: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=...st&p=602791 He mentioned that it's $2300 for the projector, but he spent abt $3400 for the projector, a 100" pull-down screen and high quality HDMI cables (supposedly cost $600)

Quick Updates! Quite busy with other stuffs these few days... but will be back to ID/contractor hunting this weekend. 1. Suitable dates for chinese customary wedding & dinner from FSM We initially already have thoughts of having our customary wedding abt 1 yr after our ROM (ie. 2012 1st Q), so that we can take a break after the renovation, have some time for me to slim down (for the wedding photos!) and also to save up for the wedding. However, thru conversations with other friends, we realized that parents might be particular abt finding an auspicious date for the chinese wedding. So, my WTB scanned thru sgbride forums for contacts of some recommended/popular FSM. And the results? 2012 is generally inauspicious for people of the "Dog" sign, according to FSM (who shall not be named) Not even a single day? Yeah. Apparently so. It's either we do it before CNY 2012 (which is like 20 Jan 2012) or after CNY 2013 (which WTB is totally not keen on). Mum doesn't believe that not a single day in 2012 is possible; she believes there's bound to be something we can do to counter it. Dad told me "why you into FS? Can be a bit more modern thinking or not?" WTB's Mum says, "You all decide." Colleague says, "Don't find so 'powerful' FSM la. Just find any 'gd' dates can le". Technically, we'll be legally married by end-Feb 2011, so I feel (and the FSM also agrees) that the impact not so "critical" to us. He also added that ultimately, it's up to the parents. If they are ok, anything goes. And so we decided to heck-care the 2012 thing, and just go ahead with our original plans. No pt rushing before CNY 2012 and drive ourselves crazy, coz in the end, it won't be a happy wedding... at least that's what I personally feel. Just do it at a comfortable pace for both of us. And we sort of shortlisted the hotel we want and now to decide on the actual date. Once booked, WTB and me can both focus on the renovation together. 2. Visit to RimBlock's place during CNY! Like most ang-moh expats I've known (not many though), he's a very friendly and nice guy who is very willing to share his experience. And we (WTB & me) had a gd time listening to his stories and also viewing his place, esp his projector setup (WTB is "convinced" after seeing the real thing in action; she previously thinks that it has lousy image quality like those in her office; but RimBlock's one is home cinema projector kind... which is really shiok!) I've already posted an entry at his t-blog. You can read it here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=...st&p=609658 3. Box (my mum's dog) visits my new place! Ytd, I was driving my dad's car home after my night class and decided to pop by my new place to have a feel of how the place is like at night (coz the past few times we've been there; it's always after lunch - very hot afternoon sun). The neighbourhood is quite quiet and also not much residents (coz it's half that of a normal block! ) and they also enjoy their own privacy. I went in, looking at an empty place, switched on the living rm lights, and switched off after 30 sec, and I left. I think i'm a little too "timid" to go up alone, esp in its current bare state. Tonight, I decided to go up again after my class when my parents came to pick me up from school, together with Box. I was reading some of the posts on the forum, on what to do when selecting a resale unit or when opening the door for the first time, and some people recommended bringing a toddler or a dog up. If the toddler is happy and feels ok up there, it's prob ok. If not, can bring a dog up too. Somehow, I feel my dog can sense some "things" too... maybe they are just more sensitive. AND lucky for me, Box seems to be comfortable with the place. His tail was up all the time and he was not like rushing to leave the place. He practically sniffed all the corners and checked out all the rooms, and was having fun running up and down the staircase. It sort of puts me at ease, at least "subconsciously". LOL.

Hi RimBlock! Thanks for inviting me & my fiancee over for a house visit last weekend! Actually, more like my persistent "self-invite"... Anyway, we really appreciate your time to share with us your experience, some after-thoughts and DIY tips for the EM renovation. It gives us a better idea of how we might do up the kitchen and wash area and also some practical advice to take note of. And I've finally seen your projector setup! It's awesome, and I've managed to "convince" my fiancee to get it. but have to check out budget first. And seeing how you have placed your storage heater has also given me an alternative location to place the water heater, which I was initially pondering over; BUT we might need to check the ceiling height again (coz your unit is at the top floor and has a higher ceiling); whether it's sufficient to squeeze in a storage heater there. After your long explanation of the work involved in your DIY laying of LAN cables and trunking, I think I'll abort the idea of doing it myself. It seems like so much work... You really have a great place (it's so near to tampines mall, MRT, etc!); so convenient and accessible! And I'm sure it will be really homely and cosy once it's all done up. I hope your renovation will finish soon and smoothly. And may you and your family have a fantastic time staying there, until you have other plans (maybe going back to Britain in 10 yrs' time? ) All the best for your renovation!

Will be looking forward to your finished product! So your quote does not include the kitchen cabinets? Your balcony doors look very new! Did you change your windows too? I see you do not have window grilles too. Look gd. But do you intend to install them next time when you have children? Yes. I suspect it might be in the range of $60K, but i'm still crossing my fingers for $50K quote. I don't get what you mean by putting the compressor along the corridor. So far, I don't see any of my new neighbours doing it. Do you have a pic of it? And thanks for your advice. Will keep in mind.

Gahmen dun want u to air your "dirty" laundry in the public. LOL...

ohh... so those staying in 3 or 4-storey high landed property with attic; if they hang in the attic, will have alot alot of money to "suan"? anyway, I read some of your posts in the geomancy / feng shui section, that you sometimes, give FOC FS advice. Understand that you are not a full-time FS professional, I would like to seek your FS opinion for my resale unit, if you are available. Maybe after CNY, when you are less busy. I'm not really into FS (quite noob; in fact I think some of the things I want to do, might be against conventional FS sense), but would still like to know if there's anything with my new place I should keep a lookout for. Thanks!

Your area near town mah... that's why $$$ mah... BUT everyone's happy with what they get can liao... Happy Chinese New Year and Huat Ah to all and their families I'm thinking of hopefully starting ard March, hopefully can end ard May la... a gd 8-10 weeks... hopefully they will be able to do a gd job la. *cross fingers*... and yes... haven't confirm renovator... getting more stressed liao... The views are ok (mai hiam buey pai la, ai hiam simi dou kana sai... LOL!) - translation for non-hokkien speaking friends - "don't be fussy, it's ok; if want to be picky, anything also like s-h-i-t." The dining area windows along the corridor is facing another EM block also ard 16 floors high; but luckily it's separated by 1 open-air carpark, so not very near la... and got pockets of "unblocked" views at the sides... The balcony is facing towards Jurong Lake. It's sort of blocked by Lakeshore Condo, but it's separated by 1 primary school, so not very near also. luckily, i'm 10th floor. If 6th or below, the balcony will face the classrooms. I think if do sliding windows for dining area, and collapsible doors for balcony, think will have gd air flow, i hope. if at 14th or 16th floor and at the corner (which is unblocked by the other block behind), then sure very windy. Soichiro, your renovation seems to be progressing well. so far any "major" problem areas or defects, specific to EM rehaul, to share with me or to look out for? Just wondering if you have done FSM audit. Personally, I feel the bold colours (red, yellow, blue) are too strong for my own liking, because I feel bedrooms are more restful and relaxing place (which are typically darker tones - mocha, grey or lighter tones - peachy, lilac etc.); such bold colours a bit overwhelming for me. I'm sure you have your own reasons for choosing those colours. If you don't mind sharing, i just want to know how you come up with the colour scheme. Do you have a specific concept or you just like those colours? I suppose you didn't do plastering for your place. The rationale was to cut down on renovation costs? is the renovation cost still $42K? or has gone up more? Somehow, I think if want to do a decent basic job, would prob need ard $55-$65k (excl aircon, lightings, sanitary wares, electrical appliances, furniture). Think if add in the rest of the items, smelly smelly ~$85K+?

Yes! I also find the toilet looks very resort feel. and would like to know more abt the tiles too. May also consider using them for my open-air balcony. coz the slate wall tiles are quite $$$$...

Hey mae29! Happy for you that your renovation journey is completed in time (b4 CNY) and beautifully done up (esp the bedrooms )! btw, what's with hanging the leek at the highest spot in the kitchen abt? leek = "suan(4)"? And happy chinese new year to you and your family!

The link to my post abt IKEA furniture is at http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=...st&p=602757 LOL... yeah... 6 pages - cos I'm "documenting" my research and thoughts abt this renovation process (first time doing renov... quite headache) Built-in kitchen and wardrobe from IKEA - got friends got the wardrobe set from Ikea, but I thought they come in standard sizes like 2m, 1.8m, 1.5m, etc... got customized sizes? like maybe 2.5-2.8m? as for kitchen, don't know any friends gotten IKEA kitchen cabinets and worktop. Yes. Will be box-ing up the area under the staircase. Can use to store spare folding chairs, vacuum cleaner and what's not. glass staircase is sibei chio and bloody $$$ too. AND might not be very child-friendly, and a lot of fingerprints to clean(?). I also scared if people (incl myself) careless, and when bringing things up and down, hit the glass, later will crack or wat... initially thinking of painting the railing matt black and change the hand rails (i initially thought it was wooden) part to new one. electrical works cost is likely to be on the higher ends of $3K-4K, since i'll likely to do rewiring of whole unit, add new electrical pts, lighting pts and also LAN points. hope your renovation "official" handover will come soon and no more defects to rectify after that. For the amt of work to be done, i think smelly-smelly 65K-75K. BUT i'm hoping for 50K + 5K (contingency) w/o aircon/lightings/sanitary wares/electrical appliances Think smelly-smelly 2 months la. Don't want to rush too early too; later KNS job done, move in also sian. actually if can get corner EA unit, also super gd lor. 140+sqm at 1 level. you will really have super duper big MBR (since you going to hack at least 1 bedroom to combine) and you can have 1 entire room as WIW, and also huge living room with dining area (with your super long kitchen island counter). and no need to have 2 levels to separate bedrooms and dining/living, since it's so big, your bedroom can be "well-isolated" inside. (provided you get corner unit, or non-corridor unit). Think one of the new forum members has a t-blog on his resale EA unit at Tah Ching Road area. looks **** big lor. yes... cleaning for such big areas will be tough, esp when we don't have maid/helper. BUT treat it as exercise when doing household chores lor. anyway, bedroom 2 & 3 will most likely to be empty most of the time, so can do minimal cleaning la, I hope. And 3 toilets also... *faint* WTB and me want to move in asap la, coz technically we'll be married by end-Feb (ROM). So we want to move into our own place lor. BUT finding a responsible contractor at an affordable price, cannot be rushed la. I might still seek my uncle's opinions & quotes to do up the place. hopefully it's <$55K (+ electricial)

Thanks!! Excited!! but have to wait til after CNY, and then get serious abt confirming renovator, before renovation can start. think move-in date will be ard May-June ba. Thanks thanks! Coz I was reading the t-blogs of other homemakers before i started mine. I realized that sometimes, there are a lot of pics, but a bit hard to link the visuals to the floorplan. I hope I've made it easier for my "readers" to understand how the place is like. Yes. I'm the 2nd owner. Seller's moving to City View (DBSS). I think, maybe before 2009 or so, the market for EMs like not very gd. some property agents also tell me that EMs not highly sought after, as mentioned by you, the valuation price is higher and most people prefer 4-rm (also easier to sell next time => higher resale value). BUT HDB not building anymore EMs (though might still build more loft units), i thought it's actually a "rare" unit la. In fact, a lot of owners ard that area not selling, if not the asking COV is like $70K-80K kind. AND I believe there will be EM lovers, and EMs belong to a "niche" market, for people, like me, who prefers double-storey unit, but can't afford a private property (at least for now... ). So there will be a resale market for it (or at least, I choose to be think so; but not like i'm going to sell anytime soon...) I was initially thinking of getting 5-rm too, but considering those near to MRTs and those 5-rm flats opposite Lakeside MRT then, were also valuated ard $400K-450K, and the asking COV was also from $50K-$80K. (i'm referring to the time I was looking at - early-mid 2010s). Since prices also abt the same (so $$$), but floor area difference by abt 30sqm, I chose EM lor. (anyway, I like double-storey living also la... ) No. Still trying to confirm a renovator (but starting to really feel finding a gd renovator and a smooth renovation journey is almost like a heng-suay affair)... Windows - I hate the windows design, plus it's bolted to the wall; some are fixed (aka unmovable), plus 26+ yrs liao; think condition CMI la. Doors - I think they are those hollow doors. Even my current place (also ard 25 yrs old), also using slightly better solid naytoh doors. since I intending to "upgrade" to more "solid" door, might as well change the doors and maybe get veneer doors or wat. and door frames likely have to go too. Paraqet flooring - it's the glossy type. I hope can varnish and stain to matt kind. YES... major rehaul ( = major money "bleed")... LOL... Not much fancy design (no feature wall, etc, though I'm tempted to do up the balcony a bit. ). Will do cove lighting and stuff; basically all the structural enhancements and changes lor. as for built-in stuff, think only kitchen cabinets and MBR and Bedroom 2's built wardrobe. I already have some previous entries on the IKEA furniture I'm going to get... LOL! going to cost me <$3-4K for L-shape sofa set, coffee table, tv bench, dining table + 6 chairs, swivel armchair, book shelves. But last choice la... if possible, would like to check out Hommage or S&C. initially, i thought my staircase hand-rails were those thin wooden piece kind. then realised it's actually the original HDB kind. I must have mistaken it for another unit I've viewed. *faint* likely will replace the whole staircase, but to what? steel + wood? glass + wood? glass + steel? glass + steel + wood? LOL... going to be d-a-m-n $$$... maybe ard $4+K to change staircase.

Wah.. your dishwasher so atas... LOL... can "train" it to speak in other languages or even dialects?

check out how your neighbours are doing it? might be a gd conversational topic to engage your new neighbours...

Thanks thanks... spent like 2 nights doing the "pictorials"... i hope it's easy to understand and link the visuals with the floor plan. Yes... My resale unit is really quite "chui" condition... some might think paying $27K COV is too much for such "jia-lat" (aka lousy) condition... but for me, it's an acceptable price to pay la. for the proximity to parents' place and near MRT and amenities. And yes, almost everything has to go... and re-do, hence the high renov cost. Quite expected for a unit which is 26 yrs old and without much renovation. If it was already renovated and move-in condition, the COV would have been a lot more than just $27K, i guess. I could be wrong. oh well... Some friends & contractors advised me to minimize the works (such as retaining the existing doors, window grilles, tiles, if they are acceptable), to cut cost. But you see it for yourself, from the pics, those works cannot be avoided. And precisely, it's in such lousy condition, I won't feel any pinch hacking the whole place up... and gives me more freedom to implement my own design. (not much design though, coz seriously limited by budget constraints). I'm looking forward to the makeover. BUT first, I NEED TO GET A RENOVATOR!!! and hopefully at affordable price and gd workmanship (like asking for the moon hor? )

The "Before" Pics! (Part 5) That's all for the "Before" series! As you can see, for some areas, it's lacking pics from suitable angles. oh well... it's tiring to resize the images and arrange them. bleahz...

The "Before" Pics! (Part 4)

given that TVs are getting cheaper, every quarter. might it be cheaper/more affordable to get 2 TVs, instead of build a feature wall?

Woah! Very nice!! This is exactly, how I want to do up my projector + TV too. Looks great! Problem: I wonder if I have any more "spare" cash to buy my toys (projector, screen + HTS), after the renovation. It would be a fantastic setup to watch movies, play Wii games (Rockband and Just Dance 2)... esp for the house parties.

The "Before" Pics! (Part 3) And yes... finally to the important stuffs now... taken with my lousy iPhone 3GS and lack of proper framing or any photography skills... going thru the pics now... I think I've missed out some angles. Some shots are either over- or under- exposed too. Ok! It's freaking 2.02am already. I'm tired. Will continue with the rest of the series tomorrow.

The "Before" Pics! (Part 2) Quick Intro of the neighbourhood - Market Places 1. 498 Market - Approx 400-600m (5-10min) The bustling market place is across the grass field (which is opposite the neighbourhood park). Lots of gd good and just like your typical busy HDB shops; there's a small NTUC there too. I used to watch my friends play soccer at the grass field. Why didn't I join in? Coz I don't like soccer. 2. 502 Market - Approx 400-600m (5-10min) This is the area I'm more familiar with since young. Pasar Malams and all sorts of street-side stalls (esp during CNY) almost all year round. Some says it's like little Chinatown. I particularly enjoy the porridge with chicken + fried doughstick at the food centre, with my WTB, almost every Sun lunch.