NSW

I only got to know about taobao after my renovation started.. renotalk taught me a lot haha

I love the tin lights. somehow reminded me of those shop houses with retractable milo tin cash registers

wow big and nice but just wondering. . no store room left ah?

judging from the relative sizes I think it's pertinent to all if you intend to cook much

Thanks for the compliments; I am the technical guy with the dimensions and quotations etc; my wife makes the choices mainly and that's how elements can come together nicely. _____________________________________________________________ Anyhow someone PM-ed me on how to buy stuff from taobao: Peeka.sg is a website/company/service providing ordering and shipping from taobao PRC to Singapore. Competitors include daigou65 etc. What you do is 1) Create a peeka account (free) 2) Create a new order 3) Find the taobao link for your product you want to buy on taobao 4) Paste the link into "product" within the order (you can have multiple products within an order) 5) They will grab the details off the page. 6) Choose the correct domestic PRC shipping cost (should be guangzhou shenzhen) 7) Choose also the model / quantity. 8) Finalise your order with SG address 9) Pay deposit (i used internet bank transfer). 10) Wait / Respond to questions on your order page. 11) Pay up 100% since all products arrive at their receiving centre in China 12) Wait for loot! OR Just: http://buy4u.peeka.sg/faq and http://buy4u.peeka.sg/tour

this evening i went over for yet another check and i was greeted with a "brand new" front door! quite a few of the IDs i previously discussed with, recommended simply changing the whole door to a PE veneer one. I am guessing it is much less work for them to replace rather than recondition. However, the existing door was a fire-rated solid door; it'd be a terrible waste to simply replace it. It is now looking spiffy with the new laminate heh. The doorstopper behind is a good touch from the door prematurely destroying the shoe cabinet but the current estimate is a bit too conversative... the mounted downlights from taobao are really working very well. i haven't bought the track for the track lights so that will have a while more... i then walked into the kitchen and HEY my hob is up! further inspection reveals that the toilet bowls and mixers were more or less in place! I popped over to the MBR toilet side and voila! rainshower! haha... and it flows!

(this particular 4roomer is also going to join in gawking at the area for a 3room ...)

need to get myself a copy then!

Hm I will just list all here for convenience sake; good thing about peeka is that i can track back the links even after purchase is complete hehe... Pendant lights http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=25293440283 Kitchen Sink http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18699924608 Sink drainer thingy http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=25888720802 Kitchen mixer http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=8615299891 Rain shower mixer http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2459651739 Counter-top basin http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23253936246 Wall-hung mini basin http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=25837128524 Basin tap (back up for my dino one) http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=9025238305 Dino basin tap http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=17317654149 Tall tap for counter top http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=14273138171 Eames bird chair http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10846967772 Eames chair http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.34.ARBHBj&id=9739575265 replica coffee table http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13263248050 broom and map holder http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=16302318480 water spray http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.0.171.25TTdE&id=20337107051 exposed-inlet shower mixer http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=18742677460 simple shower head http://detail.taobao.com/meal_detail.htm?meal_id=33872848 tap for washing machine http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=7328772118 / http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=7560530446 LED downlights http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=20465991110 LED track spotlights http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10006481890 LED E27 "corn light" http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23723960330 Panasonic ceiling light http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=3374100872 Large and simple ceiling light http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=15751294757 Alright! show-hand liao lol

old airport/mountbatten area?

what was perhaps even more exciting was during my unboxing, a strange looking uncle walks in, did a few inspection-like rounds, then our eyes met... "you are home-owner ah?" HAHA turns out that he was the electrician. GREAT TIMING he had because I had JUST opened up the box containing all the LED downlights! Sweet! He and his team literally jumped into action... the flat flat LED downlights. the cutter used to make rotary cuts looks very interesting indeed hehe... the lights and wall-mounted fans were soon up in position too... the boss himself tended to the MBR lights... One of the most-pleased purchases from taobao, pendant lights for the walk-in corridor! they look even better than on the taobao pages. Must hand it to the wife who has an eye for spotting good stuff online hehe. I choose the "corn light" to go with the lamp shades as I was afraid that the illumination from other LED bulbs might not be uniformly radial enough. Looking good so far! i'd expect the progress per day in this phase to be drastic and yet spectacular! can't wait hehehe...

Today was a very exciting day in the reno progress for many reasons. The bulk of the carpentry has been fabricated and are going through the final phases of on-site installations. This was when i got to put the hood at its rightful throne and have nice rectangles cut out in the kitchen cabinets for my domino-sized burner and induction cooker! Today was also the day ALL my taobao purchases arrived through Peeka! Strangely the courier service contacted me even before Peeka updated my order page! (I'm not complaining heh). I must say I wouldn't have even dreamt of buying stuff from taobao if not for the wealth of knowledge lurking around in these forum pages. thank you all whom i have kobped taobao links and knowledge from! Of course I didn't buy the fans nor the fridge from taobao; they were bought from jerome. Peeka did a great job with their re-packaging. everything was tightly bought and those that were fragile were either stuff with styofoam, cardboard, air capsules or have a wooden-crate enclosure all around. $277.50 delivery for all that effort? definitely worth the penny. the carpenters who were working on my stuff were the guys who helped me to receive the goods from the courier. strangely, they were able to sniff out the kitchen sink from the 15 boxes with no obvious labeling and set my to-be-undermount stainless steel sink in place. the stuff for my MBR toilet came in too! counter-top jomoo sink undamaged! rainshower looking sweet! stuff for my common toilet! the long waiting "shui long tou" tap that both my wife and I have been gushing over has finally arrived. its tongue-in-cheek because the chinese name for tap literally means the "head of a water dragon". and its so cute it looks like the dino from mario hehe... and there i was, sweating away and unwrapping each box not unlike an expectant kid during christmas. each box representing a surprise to be fulfilled and with each verification of undamaged goods; a growing ecstacy... while the carpenter was chipping way the detailing and paneling on the original fire-rated solid door, readying it for a new lease of life using a new laminates...

Hi there I created an order on June 27th for 24 products, 50+ items. Domestic shipping within the PRC for all products was completed on 15th July; if you ordered individual products, you spend more on per-item shipping but you wont have to wait for all to arrive 1time shipping. Received today, 29th July.. Economy shipping was $277.50 3day shipping was $2932.00 7day shipping was $1711.00 Given that my items were only worth 1500+/- SGD .. no way I would pay for express shipping...

just sharing the crazy excitement of.... PEEKA SHIPMENT ARRIVAL NOTICE!

The unit was cleaned over the weekend and it's kinda nice to see it all through lesser layers of dust and debris... today the fan installations continued with the more pocket-friendly Crestar fans. Actually i had much difficulty trying to look for comprehensive info about Crestar fans; many shops seemed to push fanco's and regals (i hope i am getting the names correct) but i was impressed upon that Crestar fans were probably the best of the bunch.. so i sucked it up and cabbed to the ulu-ulu industrial area were the Crestar showroom was located at. Was served by a nice lady named Penny who took all my quick-fire questions in her professional stride. The front-end office was very accommodating; I emailed over the weekend to request for an earlier installation and was promptly agreed upon. As one can tell, the tiles were still wet from all the mopping... The installation technician is a very well-mannered Chinese who was very conversant. Singlehandedly he installed both fans in under an hour. Keeping my choice of fans to 3-bladers did restrict my available choices somewhat but because the living room is so open, I wouldn't like to see a mixture of 5-bladers with the haiku 3 blades. Was recommended to hence take up the "3D' blade for the bigger room and the matt-finish unit for the study area. Unlike the SpectraFans installers, the Crestar technician tries his best to capture all the dust from the drilling. Halfway through the deafening sounds I was wonder "eh, where is all the dust? I remember the mayhem from the haiku installations..."

thanks thanks~ ___________________________ Today I brought my wife to the TradeHub21 Philips/lighting.com.sg store. I personally have ventured into the Vertex building branch and left slightly disappointed with the sales attitude of the assistant + the fact that a placed order there will take 3 days to process for collection. So today I left the final selection to the aesthetically more-attuned wifey. was served by a rather nice uncle named charles. was pleasantly surprised to know that tradehub21 IS the HQ/stock area so it was cash-and-carry immediately. we picked out the following: 2x for our bedside wall-mounted lamps and 1x for general room illumination, primarily also because there isn't a ceiling lamp due to the haiku fan in the MBR and lastly 1x for the dresser lamp, also wall-mounted. our choices are .. interesting ... to say the least as the bottom 2 lamps are both outdoor lamps. however they seem so functional and pretty and simple. it also means that their finishing can be expected to last longer than the typical indoor lamps? hehe we shall see!

got floor plan? (i actually quite like the MBR suite idea personally haha ...)

Just an estimate of how much more expensive, before i forget the numbers. I am shipping in 3 sinks, rain shower, shower sets, coffee table, taps, lights... a huge shipment. of 50+ items. As i am a bit kan cheong (my contractor wants to wrap up before the lunar 7th month) i left a message on the peeka order page that I would like to be notified about the costs of express-7 day shipping and express 3-day shipping .. willing to top up extra if the difference isnt too big. Economy shipping (2weeks) costs $277 7-day will set me back $1600 3-day will cost $2700, literally an arm and a leg (my nett purchases only amount to $1500+ SGD) but yes another vote for the quality of service of peeka... now i just hope that the purchases can arrive intact, safe and sound..

hereby introducing perhaps the most extravagant purchase of the whole unit... introducing not 1, but 2 haiku fans! One for the main room, and the other for the MBR, spaces where there are other sources of light. Unfortunately, the LED versions are not yet available, if not i would have saved on a few extra lighting points in the mbr... they look so sleek. and given how my white tiles are glossy VS the black matt finishing, it makes it seem that i have photoshopped the inclusion of the black fan in the above photograph!

did your super secretive lighting supplier get back to you regarding the catalogue? lol..

heh thank you, my wife is better with colours than i will ever be waiting for your lighting updates mishmish!

Would anyone know where to get similar wall lamps as this? the philips ledino is very nice ... the price .. also very nice...

paint job was done too! i love the feeling of white pristine walls with the colour splashes and so does my wife! i will just let the photos do the talking...

For me as a kid, I think Carrier did a very good job with their marketing efforts, because i still vividly recall their jingle, "The Carrier man can..." but indeed, its AIRCON time! so early early in the morning i received a message from my contractor requiring me to confirm the trunking layout. ideally it should be as "invisible" as possible and as short as possible to prevent heat-gain by the refrigerant. since the to-be-aircon-ed areas in my flat line up linearly, it was quite a straightforward decision, on the condition that the cooling unit AND trunking can fit onto the limited height of the support beam (usefulness of the samsung Note 2: hehehe a 15 sec work which paints a better picture than any wall of text) thereafter i went down for a while to find a pile of insulation lying on the ground: (not sure if it is the thicker type ...) when we bought the resale flat, the previous owner was reassuring us the aircon units were very new, just about 1 year and infrequently used. a quick check with those who re-commissioned the A/C units verified those claims, that they were still fine and well! kudoz to the previous owner.also, there was sufficient height from the support beam to mount the units as well as have the bottom of the trunkings flush with the wall! nice touch. now we are just unsure if we should spend extra money to box up the trunking area so that dust has no change of collecting on the trunking... somewhen in all the works, one of the AC guys just JUMPED OUT OF THE WINDOW WTH. ok he didn't fall per se; but it is still quite freaky to think that all the safety he had was just a caribina at the window hinge. the final finish after all the testing was very well done indeed, and thankfully no surprises at the MBR toilet for the condensation piping... with that; AIRCON DONE! #happyonly

it has been 1 month+1week since the renovation started on the 11th june and the flat is starting to "come together". changes are happening on a daily basis and it is rather exciting to witness the transformations. so on tuesday 16 july, we made another trip to the contractors' office to submit the next 40+% of the payment and to also make some further colour/design choices: We decided to switch out our louvered PD door for the store. but initially the rest of the choices weren't straight forward at first; we were spoilt for choice. In the end, we decided to "keep things simple" and went with all G004 type of PD for all other doors. Similarly, we choose a single large panel for our wardrobe sliding door with single piece of opaque white glass.We also selected a matching paint colour (Congo) for the door frame, but two of the staff members at the company actually recommended against choosing a matching a door frame colour, suggesting that the door frame should be slightly different ( top/bottom of congo). Does anyone have any inkling for the door frame colour choice?? --------------------------- after weighing the options for the false beam, we decided to go with wood-style wallpapers!1) laminates will have visible edges2) glue used with laminates does not adhere well to partition board surface3) glue used with laminates will turn powdery at places of localised heating, which is bad for us since we are going to install lights on the false beams. hence we went with the darkest of the wood wallpaper seen there. Hope it turns out fine!