The Home We've Been Looking Forward To

[pinkpetter 0]

this is so funny. somethings better not to know then to know.

But why did the shifu come again? uninvited? if invited, why invite? But it doesn't sound right to follow fengshui practices only if it is convenient and practical. It's like saying I'll practice being a Christian if it is convenient, the church is not too far, the services are at the right time etc

Anyway, Pinkpetter, u said your family members don't cook much, so not too big an issue right. Jus sometimes inconvenient. Surely there is something that can be done to counter the negative forces of someone else cooking?

Shift aircon quite a hassle, with trunking & wiring. But I think in the renovation industry, they sare very understanding about fengshui requirements. Far more sympathetic than if you jus say want to shift becos doesn't look nice.

Hi asianms.. mini misunderstanding... I don't quite believe in Fengshui and don't indulge in it. I don't have a religion either. But my parents do. And like I've said before, this house is meant for them, so we try to accomodate what they want as far as possible... as long as we think it's still within our practical limits and financial abilities. So that's why buying this place and doing the reno was a big project cos it meant marrying the parents' beliefs and wants with our needs and abilities.

the shifu is an old family friend (sort of) and wanted to drop by to see how we were doing.

Yup we hardly cook so after the initial nagging from my dad I repeated to him how we rarely cook and asked him to forget about that point...

As for the aircon, we only have two units. One is in sister's room and the other in parents' room. Since sister is hardly ard... I think it's actually possible to do the shifting. As for parents... haha if they want it they'd have to bear with it. :P

Very nice of Ah Soon to agree to help u out w the aircon shifting! Hob, no choice lah. i think still can cook, just tt cannot cook often ba?

I personally dun think we shd relate FS to religion. It is not a religion afterall. I wouldnt mind pleasing my mum if it does not affect my life adversely, just to give her peace of mind. But given a choice, i rather not to know or follow or start blaming whatever comes into my life on bad FS.

Having said that, no offences to those who r into FS. Its just a cup of tea that doesnt belong to me.

Yup Mrspiglet.. likewise I'm doing it for them. moreover they live in this house... so I just hope that they feel comfortable with most bits if not all. ya Ah soon say he help... just dunno when. LOLLOL

ya tats v nice of him...FOC ya?

anywae ah soon told us tat pinkpetter oso v nice to him..her dad buy lunch for his workers everydae...

we oso didnt engage a FS master cos we are afraid of the suggestions by FS master which may require alot of work & $$..

Yup FOC. hehe Yup my dad is semi-retired and does small business on the side so his time is very flexible. During the reno, there were days when he would be here 6-7 hours watching the workers and answering all their questions and making sure they are doing what he wanted (which wasn't always what WE wanted). LOL But ok la He really kept a close eye on this... And he really took care of the workers... we often bought curry puffs for them.

ya.. even jason also rembr "xiao mei" everyday go up the house..

same thing, for that reason, we also decided not to go with FS but rather convenience n to our lifestyle preference. Afterall he can say all he wants n no one can validate the truth. Furthermore, FS for individual changes every X no. of yrs, if i'm not wrong. i've notice diff FS master say diff things one... so who to believe?

i think pinkpetter must be pulling out her hair now becos of the hob thingy...

haha no longer pulling hair out about the hob already... now reading the letter about the recess area. Received my letter for the recess area already. Will post up more info about it in a while.

Aiyah that time i was on block leave so can come every day

[pinkpetter 0]

Somehow I feel like this is Reno Project 2 although it only involves that small 7sqm space outside my house.

The Access Balcony.

You guys must be wondering why we're acquiring it... for a number of reasons...

1) Our shoe cabinet is still not enough for us. And my dad does not allow us to put a rack outside for our slippers and cheaper shoes. Yet if shoes are placed haphazardly, it really causes my mom a lot of distress. Remember? at the beginning of my reno, I fretted and was upset for days when an ID/contractor told me that my shoe cabinet could not be built due to the placement of the wall.... Although that was resolved in the end, we realised that we're still not able to fit all our shoes in despite throwing the really old ones away. My bro's shoes are just too big and take up too much space.

2) My dad has a bicycle and he can't put it outside the house for now. Bits and parts of it get ripped off and taken away when it's placed outside. It was so bad he had to get a new bicycle within one month of moving in here. Now I'm fearing for my mom's precious plant. It's her pride and joy... Can you imagine my dad's dirty bicycle INSIDE the house? urgh. that's where it is now and it looks awful and smells.

3) Next... for a family of 5 adults... and sometimes 7... we have a lot of laundry. Yet another thing that causes my mom distress. 5 bamboo poles are simply not enough to hang our stuff even when she tries to wash every day. AND washing every day really tires her out. YET she doesn't let us wash cos she insists that we don't do a clean job or make the colours run. She has her own traditional way of doing it so we just try to help her hang clothes when we can. We can't hang outside because both she and us aren't used to it and we nearly fell out the first day we moved in cos we couldn't handle the poles. So we hang inside and there isn't enough space. And I'm sure those of you who do laundry will know... cannot let clothing accumulate... ESP if there are young men in the house. It really STINKS. So if we get the recess area she can have an additional area to put the laundry when she needs.

All that was after much thought and I think... I think everyone is ready to go along with the decision...

For those who are ever interested in getting their recess area..

You must submit your application through HDBpage... login and submit electronically. There is NO OTHER way to do this. We tried going to HDB to apply but they told us to go home and do it through the net.

Next it'll take AGES for them to respond to you. They took close to 2 months for me.

They will send you a letter... In the letter it states the price and whole list of things to do BEFORE you confirm that you want to buy the recess area. URGH.

[mrspiglet 2]

Gd that ur FS woes are settled! Hob really can forget it since u rarely cook. Likewise i have a problem w my hob as well, but dunno what.. i just shut my mum up saying that we r not gonna cook often anyway.

Ah Soon ah... wait long. he will come, one day, just dunno which day. LOL!

R u gonna reno ur recess area as well? Or just putting up gates n grills?

[pinkpetter 0]

Gd that ur FS woes are settled! Hob really can forget it since u rarely cook. Likewise i have a problem w my hob as well, but dunno what.. i just shut my mum up saying that we r not gonna cook often anyway.

Ah Soon ah... wait long. he will come, one day, just dunno which day. LOL!

R u gonna reno ur recess area as well? Or just putting up gates n grills?

Will discuss with Ah Soon see how. maybe put windows and door. But you're right. Will prolly wait long. haha no hurry also la. Apparently it'll take very long for CPF to release funds for purchase.

[asianms 0]

I wish I could buy my corridor space... expand my little kingdom.

btw, why cannot put shoerack outside house? got thief, or just unsightly? I've seen people put a cabinet in the space outside their door, and padlock the cabinet! I am testing out my neighbourhood by leaving a shoe rack with decent shoes outside my house but I strongly discourage my son from leaving his Timberlands out (but he still does)

[pinkpetter 0]

I wish I could buy my corridor space... expand my little kingdom.

btw, why cannot put shoerack outside house? got thief, or just unsightly? I've seen people put a cabinet in the space outside their door, and padlock the cabinet! I am testing out my neighbourhood by leaving a shoe rack with decent shoes outside my house but I strongly discourage my son from leaving his Timberlands out (but he still does)

mmm Dad just doesn't like it. He has a whole list of things he doesn't like and we don't really understand why... even after he tries to explain. When my mom put the shoe rack outside (after he kept it) he threw it away when no one was home... so... he reallly detests it ba.

My bro is making an effort to bring his shoes in, though he doesn't put them away into the shoe cabinet.. but at least they are safe in the house. I really know how you feel.... mm

More news came about my recess area today. Becos we took a bank loan for our house... we need to get our lawyers to do the WHOLE mortgage thing again as if we're buying the house all over again... which means we have to pay lawyer's fees again.... sigh. Will discuss with family and update you guys.

[mrspiglet 2]

arhhh?? Buy recess area need to redo the entire loan process again?! So troublesome one ah?

[pinkpetter 0]

cos my loan is from bank... then have to go and call up my lawyers again... and draft a new mortgage which includes the recess area in it. I think those who take HDB loan wouldn't have so much trouble...

[asianms 0]

your lawyers must be v happy, another few hundred bucks in their pocket

[pinkpetter 0]

your lawyers must be v happy, another few hundred bucks in their pocket

MmmM may be more than just a few hundred... the last time the entire transaction was thousand plus.. mm

ANYWAY I'm SO HAPPY RT IS UP UP UP!

Here's my plan for the recess. We're now in the midst of all the STUPID procedures we have to follow... waiting for the respective authorities to get back to us.

The black portion shows the black italian tile ($10.50/psf) one which is used for my foyer. So we have to use the same for the recess.

List of things to be done.

1) Level up the recess to the same height as our home.

2) move out the door and gate

3) build sliding windows

4) Build a full height shoe cabinet

5) Build a small stool for wearing shoes

6) Boxing up of pipe.

7) Light and doorbell

8) Painting of area

As of now I dunno where to put the stool yet.. how ah?

[mrspiglet 2]

MmmM may be more than just a few hundred... the last time the entire transaction was thousand plus.. mm

ANYWAY I'm SO HAPPY RT IS UP UP UP!

Here's my plan for the recess. We're now in the midst of all the STUPID procedures we have to follow... waiting for the respective authorities to get back to us.

The black portion shows the black italian tile ($10.50/psf) one which is used for my foyer. So we have to use the same for the recess.

List of things to be done.

1) Level up the recess to the same height as our home.

2) move out the door and gate

3) build sliding windows

4) Build a full height shoe cabinet

5) Build a small stool for wearing shoes

6) Boxing up of pipe.

7) Light and doorbell

8) Painting of area

As of now I dunno where to put the stool yet.. how ah?

yes! finally RT is up! But i feel so out of place nw. Dunno where to start updating from..

U using the full width for full height shoe cabinet ah? Hmm.. why not put a mini bench opp the window area?

[pinkpetter 0]

yes! finally RT is up! But i feel so out of place nw. Dunno where to start updating from..

U using the full width for full height shoe cabinet ah? Hmm.. why not put a mini bench opp the window area?

Show us the final photos!!! hehe

Yup trying to maximise for the shoe cabinet.. not enough for all of us ah...

That was what I was thinking too... put the bench then my mom's beloved plant then my dad's bicycle.. mm

Edited March 29, 2009 by pinkpetter

[pinkpetter 0]

mmm the Bank is really slow in processing my things. Even the busy Ah Soon is faster than them.. SIGHHHHH

[mrspiglet 2]

u got a quote for ur recess area project already ah?? That's fast!!

Put a longer bench on that wall, i think will look comfy n nice. Then u mum's plants can share share the window's side w ur dad's bicycle!

[pinkpetter 0]

mmm good good but dunno how dad will feel with his stuff on the other side. I'll ask him. He has funny ideas about how things should be put.

Was thinking if I should buy a small armchair instead.. mm

Oh no quote yet.. Ah Soon had to mark some things for me and submit to HDB before I can buy the unit.