marshmallow 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2010 The Hob Story - continued okie, back to selection of hob... due to the 30 Amp mains limitation, i can't use most of the induction hobs available in the market. at first we consider this model of Taiyo induction hob that can be used on normal 13A socket: but after i found out the price..... with same amount of $$, i can buy 12 of the normal, single stand-alone induction hobs. Decision was quickly made to buy that normal, uninteresting looking stand-alone hob - Pros: no need to cut hole on granite topif spoilt, just throw away and buy new one with no heart pain - electronic appliances don't last nowadays.portable - can bring out to dining room for steamboat, anytime. Cons: cable management - still dunno what to do with the cable. worse when i have 2 of this induction hobs in future.cannot share cooking ware with microwave oven, e.g. corning ceramic wares. have used this induction hob for 2+ months and loving it! but if you're used to the normal gas hob, will need some time to get used to it cos induction hob heats things up very fast - REAL FAST. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Banned 1 Report post Posted October 18, 2010 Kitchen continued... Taiyo Induction Hob and Ikea Dish Drainer: The Hob Story Copied this idea from my teacher - she started using this type of stand-alone induction hob since a few years back when she got tired of changing gas cylinder At first, like most pple, my first option was to go for city gas. while i was dreaming of cooking nice stir-fry dishes with lots of "wok-hei" on a nice, slim, built-in glass hob, reality struck..... Called SP service: Me: hello, I'd like to check if my home has any piped gas. SP: ok, your postal code please? (Short pause) SP: sorry, i'm afraid your area doesn't have piped gas... Me: huh??? Are you sure? Jurong leh... SP: Yes, in fact, that whole part of Jurong doesn't have piped gas. Me: What??? (calming down) erm, any plans to install gas pipe to this area in future? SP: Nope, unless they tear the whole block down........... .......... of course, i know i still can have my nice, slim, built-in glass hob if i go for cylinder gas. but really dun like the idea of having that bulky tank taking up my precious cabinet space. Also feel a bit unsafe - after all they are compressed LNG - more dangerous than piped gas. (although the chemical and gas i'm exposed to at work is probably much more than home gas cylinder... haha ) told my parents about it and they were shocked. They said how can my 26 yr-old HDB has no gas pipe while my uncle's 41 yr-old HDB has... well, i guess only SP can answer this question my hubby said, maybe this was what happened 26 yrs ago: back in 1984.............. HDB: we finished building the blocks liao. SP: what?? why so fast? we haven't laid the gas pipe yet!! how come you never inform us earlier? ..................................... later we found that our cousin's place - a condo TOP in 2001 - also dun have piped gas... must use gas cylinder Noob Lesson 4: whether your house have gas pipe or not has no correlation with the age of flat. Call SP to ask before you make any purchase~ ^5... me got shocked when i heard mine too.. but i stick to gas cos i really feel electricity too expensive liao.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) ^5... me got shocked when i heard mine too.. but i stick to gas cos i really feel electricity too expensive liao.. haha my teacher also stays in Tampines, though different part from yours... but also no gas pipe! *haiz* yea electricity is expensive man, but too late to change liao~ cos didn't make provision for gas connection and stuff. now i'm still happily cooking... just hope i won't when i receive my first, realistic utility bill next month............ Edited October 19, 2010 by marshmallow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dexufto 5 Report post Posted October 19, 2010 Wow marsmallow, how time flies, it seems just yesterday thatr I commented about the jurong lake and here you are a newly renovated apartment. Bold choice of starhub colours.. And it was a wise move to amend the dry-area for your kitchen top, from the looks of it.. it looks filled liaoz. Where do you do the dicing and food prep then? and finally... my starhub kitchen - the finished product I'm hunting for a retractable laundry hanger as well, Is this smooth? how's the load-bearing? Do you mind sharing the cost with me? Retractable clothes hanger from Woei-Lee, and my and my kitchen bao-bei: Hitachi fridge, Panasonic Microwave Oven (with steam and grill function), and Thermos thermal cooker.. Haha, the commentry from your hubbys' really funny.. Me too. making an *** out of U and Me. I assumed that my place don't have gas pipe as well (hey, it's 36-years old hdb) until one fateful day, Me: what's this stupid pipe in the kitchen? (cos I'd plan to have my bedrm door at that location. Contractor: should be gas pipe. Me: what?? Kitchen continued... .. Called SP service: Me: hello, I'd like to check if my home has any piped gas. SP: ok, your postal code please? (Short pause) SP: sorry, i'm afraid your area doesn't have piped gas... Me: huh??? Are you sure? Jurong leh... SP: Yes, in fact, that whole part of Jurong doesn't have piped gas. Me: What??? (calming down) erm, any plans to install gas pipe to this area in future? SP: Nope, unless they tear the whole block down........... .......... of course, i know i still can have my nice, slim, built-in glass hob if i go for cylinder gas. but really dun like the idea of having that bulky tank taking up my precious cabinet space. Also feel a bit unsafe - after all they are compressed LNG - more dangerous than piped gas. (although the chemical and gas i'm exposed to at work is probably much more than home gas cylinder... haha ) told my parents about it and they were shocked. They said how can my 26 yr-old HDB has no gas pipe while my uncle's 41 yr-old HDB has... well, i guess only SP can answer this question my hubby said, maybe this was what happened 26 yrs ago: back in 1984.............. HDB: we finished building the blocks liao. SP: what?? why so fast? we haven't laid the gas pipe yet!! how come you never inform us earlier? ..................................... later we found that our cousin's place - a condo TOP in 2001 - also dun have piped gas... must use gas cylinder Noob Lesson 4: whether your house have gas pipe or not has no correlation with the age of flat. Call SP to ask before you make any purchase~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted October 19, 2010 Wow marsmallow, how time flies, it seems just yesterday thatr I commented about the jurong lake and here you are a newly renovated apartment. Bold choice of starhub colours.. And it was a wise move to amend the dry-area for your kitchen top, from the looks of it.. it looks filled liaoz. Where do you do the dicing and food prep then? yo! indeed, time flies~ your reno also started liao oh the area for dicing and food prep is the corner left of the sink, where the dish drainer is, and before the step-down to the hob area... i have approx. 60cm width of space there yup really glad that i insisted on amending the dry area. and now space is already tight, so i'm thinking of getting a separate table in the kitchen for these appliance... have been bugging hubby about this kekeke I'm hunting for a retractable laundry hanger as well, Is this smooth? how's the load-bearing? Do you mind sharing the cost with me? It's working v well so far. load wise, according to the shop owner, is more than sufficient for normal washing machine load. one thing to note is when you try to raise or lower the hanger, you have to keep the pull-string straight, else the movement won't be smooth and the pulley system will be worn off faster. the owner at the shop will explain and demo to you. Got it from Woei-Lee at IMM. will PM you the price and stuff Haha, the commentry from your hubbys' really funny.. Me too. making an *** out of U and Me. I assumed that my place don't have gas pipe as well (hey, it's 36-years old hdb) until one fateful day, Me: what's this stupid pipe in the kitchen? (cos I'd plan to have my bedrm door at that location. Contractor: should be gas pipe. Me: what?? LOL... must be really sian! esp when you already planned something there but the gas pipe is in the way~ really, sometimes i dun understand HDB's planning... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
binchotan 0 Report post Posted October 26, 2010 The Dining Table Story Must vent my frustration here before my memory starts to fade You all can see the dining set from the photos - pretty decent looking, big enough (1.6m), tempered glass top (i insisted on glass top), comes with 6 chairs and fit into our theme... rite? Price was reasonable too, that's why I bought from this place where i never thought I'd buy anything from: COURTS. But what happened after... was really frustrating They visited our home 4 times to get everything right!! 1st Visit: On the delivery date (24 Jul), 2 guys in Courts uniform came - Ok, they came on time (at that point I thought it was good), and then started installation. After installing half way, one of the guys gave this really surprised look on his face and suddenly all work stopped. He then informed that some screws/fitting (pineapple nuts or something, i heard) were missing and they can't continue installation. They re-packed the wooden parts and left the tempered glass behind, promised that they will be back on 28 Jul 11:30am to resume the work. Since we happened to be on leave that day, we said ok. At the same time, we checked the chairs. 4 out of 6 chairs had different forms of defect (scratches, corner chipped off, cracked etc). We rejected the chairs and asked them to exchange to good ones. They took these chairs and left. 2nd Visit: On 28 Jul, we rushed home from appointment @ ROM in the morning. We reached home ~11am. 11:30am came, no news, no sound. Had lunch, packed boxes, did cleaning... until 1+pm, still no news. Called them up, replied: oh, the delivery slot is 11am to 4pm, they will come at any point within this range... We went: wah your guy promised to come at 11:30am, now you tell me he can possibly come at 4pm?? The person kept re-iterating that the range is 11am to 4pm... nevermind, we wait. Had tea, packed more boxes, did more cleaning... until 4+pm, still no news. Called up and asked... short while later, 2 guys came (different team from last time). Okie, at least the guy was apologetic and kept saying sorry... but he leaked out that actually they were not informed of this delivery today (!!) they have to rush here last min to do this job (!!) okie la he apologised for his colleagues' mistakes... well.... Tables installed. The 4 chairs that supposed to be exchanged arrived too. and we checked the chairs... guess what, they were the SAME 4 CHAIRS that we REJECTED a few days back!!!! my hubby's patience has run out. He was really mad and asked the person: how could you bring back the same chairs that i rejected??? it's not so bad if you exchanged to another 4 chairs with defects, you BROUGHT BACK WHAT WE REJECTED?? hope that we dun remember what we rejected?? Then in the first place i reject for what?? The guy again apologized... he said he has no control over this.. it's the QC dept that checks, he only delivers and installs... okie fine, we know he should not take the blame (also, must give credit to this guy for his politeness and calmness when facing angry pple like us ). Hubby called the customer service immediately and gave them a good scolding 4 chairs were taken back again. 3rd Visit: Next day, 4 chairs delivered, but 2 got defects and were rejected AGAIN. 4th Visit: Delivered last 2 chairs. Finally it's all over. After this episode, i doubt if we'll buy from Courts again... Courts is like that one, lucky you did check your stuff. This also happened to one of my colleague when he bought TV ans cabinet from them, sigh.... So i tell myself COURTS can only go and take a look at the stuff for reference but dun ever buy from them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted October 26, 2010 Courts is like that one, lucky you did check your stuff. This also happened to one of my colleague when he bought TV ans cabinet from them, sigh.... So i tell myself COURTS can only go and take a look at the stuff for reference but dun ever buy from them that's bad... i think they should really improve on their quality control! haha now when my hubby sees me reading those Courts flyers sent to home mail box, he will go "what?? don't you dare to buy things from them again??? " hahaha... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supersimon27 2 Report post Posted November 10, 2010 that's bad... i think they should really improve on their quality control! haha now when my hubby sees me reading those Courts flyers sent to home mail box, he will go "what?? don't you dare to buy things from them again??? " hahaha... My experience with court still ok leh .... but HN is the one that give me a lot of problem last time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2010 Hi~! just realised that i haven't logged on for so long... LOL have been really busy with work lately, and my blogging of kitchen is just halfway through~ okie, shall continue from where i left off.... The Dish Drainer Story: Why I chose that $9.90 Dish Drainer Taiyo Induction Hob and Ikea Dish Drainer: Many pple have talked about how poor-quality ikea things are, and how good the Welmi ("chicken" brand) kitchen utensils are... All these are well documented in Renotalk. I've walked past Song-Cho many times and admired the nice but expensive Welmi stuff... But after some thinking, it dawned to me that since this is my first home, i probably won't know what are my exact requirements until i started living in it for a long enough period of time... Then it may be unwise to invest lots of $$ in really good stuff that doesn't suit your need afterall.... So I decided to get this ikea dish drainer... only $9.90. If i dun like it, i can throw away without any heart pain for the price of one similar Welmi dish drainer, i can buy ~20 of this ikea dish drainers..... Noob Lesson 5: Sometimes, getting the best things may not be the best, if you don't know what you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supersimon27 2 Report post Posted November 17, 2010 Hi~! just realised that i haven't logged on for so long... LOL have been really busy with work lately, and my blogging of kitchen is just halfway through~ okie, shall continue from where i left off.... The Dish Drainer Story: Why I chose that $9.90 Dish Drainer Many pple have talked about how poor-quality ikea things are, and how good the Welmi ("chicken" brand) kitchen utensils are... All these are well documented in Renotalk. I've walked past Song-Cho many times and admired the nice but expensive Welmi stuff... But after some thinking, it dawned to me that since this is my first home, i probably won't know what are my exact requirements until i started living in it for a long enough period of time... Then it may be unwise to invest lots of $$ in really good stuff that doesn't suit your need afterall.... So I decided to get this ikea dish drainer... only $9.90. If i dun like it, i can throw away without any heart pain for the price of one similar Welmi dish drainer, i can buy ~20 of this ikea dish drainers..... Noob Lesson 5: Sometimes, getting the best things may not be the best, if you don't know what you want. This remind me of the supreme laminated wood story . I insist I want Supreme (more exp) as they offer lifetime gurantee .... but henry advice me to get cheaper brand to save money with only 10yrs warranty . When I mention abt the point of lifetime warranty , he ask me back " U stay there lifetime meh ?" lol .... He's right in some point ..... but I still insist to go with Supreme after he help me to fight for a price that even he himself also feel it more worth it ... lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bblifeiz 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2010 my reno started in June leh... by now should finish liao mah haha but okie la Henry's team did put in effort to rush for us cos we kept telling him that we need to move in fast... haha i guess marble floor at that era all look like that one ba... at first we also think the floor is very ugly, but we really have time and money constraint... my father told me: it's not nice but marble is a good material and is cooling for hot weather in Singapore, since the floor still in good condition, just accept it ba... the floor actually looks a lot better after polishing, now we think it looks quite okie... or maybe we've gotton used to the ugliness liao hahaha oops other pictures hor... gotta slowly take... was too busy before move in until i forgot to take photos now my place is too messy for photo-taking arghhhh I think the marble flooring looks cool. How i wish my flat flooring are made of these. I was asking ard for people to do this type of flooring. It seems like this type of workmanship extinct. They say lots of labour hour involve etc etc. Keep the flooring. It looks seamless without any tile jointing lines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
froggy 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2010 I've walked past Song-Cho many times and admired the nice but expensive Welmi stuff... But after some thinking, it dawned to me that since this is my first home, i probably won't know what are my exact requirements until i started living in it for a long enough period of time... Then it may be unwise to invest lots of $$ in really good stuff that doesn't suit your need afterall.... Noob Lesson 5: Sometimes, getting the best things may not be the best, if you don't know what you want. hey marshmellow very well said, and very true too! You need to use the place to know what you want and need - we got a no-brand dish drainer too! Our belief is always - for build in things, get a more reliable one because may be troublesome to change, and more restricted choices in future, but for stand-alone items, nvm, spoil then got excuse to change new things mah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dexufto 5 Report post Posted November 21, 2010 Hi~! just realised that i haven't logged on for so long... LOL have been really busy with work lately, and my blogging of kitchen is just halfway through~ okie, shall continue from where i left off.... The Dish Drainer Story: Why I chose that $9.90 Dish Drainer Many pple have talked about how poor-quality ikea things are, and how good the Welmi ("chicken" brand) kitchen utensils are... All these are well documented in Renotalk. I've walked past Song-Cho many times and admired the nice but expensive Welmi stuff... But after some thinking, it dawned to me that since this is my first home, i probably won't know what are my exact requirements until i started living in it for a long enough period of time... Then it may be unwise to invest lots of $$ in really good stuff that doesn't suit your need afterall.... So I decided to get this ikea dish drainer... only $9.90. If i dun like it, i can throw away without any heart pain for the price of one similar Welmi dish drainer, i can buy ~20 of this ikea dish drainers..... Noob Lesson 5: Sometimes, getting the best things may not be the best, if you don't know what you want. Haha, good food for thought. My mom got me an SS dishdrainer after using some voucher. Welmin does score a good reputition, however at an cost On a similar note, where do you guys leave your pots/ woks after washing? on your worktop? This remind me of the supreme laminated wood story . I insist I want Supreme (more exp) as they offer lifetime gurantee .... but henry advice me to get cheaper brand to save money with only 10yrs warranty . When I mention abt the point of lifetime warranty , he ask me back " U stay there lifetime meh ?" lol .... He's right in some point ..... but I still insist to go with Supreme after he help me to fight for a price that even he himself also feel it more worth it ... lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted December 1, 2010 (edited) hey marshmellow very well said, and very true too! You need to use the place to know what you want and need - we got a no-brand dish drainer too! Our belief is always - for build in things, get a more reliable one because may be troublesome to change, and more restricted choices in future, but for stand-alone items, nvm, spoil then got excuse to change new things mah LOL... yup good excuse to get new stuff hahaha my hubby and I both prefer "moveable" items than built-in, so we have the flexibility to change anytime we like... keke Haha, good food for thought. My mom got me an SS dishdrainer after using some voucher. Welmin does score a good reputition, however at an cost On a similar note, where do you guys leave your pots/ woks after washing? on your worktop? for me, i normally dry the pots/woks on the dish drainer or work top, then put it back into cabinet after they are dried (i have one compartment for all the pots/woks at my bottom cabinet ) my father will actually heat the wok on stove until the water evaporates, and keep in cabinet Edited December 1, 2010 by marshmallow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted December 1, 2010 (edited) bleah.... my t-blog is becoming like monthly report okie i shall continue with... The Kitchen Story (again) - what's with that step? Some may already noticed that I have a step-down for my kitchen work-top, near the corner of the "L" shape kitchen: thanks to my daddy's reminder, we decided to lower the bottom cabinet on the hob side by 3 inches, so the height is 31-in instead of the standard 34-in. i totally didn't think of this until one night... Dad: remember, your hob should be lower than the "standard" work-top height. Me: why??? (1st image in my mind: sleek, flat, modern-looking work top with built-in hob replaced by the old-fashion image of drop-down for stove.... and cleaning will be troublesome) Dad: because standard height will be too high for you mah... don't you feel tired after cooking?? Me: oh... ya hor. Only when my dad mentioned this, i recalled my sore arm was after cooking at my sister's kitchen, which has the "standard height" work top... not to mention that my hand almost kenna burnt by the big, powerful fire from the hob. okie, i'm using induction hob, so being burnt won't be an issue. but how about sore, tired arm? i'd prefer to work my arm muscles at gym and not kitchen i guess for most pple, the standard height won't be an issue, but i am really not so tall..... so daddy's suggestion is really valid (for those interested to know my height... read the discussion here ) Dad: and ya, the top cabinet... try to make it lower than the "standard" too. Me: why? won't it be too low and i hit my head at the top cabinet? Dad: our home's cabinet is also lower than standard mah... have you ever hit your head? remember you're short, you know? (ouch!) Me: ........................... Dad: i requested the carpenter to make the top cabinet lower (note: my mom is even shorter than me). The carpenter kept saying it won't work and refused to do for us... in the end i insisted him to follow my idea hahaha Me: hmmm good also la... no need to tip-toe every time when getting things from top cabinet... Dad: main point is, when the top cabinet is lowered, you can't have it too deep, else your head will really kenna hit i made it slightly more shallow than the "standard" depth too. Me: oh........ Me: but won't the hood be too low? Dad: lower is good mah... better suction hahaha so after that, we measured the cabinets at home... and i made some adjustments after doing some testing on my own (like... test out the appropriate height with different tables at home ).... ...and we came to this plan: decided to lower the work-top all the way from the hob to the end of the dry area: if i just lower the hob area (something like a "U" shape depression), it really doesn't look good and reminds pple on kitchens back in 80s.the depression for the hob will be wasting a lot of space, cos you need clearance around the hob.flat surface should be easier to clean than a U-shape depression.... when i told Henry about my idea.... Henry: huh? so old-fashion? nooo lahhhhh.... Me: can lah... won't look old-fashion... (show him drawing) Henry: oh like that not so bad... your cabinet so low? Me: ya... i am short mah. Henry: i am also short wad, standard height can la... too low will hit your head. Me: can lah... also the top cabinet will be more shallow, so won't hit head de... Henry: (shocked) huh?? how shallow you want? Me: 11-inch? Henry: cannot la, standard is 13-inch... Me: why cannot? Henry: your hood ah, your hood will not get good support if top cabinet is too shallow... so 13-inch hor. Me: 12 inch? Henry: 13 lah... Me: 12 lah... can one... Henry: Aiyahhhhh.... 12.5-in lah... cannot tahan you liaoz... Me: 12 lah ^_^ Henry: Don't regret later huh! Well, finally he did made it 12-in in depth so far, no regret in modifying all the dimensions out of the "standards"... many pple commented that my hood looks very low, i just smiled when they comment... after all this is my kitchen, the most important thing is that it fits my needs Noob Lesson 6: if you need to, don't be afraid to venture out of the "standards", though many pple will tell you not to Edited December 1, 2010 by marshmallow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
