4 Years In The Making (Punggol Emerald)

[bianzi 52]

Hi any reason for not checking out singtel's fibre?

I have been researching for a service provider to sign up with for just internet and voice. It was down to M1 and StarHub and I went to the extent to comparing what wireless routers were they including in the package. I really like the fact that M1 offers upgrade options for the wireless router and I have half my mind set topping up for the Asus RT-AC68U, until I chanced upon this.Asus RT-AC68U, step aside for the Linksys WRT1900AC.http://www.linksys.com/en-apac/products/routers/WRT1900AChttp://www.pcworld.com/article/2143623/linksys-wrt1900ac-wi-fi-router-review-faster-than-anything-we-ve-tested.htmlThe design and colour scheme invokes memories of the classic WRT54G, which together with DD-WRT OpenSource firmwares, made it rock solid and one of the most popular routers of its generation. At 1.13kg with massive heatsinks and a internal cooling fan, you can be sure it is packed with top of the range components and the test results clearly show that. This is the first Linksys router launched after Belkin acquired the brand from Cisco and its looking like they are going in the right direction.

[mavicaste 58]

Hi any reason for not checking out singtel's fibre?

Not sure if I have mentioned it here before but I have been boycotting them for a few years now.

They are just a plain evil corporation in my view and has nothing other than maximizing profits in mind.

The way they secured the exclusive 1 year deal with Apple to sell iPhones before the other telcos and how they have been consistently inflating football subscriptions prices since they arrived on the pay TV scene with a $400m bid for EPL rights are just prime examples.

They are also the last one to offer more value to their customers and will only do so when the competition forced their hands.

If you are a shareholder, one will probably like them but as a consumer, they simply suck balls.

[Songz 132]

Does this linksys router which you shown support phone option or its part of the package from M1 ?

[mavicaste 58]

Does this linksys router which you shown support phone option or its part of the package from M1 ?

No, the router simply provides wireless connectivity and routes. For both M1 and StarHub, they are now providing voice enabled ONT, so you only need to connect a phone to its RJ11 jack to utilize the voice services.

[HanTu 0]

Please consider MyRepublic. They have 1GBPS fibre package for $50-60.

They also have this feature called Teleport that allows you to access US websites like Netflix/Hulu without any configuration.

[mavicaste 58]

The Good Friday holiday must have been our most productive day shopping for the house to date.

We had to purchase the kitchen sinks and bathroom basins as the carpentry and quartz countertops teams will be taking the measurements soon. The following are what we ended with:

Bathroom Countertop Basins x 2

Grohe Bauloop Basin Mixer, Bath Mixer and Shower Set x2

Kitchen Tap

Carysil Big Bowl Granite Sink

Ellane EH-2680 Chimney Hood with Baffle Filter, OS-2 SV Gas Hob and EO-80S Oven. We got this package instead of the initial Electrolux one after we saw a demonstration of the chimney hood at City Gas's showroom. The baffle filter design instead of the common mesh filter which clogs up easily really got us sold.

We managed to get all of the above from Heritage Bathroom Gallery and let's just say they are very open to negotiations if you can produce a quotation from other retailers.

Having been so satisfied that we managed to get all the above from a single store and made some decent savings, we dropped by at Comfort Design and got these:

Oakland Dining Table

Lama Bench

We have yet to pick out 2 chairs to go with the table and will probably head back again another day.

Home-Fix is having a 10% off storewide promotion on regular priced items for the Easter weekend and we picked up the Nippon Momento paint for a little DIY in the living room.

Edited April 19, 2014 by mavicaste

[mavicaste 58]

Please consider MyRepublic. They have 1GBPS fibre package for $50-60.

They also have this feature called Teleport that allows you to access US websites like Netflix/Hulu without any configuration.

I did but it seems that their connections can be a little unstable, on top of the long waiting time and last minute rescheduling of installation.

Teleport is simply a VPN service and the supported sites is rather limited as compared to a paid VPN service. Moreover, streaming of movies and US TV series doesn't really appeal to us as we are used to following the series on our phones during our daily commuting, if you get what I mean.

Streaming of paid EPL subscription is currently limited to New Zealand's PremierLeaguePass and a few other non-US countries' providers after Fox Soccer no longer has the broadcast rights, so again the Teleport feature doesn't really cut it for us.

[Kay 0]

Hello,

Your home is really nice and am liking it. Your study room is the exact envision of what i want my study room to be. Do you think you can send me your renovation quotation?

Thank you

Edited April 19, 2014 by Kay

[mavicaste 58]

Hello,

Your home is really nice and am liking it. Your study room is the exact envision of what i want my study room to be. Do you think you can send me your renovation quotation?

Thank you

Hi Kay,

check your email. Just a tip, you can private message other users when requesting for quotations or additional information in the future instead of leaving your email address out in the open.

[mavicaste 58]

As mentioned earlier, we were taking the Taobao route for our lightings and since these are fragile items, we went with Peeka as they were the only agent who perform checks on the condition of items upon receipt at their China warehouse. So far, it has already paid off as one of the aluminium light boxes we got for the kitchen was deformed and we duly got a replacement. As of yesterday, all the items have arrived at Peeka's China warehouse and they have been shipped over.

Lighting is an area we weren't really prepared for in terms of the myriad of possibilities available on the market and it can be quite a gamble selecting them, wondering if they will complement the style of the room. This is where having access to cheap, affordable lightings can really help since we can simply replace the pieces we didn't like if necessary.

I am rather pragmatic where lighting is concerned and I am willing to sacrifice aesthetics/staying true to our theme for function. This is the reason why we choose to have downlights and ceiling lights for better, even coverage instead of tracklights. Same goes for why we are choosing E27 LED bulbs over LED downlights as there is nothing easier than replacing a faulty E27 blub as compared to the other options out there. With the E27 downlights, we also have the flexibility to change between cool and warm lights as well as increasing the power in areas where needed. The downside of course is that the E27 downlight holders can be rather bulky and would require thicker ceiling works.

Anyway, these are the lights that we have purchased, for now we can only pray that they will arrive in good condition and hope that they will work with the rest of the décor.

Dining Light

Kitchen Lights - Got 2 of these in 90cm variants and will be ceiling mounted

Study Light - It will be either this or a 120cm variant of the kitchen light, with the other going to the spare bedroom

Bathroom Light

Service Yard/Household Shelter Light

E27 Downlights

Edited April 19, 2014 by mavicaste

[Kay 0]

Hi Kay,

check your email. Just a tip, you can private message other users when requesting for quotations or additional information in the future instead of leaving your email address out in the open.

[Takaishi 44]

heya can you share link for the kitchen and service yard lights? thanks!

[mavicaste 58]

heya can you share link for the kitchen and service yard lights? thanks!

Just like fellow responsible forumers, we will prefer to withhold any Taobao item links until we have laid hands on them and ascertain that their quality is acceptable.

If you absolutely need to have them now, just pm me.

[mavicaste 58]

Painting is underway and I really really the shade of grey we are using for the false ceiling edges and one of the main bedroom wall.

The painters did all the surface preparation works, used protection wherever they paint even though the flooring isn't laid yet and even applied silicon to the electrical trunking without being requested to. I must say I am pleasantly surprised by their professionalism, so much that I felt compelled to get their some hot drinks and snacks.

We are currently looking at a handover date around the third week of May, which can be slightly earlier if the haul from Taobao arrives before 3 May. That is we meet with the carpenters for site measurement as the flooring will be laid once the lightings are installed.

[greglhc 30]

Hi mavicaste,

I'm a big fan of grey - curious to know which shade you chose?