Our Tiny Nest At Punggol

[NingNing 28]

A few items that we have already purchased:

- Our hood and hob: bought in Dec. Less than S$400.

- Our citygas

Marco + dryer got the free installation and pipping deal

- Our Bed

We went shopping for our bed during sales on X'mas. poor hubby being dragged left right centre every weekend to find the perfect bed. Our first bed bought together was a dunlopillo and it has served us well. For the last 5 yrs, this bed has not sunk very far, given us good support. Nothing to complain about. So for our new bed, we wanted maybe something better. 5 yrs ago, our budget was 1k. now, our budget is 4K since we earn more also, we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice bed.

We went to see simmons, king koil, max coil, afrenz, sealy, omaz, and many many brands else.

We were snubbed by the Sealy sales man in robinson. I will never ever buy from SEALY EVER esp in Robinson. During the sale, we went to see the beds there. While i was looking at simmons, my hubby and his friend wandered into sealy's mattress and wanted to try. My hubby from work hadnt had time to change, so he was in a T-shirt and his berms, carrying his water bottle and wearing his crocs. His fren was wearing the same thing. I dunno issit coz they were poorly dressed that the sealy guy told them something along the lines of "u want u can try.. might as well try.. not as if u/we can afford". I heard something like tt, that made me turn towards them and walked towards the stupid sales man. When he saw me in my work clothes, carrying my Fendi bag, he smiled and ask if he can help me. I grabbed my hubby hand's and ask the sales man to repeat what he said. He mumbled something and walked away. WTF. I wanted so badly to slap him. I already complained to robinson and sealy.

After that, we went to try the king koil mattresses. That sales man was much nicer. (or probably saw my face so black). He spent 30 mins telling me about mattresses and helped me compare the brands. I asked him which mattress he used. He said.. "haha i use the best. i use omazz" I learned alot about mattresses that day. and we finally decided that we dont want, memory foam or HDF. we will choose latex again.

So a few days later, we went dunlopillo. My hubby has abit of back problem, so i let him pick the mattress. (see i very teng him) HAHA.. during which, there was a sale at marina square. nearly 30% off. the bed is about 14 inches thick. my god.. i buy bed sheet have to watch out. We even won this very expensive pillow in their lucky draw! haha.. damage was 3500 inclusive of storage bed, LCD material bedhead. 2 bolster and 2 latex pillow. yay! good haul!

Edited March 6, 2014 by NingNing

[mavicaste 58]

A few items that we have already purchased:

- Our Bed

We went shopping for our bed during sales on X'mas. poor hubby being dragged left right centre every weekend to find the perfect bed. Our first bed bought together was a dunlopillo and it has served us well. For the last 5 yrs, this bed has not sunk very far, given us good support. Nothing to complain about. So for our new bed, we wanted maybe something better. 5 yrs ago, our budget was 1k. now, our budget is 4K since we earn more also, we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice bed.

We went to see simmons, king koil, max coil, afrenz, sealy, omaz, and many many brands else.

We were snubbed by the Sealy sales man in robinson. I will never ever buy from SEALY EVER esp in Robinson. During the sale, we went to see the beds there. While i was looking at simmons, my hubby and his friend wandered into sealy's mattress and wanted to try. My hubby from work hadnt had time to change, so he was in a T-shirt and his berms, carrying his water bottle and wearing his crocs. His fren was wearing the same thing. I dunno issit coz they were poorly dressed that the sealy guy told them something along the lines of "u want u can try.. might as well try.. not as if u/we can afford". I heard something like tt, that made me turn towards them and walked towards the stupid sales man. When he saw me in my work clothes, carrying my Fendi bag, he smiled and ask if he can help me. I grabbed my hubby hand's and ask the sales man to repeat what he said. He mumbled something and walked away. WTF. I wanted so badly to slap him. I already complained to robinson and sealy.

After that, we went to try the king koil mattresses. That sales man was much nicer. (or probably saw my face so black). He spent 30 mins telling me about mattresses and helped me compare the brands. I asked him which mattress he used. He said.. "haha i use the best. i use omazz" I learned alot about mattresses that day. and we finally decided that we dont want, memory foam or HDF. we will choose latex again.

So a few days later, we went dunlopillo. My hubby has abit of back problem, so i let him pick the mattress. (see i very teng him) HAHA.. during which, there was a sale at marina square. nearly 30% off. the bed is about 14 inches thick. my god.. i buy bed sheet have to watch out. We even won this very expensive pillow in their lucky draw! haha.. damage was 3500 inclusive of storage bed, LCD material bedhead. 2 bolster and 2 latex pillow. yay! good haul!

Just curious, which Robinsons outlet did you go to? Was it the Centrepoint one and does the salesperson wear glasses?

[guojiawen 101]

A few items that we have already purchased:

- Our hood and hob: bought in Dec. Less than S$400.

- Our citygas

Marco + dryer got the free installation and pipping deal

- Our Bed

We went shopping for our bed during sales on X'mas. poor hubby being dragged left right centre every weekend to find the perfect bed. Our first bed bought together was a dunlopillo and it has served us well. For the last 5 yrs, this bed has not sunk very far, given us good support. Nothing to complain about. So for our new bed, we wanted maybe something better. 5 yrs ago, our budget was 1k. now, our budget is 4K since we earn more also, we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice bed.

We went to see simmons, king koil, max coil, afrenz, sealy, omaz, and many many brands else.

We were snubbed by the Sealy sales man in robinson. I will never ever buy from SEALY EVER esp in Robinson. During the sale, we went to see the beds there. While i was looking at simmons, my hubby and his friend wandered into sealy's mattress and wanted to try. My hubby from work hadnt had time to change, so he was in a T-shirt and his berms, carrying his water bottle and wearing his crocs. His fren was wearing the same thing. I dunno issit coz they were poorly dressed that the sealy guy told them something along the lines of "u want u can try.. might as well try.. not as if u/we can afford". I heard something like tt, that made me turn towards them and walked towards the stupid sales man. When he saw me in my work clothes, carrying my Fendi bag, he smiled and ask if he can help me. I grabbed my hubby hand's and ask the sales man to repeat what he said. He mumbled something and walked away. WTF. I wanted so badly to slap him. I already complained to robinson and sealy.

After that, we went to try the king koil mattresses. That sales man was much nicer. (or probably saw my face so black). He spent 30 mins telling me about mattresses and helped me compare the brands. I asked him which mattress he used. He said.. "haha i use the best. i use omazz" I learned alot about mattresses that day. and we finally decided that we dont want, memory foam or HDF. we will choose latex again.

So a few days later, we went dunlopillo. My hubby has abit of back problem, so i let him pick the mattress. (see i very teng him) HAHA.. during which, there was a sale at marina square. nearly 30% off. the bed is about 14 inches thick. my god.. i buy bed sheet have to watch out. We even won this very expensive pillow in their lucky draw! haha.. damage was 3500 inclusive of storage bed, LCD material bedhead. 2 bolster and 2 latex pillow. yay! good haul!

Sorry to hear your experience with Sealy..

I got my Sealy at Centrepoint by a sales person named Gary. Though we were in our t-shirt & shorts (typical weekend chillax outfit), he was pretty friendly and explained quite a lot to us about mattress.

I certainly hope he's not the salesperson who made the snide remarks to your hubby..

[mavicaste 58]

Sorry to hear your experience with Sealy..

I got my Sealy at Centrepoint by a sales person named Gary. Though we were in our t-shirt & shorts (typical weekend chillax outfit), he was pretty friendly and explained quite a lot to us about mattress.

I certainly hope he's not the salesperson who made the snide remarks to your hubby..

The reason why I asked was because we actually laid down a deposit 2 years back. We chose to do so that early when we were just window shopping were mainly due to the promotion they had as well as the selling style of the salesperson. He was the mature, steady and non-pushy type, which appeals greatly to me who have been in retail sales before.

We went back in December last year to check if the prices of our selected models have dipped so we could lock the lower prices in again. This different salesperson was on duty and my wife and I just were literally rolling our eyes to each other, stealthy of course, as he peppered his sales pitch with plenty of lame jokes and nonsensical ramblings.

Anyway, we were at the new flagship outlet again to check on prices during another sale just 2 weeks ago and chanced upon the salesperson whom we paid the deposit with. We just set ourselves up as prospective customers and he still rendered the same sincere type of service as years ago. Upon showing him the invoice and learning that we were his customers, he got more affable and we even had a short chat on personal matters.

[NingNing 28]

Sorry to hear your experience with Sealy..

I got my Sealy at Centrepoint by a sales person named Gary. Though we were in our t-shirt & shorts (typical weekend chillax outfit), he was pretty friendly and explained quite a lot to us about mattress.

I certainly hope he's not the salesperson who made the snide remarks to your hubby..

I didnt catch his name. I was too angry to speak already. I can only just glare at him from under my nose. HAHAHA!! This is the first time we ever recieve such condescending treatment from ANY sales person. My hubby was REALLY hurt. He kept asking me is it because he looks poor. WTF. my hubby was not wearing a chillax outfit. It was more of.. hmm.. a lousy ill-fitting t-shirt and black berms. its easier for my hubby to work in this kind of outfit coz he needs to lift stuff. so i dunno issit coz of the way he dress did the sales man say such things. he even insulted dunlopillo, simmons and other brands saying they are lousy brands (to my hubby) when my hubby said we are using dunlopillo.

Just curious, which Robinsons outlet did you go to? Was it the Centrepoint one and does the salesperson wear glasses?

The reason why I asked was because we actually laid down a deposit 2 years back. We chose to do so that early when we were just window shopping were mainly due to the promotion they had as well as the selling style of the salesperson. He was the mature, steady and non-pushy type, which appeals greatly to me who have been in retail sales before.

We went back in December last year to check if the prices of our selected models have dipped so we could lock the lower prices in again. This different salesperson was on duty and my wife and I just were literally rolling our eyes to each other, stealthy of course, as he peppered his sales pitch with plenty of lame jokes and nonsensical ramblings.

Anyway, we were at the new flagship outlet again to check on prices during another sale just 2 weeks ago and chanced upon the salesperson whom we paid the deposit with. We just set ourselves up as prospective customers and he still rendered the same sincere type of service as years ago. Upon showing him the invoice and learning that we were his customers, he got more affable and we even had a short chat on personal matters.

Yes centrepoint. It was during the sales period. The salesperson wears specs. I was not around for a large amount of time but the main gist from my hubby and his friend was that the guy serving them was L.A.M.E. kept telling them stupid things and made stupid jokes that was not funny. so it might be a stand-in sales man meant for the sale. just really hurt that someone can insult my hubby like that. *fumes fumes*

but whatever it is, it was before xmas (or one of the major holidays) and I already written a strong letter to both sealy and robinson to keep their sales people in check. I am in sales and I used to do retail sales. Even if u hate the customer, should at least show basic courtesy to any normal human being!

Edited February 22, 2014 by NingNing

[NingNing 28]

When on a budget, taobao is your best friend. Some of the items that I will be buying from taobao:

- Downlights & drivers
- T5 overlay cable
- Dining lights

- Bomb shelter light

- kitchen light

- Rain shower

- Common toilet cabinet and sink

- Masterbed room toilet cabinet and sink

- Bathroom Accessories

- Common room light

- TV wall mount

- mirror cabinet

- Kitchen Sink and tap

Thats a huge load of items ill be buying! I have estimated I will be saving nearly 7K on shopping on taobao. will calculate the exact figure on another day. today im just too tired after just having finished having a convo tag with my taobao agent and my id.

I will be purchasing ALOT of items from taobao to save cost, which also means, there might be delays here and there. because this is the first time im using this agent, he is making me lose some hair.

There was an item (master bed room cabinet) that was ordered wrongly (agent ordered the wrong side - he ordered left basin while i NEEDED right because of the window above the left hand side) which i caught even before it reached singapore. ( i call it intuition..my hubby calls it paranoia. ) whatever it is, i caught it abit too late. just when it was delivered to the warehouse in china, so im paying S$50 to send it back to the seller and then sending it back to me.

Anyway, my reno is to start on the 25th hopefully, but without the master toilet cabinet, the entire thing will be delayed. I'm damned near hysterical because tt means i have to pay extra to have the plumber come back and fix it on a later date, or else risk delaying the entire reno. BTW. why m i almost hysterical? because this problem has dragged on for 3 days, since Thursday till today on Sat.

I am HOPING today, the problem is finally settled and no more surprises from my agent.

Johnny saw how upset i was, he thought awhile and said "nvm. i ask the plumber come back at another time to fix for you coz i can see u are quite upset. China side u cant do anything, then let me do something." thats damned sweet okie. after squeezing his prices like crazy and he pulls something out like tt, its really damned nice of him especially because the master cabinet can be delivered probably about April or MAY, when the entire reno is OVER.

I just feel damned fortunate to have an ID who doesnt mind cutting into his commission to help me.

[Songz 132]

Good choice on the bed (*Cause i am mostly going to get that brand too )

For that kind of sales person, just let him be and rot, there are always business elsewhere you can bring to.

Was very tempted to get from TaoBao when I see those savings from blogs of people but not really well versed in imaging and measurement.

Anyway good luck on the reno ^^

[guojiawen 101]

I didnt catch his name. I was too angry to speak already. I can only just glare at him from under my nose. HAHAHA!! This is the first time we ever recieve such condescending treatment from ANY sales person. My hubby was REALLY hurt. He kept asking me is it because he looks poor. WTF. my hubby was not wearing a chillax outfit. It was more of.. hmm.. a lousy ill-fitting t-shirt and black berms. its easier for my hubby to work in this kind of outfit coz he needs to lift stuff. so i dunno issit coz of the way he dress did the sales man say such things. he even insulted dunlopillo, simmons and other brands saying they are lousy brands (to my hubby) when my hubby said we are using dunlopillo.

Yes centrepoint. It was during the sales period. The salesperson wears specs. I was not around for a large amount of time but the main gist from my hubby and his friend was that the guy serving them was L.A.M.E. kept telling them stupid things and made stupid jokes that was not funny. so it might be a stand-in sales man meant for the sale. just really hurt that someone can insult my hubby like that. *fumes fumes*

but whatever it is, it was before xmas (or one of the major holidays) and I already written a strong letter to both sealy and robinson to keep their sales people in check. I am in sales and I used to do retail sales. Even if u hate the customer, should at least show basic courtesy to any normal human being!

Okay, confirm not the same guy. I went in Feb and he said he was just brought over from the Courts Megastore..

Anyway that's history, let's not get wrinkles over him.. hope all the other sales person you meet will be better!

[Harriette 42]

Hi NingNing,

I think you made a good choice in your bed. My Dunopillo bed (also about 14 inch thick) has an layer of latex that is about 14cm thick. It offered me very good support during my pregnancy, which was crucial coz being pregnant is extremely uncomfortable. I have used this bed for 6 years.

We went shopping for our bed during sales on X'mas. poor hubby being dragged left right centre every weekend to find the perfect bed. Our first bed bought together was a dunlopillo and it has served us well. For the last 5 yrs, this bed has not sunk very far, given us good support. Nothing to complain about. So for our new bed, we wanted maybe something better. 5 yrs ago, our budget was 1k. now, our budget is 4K since we earn more also, we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice bed.

We went to see simmons, king koil, max coil, afrenz, sealy, omaz, and many many brands else.

We were snubbed by the Sealy sales man in robinson. I will never ever buy from SEALY EVER esp in Robinson. During the sale, we went to see the beds there. While i was looking at simmons, my hubby and his friend wandered into sealy's mattress and wanted to try. My hubby from work hadnt had time to change, so he was in a T-shirt and his berms, carrying his water bottle and wearing his crocs. His fren was wearing the same thing. I dunno issit coz they were poorly dressed that the sealy guy told them something along the lines of "u want u can try.. might as well try.. not as if u/we can afford". I heard something like tt, that made me turn towards them and walked towards the stupid sales man. When he saw me in my work clothes, carrying my Fendi bag, he smiled and ask if he can help me. I grabbed my hubby hand's and ask the sales man to repeat what he said. He mumbled something and walked away. WTF. I wanted so badly to slap him. I already complained to robinson and sealy.

After that, we went to try the king koil mattresses. That sales man was much nicer. (or probably saw my face so black). He spent 30 mins telling me about mattresses and helped me compare the brands. I asked him which mattress he used. He said.. "haha i use the best. i use omazz" I learned alot about mattresses that day. and we finally decided that we dont want, memory foam or HDF. we will choose latex again.

So a few days later, we went dunlopillo. My hubby has abit of back problem, so i let him pick the mattress. (see i very teng him) HAHA.. during which, there was a sale at marina square. nearly 30% off. the bed is about 14 inches thick. my god.. i buy bed sheet have to watch out. We even won this very expensive pillow in their lucky draw! haha.. damage was 3500 inclusive of storage bed, LCD material bedhead. 2 bolster and 2 latex pillow. yay! good haul!

[NingNing 28]

Good choice on the bed (*Cause i am mostly going to get that brand too )

For that kind of sales person, just let him be and rot, there are always business elsewhere you can bring to.

Was very tempted to get from TaoBao when I see those savings from blogs of people but not really well versed in imaging and measurement.

Anyway good luck on the reno ^^

Thanks! i think we made a good choice too.. u know how sometimes, we girls have this ideal brand or item in our mind, but we still will look at a million before settling on the exact thing we wanted in the first place? IM LIKE THAT! i loved our dunlop bed, and we have ABUSED our current one like crazy.. but because its latex, it bounces right back. And unlike the memory foam or hdf tt some brands sell, latex isnt hot. which is a big issue. imagine u have a comfortable bed, but coz its too damned hot, u cant get to sleep?

I have that feeling when i use waterproof mattress protector. and those nights are ****. i sometimes will pull out the protector and sleep on the bare mattress. i cannot imagine if the bed is like this. i will end up on the floor!

Okay, confirm not the same guy. I went in Feb and he said he was just brought over from the Courts Megastore..

Anyway that's history, let's not get wrinkles over him.. hope all the other sales person you meet will be better!

Haha.. i certainly hoped it wasnt the same guy, coz i dunno which sane person will ever buy from a low eq man like him. unless ppl like getting insulted!

Yes! we did meet nice sales ppl. but from other brands. i liked the king koil guy and the dunlopillo sales lady. she was very patient and let my hubby run from one bed to another, rolling all over the bed and kept trying and changing his mind.

Hi NingNing,

I think you made a good choice in your bed. My Dunopillo bed (also about 14 inch thick) has an layer of latex that is about 14cm thick. It offered me very good support during my pregnancy, which was crucial coz being pregnant is extremely uncomfortable. I have used this bed for 6 years.

YAY! hhehehehe..

Yea! i think she said the latex is super plush and thick but yet firm in a way. im hoping this bed will last us for quite awhile. i dont really like bed shopping. its not as if i dont like the bed, i can just throw away!

[Songz 132]

Bed is quite a expensive investment but also the most important.

I think most important is how you feel when lying on it.

[NingNing 28]

Bed is quite a expensive investment but also the most important.

I think most important is how you feel when lying on it.

Yes I agree!! my hubby loves the bed. He likes soft and plush stuff. (maybe thats why he picked me.. I'm soft and plush. ) HAHAHA!

[NingNing 28]

Lessons I've learn buying lights

Now, I'm no expert on LED lights but here's what I've learned on the journey of purchasing these lights, so do correct me where im wrong.

There are a few types of downlights. Those tt made me interested were E27 and LED lights.

1) the prices we pay in Singapore for LED lights are CRAZY. The cheapest I saw so far is S$ 16 for a 12w led downlight, normal price is S$20. This is the CHEAPEST.

2) LED lights, should buy those thick ones (prefer 5 cm and above). AVOID the thin ones no matter what others say. A lighting expert told me that thin LED lights burn out faster. because there is no/ minimum heat sinks and the heat is trapped within the light, making it harder to diffuse. Whats a heat sink? A heat sink is something at the back of the LED lights whereby you see many folds. What do I mean? See pic:

The grey spiky part you see is the heat sink. This helps to diffuse heat. How does it work? The multiple folds you see, creates a bigger surface area, which can carry the heat away faster. This helps to preserve the LED bulbs longer.

3. Glass or acrylic? My ID says glass is better, others say acrylic is better. so who is right? actually both are right.
Glass is brighter which means a lower wattage is needed. cleaning for both is the same. EQUALLY TROUBLESOME. For some reason, acrylic may be less hot, which means a pro-longed LED life.

4. Please try to only buy led with EXTERNAL drivers. Why? Since now most lights are manufactured in china, it doesnt matter how awesome or lousy the light is. It will ultimately burn out. To save you the trouble of replacing the entire light and having a chance that the one light is different colour then the other, by getting an external driver, if the light "blows" change the driver first. It works like a fuse in our electrical plug. Usually is the fuse or the driver that blows first. How it blows is a different story that I dont want to get too technical.

5. Try to get a LED downlight that is detachable. Now.... i truely regret not waiting for my friend to get back to me about this. because, after i bought my LED lights, did i realize it really can be a real problem. What i mean by detachable?

(photo courtesy of my fren's ID)

This is VERY useful, because, whenever you need to change the driver, you need to pull down the LED light from the ceiling to access the driver BEHIND the Led. If the LED has served you for about 5 years, the false ceiling around the led light will weaken, and the possibility of pulling out the chunk of false ceiling is REAL. For this type of LED, you need to just detach the face from the body and the light will come out, yet the body is still there in the ceiling. no damage will be done. Damned. wished i know this sooner.

6) PLC or LED?

To be honest, PLC would be a better choice if i never found taobao. LOL.. because, the price of the PLC would be the same as an LED from taobao. That being said, PLC bulbs are easier to change. If you are still keen on LED but feel its expensive, then go for the downlight that is/has E27. (not sure the right usage of the word, but i know the key word is e27)

E27 has the capability of using PLC or LED bulbs. Most plate faces come with screws at the side of the face. This is for easy removal and changing of the bulbs.

7) LED strip lights vs T5 florescent

T5 is brighter than LED strip lights. LED strip lights, once one bulb burn out, it is obvious that there is a "hole" there. changing it can also be a pain in the *** especially if its in the ceiling. you need to snip off the segment, use a connector, connect back the hole. Also LED strip light has the tendecy to burn out faster or dim faster. That luster when you first have it will diminish as you use it. There are some types whereby its 60bulb or 120 bulb. if you have the moolah.. and inisist on LED strip, get the 120 one, The more bulbs the better. if one burn out, the black hole wont be that obvious.

When i first researched about this a year ago, 5050 was the best and brightest. now there are newer ones. *faint* the numbers keep changing. but on the advisement of my ID, T5 would be alot easier to change. If you are a circle person like me, make sure to stock up on over lay cables.

Thats all my knowledge that i can remember for now! hope this helps!

[KiaMingTan 0]

Hi ning ning, thanks for your sharing. Can email me your ID's contact and cost of your renovation? Email is kiaming@gmail.com.

[LittleNoDot 0]

Hi Ning Ning,

Thanks for sharing.. I am currently waiting for my 3room bto flat too! Could you pm me your ID details? Thanks!