Unveiling Our Concept - Part V (90% Done)

Finally, we have completed our preliminary conceptualising of our dining room. Don't think I did a very good job in this due to limitation of software . Nonetheless, I think contractor should be able to understand what we want. I will also like to take this opportunity to do a quick recap of the over all theme. Hopefully, it will put me in the right track by a quick glance. The rest of the days I should spend thinking of the arrangements of our walk-in-wardrobe, study and kitchen.

Unveiling Our Concept - Part IV (Living Room)

This should be almost done, just need to fine-tune some details. Hope to move on to other part of the house conceptualising soon.

Feng Shui Tip IV: Bathroom

Bathrooms should face north, the direction of water, according to Feng Shui. North is also the direction of malevolent spirits and hence, bathrooms are considered to be prone to accidents and mishaps. Keeping this in mind, blue and black, the colors denoting water are ideal for bathrooms, shower rooms, vanities and toilets. They should also be thoroughly protected and extra measures to make them safe for children and the elderly are desired. Bathrooms should be devoid of any sharp objects and non-skid surfaces are preferable. The flow of Chi in the bathroom is necessary and thus, open windows to allow free flow of air, mirrors and Feng Shui crystals should be used.

Other precautions include installing the octagonal Bagwa mirror on the door, (especially if it opens outward), keep the lid of the toilet seat down when not in use and keep the toilet door closed. A bathroom is the room for wealth and a dirty and cluttered bathroom can make you poor. Bathrooms that are clean well organized and in good shape, encourage the free flow of energy leading to prosperity in the household. Make sure that your bathroom is not draining Chi away from other wealth areas such as a home office or study and place a mirror in the bathroom in such a way that the person in the shower can see the bathroom door clearly. Pipes of the bathroom should be maintained in good working order and clean them occasionally to prevent clogging.

Sinks and bathtub drains should be kept covered to stop your money from going down the drain. Bamboo reflected in the mirror is considered lucky too. A screen between the toilet area and shower area is desirable. Decorated baths and good quality towels make you prosperous and healthy. The gold towels mean abundance. Avoid clutter and never ever bring things from kitchen in to the bathroom. One needs to remove waste, dead and stagnant energy that gets blocked here and cleaning with natural cleaners can help you to keep Chi fresh in this area of your home. More natural light is preferable but it should not compromise your privacy. You can also keep fresh flowers and plants in the bath to keep Chi vibrant and fresh.

Feng Shui Tip III: Dining Room

Dining table in this room should be so placed that people can move around it easily without having to move chairs or furniture. Chairs should not block the doorways too. An octagonal or Bagwa-shaped dining table is best, though, a round table also symbolizes stability. The Feng Shui cure for a rectangular or square dining table is to place an octagonal centerpiece or place mats on it. Three Star Gods overlooking the dining table are said to bless you with health, wealth and happiness. Dining chairs should be even in number and ideally, should have backs shaped like horseshoe. It is believed that a respected guest seated facing the door or sharing 'bread' with others, whether family or strangers builds good social relationships and strong community bonds.

This can take the form of potluck dinners, pancake breakfasts or company picnics too. Since, dining with family is becoming a rare event these days, from Feng Shui perspective, it is important to pay attention this sacred aspect and dining space. Avoid old, dark and heavy furniture in a small space in dining room because it will block chi and cause strain in family relationships and may even cause indigestion. Remove boxes and clutter to allow chi to move freely and preferably the dining table should occupy the center position of the room with equal space on all sides. Enough room for a person to get in and move out of the chair is desirable. Flow of chi should be gentle but not static and so, dining room with two doors that are not opposite to each other is preferred.

If you or your family members are suffering from eating disorders, a faceted crystal ball or chandelier over the center of the dining table can remedy the situation. A mirror in the drawing room that reflects something nice such as window view or artwork and especially the food on the table seems to double up the food and hence, wealth in your household. However, if your dining table is a mess, then the mirror will double it up along with your workload. If your family seems to linger on to past memories for meal conversations, clear away all the old objects, especially the old papers and photographs, from the room. If you so want to treasure some of the ancestral belongings, keep it in the family section rather than displaying them throughout the room.

Feng Shui Tip II: Bedroom

Adults crave for deep relaxing sleep while children need vitality and invigorating energy to keep them active. Thus, a bedroom facing west that receives the relaxing rays of the setting sun is better for adults while a bedroom facing east that receives motivating and bright rays of a rising sun is suitable for kids. A bed facing the window is said to attract bad 'Sha' energy and glare of sun and a Bagwa mirror or wind chimes can help fend it off. The bed facing the door is a strict no-no as it is said to be the 'death position' in which the deceased are carried out of the room. A bedroom should be quiet, serene and peaceful and thus, dim lights and relaxing colors are advisable here. Similarly, more than two mirrors in the bedroom or vibrant colors are said to over-activate Chi.

Never place a mirror at the foot of the bed or facing a window in the bedroom. The ideal Feng Shui position for a bedroom is next to a living room or directly above the lounge room in a two-storey home. Bedroom denotes serenity, auspiciousness, new opportunities and forthcoming growth. The main focus points in the bedroom for Feng Shui are placement of doors, mirrors and bed. A bedroom door opening at a full right angle means that several opportunities have room to come in, while the door that does not open completely, restrict their entry. Place your favorite photo, quote, flower vase or sculpture as the Greeter in the bedroom or the first thing that you see while entering your bedroom from the doorway.

An uncluttered and organized bedroom provides more serenity, efficiency and functionalism. It symbolizes progress. So, get rid of things that you do not use by organizing your drawers and closets. Any obstruction as you enter the bedroom is unsafe and does not allow free flow of Chi, so remove shoes, furniture and electrical wires in the way so that no one trips on them accidentally. If your bedroom door and window are directly opposite to each other, you need to hang a multifaceted crystal from the ceiling midway between them to aid the energy to stay for sometime in the room.

If there is a wall facing the door and distance between them is less than your height, then hang a mirror on the wall. The bed should not be in direct alignment with the door but should allow you to see, who is entering from the door, when you sit up on the bed. You can use a mirror for the purpose. Place the mirror behind the bed or to the side of the bed but never at the foot of the bed. Sleeping under an exposed beam means oppression but if you cannot move the bed, place Chinese flutes on either side of the bed to counter the harsh energy. Similarly, there should be no sharp corner with a tangent aiming at your head, which is known as 'poison arrow'. Moving the bed or hiding the sharpness of the corner can cure it.

Feng Shui Tip I: Kitchen

The kitchen should not be north facing. Chinese believe that evil spirits come from the north and if the kitchen is north facing then there are greater chances of accidents occurring in the kitchen. If the kitchen is north facing then hang wind chimes and crystals from the windows and doorways to counter the negative effect.

The kitchen sink signifies water and the kitchen stove represents fire. It would be best if both these were not placed next to each other in the kitchen. The stove in the kitchen should be positioned in such a way that you can see anyone entering the kitchen. Your back should not be to the door while you are cooking. Placing a mirror on top of the stove will allow the cook to see anyone entering the kitchen and will counter this problem. The area around the stove should be well lit and well ventilated. The will reduce the Sha Chi.

White is the best color for your kitchen. White signifies purity and promotes good health and will ensure that the food cooked is pure. Cutlery should not be stored in areas where there is stagnant energy. Sharp objects have negative energy and they will affect your health. Put cutlery in a drawer closest to the door or a window. It is not good to have a toilet near the kitchen as it produces negative energy. If there is a toilet keep the door closed and the toilet seat down and place a Bagwa on the toilet door.

When the word CONtractor means CON Man

"Dear Hweene, here is your horoscope for Saturday, September 13: You're feeling pretty frustrated with the way things are being handled, but that doesn't mean it's time to give up -- far from it! You may need to marshal your resources for a while, but go back fighting!"

Anticipating 'issues' during a renovation process is always normal but facing it is never easy. We were blessed for the fact that our HDB branch office allows us to change all our defect tiles at no additional cost. The assigned HDB Contractor whom we met also agreed that we could upgrade our tiles by paying cash for the price differences. With his recommendation on Hafary Tiles, SN and I made our selection and gave him the code of those tiles we hand-picked. Note: HDB will pay for our basic tiles, cement, wet work and haulage. So basically, there should be no other hidden cost for us.

Hold-and-behold, Contractor Ah Ho gave us a quotation that was beyond our expectation. It was clear he is all out to make a cut from HDB and us. Well, if the amount is reasonable, we will gladly let it pass. But...
The Hafary consultant who did the calculation for us felt that this contractor also kinda over do it. Even if it is quite expected for contractor to get a bit of 'bonus' from any additional job, his margin was way too atrocious.

When we asked for his break down, he could not produced and went on to say that's the correct price for the tiles difference. When presented with our list as attached, he said it was not possible to do it as he expects to get a cut from it. What's the rational? Can he even do that? A cut from both HDB and us? At our expense of $1250, excluding the price we are paying for the tiles???

SN hardly shows his frustration but I could sense he was nearing to strangling Contractor Ah Ho when he admits he want a cut from our tile upgrade, without giving us justifiable reasons. We told him to go back and consider and re-propose what he is expecting. If he still expects a big cut, we may jolly well make that complain to our HDB Branch Officer. You reckon justice will be given to us? Sigh... and it's only the beginning...

Unveiling Our Concept - Part III (Master Bathroom & Common Bathroom)

Wala! It's closed to 99.99% complete for our bathroom conceptualising. Hopefully our contractor can deliver the job. As Harvey MacKay said: "Failures don't plan to fail; they fail to plan". With mood boards, you could more or less 'visualise' what goes well with what.

"Shoo Shoo" Ritual

As advised by my dear colleague; Cassandra, she said this ritual is mandatory for all new home projects. Even thou SN do not subscribe to it but Cassandra said it's also a form of wishing for a smooth-sailing renovation work.

Ingredients
- Rice
- Tea Leafs
- Salt

Method
- Concoct the ingredients together in a plastic bag
- Scatter them at all corners of the house (starting from inside of the house and end off at the door-way of the house)

Here's wishing my house renovation will be "soon-soon-li-li" and "ping-ping-an-an". Our stay in the house will be happy and blissful. All my wishes to SN will be answered. wahahahahaha

Fun with Tiles...

They are all over the starting stretch of Balestier Road but we walked into LSH (Lian Seng Hin) mainly because it was the first corner unit we chanced upon after parking the car. The crowd within the shop was also a draw as it could possibly spell...CHEAP & GOOD. hehehe. After spending about 30 minutes or so inside, SN and walked away with some sample tiles which we thought could give our contractor an idea of what we want.

Hold-and-be-hold, Mr. Ho; the contractor appointed by HDB, told us the next day that they do not take tiles supply from LSH. Their tiles supplier is Hafary. Argggg...wasted trip into LSH then. In actual fact, we did see Hafary and some other tiles company next to LSH at Balestier. Just that the showrooms looked kinda intimidating to us. They were more posh looking then LSH and there were hardly any patrons in the showroom.

Fortunately, Hafary is open on Sunday till 5pm. So SN and I made another trip down to select our tiles. Here's what we have selected. However, everything is still very much preliminary as the final decision will be dependent on how much we need to top-up for these tiles. What's not in the picture is the main 600mm x 600mm white floor tile which SN hoped to replace on the 200mm x 200mm that HDB will be providing. We have been advised that bigger tiles will be easier to maintain as there will be lesser lines, plus it looks better.

Unveiling Our Concept - Part II (Master Bedroom / Common Bathroom / Kitchen)

Managed to do up our concepts with more details. Whether it will turn out like what we planned, is still a mystery...

Defect List

There are no flawless homes. After all the dash and rush, SN and I managed to work out our defect list to submit to the HDB Branch Office. For fear of miscommunication, besides sticking a post-it note on the defect spot, we indicate where the defects are and what defects they are, on our floor plan. Here's what we did to inspect our pad.

1. Tiles
For Premium flats, there are already tiles laid. As we bought a resale, so we had to check all the tiles. SN knocked each of the tile with coins and a metal stick to hear-out for hollow tiles. The sound is very obvious if it is hollow. The crack tiles are also not spared. We made a mark on them too.

2. Doors & Windows
I checked on all the doors and windows...if it is easy to close and open, whether the hinges are secure properly, any missing screws, check the closure, the knobs, check the door/window for any cracks, if there are chips on the shower screens, etc.

3. Walls
For walls, we checked for cracks and holes. What we missed checking was the levelling of our floor. We are suppose to pour water on the floor to see if it will flow very fast downwards. This test should be done for our kitchen and toilet. If there are no gradient in the toilet, it means the water might not flow fast enough to the floor trap and might result in 'flood' next time we bath. Arggg...how can we missed that out?? You reckon we can still do that after they attended to our defect?

Iskandar from the Branch Office was so impressed when he saw the defect list floor plan we gave him, that he said his job will be a lot easier if everyone does the same like us. hehehe. You know what? When we wanted to show him physically where the defect tiles are, he told us it's ok. As long as there's one scratch on the tile, all will be changed as that particular tile has been dis-continued. Yahooooooooo!

Besides submitting our defect list, we also made a "WISH-LIST" for the Branch Office via Iskandar. To our surprise, they were all answered :)

WISH LIST
1. To rectify all defects as indicated on the floor plan.

2. Re-tile the wall tiles in both bathrooms and the kitchen.

3. For the replacement of tiles, it will be good if we can choose the type of tiles we want.

4. Replace new shower screen after re-tile work.

5. Replace new Toilet Bowl in both Toilets.

6. Assist to remove both Toilet’s Basins.

7. Assist to remove both Toilet’s Doors and Door Frames?

8. Assist to hack the wall between Master Bedroom and Bedroom 2 BEFORE re-tiling of floor tiles?...this we have to pay the contractor. Fair enough, fair enough. Can't complain much :)

Electrolux...thinking of you

Finally, we made a decision to drop Fisher & Paykel and stick to Electrolux. The price difference is just too tremendous for us, we thought. Perhaps we should be more watchful for the moment. We made an order for a 5.5 kg washer but will most likely upgrade to a 7 kg washer at an additional $140 as suggested by my friends and family. Have already made a call to notify Aik Leong Electronics on our intension.

Another contributing point in making us select Electrolux is because of the company's strive to ensure that its products, services and production contribute to sustainable development. Their product designs aims to reduce adverse environmental impact throughout the product life cycle, while resource and energy consumption, waste and pollution are regularly monitored for improvement. The company takes a proactive approach regarding environmental legislation, and encourages suppliers to adopt the same environmental principles as those pursued by Electrolux.

EWF771
This hard-working machine is the ideal solution for growing families looking to save time, money, and effort in the laundry room. Superior wash performance to clean even the most stubborn stains. So you can be assured of the cleanest clothes always.

Colour: White
Loading Capacity (kg): 7
Spin Speed (RPM): 750
How to Use: 11 Programs + 2 Options
Time Display: Nil
Delay Start: Nil
Washing Technology: Magic Ball
Hygiene with Hot Wash: Fix 30, 40, 60
Fresh with AG+ Technology: Nil
Water Consumption (Litres): 59
Product [W x H x D](cm): 60 x 85 x 59

ETB3200 (60cm 2-Door Fridge)
This is a system of Dual Deodorisers that attract and absorb stray odours, and Odour Control Bins to help prevent strong smells from one food mixing with the taste of any other. So you enjoy fresh-from-the-marketplace taste longer.

Deodoriser: Yes
Crisper Humidity Control: Yes
Mark Resistant Surface: Nil
Multi Air-Flow System: Yes
Frost Free: Yes
Flexible Shelves & Bins: Yes
Spill Proof Sheves: Yes
Temperature Controls: Yes
Door Alarm: Yes
Large Ice Station: Nil
Bag Clips: Yes
Gross Capacity (L): 320
Dimension [W x D x H] (cm): 60 x 64 x 170