Things are certainly looking up. I completed the sale of my new property at the Hub on 28 May in the presence of the agents and the seller Alfred.
I was pleased, that Alfred told me he can hand over the keys to me by 8 June, instead of 15 June. He had asked me to give him an extension of two weeks to enable him to move out. Nice man Alfred, and we have now become good friends. He has suggested that we have a farewell lunch or dinner with our wives and the agents, when I take over the keys. I find Alfred and his wife to be very pleasant and friendly.
Taking over the keys one week earlier, will enable renovations to start earlier. This is expected to take two months. I am targeting to move by end of August avoiding the September rush when everyone will want to move. All the more so, because August is the Hungry Ghost month, when people avoid moving house. Since I am a Christian and not superstitious, this suits me fine.
At our meeting with the interior designer last weekend, we trashed out many things and agreed to many suggestions. The invoice was a whopper. I will leave that to my son to negotiate with Gary to bring it more down to earth. As mentioned in my previous posting, we have modified many items and Gary has clarified his ideas. The living room will now have timber floor instead of tiles. The kitchen and dining will have homogenised tiles. The downstairs toilet will have a bit more space and will cover the ugly pipes. The final drawing has been done subject to final approval by us. All is set except for the final costing.
The bank has very kindly sent me a stack of cash vouchers worth more than a thousand dollars. These together with the vouchers I received and won previously, will help us shop for the kitchen and other items like bedsheets, curtains and other utility items. I feel like I am starting a new home for the first time. To cut cost, we are also looking around our home, salvaging what we have, and using them again. (See my previous posting on 'Rosewood furniture'.)
Till then....
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
My Rosewood furniture.
It has been one week now since my last posting and I thought I might as well start on another new posting.
The last few days have been quite relaxing for a change. My renovations plan for my new place has become clearer since the meeting with Gary, my interior designer. I have now decided to keep some of my Rosewood furniture after being told that they are now very scarce. If I had told my wife that I had wanted to keep them, she would have automatically objected. Since I told her that I wanted to sell them, she now wants to keep them. Reverse psychology at work!
We have engaged somebody to restore and repaint the furniture by August. When the job is done, they will deliver them to our new place. This way, we do not have to move them ourselves. I have allocated space for them in my new place.
The Chinese man saw my furniture and told me that they are now hard to find. There are fakes in the market. 'Mother of Pearl' inlays are only done in China. Local carpenters lack this expertise. Some pieces are from Kwangtung, China, and the coffee table was carved by a young Shanghainese locally. The carving featured the 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. I remember seeing him doing the carving as his workshop was near where I lived previously. Every evening I would walk over to see him and talked to him. We chose the scene mutually. To cut cost, as I only had limited funds at that time, I did not order the six stools, which would sit hidden under the table until you want to use them.
There is also a display cabinet which houses all my expensive micro magic apparatus. I must now find another space for my music box collection. They will probably be displayed as part of my library. Problem will be to keep itchy fingers away from them. And then I also have my religious paraphernalia collection. Ah! my mind boggles.
When Emma was a tiny baby, I used to carry her and showed her my religious collection consisting of statues, glass Rosary beads, bell including some music boxes and whistles. She would love to wear the Rosary over her neck and ring the bell. Unfortunately the glass panel fell one day, due to strong winds and it is now replaced by a plastic sheet. The Ikea cabinet houses my hi fi set, DVD's, LD's and the glass cabinet displays some interesting nick nacks. This cabinet will be left behind when I move, unless someone wants to buy or take it over.
So I now have a clearer picture of what I will move to my new place. My new bedroom will have everything new. I will need to relocate my grotto (miniature water fountain) dedicated to Our Lady, which I made for my wife's birthday sometime ago. Maybe my moving expenses will not be that high, given I do not have that many heavy items except for my son's bedroom and the many cartons. Anyway, we are meeting Gary this Saturday to sort out the renovations.
Last Friday, Emma came in the morning. For a three year old kid, she can be very sensible when she wants to be. Last Monday, I was playing with her at the lift landing, when she suddenly charged at me. I fell to the floor as Emma's head hit me hard on my left rib. I felt the jolt and pain and luckily prevented Emma from hitting her head on the floor. The pain stayed with me the whole week. When I told Emma about it on Friday, she quickly came and hugged me and said how sorry she was. The pain naturally went away.
When Emma left early with her grandmother and the maid to look after her other two cousins, I felt very lonely at home. I went downstairs for my fast walking exercise. For dinner, I tried out cooking sayur lodeh with yong tau foo and noodles. It was successful except that next time, I will substitute the coconut with low fat milk. I enjoyed the meal in the quiet of the kitchen.
This Sunday afternoon, I will be doing a retreat in church for all the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. This will be followed by our commissioning at the 6 pm Mass. So it is going to be a quiet and sober Sunday.
Till then....
The last few days have been quite relaxing for a change. My renovations plan for my new place has become clearer since the meeting with Gary, my interior designer. I have now decided to keep some of my Rosewood furniture after being told that they are now very scarce. If I had told my wife that I had wanted to keep them, she would have automatically objected. Since I told her that I wanted to sell them, she now wants to keep them. Reverse psychology at work!
We have engaged somebody to restore and repaint the furniture by August. When the job is done, they will deliver them to our new place. This way, we do not have to move them ourselves. I have allocated space for them in my new place.
The Chinese man saw my furniture and told me that they are now hard to find. There are fakes in the market. 'Mother of Pearl' inlays are only done in China. Local carpenters lack this expertise. Some pieces are from Kwangtung, China, and the coffee table was carved by a young Shanghainese locally. The carving featured the 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. I remember seeing him doing the carving as his workshop was near where I lived previously. Every evening I would walk over to see him and talked to him. We chose the scene mutually. To cut cost, as I only had limited funds at that time, I did not order the six stools, which would sit hidden under the table until you want to use them.
There is also a display cabinet which houses all my expensive micro magic apparatus. I must now find another space for my music box collection. They will probably be displayed as part of my library. Problem will be to keep itchy fingers away from them. And then I also have my religious paraphernalia collection. Ah! my mind boggles.
When Emma was a tiny baby, I used to carry her and showed her my religious collection consisting of statues, glass Rosary beads, bell including some music boxes and whistles. She would love to wear the Rosary over her neck and ring the bell. Unfortunately the glass panel fell one day, due to strong winds and it is now replaced by a plastic sheet. The Ikea cabinet houses my hi fi set, DVD's, LD's and the glass cabinet displays some interesting nick nacks. This cabinet will be left behind when I move, unless someone wants to buy or take it over.
So I now have a clearer picture of what I will move to my new place. My new bedroom will have everything new. I will need to relocate my grotto (miniature water fountain) dedicated to Our Lady, which I made for my wife's birthday sometime ago. Maybe my moving expenses will not be that high, given I do not have that many heavy items except for my son's bedroom and the many cartons. Anyway, we are meeting Gary this Saturday to sort out the renovations.
Last Friday, Emma came in the morning. For a three year old kid, she can be very sensible when she wants to be. Last Monday, I was playing with her at the lift landing, when she suddenly charged at me. I fell to the floor as Emma's head hit me hard on my left rib. I felt the jolt and pain and luckily prevented Emma from hitting her head on the floor. The pain stayed with me the whole week. When I told Emma about it on Friday, she quickly came and hugged me and said how sorry she was. The pain naturally went away.
When Emma left early with her grandmother and the maid to look after her other two cousins, I felt very lonely at home. I went downstairs for my fast walking exercise. For dinner, I tried out cooking sayur lodeh with yong tau foo and noodles. It was successful except that next time, I will substitute the coconut with low fat milk. I enjoyed the meal in the quiet of the kitchen.
This Sunday afternoon, I will be doing a retreat in church for all the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. This will be followed by our commissioning at the 6 pm Mass. So it is going to be a quiet and sober Sunday.
Till then....
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A ticklish affair.
After a Korean 'Bibibhog' lunch with the family a few Sundays ago, I found myself in Qian Hu Fish Farm.
It was the first time I visited the place, and saw the myriads of aquarium fishes being bred and sold, even exported to other countries. The cute baby koi swam into my hand as I placed it into the water. So tame and friendly. Seeing the tropical fishes, reminded me of my young boy passion of keeping an aquarium. (See my post 'Rasbora Heteromopha').
Venturing inside, my grandchildren were catching longkang fish for a fee. Then there were these groups of adults sitting with their feet inside the water. I discovered that they were letting the sucker fishes nibble at the dead skin on their feet. Sounded very unhygienic.
After some persuasion from my daughters, I decided to give it a go. After paying $10 for half an hour, I rolled up my pants and sat soaking my feet underwater. Moments later, a swarm of dark grey fishes charged towards my feet and started to nibble away. Keeping very still, the fishes were all over my feet. I felt ticklish. I was hoping that they will nibble away my painful corns.
There were some young ladies seating nearby and they were giggling away like little girls. Both my wife and daughter were seating next to me and they had their fair share of nibbling. After a full 30 minutes, we got up and dried our feet with the towel provided. It was quite an experience.
Mothers Day eve, the whole family gathered for dinner at the 'Mushroom Pot'. I cannot say I enjoyed the dinner because I do not eat Chinese mushroom. Ever since I was a child, I can not stand the smell of Chinese mushroom. I have tried to eat them but threw up everytime. I have accidentally ate them in very small amount, and had to immediately eat something strong to overcome the smell. But I do eat the lesser smelling mushroom like the white ones you eat with the salad. Despite the smelly mushroom, I enjoyed the company of the whole family. That saved the evening for me at least.
Had a pleasant meeting with my interior decorator and contractor, Gary, for my new home. He presented to us, my wife and son, his ideas for the our new home. He had some very good ideas and we had a lively discussion. He showed us his drawings and I quite like his ideas. So now we have decided what items of furniture we will retain and can visualise what the new home will be like. The idea of having timber flooring in the balcony, living and dining area and special tiles in the kitchen area is very good, except that it may be too expensive. However, I will have to see the costing before deciding. The upstairs will be timber or parquet.
At last I am going to have a work station. I will have my PC there with shelves for my files and books, and doors to close off the whole section. By the sides, there will be library shelves for my other books and objects of interest. I can finally sit down and write or do my own things. I will also retain my rosewood display cabinet of my micro magic collections, and his will now sit on the landing outside my bedroom upstairs.
My bedroom will have everything new, with two single beds and a walk-in wardrobe leading into a new bathroom. I have already been 'allocated' my bed which will be right next to the wall. So watch out for me when I get off the wrong side of the bed! My bathroom door will be special. Gary told me that it will be a 360 degree door, which opens one doorway to close another. This is to save limited space. My bedroom will have a sliding door. Reminds me of the Japanese woman kneeling to slide open the door, then shuffling inside to close it.
Permission has been granted for us to instal a toilet downstairs. So this will be enclosed next to the kitchen. A separate kitchen will be built inside a glass enclosure facing the windows. A centre island will be where we also cook, eat and entertain, incorporating some of the new kitchen concept. My son wants the wine cooler inside this.
The dining room will have my present round table and chairs. Against the wall will be my rosewood cabinet. Blocking the staircase will be my work station and library.
I always value my privacy. To stop people from looking inside, Gary has suggested to have the lower section of my main window fitted with fixed metal louvre. Above this, the louvre can open and close to let the air in. Good idea.
All in all, Gary has worked on a semi colonial decor and we still have many things to tie up before the final drawing. We have bought the sofa set of leather seats with recliners with option for an additional single or double recliner. Slowly the new home is taking shape and the renovations will start in a month's time. Given only three days for hacking, the whole process will take two months to complete.
I always welcome friendly and constructive comments from readers to my blog. It is meant to be light hearted and I am happy if readers enjoy reading. By these comments, I know that at least someone is reading my blog. Unfortunately, lately someone from the Philippines has been posting remarks and advertisement in my blog. I had to delete everyone of them. I hope whoever it is will stay away from my blog.
Till then....
It was the first time I visited the place, and saw the myriads of aquarium fishes being bred and sold, even exported to other countries. The cute baby koi swam into my hand as I placed it into the water. So tame and friendly. Seeing the tropical fishes, reminded me of my young boy passion of keeping an aquarium. (See my post 'Rasbora Heteromopha').
Venturing inside, my grandchildren were catching longkang fish for a fee. Then there were these groups of adults sitting with their feet inside the water. I discovered that they were letting the sucker fishes nibble at the dead skin on their feet. Sounded very unhygienic.
After some persuasion from my daughters, I decided to give it a go. After paying $10 for half an hour, I rolled up my pants and sat soaking my feet underwater. Moments later, a swarm of dark grey fishes charged towards my feet and started to nibble away. Keeping very still, the fishes were all over my feet. I felt ticklish. I was hoping that they will nibble away my painful corns.
There were some young ladies seating nearby and they were giggling away like little girls. Both my wife and daughter were seating next to me and they had their fair share of nibbling. After a full 30 minutes, we got up and dried our feet with the towel provided. It was quite an experience.
Mothers Day eve, the whole family gathered for dinner at the 'Mushroom Pot'. I cannot say I enjoyed the dinner because I do not eat Chinese mushroom. Ever since I was a child, I can not stand the smell of Chinese mushroom. I have tried to eat them but threw up everytime. I have accidentally ate them in very small amount, and had to immediately eat something strong to overcome the smell. But I do eat the lesser smelling mushroom like the white ones you eat with the salad. Despite the smelly mushroom, I enjoyed the company of the whole family. That saved the evening for me at least.
Had a pleasant meeting with my interior decorator and contractor, Gary, for my new home. He presented to us, my wife and son, his ideas for the our new home. He had some very good ideas and we had a lively discussion. He showed us his drawings and I quite like his ideas. So now we have decided what items of furniture we will retain and can visualise what the new home will be like. The idea of having timber flooring in the balcony, living and dining area and special tiles in the kitchen area is very good, except that it may be too expensive. However, I will have to see the costing before deciding. The upstairs will be timber or parquet.
At last I am going to have a work station. I will have my PC there with shelves for my files and books, and doors to close off the whole section. By the sides, there will be library shelves for my other books and objects of interest. I can finally sit down and write or do my own things. I will also retain my rosewood display cabinet of my micro magic collections, and his will now sit on the landing outside my bedroom upstairs.
My bedroom will have everything new, with two single beds and a walk-in wardrobe leading into a new bathroom. I have already been 'allocated' my bed which will be right next to the wall. So watch out for me when I get off the wrong side of the bed! My bathroom door will be special. Gary told me that it will be a 360 degree door, which opens one doorway to close another. This is to save limited space. My bedroom will have a sliding door. Reminds me of the Japanese woman kneeling to slide open the door, then shuffling inside to close it.
Permission has been granted for us to instal a toilet downstairs. So this will be enclosed next to the kitchen. A separate kitchen will be built inside a glass enclosure facing the windows. A centre island will be where we also cook, eat and entertain, incorporating some of the new kitchen concept. My son wants the wine cooler inside this.
The dining room will have my present round table and chairs. Against the wall will be my rosewood cabinet. Blocking the staircase will be my work station and library.
I always value my privacy. To stop people from looking inside, Gary has suggested to have the lower section of my main window fitted with fixed metal louvre. Above this, the louvre can open and close to let the air in. Good idea.
All in all, Gary has worked on a semi colonial decor and we still have many things to tie up before the final drawing. We have bought the sofa set of leather seats with recliners with option for an additional single or double recliner. Slowly the new home is taking shape and the renovations will start in a month's time. Given only three days for hacking, the whole process will take two months to complete.
I always welcome friendly and constructive comments from readers to my blog. It is meant to be light hearted and I am happy if readers enjoy reading. By these comments, I know that at least someone is reading my blog. Unfortunately, lately someone from the Philippines has been posting remarks and advertisement in my blog. I had to delete everyone of them. I hope whoever it is will stay away from my blog.
Till then....
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