The reno begins

Saturday, I went to the flat with my daddy. Actually we were supposed to meet our ID Paul, MD of Six Dimension Design & Decor, at 11.30, but I was running late so got Dad to drive me down. And since the last he had seen the flat was in darkness cos the electricity had not been turned on, I pulled him along upstairs to take a look.

Here's Paul & us - we got him to take down a cupboard door to symbolise the start of our reno before the Lunar 7th month. Better to be safe =P

Stepped into the house and got a shock. To paraphrase Val - it looked like something out of a war movie. Paul got the approval to hack on Wed. By Sat, all the major hacking had been completed. Renovation had officially begun!

Thanks to our previous (lousy) experience with contractors who did our respective parental homes, and the horror stories from the older folks, the speed at which Paul's people completed the hacking was a pleasant surprise. Also, the tiles for toilet and kitchen had all been ordered right after we met him to discuss on Wed night, and delivered by Sat, and so had the bricks for the low structure where the sink would rest. Pretty amazing.

Paul presented us with a work schedule and kinda kancheong-ed the shit out of us by telling us we needed to shop for toilet & kitchen sinks, toilet bowl AND the aircon units by coming Sat. So, Big & I spent 3 hours rushing from Marine Parade to Mountbatten to Suntec (to get the Matrix) to Changi/Telok Kurau to Geylang Serai to Geylang looking at toilet & kitchen sinks and toilet bowls...By the 4th shop, I was bored. At the same time, Big was on the phone with 3 aircon contacts - 2 from Paul, and 1 from Daniel - all confusing us becos we hadn't the faintest idea which brand of aircon is best. Big's dad is a fan of "tradition" so he has no experience with aircon units whatsoever. My experience with aircon is a bit outdated cos the ones at home have been around for 15 years now, so we had problems...

Our little outing was such an adventure too. Becos Big had to try figure out directions to the shops in Telok Kurau from both parents at the same time (each giving different directions naturally), while I sat by petting Dinky and trying not to laugh. Men and women do see things very diferently. They communicate them differently too *snigger*

Tiles
We spent last Sun morning shopping for kitchen & toilet tiles with Paul at Balestier. After a while, they all started to look the same. Fortunately, we did manage to short-list a couple, and then Paul left us to argue over whether we should use mosaic (for a more stylish contemporary look) or normal coloured textured tiles (for a more homely but bright feel). The latter won. Our tiles are from:

Lian Seng Hin, 568A Balestier Rd, DID: 6252 2222
Hafary, 560 Balestier Rd, DID: 6250 1369

The sales people in Hafary are a lot more useful than the pretty little Malaysian xiao mei at Lian Seng Hin whose only duties were to follow us around with a clipboard and note down preferences.

Next up - the boring kitchen & toilet stuff
Paul told us - DON't buy furniture now. It was quite amusing. I suppose he's had to deal with many couples buying couches when they were supposed to buy sinks. Hardly surprising really. Couches are more interesting than sinks, unless you're Melvyn.

Contrary to expectations, the 3 hours on Sat spent doing an Amazing Race of sorts in the East were actually productive, although I still think you need to sit on the bowl to test its suitability.

Thanks to the gal at Sparco (Telok Kurau), we learnt that the 6.5" that Paul told us about the toilet bowl referred to the measurement of the, er, pipe (?) connecting the toilet bowl to the sewage and not the toilet bowl itself. We did short-list at least 2 cute little sinks for the toilet. It can't be very big cos the toilet isn't exactly palatial. But then again, after a while, they all start looking the same. AND we found a very reasonably priced stove+hood combi at Geylang. AND a very reasonably priced granite kitchen sink there too. I've been a fan of granite sinks since my mum bought one for her kitchen 15 years ago. Unlike aluminium/stainless steel sinks, you don't get the teeth-grating clinks and chinks when you put china/porcelain/glass utensils in it. And you don't have to worry about scratch marks either.

Will update on the name of the shops mentioned above once we decide on which to patronise. Till then, NO shopping for couches (damn).

The hunt for the perfect patch

Big & I started patch-hunting some time last year.

Some of our friends found this amusing becos he had yet to offer the ring. But, to us, this was for purely practical reasons. We are both fussy about housing and very particular about location, so it only made sense to start hunting early.

And we were right. We spent a good 6 or more months checking out flats, first on our own, and then with Torrenn Tnay, our very patient housing agent. We highly recommend his services. He's very professional, and most importantly, not pushy.

Locations

Our very first preferred locations were in town - Waterloo, Bras Basah, Lavender, even Crawford. We gradually drifted closer to (his) home - Bedok, Eunos, Tg Rhu, Old Airport Rd, and Marine Parade. I refused to consider Tampines - too crowded. And he wasn't keen on Pasir Ris - too far.

I was all for Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon, Boon Keng, even Potong Pasir (where we would definitely get to vote!). I had grown up in Thomson, and spent most of my childhood hanging out at AMK, so there was some emotional attachment to the place. Similarly, I've spent the last 15 years in Serangoon, and quite like it there. I don't like Toa Payoh, by the way. Itz too congested.

But Big is an Easterner (to him, driving to AMK is like navigating Malaysia), and you know what they say about Easterners - once an Easterner, you never really want to move out of it - itz true.

Many discussions, and much text messaging, later, I agreed to give up the Central area for Marine Parade - altho there's no MRT in the area yet...

The ideal flat

3-room, 4-room, corner unit, corridor unit, facing units, upgraded units, seaview, high floor, low floor, mid floor...I can safely say we've seen them all....

This too was the subject of much debate. I wanted a seaview - I like the sea breeze, and I like the view. And anyway, wasn't that the whole of point of living in Marine Parade?? Big said - sea view - be prepared for lots of rust. *grumble*

I wanted a corner unit - more privacy and more space. He had to agree after our first viewing of one.

And then there was the thing about renovation. We saw beautifully renovated flats that looked like resorts; we saw those which still had the original arched doorways (with tiles). And in each of these, we had something to object to. I started to wonder if there was such a thing as the "perfect place".

There were a few instances when other people offered for flats we were keen on just as we called Torrenn to offer. And every missed opportunity was an increase in frustration, a further dip in morale, a further lowering of spirits.

On retrospect, itz quite understandable that we took so long to get a flat. We had many specifications - certain areas in Marine Parade only, corner unit, NS facing, somewhat renovated, nice neighbourhood and feel, within budget.


Our final decision was made maybe 30 min after viewing the unit. It is a corner unit, somewhat renovated, with nice marble flooring, not very lived-in becos the previous owner (a single lady)only lived there full-time for the past 2 years, NS facing. It doesn't have a seaview, but faces the main road and is just on the right level to overlook a sea of greenery. Itz right across the road from Tao Nan Primary, 10 minutes from ECP and Parkway Parade, and maybe 5 min from the library. And we have lotsa friends in the neighbourhood; I have 1 colleague in the next block, another some 5 min walk away, and Gerard nearer to Parkway. And of cos, my boss round the corner...

On the left is the living, with the previous owner's stuff. And the kitchen with the old cabinets.

It isn'y a "Wow!" flat, but it is pleasant, and it does grow on you, I suppose that's even better than "Wow!"

Ahoy Pumpkins!

You know how we all feel this urge to chronicle our experiences (or is it just me)? Some of us write, some of us shoot, some of talk, and some of do everything at once.

Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch Chronicles.

Our ardous journey to building a patch just for us.

Meet the Pumpkins:

Big Pumpkin ("Big") - the male, naturally, 31+++ years old as of time of post, creative director

Small Pumpkin ("Tiny") - the female, 3 days shy of 30 (O.M.G!), communications manager (that explains the urge to chronicle and communicate all the time)