Renovation

Renovation has its up and down, some mistakes here and there but as long as they are rectified, we are okay with it. Anyway the whole process is very rushing since we have to move out the rented flat soon and we can't complain much. Most importantly, we are quite easy going! Hahahaha.. Actually if time permit, hubby would get them to do it as agreed. Oh well..

Can't blame or pin point their mistakes since we are not able to give them time to rectify some miscommunication. We will just live with it but next time (if there is next time but I don't think I will want to move again, I don't really like to move as there are too much stuffs to do).

As we want to spend within budget (already borrowed 20k renovation loan but end up we got 40k loan, reason stated in next paragraph), we decided to purchase the rest of our furnitures from Ikea. We didn't buy everything cheap in Ikea, overall we spent over 10k there. And also we made sure we really like the design before purchasing, we don't buy for the sake of buying. Only thing I don't like is the shoes cabinet, quality not really good. I paid over $100 for it and yet it started to peel off (the laminate). The kids chose their own wardrobe door colour, only the youngest will be using drawer cabinet brought over the old house since he's still too young for a wardrobe and we planned to let him take over his older brother wardrobe which is slightly shorter than the rest while the older brother upgrade his. We bought pax wardrobe for master bedroom, look good but the bad thing is there is no lock drawer. Never realised we have so many books, took 2 big shelves, 1 thin tall shelf and 3 waist height shelves to put all our books in. I love books, I just can't resist buying them, hehe.

From the beginning, we discussed and decided to borrowed 20k renovation loan. Initially he made up his mind to borrow from CIMB as he compared it with OCBC and their interest rate is lower. But right after he submitted his application, the interest was adjusted and it was higher than OCBC. He wanted to try OCBC but because of time restrict, he couldn't wait for OCBC to process the application and had to go ahead with CIMB. The interior design company was chasing after us for first payment, we didn't want to pay upfront with cash first and get refund later stage. (To be frank, I heard too many horror stories about renovation so I am really worried they will run away with my money). As this is the first time we borrowed from the bank, we thought the way the banks work are the same throughout but before we know it, OCBC had sent us a bank cheque to our new home without informing or signing acceptance letter (OCBC actually doesn't require to sign any acceptance letter. Once you go OCBC to apply for loan, they will mail you the cheque if approved). Going to make full repayment for CIMB this month, can't afford to pay both for the next 3 years. Only a few hundreds penalty, better than to pay few thousands interest.

YaYa

Purchase List

Chose baron toilet bowl because I like the feeling of sitting on it. The sales lady asked us to sit on all their display to see which is more comfortable. And this design is easier to clean. 

Master bathroom is big enough to put this type of cabinet, didn't want to build in as they are made of wood so not easy to maintain in a moist environment.

Bought 707 water heaters for both bathrooms. After some researching, wanted to change to those with auto cutoff if there is electricity leakage type heater but the shop does not sell those. Well, my only choice will be change it after few years later.

Bought Fujioh hood, hob and oven. They have a bundle package for 3 so we didn't think too much and get them. Seriously, I can't bear to spend few thousand on an oven and I haven't really start to bake. Anyway I feel every oven will do its job, just how accurate they are. Tested the oven with oven thermometer, seems to be quite accurate, only slightly hotter. Hob works as described, no complains about it.Not sure if the hood works, I hardly deep fry any stuffs. 

Not much choice for hood as I wanted one with strong suction since I have an open concept kitchen. Also this is the only one that is not too huge or too wide. Hubby and me are tall so hoods that are around the same depth as the bottom cabinet will get our heads hit on the hood frequently or we can't see the food properly. Anyway SLM 900 looks quite pretty and slim, not bulky to look at. 

Hubby chose FG 3793 SVSS hob. He said having the other 2 burners further away from wok burner will be more practical, I have to agree on that. We have to consider the space the wok needed as it's big. The small burner we usually use it on small pots or for soup.

I love FBO-38 Fujioh oven design, initally chose FBO-9 but decided to change to the one I love and also the glass is bigger, easier to monitor my food being cooked.

Wanted to get it in stainless steel but it was out of stock so I have to choose between copper and beige. In the end took beige because the sample colour on the website looks deep red for copper and I couldn't find any stock photo or real life photos for either. I can only choose the safer colour to match my kitchen.

 

Bought our TV and sound bar a month earlier before we collect keys because it was on sales and there are few hundreds discount. Who want to pay more right?

Bought quite a number of stuffs from taobao because they are cheaper there even after adding in shipment cost and GST. So we never thought of buying lights here, the price is really expensive. I know there is a risk buying there but we could save quite a significant amount. Took many days to find a suitable design for the new flat, it was not easy! He wanted track lights for the house, the type with no wire seen from the outside (easy cleaning purpose) and it has to be COB type. Finding the right watts for home use was not a easy task, most of them are for commercial use (the type that he wants) so they are too glaring and bright. After days of searching in Taobao, finally found what we want. Chosen 10W in natural light bulb, actually should be get 7W instead.

Found a suitable dining light as well, look pretty and simple enough. Don't want any fancy design, I will be the one cleaning it so no.

We bought 2 simple ceiling lamps for the common rooms, they are from ikea. Couldn't find the stock photo in the website, we saw it at their store and find them suitable so bought them home.

As for toilets, yard and store room lights, I bought them from Taobao. Very cheap, only cost less than $4 each. Yes, you read it right! Can't complain much with that price, can't find it anywhere. Doesn't look as pretty as photo but still able to accept it due to the super low price.

Since I was shopping at Taobao, I bought numerous other stuffs from there for the new home. To name a few like laundry basket and key holder, I can't list down everything because there are too many of them. Haha! I admit I am a shopaholic, I love to buy at the comfort of my home.

YaYa

The discussion of home design (Part 3)

Never know that it can be so tiring to just liaise with ID, there is so much things to decide and discuss. Finally saw the 3D design for my kitchen and we are really trilled about it. Love the colour combinations, we intend to keep the colours chosen by the designer. The top cabinet is made of glossy material, in white while the bottom cabinet is made of matt material, with checker pattern on it. Chose KompacPlus(boston cherry)  as the main cabinet worktop while the island counter used Quartz (frozen white). The only area we changed was there will be no microwave, no fridge kerb, oven to be at the same level as bottom worktop and the laminate for the tall unit to be in matt colour instead of in 2 different materials since my kitchen is an open concept so it will look weird in my opinion.

After that week of confirming the laminates, we went down to hafary at Balestier Road. Kitchen is easy to decide since we are following the colour in the drawing but not easy for the bathrooms since we have no idea what should we choose, there are so many tiles to look at! We decided to get the floor tile colour similar to the kitchen floor tile since both of us like grey. I get to decide for the floor tiles in master bathroom while he decides for common toilet. I let him choose the wall tiles then I will look after that if I like it as well.

This is kitchen plus yard floor tile and kitchen wall tile. We removed the kerb at service yard entrance so it will be easier for us to move in and out, especially for the little sotong ball who always tripped. The wall tile is for the exposed area around the fridge. It looks plain in the photo but actually it's not, we chose the design that is within the tile (forgotten the name for it since it was months ago when I went there). Pretty circles in it and because it's smooth on the outside, it will be easy to clean.

Hubby likes marble like tiles and they look not bad so we chose that for both bathrooms. He chose this design for the common bathroom, I feel the one I chose look better. :p

I chose this design for master bathroom, really love the design.

The drawings for the bathrooms are finally out after we chose the tiles. Mainly to let us know how it will look like when they are install, so exciting. Actually I only realised at the later stage that it was for the tiler to see properly where to put the tile, a colour copy was stick on the wall for viewing purpose.

YaYa

Fwd: The discussion of home design (Part 2)

The flat condition is not bad but the build ins are not so in the first place, we planned to tear down everything except the flooring in the living and bedrooms as they are broken marbles. Felt it's a waste to hack them off so we decided to keep them. The kitchen looked very dark so told myself I am not going to use dark colours there otherwise I might need to switch on lights even in the day!

Got my floor plan from my agent. Rooms are big, so big that it's enough to put a queen size bed in both common rooms. I prefer having big rooms for the kids than a big living room, they need space to sleep in.

I always love the idea of having a kitchen island so requested for 1 for my kitchen. In order to accommodate the island, we hack down the half wall at the kitchen entrance. Initially we planned to keep the original design of the kitchen, doing a L shaped cabinet with a bar top but after a few discussion with hubby, we think that the bar top is a waste of space and under utilized area as we have young kids. It's dangerous if they try to climb onto the bar stool, it could injured them.

We will be doing top cabinets at all areas in the kitchen, chimney hood like this with such a big open storage is a place to collect dust. It's as good as not having them since whatever stuffs I put there, I would have to clean them every few other day. 

This is the living area. Found it weird to have the tv console placed at that angle, won't it be difficult to watch it if we are sitting on the sofa? And also, the unit is a corridor unit so the lights from outside will be reflected on the tv. Re-wiring the whole house as well, I don't like the idea of continuing using almost 20 years old wiring and power points. The previous rented flat we stayed in was in old estate, I had seen a few cases of fire there. Both in HDB flats and shop house, I'm staying in my new place for good so I can't afford to wait for any accident to happen. Anyway it's a hassle to do renovation after moving in, too much dust to handle.

Intend to remove the door frame at service yard entrance, nothing much to be done here other than hacking the floor and the wall shelves down. Sure glad that the toilet entrance had been changed to service yard instead of in the kitchen, could always do with more cabinets in the kitchen. Haha! 

This is master bedroom. We had decide to do a mini walk in wardrobe area (with wardrobe doors. I can't stand dust and molds.) facing the main door. It will put at the partition area as shown in the photo. By arranging the wardrobe this way, I won't have to worry being seen by opposite block and it won't affect the person sleeping if the other party need to change or whatever. 

YaYa

The discussion of home design (Part 1)

The story continue..

We started to look for ID as long as the seller signed OTP, actually we didn't really go around to look for it. My sister is working as an interior designer so I got her to do it for me. Well, she can't be doing a bad job for her family member right? Haha

We discussed it long before I got my keys, to be exact, even before I went for first appointment. We know we won't have time to do that if we wait until we got the keys. We are really glad that sellers don't need extension and in fact, they were willing to agree a 6 weeks wait for second appointment instead of 8 weeks. Later I heard it from their agents that they had moved out just before the big day so it was very rushed for them too. Really appreciate their kindness! Although they weren't willing to help us to apply permit to start renovation a day after second appointment, I wasn't angry with them because we managed to get the keys earlier than we had expected so even I had to apply the permit myself, the works can be started earlier than we planned.

It was a tiring process to decide what we want to do for our home. Initially wanted to do quite a number of build in furniture, even created a mood board for it. But decided to do without them because they cost us more than 13k for these. In the end I used that money to buy ready made furniture for the whole house and it cost less than that!

Anyway I wasn't too upset about it since I never did any built in for my previous house too so doesn't really affect me and I also not sure if it will look as nice as I imagined or will it last since I have 5 kids and the youngest is only 2. I seriously don't want to spend so much on it and end up getting destroyed by them.

Kitchen will be in another post, I will write it when time allows me to do so.

A bookshelf with settee. Really love this because I have lots of books and this will not occupy space. But a similar design cost me more than 5k!

A settee beside the half length shoes cabinet. Look too cramped in the drawing so decide to forgo it as well.

My master bedroom. This was something I wanted to do but not exactly to what I want because I had to do it in L shaped (the wardrobe) instead. I didn't really like that because of the corner that will be difficult to access. The wardrobe with the dressing table cost me near to 4.5k. 

YaYa

My life for the past year

It has been 2 years since I visited my blog, I had totally forgotten about my blog. I even forgotten how to access the main setting at one point that I had to google for it, haha!

I have been busy, moved back to Singapore June last year because of hubby's work and we sold our home in JB. It was heartbreaking to do that because both of us love the home (that's why we bought it isn't it?) and it contain many memories of us (including the kids too!). 

After we moved here, I got him to apply for PR under family ties. I heard it was easier than using employment pass to apply for it. Anyway he has 3 sons who are Singapore Citizens already so for him to get PR, it should not be difficult. Took us 6 months to get the result and as expected, the application was approved (thank God!). By then, it was already February and it was really rush for us as our lease contract is ending in September so we had to prepare to find a flat as soon as possible. But we had to wait until he has the blue NRIC on hand before we can proceed to apply for HDB loan and even to view any flat. That push back till April!

We are really lucky, we found our dream flat on the first day of viewing and it was the first unit we viewed. Decided to get this unit after a few days of consideration. I knew that I will be looking for similar layout since it was what I want so don't see a point to look somewhere else. What if it doesn't look as good as this unit, what if? I don't want to take the risk to wait and miss the opportunity to take it, I will be staying there as long as I can. What I like was it was on high floor (only 2 units below the top unit), the flat is big enough to accommodate the big family of us and lastly I love the floor plan. Only thing was it was a corridor unit but on the hand, because of the windows, the flat look bright which I love. Anyway the flat faced North and sun doesn't shine in on both morning and night which I was really glad. It was really warm in the night last time in JB, we had to on aircon quite frequently. 

Viewed other units at Sembawang, most of them are not to my liking. Kitchen is too narrow, living room was humongous, weird design. Bedrooms are small other than master bedroom so it's not easy to put 5 kids in 2 rooms. We viewed all 5 room flats in Sembawang so that's the biggest size already! Only 1 layout I am quite keen but the kitchen and 2 rooms faced west and it's on the fifth floor. Though it's a corner unit, the path along the corridor is narrow and not easy to walk pass. I cannot imagine walking through it daily for many years down the road.

Will be jotting down the process of finding an ID and renovation another day, I'm tired! Haha..

Poor little Bennett has so many obstacles to go through.. When we thought he's done, another obstacle just pop up and get in his recovery road. He's back to nicu, got infection (still not sure where is the infection, awaiting for lab report but I read his diagnosis yesterday when I visited him, it's suspected sepsis), he literally fainted thrice in 2 days so he's back to using pure oxygen breathing aid that pump oxygen into him instead of him breathing on his own. Also he got himself 2 blood transfusions and hoping he won't need the third. I found out he needed surgery soon (after his infection is treated) to get his hernia off him. My heart feel so pain for him, his tiny little body has to endure so much pain and I know he is fighting so hard to live on, I wish I was the one who is suffering instead of him. My heart ache seeing the poke scars left on his hands, arms and feet, there were more than 10 of them. I'm not sure how many of them as I couldn't bear to count them one by one. Sometimes I caught myself thinking did I really make the right decision, am I the one causing all the suffering.. I hope, I really hope he can overcomes all the obstacles and go home with us soon. I am missing him so much..

My dear little Bennett, please remember to breathe always, it's a must to do that 24/7. I know you are not feeling well, I know you have lungs infection and you are anemia. But do not repeat what you did yesterday, stopped breathing and you don't even want to cry in the step down unit until you were moved back to nicu. Do you know this will terrified me, I'm really afraid to lose you. I can't imagine the life without you, I am so looking forward to the day you come home, the day I cam carry you for the whole day. Please continue fighting for yourself and for us, we love you darling.

Bennett finally start feeding, it mean he's getting a step closer to go home. Though he's drinking very little now (1ml every 6 hourly) but it's a big progress for us. He had a blood transfusion yesterday because he's anaemia, I really hope it's nothing serious. He has gone through a lot and feel so heart pain seeing his current condition. But he's getting better each day, he moved to step down unit 2 days ago. 

I ordered some preemie size clothings for him and now looking forward to receive them, getting him dress when he's discharge. I miss him so much.. 

I was so trilled when my baby arrived last wednesday, i had contraction and "show" that morning. As baby is in breech, I was scheduled to have c-section first thing in the morning at 8am. Happiness didn't last long.. On Sunday, hubby noticed his tummy is bloated and he mentioned to the doc when he met him in the evening. That night, we received a call from hospital at 10 plus asking hubby to go down. Immediately I know something is not right, I was worried and couldn't sleep. The doctor did a x-ray for my boy and found out the air is outside his intestine so he suspected there might be a tear somewhere. Hubby went back to hospital again at 6am and shortly after, he told me that baby needed operation. I was so shock, I didn't know what happened and I couldn't stop crying as I feared that I might lose him. I went down to the hospital straight, talked with hubby and doctor and finally we decided to let him go ahead with the operation. It took 2 hours and a hole was found in his small intestine, surgeon mended the hole but left the wound open for monitoring because there are some areas infected and yes, my baby boy has NEC. 

After reading online about NEC, it worries me a lot. Will my boy get well or will it take him away from us? I live in fear daily, worrying hospital will call and worrying how is my boy coping. Today is his 5th day after op, I can only live day by day, hoping everything will turn well. He hasn't start on feeding yet, not sure when he will be starting on it but I'm willing to take a step at a time as long as he's well. 

I have no one to talk to except here, I didn't want to add on trouble to anyone. I keep thinking did I make the wrong decision, did I bring so much trouble to everyone, did I.. There are so many questions questioning myself that I do not know how to answer them..

Baby comes to the world on Wednesday, two n half months earlier than expected. I had an infection on Tuesday, that's what I guess because I developed fever out of sudden and later in the night contraction set in followed by "show". He is very tiny, less than 1.5kg. I could only hear 4 soft cries in the operating theatre and he has been staying in nicu since then. As expected, his lungs are affected, he can hardly breathe on his own. After a couple of days, I was told there's minor bleeding in his brain, his heart is weak etc.. Did I cause him to suffer? Perhaps, maybe, most probably I did..

Why wasn't I am the one who is suffering?  Why I create so much trouble for everyone?  Why didn't I get to die at that time so all these will not happen at all. I wish I was the one who died then, I really don't mind at all.. I was wrong in the first place..

It has been quite awhile since I update about baby, well I was busy with the family. Baby is growing well, measure 1260 grams on 29 week. Gynae pushed my EDD a week earlier so now my estimated EDD is 31st May 2014. Time passes really fast, I'm going to see baby in a couple of months' time. 

Oh yea, I am still leaking as usual and need to change about 4 pads per day and I used normal pad nowadays because there are times where it leak quite a lot. Of course I bought more panties to change daily. 

I'm so excited that we are going to buy some baby items next month because there are some items spoilt like newborn dimple pillow and also checking with gynae on the next visit if I will be going for natural delivery or c-section. Need to get all the items by next month too.. :D

Started on antibiotics few days ago because I was tested to have infection and weirdly that my amniotic fluid had been turning from pale yellow to almost transparent now. I wonder if it will help to reseal back the rupture area, hmm.. Well, I am leaking more frequently now, from once a day to few times per day. I'm guessing it might because baby has grow bigger so urine more, baby gets better so he can urine more? I'm not sure but at least I feel at ease that he's passing urine even though I have to change my pads more frequently.

Really has to thanks my cousin who is helping me to buy everything I needed after delivery as she knows I can't go out. She even offered to send it all the way to my house so I do not need to send my dear to pick it up from her. Glad to have her as my cousin, my sister. ^_^

I was quite depressed for the past few days because amniotic fluid hasn't increased since 2 weeks plus ago and well, the way gynae said it's like we will be waiting for my baby to die. Which mum-to-be wants to do that?! At least I don't and really hope that miracle will happen on our baby. 

To keep my mind occupy, I start looking names for baby. As we are not very sure the gender, I will have to look for both baby girl and boy names. Unlike the past, this time I'm trying to find a name with meaning and wish it will be the same as baby. 

My target is at least drag to 32 weeks and I still have 9 more weeks to go. Of course, the longer I can keep baby in, the better it will be (I guess).

Time passes real fast, it has been 2 weeks since I first heard my baby's condition and tomorrow I will be going back for review. No, termination of the pregnancy will not be an option for me. There is no way I can make such cruel decision, I have no right to determine to let baby to stay alive or die. Baby will make his/her own decision, I will stay by his/her side whatever he/she think it's best for his/her own.
Finally confirmed by myself that my water bag is leaking, I found out last night when I was lying on sofa. I concentrated hard and can feel where I was leaking from and further confirm it when I'm sitting on the toilet bowl. Also this time round, I managed to smell it. Now I know what's going on, I will check with the docs what can be done now. Baby, be strong..

Went to Dr. Ng the next day after we visited NUH, he read the report and said it's not looking good but anyway he asked us to go back 2 weeks later for review. After hearing what he said, I went to Dr. Ding on Sunday partly to ask for second opinion and wanted to know how's baby after I found out stomach bubble not seen is not a good sign. I requested a scan and Dr. Ding did, he seemed to understand my worries and concern so I felt him more patient and not as rush as he used to during our normal visit. He took time to scan and find baby's organs, saw both kidneys and bladder with urine. At first he couldn't see his stomach bubble but found it after a few tries, he also scanned his heart and look normal. Baby look normal from the scanning so we are not sure why there is little amniotic fluid left. As long as baby is fighting, I'm not going to give up as well. I will fight with him till the end, we will definitely win this battle. Jia you baby!

Got my appt date fixed on the very next day I heard the news, called hubby to come home immediately. Went out in a rush and while on our way to NUH, I peeked at the referral letter since it's not sealed. For the first time, I realised how serious my condition was. It was written as 'severe oligohydramnios' which mean very low in amniotic fluid. My mind ran wild during that moment, what cause that/what happen/what i did wrongly for the past month? I have been praying to let everything to goes smoothly and let baby stay with me, I can't and not willing to give up my baby.

Waited hours at Fetal Care Centre only to realise the nurses there made a mistake, they thought I walk-in instead so my file was put at the very last place. When hubby told one of them we actually came here with an appt then they quickly moved us up. I wasn't angry or upset about that (I would make a fuss about it on a normal day), I don't mind waiting because of that mistake as long as I get to do the scan. I just want an answer, I just want to know the reason.

Finally my turn, went in and saw a 'sonographer and a professor in the room. Scanning wasn't easy because there is not much fluid in it and baby curled up, making it harder. Managed to see his kidneys and bladder (good news I guess), at 1 point was informed baby has a little lack of oxygen and slow heartbeat (I wonder could it due to my sleepless night and lack of appetite since the night before). Well to me at least baby has kidneys and bladder, the rest look quite normal but stomach bubble not seen. I will have to go back for review again on 3 February 2014, 2 long weeks is a real torture!

I had decided to jot down my pregnancy details this time because I do not wish to forget about it and I hope it will help other fellow mummies-to-be who might be in the same situation as me since I couldn't find similar case locally (Singapore) when I google.

On 19 January 2014, I went for my monthly checkup and it changed my life after this visit. Dr. Ding took longer than usual to scan, usually it will just take awhile to take measurement and he mentioned there's some amniotic fluid left, lucky is not empty. He wanted me to go NUH for a FA scan as well. At that point, I can't understand the situation and all I got was full of question marks because I remembered just last month I was informed that there is no detailed scanning done in Malaysia, if there's any problem I will be referred to Singapore. I kept thinking what's going on, what's happening because I could see my baby's heartbeat and movements.

I left the hospital confused, I told my hubby let's see Dr. Ng to get second opinion. All along I have been visiting 2 gynaes so that I could see baby more frequently so without a word we went over right away. During the scan, Dr. Ng agreed on what Dr. Ding had told us. There's only little amniotic fluid left compared to the last scan he did for me. This time hubby asked him what could the reason(s) this happened and the following answer was not what I were prepared to hear. "There are a few reasons causing this.. It might be fetal problem, placenta problem etc." i didn't manage to hear the rest because I heard termination if it's fetal problem. Dr. Ng was very kind to help us make an appt the next day as he had to make an appt for another patient. 

I went home with a heavy heart, google for information and found out if it's fetal problem like no kidneys/bladder, baby will have 0% surviving rate on outside. And at 20 weeks pregnant only, it might affect baby's lungs development as well. Read up a lot but nothing calm me down partly I won't know what's wrong until I go for FA scan. As expected, I had a sleepless night that day.

It has been such a long time since I wrote here. Have been really busy with the kids and the new addition, lele. Time passes real fast, another 2 weeks' time he will be 9 month old. It's like he's only arrive in our family yesterday.

I am so blessed to have dear with me. He always around to help and he is always there to let me vent my frustration on, hehe. I will try not to be so hot tempered and be nicer to him from now on.

Have not been active here for quite some time, been busy with baby. Time passes so fast, baby Lele is almost 6 months plus already and 2013 is here!

Registered Enen to piano lesson, she requested to go for it and I could see she is very interested in it. Well, next time she can teach Weiwei and Lele also. Hahahaha! Can save some money with 1 learning in class while the rest can learn from jiejie.

Dear is behaving like a kid nowadays, he bought comics secretly. -_- Don't know should laugh or cry, haha. But I don't mind for that since he spends all his time at home, accompanying the kids. Just take it as his new hobby. Because of this hobby, we bought a new cupboard to put his comics. 

Lele seems to start to learn how to crawl, can see him trying to put himself in the crawling position but can't move. So funny to see that, hehe.. It will be very busy for me once he master how to do that, pulling everything then! Going to tidy up the house this weekend, to prevent him from putting them into his mouth. :p