LG Scarlet TV & Home Theatre System

This evening, we went to IMM to meet up with Sebasten to discuss the final details for our featured wall in the living room. We were at a stalemate as we had not decided on which home theatre system to buy and Sebasten was unable to fix the height of the gap on the wall and the layout of the speakers for the home theatre system.

Hence, we went to Best Denki to take a look. We were actually looking for LCD TV but a salesman recommended a LG Scarlet plasma TV to us. He told us it is a new arrival model and it has won the Consumer Electronic Show 2008 Best of Innovations Award. It also has a built-in HD receiver box and invisible speakers which are personally tuned by Mr Mark Levinson (world renowned high end audio expert). The price was reasonable and the design of the TV is very chic! We went on to look at home theatre systems and found a LG model which is coincidentally also tuned by Mr Mark Levinson. The design of the TV and home theatre system complement one another. The sound produced from the 10.1 speakers is also superb! There is extended warranty and some free gifts for the 2 products and we finally bought them.

We went home after that and Sebasten told us to source for the light for the living room so that his electrician can start work on our house. We can't wait for the renovation to be completed hehe!

The Hunt Begins

Today, Jer and I decided to shop for the furniture and electric appliances for our house. I printed out a list of items which we are going to buy and Jer borrowed her brother's car. We had lunch at Jer's house and started our hunt!

First, we went to Bukit Panjang Plaza Harvey Norman. We browsed around the store for refrigerator, washing machine, TV, fan and home theater system. We shortlisted a few and I went on to write down the model numbers and other details. Jer was saying that I was very bold and claimed that those salesmen were all staring at me. Well, the store never placed a sign to forbid me from doing so. So, who cares haha!

After spending an hour there, we went to the 18@TradeHub 21 located along 18 Boon Lay Way. We had often seen the building during the MRT journey from Jurong East towards Clementi but we do not know exactly where it is. So I drove around the vicinity of IMM and managed to find it.

We went to a couple of furniture stores and kiv a few. Until we went to a store, Sincere Furniture Centre, and was attended to by Joe. Joe told us that some of the furniture we had seen so far are actually from his store. He could give us a cheaper price as he is the supplier. We saw a really nice shoe cabinet and coffee table. We also tried on a sofa and it was very comfortable. But tagged along with the comfort was a dear price. We bargained and finally, we got some discounts. We even ordered a bed frame from him. We need the bed frame in a hurry as we are almost reaching the auspicious date to "an chuang". In our Chinese customs, this is to set the bed in the room to get good blessings for the couple.

After I had paid the deposit, we went home. Poor me had caught a cold since morning and had been sneezing non-stop... I then went home to prepare for night shift.

Next, we have to pester Sebasten to start our renovation asap or we won't be able to make it to the "an chuang" date.

Aircon Servicing

I reached home from night shift at around 11am. Sebasten had called me to notify me that his aircon guys would be coming to my new house to service the aircons and if I am free, I could go take a look at how they service and ask them questions. He told me to go between 3pm to 3.30pm. I took a bath and went to take a nap at 12pm.

My alarm rang at 3pm and I struggled to get out of my bed. I did not sleep well but nevertheless, I got up and went to my new house.

I reached there at 3.20pm and there were 2 guys servicing the aircons. They told me that the inverter system is fake as the energy consumption is the same as a normal aircon system. They showed me the filters which had been chemical-washed and explained to me what they did earlier.

Apparently, Sebestan had told them that I am his best friend and asked them to do a good job for me. Haha, I think I only know Sebasten for only a few months. Anyway, they left at 4pm, leaving behind a clean aircon system and some dirt on the floor. I was tired and didn't mop the floor.

I went home straight as I have a team makan session in the evening at Royal Carousel at Scotts Royal Plaza. Sigh, I'm so tired...

SAW V (my ver)

Yesterday, I woke up in the morning and swept and mopped the floor of my house. The night before, I met Yixiang while I was going home and borrowed two saws from him to aid me in my upcoming task of removing the platform in my new house.

I met Jer after her driving lesson to go to our new house. I brought along 2 stools, some newspapers and the 2 saws with some huge plastic bags. First, we removed the curtains. My sister had expressed her interest in the curtains as they matched her house walls. We packed them into two plastic bags.

Next, we began to work on the major task - the platform. I took out some newspaper and placed them on the floor. Then I took a saw and began sawing and sawing. The noise created from the sawing was deafening. Maybe it is because my house is empty and there are echoes. I continued to saw and suddenly, the blade snapped and broke into 2... Luckily, the saw blade can be replaced easily. So I took the other saw and continued. Jer offered to help but I told her that it was too much for her to handle. Jer was supposed to go to her colleague's house for Hari Raya celebration and I told her to go. She was reluctant to leave as she was worried that I could not cope with the sawing.

After Jer left, I continued a while more and I decided to buy a decent handsaw. I went to Bukit Gombak Central to have my lunch and bought a cheap handsaw and a replaceable saw blade from a shop. It has a few different saw blades that can be attached to the handle.

I went back with the new handsaw and fitted the replaceable saw blade to Yixiang's saw. Then I opened the packaging of the handsaw. While I was removing the saw blades, I realised that the plastic handle had some cracks... I was too lazy to return to the shop to change and resumed on my sawing. The handsaw was working fine but I was still sawing in a curve angle. So I shifted the heavy platform by myself and changed the handsaw blade. Then another thing broke... The handsaw handle broke and I could not use it to saw anymore.

I had been sawing for more than 3hrs and I just need to saw another 5cm to cut the platform into 2. So I began to think and tried to break the platform with brute force. I finally succeed by holding one end of the platform and jumping on it twice. I carried the platform aside and began to clear up the sawdust. Even when the platform had been sawed into 2, they were still quite heavy because of the size.

I carried the platform 1 by 1 down the stairs and went into the lift. Then I had to struggle with the lift door as it kept closing while I was trying to move the platform into it. Still I managed to pull through.

I went back to the house and began to sweep and mop the floor of the entire house. It has been a month since the floor has been mopped and the pail of water was really black. A look at my handphone and it was already 5.15pm.

I packed up and went home for my dinner. After that, I returned the 2 saws to Yixiang before going to work night shift.

I was so tired from all the sawing but at least I saved $150! SAW V my way! Time to K.O. into my dreamland!

Colours

Today, we went to IMM to meet Sebasten at his office to choose the colours for our house.

I met Jer at Jurong East MRT Station and we waited for the shuttle bus. We waited for about 20 mins before the bus finally arrived. We were both hungry and I thought of having dinner first before meeting Sebasten. But Jer said it would only take a while to choose the colours which I doubted so.

We went straight to Sebasten's shop and began to choose the colours. We ended up spending more than 2 hrs there... Sebasten had even recommended a bed to us and the price is still affordable.

After choosing all the colours for the house, we went to MOS Burger to grab a bite. We shared a meal because Jer's mum had cooked dinner for her. We took bus no 188 home and when Jer reached home, she told me she wanted to skip her dinner as she was tired.

I went home after that.

The colours are finally chosen and the renovation can finally start. We can't wait for it to be completed!

The 3Fs -- Fitness, Food & Furniture

I woke up at 9am today to wake Jer up for her driving lesson just in case she overslept. I had confused her lesson time by an hour but it is always better early than late. =P I had a light breakfast and began my weekly routine of sweeping and mopping the house.

At 11.30am, Jer finished her lesson and called me. I had wanted to go for yoga but she suggested to go for gym @ Planet Fitness instead. I'm fine with it since it has been a long long time I last entered a gym. I packed my bag before going to her house.

We went to the Planet Fitness @ Vivo City. We got our locker keys and went to change. When I came out of the locker room, Jer was already being tackled by one of the personal trainers there. As such, I went to do some workout by myself and constantly checking on her before she made any moment of impulse decision. After a while, Jer was sitting at a table talking to the trainer. Seeing that and knowing what they were discussing, I went over and looked at what the trainer was writing on a piece of paper. I remembered a portion of the content and here goes:
1s -- $120
12s -- $100
24s -- $85 (it should be around this figure)
36s -- $75
For those of you who do not understand the above, do follow me:
's' represents a session of 1 hour and the price next to it indicates the cost for per session.

I told Jer that it was too dear and reminded her that when I signed up for personal training at True Fitness, I got a scolding from her. The package I signed up was only $321 with GST included for 6 sessions. Compared to the one quoted by the trainer, it is a difference of earth and heaven! The trainer was very persuasive and I began to debate with him on the issue of signing up. He does make a point on the things he said but I can provide FOC personal training for Jer whom nobody will be willing to do so haha! So in the end, we left the trainer sulking at the table while we continued with our workout. We also agreed that the trainer doesn't look so fit himself as he has the biggest stomach among all the trainers. Muhahaha!

We actually wanted to exercise for an hour but ended up spending 2 hours on it. We went to wash up and had an early dinner at HK Kim Gary restaurant. A look at the menu stunned us almost immediately. There are so many food to choose from and the food mostly have cheese on it! My favorite yeah! We ordered the followings:

1) One Cheese & Bacon baked with Potato Skin

2) One French Fries in Seaweed Flavour

3) One Baked Rice Chicken Chop in Twin Sauce

4) One Supreme Pork Chop Curry with Rice

The food came and we had a hearty and sinful dinner. There goes all the training we had put into earlier on... Haiz..

After dinner, we went to IMM to shop for furniture. During the bus journey, Jer was so tired that she dozed off. When we alighted at the designated bus stop, Jer wanted to go to The Furniture Warehouse @ Osim Distribution Centre level 1 just opposite IMM. Jer wanted to buy the furniture already but I felt that it was too early to do so until we have finalize the colours for the house. We did see a few that we like but we just KIV first. Next we went to IMM to take a look. We found similar furniture selling in the shops but the price is slightly higher. =( We had wanted to ask Sebasten to bring us to the shop where he wanted to show us the bed frame but he was attending to a couple.

So we went home and Jer decided to sleep early.

Finalizing of Renovation

Since the last meeting with Sebasten, we have arranged for an appointment at his office at IMM today at 8pm. We are curious on what kind of design he will come up with for our living room. Hopefully it will be something that we fancy. *x fingers*

I met up Jer at Jurong East MRT at 7.20pm. We took the shuttle bus to IMM and we waited for about 10 mins. By the time we arrived at IMM, it was almost 8pm. We quickly went for a quick dinner at LJS (Jer's fav) before going up to Sebasten's shop.

Sebasten was alone in his shop. We did not really took a good look at the shop the first time we passed by. The theme of the shop is black with a modern touch. What surprised us is that the ceiling of the shop was uniquely designed with mirrors affixed unevenly. Now that is something creative!

Sebasten wasted no time to show us the design which was already placed on the table. He showed us the features of the design and recommended some colours to go with it. He also took out some material samples for us to get a better picture of the colours combination. The design gave us a very homely feeling and we liked it! We discussed for some time and time really passed in a blink of the eye.

Almost 2 hrs passed and we finally touched on the quotation. The quotation plus GST will cost us slightly more than $11k. The most expensive items are the wardrobes and living room feature wall. I was telling Jer that we can buy a cupboard for the study room instead of building a wardrobe which is definitely cheaper and more practical. She was pondering for a while and finally she agreed with me. Jer had taken into consideration that besides the renovation, we still need to buy furnitures and electronic stuff for the kitchen.

So after some bargaining with Sebasten, we finally got the quotation at close to 9k with GST included. Jer had wanted me to use my credit card for the deposit to earn points but alas, Sebasten's shop does not have any card machine. Luckily, I had brought along my cheque book and signed off 1k for the deposit.

Next Thursday, we will be going back to Sebasten's shop again to finalize the colours for the house. I had asked for the paints catalog from Sebasten since I saw quite a few on display (it's free from the paints company anyway!). We bid our farewell to Sebasten and left IMM.

I have to remove the wooden platform in the living room which was left over to us by the previous owners by next week before the renovation begins. I need to ask my uncle's help to cut and remove the platform as it is impossible to get rid of it by myself. Haiz...

So far, everything is still going according to my planned schedule. Just hope that there will be no major hiccups. *x fingers again*