I went on a vessel visit with a few of my colleagues today and it was such an experience! It's our company's own chemical vessel and we had to take a 1/2 hour boat ride out and thankfully, instead of a rope ladder, we had a gangway to climb up on. 

We had a tour of the ship and by the time we returned to office, it was just in time to pack up my stuff and lock the room door. 

The hubs decided to drop by our new place again after work and we saw that the vinyl floor tiles were already in the house, ready to be laid. The oven and hood have been fitted into the cabinet kitchen and the toilet bowl has been fitted in the common bathroom. Some other works that have yet to be completed are the balcony and storeroom floor tiles, window grille for the balcony window, everything else for the master bathroom and the rest of the common bathroom, fixing of the kitchen sink, stove, master bedroom wardrobe, buffet cabinet, shoe rack and touch ups here and there. The service provider will be going down tomorrow to install the fibre broadband. And I'm really hoping that the handover can be carried out by end of next week.

We will order the storage bed this Saturday and 1 more item in our list will be the sofa set.

Here's a peek of our living room with the window and grilles up. We're loving the choice that we made for the colour. It definitely brightens up the house. Although we no longer have a 'view' to speak of, I'm glad we have trees just outside every room window. :)

The hubs dropped by JE yesterday afternoon about 3pm and reported that no progress has been made to the house and also, there was no one there! But early evening today, Jeremiah sent us some pictures of work being done and I was so excited that we decided to drop by to take a look.

Men at work. I'm glad that the 'laundry area' has got good space and not as cramped as I was worried it might be. However, I have a sinking feeling that the counter space or lack of is going to make food preparation a tight squeeze (pun intended). The laminate design also doesn't seem to be the one that I have chosen although Jeremiah 'assured' me that it's because this is now a bigger piece compared to the pint-size sample I saw in the catalogue.

What do you think of the laminate choice? The hubs thinks it's ok but I'm still not convinced that this is the one I chose. I'm going to have to take a look again at the bigger sample on the e-catalogue.

The plumber was around too and was fixing the toilet bowl at the common bathroom. I hope when we have the vanity cabinet fixed in there, there will still be good space in the bathroom. Window grilles have also been installed except for the ones at the balcony.

Jeremiah also passed us the catalogue for the vinyl floorings that we will be overlaying for the rest of the house. And according to him, all works should complete by end of next week. I personally feel that it could have been completed faster if there was work done in the house everyday. The hubs feel that the contractor's coordination isn't up to mark. Off-site carpentry works could have been done while tiling works was in progress.

Nevertheless, we await for the completion and settling back into our very own abode.

I handed the withdrawal letter to K's childcare centre today. Although 1 or 2 teachers know about it, some only heard of it but were waiting for the confirmation. K's current teacher, who happens to be the Senior Teacher in the school, commented that she'll miss her 'Star Pupil' as she always looks to K to answer her whenever she poses a question to the class.

Thankfully, the teachers reckon that K will have no problems adapting to the new school environment, given her personality. Honestly, we won't take her out if not for the move. Now, we hope the next school that we're enrolling her in is able to teach and groom her as well.

We dropped by JE to take a look at the WIP. We try to do it at least once a week, just so also to keep track of what is happening and Jeremiah says so that we can immediately rectify any works that need to be corrected.

However, we spent a very short time yesterday as the tiler was mixing cement for the floor tiles, the windows person was fixing up the windows, someone was smoking and the place was quite dusty. Jeremiah, having 2 young children of his own, was concerned with K breathing in all the toxic air. And so after checking out the bathroom door design and getting the lock sets for the bedroom and main doors today, we decided to go by again.

This time, there wasn't anyone around. The new windows are up except for the ones at the balcony. The bedrooms have frosted windows while the ones at the living room and kitchen are clear. We can already see the difference it is from the previous state where it was dark and I thought there wasn't enough light coming into the unit. The air-con trunking is up, the electrical wiring's ready to have lights fitted, the first coat of paint is done and so what's left is the carpentry, vinyl flooring and the last coat of paint. 

Here's a peek of the tiled up kitchen, common and master bathroom.

I feel discomfort in my throat again. If it gets worse, it'll be my 3rd sore throat in 3 weeks! I blame the confined living space that we have to make do for now. The room windows have never been opened by the SIL and even when it opens, I see from the neighbour's unit upstairs, it opens only at about 45 degrees. There is also a 2-layer blind and loads of stuff, ours and the nephew-in-law's, at the bay window.

We always switch on the fan and when we sleep, close the door and when it gets a bit too stuffy, we switch on the air-con. We or I am sleeping beside 2 suitcases, boxes and bags of our other stuff. The hubs commented that the room smells bad when he doesn't seem to notice the moldy smell near the washing machine. I think I must have breathed in a whole lot of mildew when I put the clothes to wash and when I removed them to launder yesterday evening.

Are my expectations really that high? I just want a clean and neat environment to stay in. House-proud, for that matter. And I hope the hubs cooperates especially since we are going to move into a much bigger unit. 

I really can't wait to move back to our own place. I can't wait to start being the mistress of the house. I can't wait to try out the air-fryer, cook on my new stove and oven, do the laundry and use the new laundry system. Like a child who can't wait to play with his new toy, I can't wait to play with mine!

We invited the youngest BIL and family with the youngest SIL's mom to dinner on Saturday. When arranging with the BIL, the BIL suggested to the hubs about bringing their mother along to which his brother brushed him off. The youngest SIL related this to me and said that the youngest BIL even told his brother to 'forget it'. 

Having said this, the PILs estate has been in the news a lot lately for poor workmanship. It seems to have affected all types of units but I do not think the extent is that great for the FIL's unit as we have been there and seen it. In fact, the youngest SIL told me that they have started works such as fixing the lights and carpentry. If their defects were really so great, I do not think they can start off any work at all! In fact, for the youngest BIL's home, they had to hold off renovation till the defects were rectified. However, I feel that with the news, the FIL may feel as if he has been vindicated. But I slyly suggested to the hubs that not everyone's unit has been so badly affected. Other than the higher dish rack, we hardly saw any faults in the PIL's new place and besides they have started renovations. 

Anyway, enough about them. I am surprised how long the hubs is taking issue with his parents on this. He hasn't spoken to either of them until today but I may jinx it by saying it now. Anyhow, he knows how I feel towards his parents and I hope he remembers why!

The hubs suggested to me to bring his brother and family for another dinner next month, before we move out. And we're hoping we can move by, the latest, the 2nd week of June, which is another 4 long weeks to go. :(

We had a busy morning today. Did some banking at 3 banks, including changing our residential address at one and by the time we were done, it was a little past lunch time. As we were at Toa Payoh, we decided to drop by the Philips Carnival but by the time we were approaching, K had fallen asleep and we didn't want to disrupt her nap so we went off to see some lights at someone's new home.

The seller was letting go of some lights he had bought from Taobao which I have been eyeing. Thinking that we would likely get 1 for the living area and if it's not bright enough, get the other size that he was letting go for the kitchen instead, we ended up helping him clear 5 lights in all! He was surprised too as he thought we would either get 1 light or none at all. Thankfully, the hubs likes the lights too so we are all settled in the lighting department and now have 3 extra lights that we have bought from JB. To be honest, I wasn't too settled with the 3 lights that we have bought for the bedrooms from JB and am so glad that can be set aside now, with the lovely rectangular LED lights that we bought over from that chap.

When we were back at JE yesterday evening, we discussed with Jeremiah the design of the kitchen cabinet and wardrobe for the master bedroom. Some photos of the WIP:

All window grilles removed. We are replacing all the windows as well. Glad that the balcony, although an internal one, faces the big trees outside.

The L-shape low wall up in the kitchen. Loving the peranakan tiles that are laid in between.

Wall tiles up for our tiny master bathroom. The toilet bowl sits on the left, where the bigger piece of white tile is placed and approximately 2 tiles on the right of the pipe is the shower area. One can no longer brush one's teeth while the other is showering without fear of getting wet as there is absolutely no space for a shower screen.

The coming week will be painting of the entire house, fixing of all windows and grilles and maybe tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms floors, while the carpenter fabricates the kitchen cabinet and master bedroom's wardrobe.

Jeremiah sent us some drawings of our soon-to-be kitchen and it's looking good! :)

The oven faces the kitchen entrance. Same as the previous place.

My L-shape counter-top with the laundry area behind it. 

Well, what do you see? Same same but different. Lol....The laminate on the cabinets are not what I've chosen so there will be some variation there. But otherwise, I'm happy with the look of it and hope that at the end of this, I will have ample space in the 'laundry' area as I have asked Jeremiah to stretch the counter-top a little so that I can have more working space for food preparation.

Our stuff were delivered in the afternoon as well and Jeremiah mentioned that except for the rain shower set, everything is in order. Bigger items such as the oven, hob, hood, toilet bowls, sinks etc were bought locally while we will continue to purchase the less cumbersome stuff from across the causeway. For once, I wished that my Mandarin was better so that I can actually take advantage of the cost-saving by buying from taobao but it is not meant to be. Oh well.

The 3 of us went to see the Dr yesterday. The hubs during his office hours and K and I, after dinner. She has been having greenish yellowish discharge from her eyes and the side of my throat was hurting again. K was prescribed eye gel while I was given a stronger dosage of antibiotics this time.

As I was given the day off today, we didn't send K to school as her eyes were a little red. Thankfully, she was able to nap for almost 2 1/2 hours and so I could take some rest too.

When she woke, we got dressed and the hubs picked us up to go to the new place. Today was to discuss with the electrician where we want to place the lighting and power points. We also gave Jeremiah the paint colours that we wanted for the house as well as the laminate choices for the carpentry. The L-shape base for the kitchen is up and looking good but it seemed to have made the laundry area smaller. Oh well, we shall see when the carpentry is done. 

Jeremiah also send to us a picture in the late afternoon, what he found in the original air-con opening. And it made our hair stand!

Yes, a beehive! Thankfully a disused one. We were left wondering how on earth did the previous owners lived with the buzzing of the bees. The opening has since been patched up with hollow blocks so no chance of them ever returning.

I didn't take any pictures ot the works-in-progress cos there were a few people there. The tiler, the general worker, 2 electricians and Jeremiah. I didn't want to intrude and disturb them while taking photos. But I promise I'll take some the next time we return. 

The youngest SIL and I had a long chat last Friday which was especially so after the 2 brothers went off to bed. Before we knew it, it was past 2 in the morning and the 2 of us rushed to switch everything off to go to bed as she had to bring the nephew-in-law for early soccer training and I was heading to JB.

Yesterday evening, while waiting for the hubs to return from a wedding dinner, she and I chatted again. The youngest BIL had went off to bed and she was accompanying me while waiting for the hubs. 

Earlier, the youngest BIL mentioned to me about talking to his parents and that it was his mother's fault. Referring to us not moving to the PIL's new flat. I didn't bother with what he said and he didn't continue after. When the SIL and I were alone in the living area, she gave me the details.

They had brought the PILs out for Mother's Day lunch, intended to send them back to the 2nd BIl's where they are still staying at, when somehow the PILs ended up tagging along with them shopping and then dinner. They did go back to the the 2nd BIL's place though and that was when the 'discussion' happened. The FIL insisted that his son, my hubs, did not at all mention to him anything and that he was in for a shock when he received a phone message to tell him that we'll be moving in on a particular date. I do not know for sure if the hubs did check with the FIL on the possibility of moving in but according to the SIL, the MIL did say that she had promised the hubs and during  yesterday's discussion with them, insisted that she did tell the FIL about it.

I have reminded the hubs to check with the FIL as I knew the MIL, short of being useless, cannot be trusted and cannot make any decisions. I do not know what transpired between the 3 of them and I really cannot be bothered much as I have my own thoughts about them and true enough, my thoughts were confirmed. The SIL also shared that they have installed lights and grilles in their new flat. Coincidence or not, the timing to start their reno is exactly when I thought it will be and that is when we have settled our accommodation issue.

The MIL calls the youngest BIL almost everyday and recently asked why my hubs is not speaking to her. I wonder how long more. We missed a extended family gathering at the usual relative's house and I am hoping we can 'miss' more. Lol.....

We met up with Contractor Jeremiah yesterday evening to discuss the lay-out of the kitchen cabinet as well as the wardrobe for the master bedroom. Liking the L-shape kitchen layout at our previous home, I am replicating it for the new place. Although slightly shorter in length, the width of this kitchen is bigger so I'm hoping we'll have more kitchen work-space once everything is done.

The kitchen mortar base is done! 

And today, Jeremiah sent us a picture via a group chat that I had created for this reno. The windows for our kitchen and 2 bathrooms are done too. I've chosen silver frame this time as it's going to be a different concept compared to Redhill. The previous owners pasted some patterned stickers on all their windows and that really blocked out the light and seeing the clear glass this time makes the kitchen more welcoming and bright! Once all windows are installed, the window people will fix the grilles.

We also made another trip into JB today with K and my eldest SIL. Although the hubs remembered to bring along his gps, he dropped it when he took it back from his colleague and it broke! Thankfully, his colleague had already bought one and lent it to us. He felt so bad hoarding on to it, he asked the hubs if he can buy a new one for us. After his offer was declined, he told the hubs that he can borrow his anytime we need it. And with it, our quest to look for the lighting shop definitely took a much shorter time.

We've basically bought all the lighting that we need except 1 for the kitchen, which was out of stock. A new style of ceiling hung corner fan that we had wanted was also out of stock for the colour that we wanted. So, yes, we're going to go back again, another week. Hopefully the eldest SIL will join us again this time so that K gets some attention and distraction. 

I am so thankful for such an easy baby. Of course, the same can't be said during her first month but nevertheless, I am grateful. 

K has decided on her own to start toilet training. For the past month or so, she has been waking me up, sometimes up to twice a night, just so to go to the toilet to wee. Sometimes, she sleeps through and when morning comes, her diaper is dry. But I am not going to remove the diaper yet. Besides, she's not complaining but she does whenever she wakes me up in the middle of the night and I tell her to do it in her diaper. She grumbles a lot when I do that and insists that I accompany her to the toilet. 

Early this week, the hubs had to stop by a petrol station so that K can use the toilet. As we were travelling along the expressway, on the way to school and work, I quickly changed her into pull-ups in the car and told her she can urine in the pants then. She tried. I told her to squat to urine. She tried again but couldn't and become frustrated. I think she's not used to doing it in her diaper anymore. Thus, the stop at the petrol station.

I remember my 3rd SIL making every effort to train the 2 boys when they were younger. She would wake them up at certain timings in the middle of the night and they would cry and yet, she would force them to get up and go to the toilet. And this went on for quite a while.

Having said that, I'm glad we can cut back on the diaper cost. Lol....

K's childcare is closed today and I took the full day off as we had planned to visit a childcare that was recommended by her current teacher, who was from there previously. We did our usual homework and the hubs was a bit concerned when he read reviews from another parent that his child had difficulties adapting to formal primary school when he graduated from the childcare. 

The teacher who recommended us this school did so because she feels that K would fit into the school curriculum very well as they focus more on the arts, drama, play and so on. Being the typical Singaporean, we would prefer if there is a little bit more academic thrown in. I get worried when I hear of children who enter primary 1 unprepared. Meaning they can't read their alphabets, can't really write and so on. Children start learning from a very young age and they should be able to fully utilise their potential. I know K can do more. The school is not able to stretch her potential as they have so many other children too. The hubs and I intends to send her for 'enrichment' classes when we move to the new place. Well, enrichment in the fun way. Like ballet, Chinese drama classes and so on. I've spoken to K about it and she seems keen. Sometimes I feel that she's too bored and can do more. Of course it's not going to be class after class. I would also want to see how she takes to it and let her take the lead if she is keen on anything else. And at the same time, being an only child, it opens up her social interaction.

Well, anyway, we decided not to 'waste' our time. Besides the school is located at International Business Park and traffic there in the morning is a killer and knowing the difficulties when I have to send and pick K on my own, I now know the advantage of a school in close proximity. So we went ahead to register her at the childcare we had visited previously. The one with a public playground in front of it and about a 15 minutes walk away from our new home.

This school is not air-conditioned, except during nap time, something that was in our priority from the very beginning. The school blouse is purple, K's favourite colour, so it makes it easier to convince K that we'll have to change schools. This is the 2nd time she has seen the uniform and I guess it is slowly becoming reality to her that she will be moving over to this new school soon. We've been talking to her about this for a couple of months, just so to prepare her.

Now we pray that K adapts well to the new school environment and just like the current one, will continue to learn and grow well.

The hubs brought us to the farm side yesterday where K got to feed some goats, rabbits, catfish and naughty me threw some fish pellets on frogs' heads. The frogs are really a species of their own. I mean, the pellet was thrown into their enclosure and they would still sit perfectly still and suddenly with a abrupt turn, they jump onto the pellet. Then they would be back to their still, statue like position. They are really great pretenders.

We visited Hay diaries after that and K tried goat's milk, which she shared with the hubs, finishing almost 3/4 of it. The hubs then went on to buy 5 bottles of goats milk. Feeding was not allowed here so we simply took a walk pass their enclosure.

And today, after lunch with Jerry and family, they joined us to check out a dining set that the hubs and I had saw and liked previously. We made the purchase and they too, bought a coffee table as we had passed the daybed to them but kept our coffee table.

Now we'll just need to buy a storage bed frame and mattress for our room as well as some more lights for the house and we're all set.

With the start of the long weekend and the SIL returning to her hometown in Malaysia with the family, we were to enjoy the much missed peace and quiet in the house.

We started the day meeting Jeremy & family, Jerry & family as well as M at my father's grave. We usually spend about 10-15 minutes there, pulling out weeds as per customary. Then we went off to the market near Jerry's for lunch. While K went off to Jerry's place with them after lunch, Jeremy, Ivy, Tim and M dropped by our currently renovated place to take a look. 

The only people who have seen it pre-reno are the PILs. Anyhow, the hubs and I are liking the look of our kitchen tiles. The bathroom wall tiles are partially up as well but the floor tiles for the kitchen, bathrooms, balcony and storeroom are not laid yet. The hubs reckons that the house will look nice once it's done. Well, just by looking at our kitchen wall tiles, I tend to agree with him. *fingers crossed*

After that, Tim followed the hubs and I to buy stuff for the house while his folks went back home. Tim hasn't gone out with us in ages but then again, he's no longer a teen and has his own circle of friends. So it was a nice change to have him with us. 

Anyhow, we spent about 2 hours in the shop recommended to us by the contractor and indeed, the sales person gave us quite a good price. We spent about $5k and have bought almost everything that we need to. I've chosen the same Japanese brand of hob and hood that we were using previously and this time, I've decided to get their oven too. Hopefully, this time I can make use of it baking cakes.

When we were done, we dropped Tim off where he was going to meet his friends while the hubs and I returned to Jerry's to have dinner as well as pick K up. With such a long day especially for her playing at Jerry's, she knocked out again on our drive back.