After dropping K off at school, the hubs dropped me off at a bus-stop before his workplace to take a bus to Jerry's. He wanted to send me but not wanting him to inconvenience him, I told him I'll take a bus and it only took about 20 minutes for me to reach Jerry's.

While Josh had made plans with his friend to do some studying at school, Gideon opted out this time and Esther came to accompany me. Esther was ever so willing to lend a hand and helped me with unpacking K's toys as well as my mountain of clothes. The hubs was grumbling over the weekend when he realised a lot of the boxes belonged to me! 

The SIL came by too, when I asked if she wanted to come take a look. While Esther and I walked over, she and Gideon cycled. By bus, we're 2 bus-stops away. She commented that the kitchen design was almost the same as our previous place. Yes, indeed it is. I like the L-shape design as I prefer to do the washing while being able to look out of the window as opposed to facing the wall. And although the length of the kitchen is shorter, thus I do not have as much counter prep space, the kitchen is a lot broader and has a big walking space. The SIL dropped by again during lunch time to bring us lunch and red bean soup! I am indeed feeling so blest.

It is so tiring that I'm not sure I want to repeat this again. I really cannot imagine how the bestie does it every 2 years when her lease expires. 

However, something to lighten my day! Uncle worker helped fix this up today. :)

And so according to plan, K and I arrived at Jerry's near lunch time yesterday and after taking lunch, the 2 boys followed me while K was left to play with Esther. When we reached, 1 worker was already there and still touching up. While I tried to clean and mop the floor, the dust and dirt just kept coming until I decided not to bother.

Someone from Singtel came by at about 2pm to set up our internet and our storage bed arrived too! I'm loving the colour the hubs has chosen although somehow it doesn't show on the photo.

The 2 boys who followed me were tasked to clean the cabinets and various chores when the movers arrived at about 3ish. 

Today, after doing some shopping for some plastics storage containers and stools and at Ikea, we went off to JE again. We dropped by Jerry's again to borrow his rainbow vacuum cleaner and at the same time, left K there to play with her cousins. Only Gideon volunteered to join us this time as Josh has a friend coming over. 

Today, the hubs was able to vacuum and mop the place. I cleaned and washed the shelves in the fridge which was smelling musky. Gideon helped with wiping and miscellaneous chores. He did enough for us to give him some pocket money for a good days' work. Lol.

We did not stay as late today as both the hubs and K have to go to work and school tomorrow. I'll definitely take the day off work tomorrow to do more unpacking. The hubs asked if we can move in by Wednesday but I find it so disruptive, being a mid-week. So by next Saturday, we will move in for good.

With the handover delayed by 1 day to tomorrow, we decided to go to town today, after work, to do some shopping. As I was early, I popped by Daiso to buy some household stuff and when the hubs and K arrived, we had dinner and then went over to Isetan to buy a new set of bed linen. 

I washed the bedsheet and pillow covers when we returned to the in-law's so that we can start using them when the new bed gets delivered to our home on Saturday. Thankfully, the in-law's had done their laundry yesterday. Hopefully, I can also wash the quilt cover tomorrow or Saturday since the hubs says if possible, we can start staying at the new place this weekend.

Although the handover will be tomorrow, our full height shoe cabinet and cabinet for the master bedroom has yet to be fabricated. I take it as a blessing in disguise as we can still seek the help of the workers if we need help in fixing anything else. The movers will bring our stuff over from the warehouse on Saturday afternoon so my plan is to go over to Jerry's on Saturday late morning, have lunch there, leave K behind as the 3rd SIL will be around so K can play with Esther and I'll troop over to our new place to do some cleaning up. The hubs, who has a morning event at work, will be joining me after lunch and hopefully we can get more cleaning done. The ever-sweet eldest SIL volunteered to help with the cleaning but I do not want to trouble her so I will not be calling her.

Once the movers come, we'll be busy with loads of unpacking and I can forsee the whole of Sunday busy with unpacking, unwrapping, fixing the shelves up in the storeroom and so on. I've already preempt my Manager that I may have to take leave on Monday. 

Anyhow, I'm excited and really can't wait to move back into our own home. 

We took the day off yesterday as the hubs had arranged for the curtains to be measured, the laundry system to be installed and I have arranged for the fibre optic people to come in as well for the new house.

We allowed K to sleep in but she woke us up instead, wanting to go pee. We sent her to school after their breakfast time and off we went. The curtains people were so punctual and in fact, they were actually waiting for us when we reached. Selection of the curtains for the 3 bedrooms and living room was over and done in about an hour. Thankfully I am not the sort who will deliberate too long. The same was with our tile selection too. Then the laundry system installers came together with the optic fibre technicians. The plumber was there as well and we could tell him where to fix our bathroom accessories. 

We went off for lunch and the hubs suggested catching a movie after. So we did! We drove back to check on the house and saw the aircon installers there. The place is taking shape nicely, except for a few works that need to be rectified.

The lights are up and I'm loving the side cabinet and our wardrobe. I'm loving the laminate choices though I am still trying to accept the ones in the kitchen although the hubs thinks that they are ok.

We're hoping to move in by the end of this weekend, making this our final week of our 2-month stay at the in-law's.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

The eldest SIL took a train ride and we picked her up from the nearest train station to the BIL's yesterday and we went JB together. We picked her up at 10am and arrived at noon, just in time for lunch. And K had a snooze during the later part of the drive and woke up when I had to carry her out of the car.

After lunch, we started with buying bathroom accessories. With the prices we pay there, I do not even want to buy anything else back home. It's the same for branded bags. I do not find it worth at all to buy them here but of course I'm referring to buying them from Europe. Anyway, when we went off to search for the lighting shop, we lost our way again. We couldn't find the one that we went to the last time and so, we gave up and went off  'shopping' instead. 

It was raining so heavily too and since the SIL was with us, we felt bad going around in circles. And again, all thanks to the hubs forgetting to bring the GPS from his office.

After church today, we went the the industrial estate nearby to check out a shop selling bathroom accessories and were proven right. We'll definitely head back to JB to pick up some more stuff since we still have the lights to get as well. 

Contractor Jeremiah arranged for us to go down on site yesterday evening to discuss how we want to lay the tiles. It was raining so heavily at the start of the evening that I pray it doesn't continue the same today as I will be fetching K on my own as the hubs has a dinner meeting.

I also saw the new pipes, which is definitely a welcome sight compared to the old stinking cast-iron ones. They are slimmer and looks less obstructive. The hubs checked with Jeremiah again on how soon the place will be ready for us to move in and he said probably the 2nd week of June, with no rush. And although it's quite inconvenient putting up with the in-laws, we do not want to compromise on the quality of work too. So we've got to sacrifice short-term inconvenience for long-term gain, I suppose.

When we returned to the in-laws, it suddenly occurred to me that the tiles Jeremiah placed on the kitchen floor didn't look right. It looked more slate like compared to the one that we chose. So the hubs had to go down on site again during lunch today to check it out and thankfully, they were the correct ones after he sent me a picture of the tiles for confirmation. I feel so bad troubling him but at least my heart and mind is at peace now.

I didn't take any pictures of the place yesterday and am kind of regretting it now. The kitchen looks bigger now but the master toilet looks puny. Can't wait for the transformation!

While we were busy with the move and cleaning up, our new house was going through some major hacking. Thankfully, the hubs was able to take the week off and he could toggle between the 2 places. 

After Tuesday, being a big event in our life, the hubs dropped by JE to take a look at the 'works-in-progress', which actually just started on Monday. The men were busy at work hacking the old tiles, tough as the tiles were at least 10 years old. It's like removing really stubborn stains.

                                           

He was back on Thursday to meet up with the plumber who came by to change the cast iron pipes to pvc ones. You can see how corroded they are from 1 of the picture above. So we're really glad to be able to get rid of them.

Hopefully the tiles can be laid in the coming week although the contractor hasn't discuss with us how we would like to place them. But I guess he'll do what is best base on his experience.

Tiles Galore!

We went to choose tiles today for the kitchen, bathrooms, store room and balcony. This is what we selected after a short 1 hour there. The chap who served us told us that some people stay for 3-4 hours, going through the vast choice of tiles. It's mind boggling really, especially if you do not have any idea the look you want for your house.

For our current home, we only had to choose tiles for the living area and foyer area. We stuck with the standard HDB tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms, which of course isn't the best quality but still after 8 years, our house is really in very good condition.

While we went tile shopping, K was happily playing at Jeremy's. We dropped her off after lunch and when we left, she seemed to have forgotten us. We went back to their place for dinner and when we were on the way home, K, who was playing since afternoon, slept in the car and all the way.

The beautiful night view right at my windows. 

Having said this, we've left about 2 weeks before this home of ours will be handed over to the new owner and we have not even started on anything yet! The hubs has collected 8 boxes from DHL but they are not that big and thankfully, I've got a few waiting to be brought home from the office. As for the renovations, I don't even want to think about it anymore. We arranged to meet the contractor ID on Saturday but after 40 minutes, he still hasn't showed up. Thankfully, K was busy playing with the measuring tape and it was the hubs who was restless. We went off and on our way home, the contractor called but the hubs wasn't at all impressed. In fact, according to him, this guy is always late.

As if this is not enough to worry me, the hubs told me 'gently' this morning, that we're likely not move into the PIL's new place, during the transition. Somehow, I knew this would happen. Well, I do not have the best opinion of them. I know the hubs didn't want to make his parents look bad and I did not want to rub salt into wound. The hubs said the FIL mentioned that there were a lot of defects. Seriously, not that many that I noticed, compared to the youngest BIL's home when they first received the keys. And when we went to view their place about a month back, there were already some units that had families staying in them. I may be reading too much into it, the reason why they haven't started renovations yet but I have a strong feeling they will when we either move out or start on ours. This time, I do not blame the MIL. It's all the FIL's doing. I think he is not commencing on his renovation deliberately so as to make it impossible for us to stay there, albeit for a short while. But honestly, we could still do so as the electricity and water supply are already there.

Needless to say, we'll have to look around again and hopefully, the apartment that one of the hubs' club member had offered earlier is still available. 

What I'll really miss about this home. This full length window. This is where K loves to look out at the trains coming by and where I'll sometimes place her high-chair so that she can have breakfast with a view. The board by the window is actually an exercise step-up board which I suggested to the hubs to place it for K to play on, when he wanted to throw/give it away. And now she 'performs' her songs there and where K and I will sometimes sit there when she wants me to read to her. 

When the sky darkens at night, it's a different view again when the buildings are lighted up and you can see into the cabins of the trains passing by. We will not have this view anymore or a full length window when we move to the next house and this was also where many potential buyers were standing at to look out when they came to view our home. 

Nevertheless, you lose some, you gain some. 

The scene that greets me every morning on my walk to the train station. And in the evening, when I walked back from the train station to our block, it'll be filled with kids at the playground, the exercise area and this court. Kids on their balance bikes, street scooters, playing balls or bubbles.This is definitely a meeting ground of sorts!

Having said this, it is exactly 1 more week and we should be getting the keys to the new place. Hopefully, by then we are able to finalise and kick-off our renovation plans.

When the hubs tried to arrange for a site-viewing for a 3rd and hopefully, final, contractor for this Saturday, he was rejected and told by the current owner that they are busy with packing. While we have received a quotation from the first contractor, it felt like we had to keep following up with him. The 2nd is a ID and has yet to revert to us. This 3rd one renovated the 2nd BIL's home and will also be doing up the PIL's. So we're hoping he isn't too expensive and we can stop the stress of looking for another. His company has an impressive website, I must add. So I'm holding my horses until I see his quote.

While we have been window shopping for furniture, we are not too sure what kind of look we want the new place to be. The Nordic look and feel seems to be all the rage now. It's quite nice really. Simple and uncluttered. 

This is what we like and our living area is big enough to fit this:

This would fit the Scandinavian theme. Nice too and easier on the pocket:

We've decided to get a storage bed-frame for our existing bed, likely a solid wood extendable dining table from Ikea and waist-high wall cabinet for the hallway where I can place photo-frames and some decorative items. And a coffee table for the sofa. And maybe a tv console. In other words, we will not be moving over much of our existing furniture to the new place. Other than our mattress, the single bed-frame, mattress and 2 door cabinet in the guest room, an Ikea book shelf and likely the tv console. Not forgetting a whole lot of kitchen utensils, our clothes, toys etc.

And the curious question about M is that she will move back to stay at Jerry's. Since we know that we will be 'homeless' for a short period of time, we didn't know for exactly how long and how arrangements are going to be. So I spoke to Jerry sometime late last year and after discussing it with my 3rd SIL, bless her, they have decided to let M move back and stay with them till her own flat is ready. So when the sellers requested for an extension and then now, with a likely delay to the start of the renovation, I feel that they are a blessing in disguise. Cos technically, we won't have any place to stay, no doubt just for a short period and I'm not lying about having the need to move M back to Jerry's. 

Jerry has said that M can move in with them after the CNY. And I really hope M reins in on her 'dowager' personality so that the 3rd SIL does not regret their decision. A lot of prayers required for this. A lot, indeed.

A round of drinks to celebrate the sale of our home. 

The hubs and I were at HDB in the afternoon to finalise the sale of our place and are so thankful that everything has proceeded on smoothly. We handover the keys of our matrimonial home in April.

The purchase of our new home is a different story altogether and is making me a little stress. The current owners/sellers keep asking us for an extension, which would mean we can only start renovation later and very possibly move out to some temporary accommodation. Zul told us yesterday not to give in as he has experienced times when it gets extended again upon extension. And because the extension is between the seller and buyer, HDB cannot step in after the official handover date.

As it is, we have yet to confirm the contractor that we are going to go with. Which means we have yet to choose any materials, all of which will take time for delivery and in the worst case scenario, stocks may not be available and we'll have to wait.

I just pray now that the sellers eventually move out as agreed, that is by next month and then we can proceed with another challenge of renovation. Having said that, we've decided not to hold any birthday party for K and instead just let her celebrate it in school with her friends. So it would be a cake and goody bags for her friends, whom she spends most of her time with. There's just too much going on now for another logistical nightmare.

We're in a bit of a fix now, with a road bump ahead in getting our keys for the new place. The sellers require an extension, which was not made known to us previously. Their agent only brought it up to us slightly before our first HDB appointment. By then, we had already settled the official sale of our place. We had already done an extension to the handing over of our keys to our buyer. On our side, we played our cards well, especially since Zul did the time planning for us.

It looks like we might have to look around for temporary accommodation after we officially hand over our keys till the reno completion of our purchased unit. And it's not easy finding one for probably about 2 months. So, even if the sellers are willing to pay for our short-term accommodation and storage, it's really the availability that's the problem now.

While the seller has told the hubs that they will try their best in search of temporary housing for themselves, we hope they really do. As much as they have 2 school-going children, we too have a toddler. 

Now I understand the importance of having a proper agent to advise you. Theirs was crap and who lied to us that their block underwent a 'House Improvement Project' which was not the case at all and now we have to change the ugly cast iron pipes. Thankfully, they can be changed and another contractor that the hubs arranged to view the unit is able to get it done.

We officially hand over our house keys in April and I guess till then, I will post random pictures of the neighbourhood I love so much. But I'm sure the hubs, K and I will have no problem adjusting to the new location. The landscape at the Lake District has changed so much that other than the distance to work, it will be so much to look forward to.