My new home part 2

Where am I and what am I getting for rest of my house?

Let's start off with 

1) Washing machine

Over my 20+ years of life, my family has changed washing machines a couple of times and I know that I definitely DO NOT WANT a front load machine. Top load FTW! Front loads are such a bother and you can never really fill it up to the maximum it can take and sometimes I struggle to close the machine door! Lucky for me, WK agrees. Due to space constraint of my kitchen yard, we went around looking for the maximum size our yard can accommodate, an 8kg washer.

First things first, my electricals has to have energy-saving properties (preferably A class rating/4 ticks/water saving).

I can't stress this enough. Costs of living in SG is sooooo cloud-high, every dollar counts.

Things like LED lighting/energy saving appliances, sure it costs you more at first, but look at the long run costs.

WK and I went to Gain City showroom(AMK) with the recommendation from his parents and the first thing we told the salesgirl is, we're looking for a water and electricity saving washing machine.

She brought us over to a pink coloured Toshiba washing machine and she told us this was her best recommendation. The Toshiba AW-E900LM.

The one I saw physically is the pink version and its super CHIO!  But blue is nice also of course.

SUPER PRETTY RIGHT?! 

Its an 8KG washer, 585X 605 X 990 (perfect for the limited space I have), Zero standby power(and the water saving tick sticker on it), multiple holes area for faster drying of clothes during spinning and the best part, THE PRICE.

This beautiful Japanese machine costs only SGD 399.

Thank you for the recommendation, lady. It really is my best bet. I should have caught your name, sorry :(

2) Fridge

Fridges are probably everyone's favourite kitchen appliance. Be it to take a cool drink, your yummy creamy ice creams or ice lollies, or even just to look in it for fun and for the cold air that greets your face (bet you've done that too!)

I've always dreamed of a huge fridge to stock up on my favourite drinks/ice creams/food when I eventually get a place of my own.

Reality check? I'm staying in land-scarce Singapore with homes getting smaller and smaller with chances of copying Hongkong home sizes.

BOOHOO.

I never had a specific brand in mind but I know the size I'm going to settle for has to be at least 400L capacity and it has to be a top freezer just because I'm used to that configuration growing up (by luck, WK too!)

With our tight budget, size and electricity rating in mind, we found the Toshiba GRTG46.

NEA awarded it 4 ticks for electricity rating (YAY!), 409L capacity, comes in 4 colours (I'm taking glass shell white to give the airy feeling to my kitchen), it has an XL vegetable compartment (as per picture), multi purpose compartment (for medicines etc), and ALL movable compartments (which is a requirement for WK). It does not take up too much of space, measuring 680 X 717 X 1770 mm. And price wise, its under SGD1000, affordable! This costs SGD 889.

I guess since it's just me and WK in the house, should be more than enough right? When we do have kids, I'll ask for an upgrade HEHE.

3) Television 

Television used to be a really big part of my day growing up. I would rush home just to catch my favourite dramas and cartoons. As adulthood took over, I didnt have time for TV and like most tech-savvy people nowadays, my iPhone and my iPad has taken over the function of TV. 

But which house doesn't have a TV right? I'm definitely going to have guests come over and I do plan to have kids in the near future, of which they will need a TV to watch and for entertainment. WK is a videogame fan and he owns a wiiU so we need the TV to play games either way. So TV is another appliance we cannot run away from. Who knows? One day I might get back to watching local dramas again. Or yoga with the wii U trainer :P


I would love to have a 55' TV. The bigger, the better right? MOVIE EXPERIENCE. And the new curved television series.....(SWOONS). But they come with a hefty price tag. Not sure if you noticed, the difference between a 47' and a 55', other than the obvious 8', is that the latter can fetch about twice the price of the former. Go check it out for yourself  if you dont believe me. I just gotta suck it up and hanker after a bigger

OLED/4K/3D etc etc? WK is more knowledgeable in this, but he's been in a dilemma about it. He is tempted by 4K TV but yet, there isn't much 4K content shows/movies out there, rendering the 4K TV pretty useless at the moment. We both agreed that while 3D is nice in movie theatres for 3 hours/every 2 months, we'd get migraines if we tried watching 3D on a daily basis.
The promoter at Gain city, a nice man(again cannot remember the name) was honest enough to tell us the truth, just go for smart LED. Save your money, buy something thats not just a sitting white elephant in the room.
He introduced us to this Toshiba FHD LED 47L5450.

This 47' TV costs only SGD899! We both agreed that the living room TV is less important that our master bedroom TV hence this TV would be more than good enough for the living room, to be mounted on the feature wall. Eventually when we've saved up enough to get a good 55' one once things are settled, it shall belong to our master bedroom!

Not sure if any of you noticed that the 3 above appliances are all from Toshiba (seriously, its a freak coincidence considering all 3 are from different promoters), WK, being the outspoken one, asked if we can get a better price if we took all 3, even though they are already on sale.

399+ 889+ 899 =$2187

was reduced to

379 +799+ 849=$2027 !!

Next up, my FAVOURITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE, 


4) OVEN!!!

The kitchen has always been my favourite place since I was a little girl. The aroma of hot, cooked food by mummy every day for as long as I can remember (yes, my mum really cooks DAILY, she is an awesome mum and housewife)
When I got old enough, I would always try my hand at baking cookies/ muffins/cupcakes/simple cakes/tarts/pizzas and occasionally cooking proper food-dishes.
WK loveeeees the cookies and bakes I make. Sometimes I'd like to think that he is simply just being a darling and making me happy, but he swears they are nice. He is quite a picky eater so I'm happy he's a fan of the baking I do (: He becomes very protective over (esp cookies) what I give him, he doesn't like to share them with others! (I somehow find that a cute trait of his)

A good oven is definitely important for someone like me, who really enjoys baking. I definitely cannot afford(yet) the high range ones from Miele or De Dietrich etc. But what I do need is, a good beginner-mid level range oven that distributes heat evenly and has fairly enough space for me to multitask, maybe bake a batch of cookies together with grilling a small piece of chicken?
And definitely, definitely digital. My mu's oven is the manual knob and sometimes some recipes call for weird temperatures like 175 Celsius and I can only make a guess where the knob is and not be able to know whether its exact.

After much research, reviews inch more towards the European brands such as Bosch, Brandt and Ariston. And after further reading up on the 3 different brands and keeping my tight budget in mind,
I've come down to 2 of these baking machines:

a) Bosch hbn331e2j

This oven boasts a "3D hot air" for even heat distribution (some users say it works so well they didnt even need a rotisserie), energy efficient A rating, large 67 L capacity. triple glass door, and uses 13 AMP instead of the usual 16 AMP. It has a childproof lock too (for my future kid and husband who behaves like a kid sometimes :P )
Price doesnt kill anyone either. In fact, its a super good price. SGD 669. 
I think its good enough for me (:

b) Second contender is from Brandt, and this is more expensive, double in fact.
 Brandt FC 1042XS.

The difference(other than its more hefty price) is that it has a rotisserie and its self-cleaning! It has a catalytic self-cleaning function, which people say is useful especially after grilling oily food that splatters oil/butter all over your inner oven. It has 7 different functions instead of just 5 (Bosch).
This costs SGD 1469. :(

This is quite out of my budget, I must say. And besides, I like to bake, not grill stuff in the oven. WK says if grill, grill on a proper grill, need not grill in the oven.
And I've read that self-cleaning machines eat up more electricity too. Is it true?
Beats me but I figured, I'll just clean the oven myself lah! "Self-cleaning" doesnt mean you dont have to clean it after right? Just like a dishwasher cleans the plates for you, but who washes the dishwasher?

  YOU STILL HAVE TO CLEAN IT.

So, actually after I've written things down, I think I'll go for the Bosch! :)

Washer + Fridge + TV + Oven=  SGD 2696.

I think its worth it! We might even get a better price bundling the 4 together, who knows? :]

Next post will be on other furniture or appliances such as bedding/sofa etc!



With Love,
Ais <3

My new home part 1 (:

I've taken a really, really long hiatus from blogging.
Since junior college to now which is like....
.....
.....
.....
.....

7 freaking years!


In between those 7 years were....mad rushes to study for exams, complete essays and assignments, family time, 2 nieces and 1 nephew was born, started work as a staff nurse in the biggest hospital in Singapore, completed the 2 year bond with said hospital, took half a year to look for a non-shift job, fell in love with a wonderful man, getting married to that same man in 2 months time, and now settling in my new job and getting a house of my own!

Phew!

Doesn't sound like much but it sure is!

I'm gonna have to do retrospective entries for informative updates of past events but I've decided to start things off with what is happening at present,

HOME RENOVATION !!!

A home is a foundation to a family. Hence it is time Wee Keat and I start cementing the right and sturdy foundation to our future home (:

In order of things, 

1) BTO/ Resale?

NEITHER. 

We were lucky to be able to secure the Sale of Balance Flats (SOBF) in Sengkang.
YAY~~~~
And its around 5-8~ minutes walk to Sengkang MRT (bonus!!!) considering that most BTOS nowadays are in really weird and out of the way locations accessible by feeder buses/LRT or personal transport. 
Btw, LRT is not "accessible" in my definition. I hate taking the LRT and I am real sorry if any of you out there actually likes it.

As flabberghastingly expensive owning a HDB flat in Singapore is, resale is wayyy more expensive than a BTO/SOBF. Hence WK and I agreed that its either we aim for the SOBF or the upcoming Bidadari BTO sometime upcoming this year which also means I will only have a home around year 2020 (frustrated face with frown). A resale is going to be AT LEAST 100k more, which is honestly, a SHITLOAD OF MONEY!! The things I can do with that money....

Anyway,

The order of decreasing vomiting-out-money is: Resale -->SOBF-->BTO. It correlates to how fast you can obtain the respective which is: Almost immediately-->a few months to a year-->4 years.

2) ID or contractor?

Contractor.

The first person we met with was an ID from Weiken. Before the meet I read up on them and there are mixed reviews on price and professionalism but since she is an acquaintance of WK's bro, I went along with it. During the meet to discuss our needs and wants in a home, she was soooo friendly and nice and suggestive of where to put this furniture and that and all and after that it was like she disappeared into thin air. No follow up nothing and NO quotation given. Unprofessional. And expensive to boot! She's fairly new, so I wonder how she's gonna survive in the industry with an attitude like that. 

Second person was some random company I saw on Facebook (which i'm not going to name). He owns his own company and runs it with his wife. Again, SUPER FRIENDLY AND NICE with good works. Good price too! WK and I were so psyched to engage him as our contractor. Promised to email a quote, did not get back. Even with multiple reminders with his empty promises to email by Friday/ Thursday/ blahblah, it never happened. I don't know what is up with him. Either he has too many projects at hand and can't complete what he has, or he decided to throw a possible project away. I still see him posting his "reno offer" on Facebook so I'm guessing its probably the latter and he is just lazy (Dont think it takes much effort to keep reposting an empty offer and the same pictures on FB right?)

Third person was a contractor I've always seen on reno forums. Alan. Way before we looked for a contractor/ID, I've heard about him and his reliability and fast results with good quality works. I told WK about him and he thought, why not? We called him and true enough, he immediately asked to meet us on the weekend itself at our new home. No need offices or downpayment of 10 % before house inspection (like what most IDs do)

That's right. We havent even engaged or confirmed him and he personally went to the new house to meet us and to lend his expertise and opinions and really measure the dimensions of the house. Really nice chap and we have a really good feeling about him. And guess how long it took for him to send me a quotation? 

WITHIN A WEEK! 

Even WK was impressed. We decided not to waste any more time meeting unreliable people or people working for companies that charge exorbitant prices just because they "oversee" everything. Not to mention empty promises. We are the owners, we shall oversee the progress ourselves instead of relying on others. We are engaging Alan, permit has been applied and we can't wait for things to start! While waiting for things to progress, Alan has advised us to start searching for hob/hood/oven/sink etc. Thus moving on to number....

3) Home appliances

House is small (92sqf for a 4 room flat), kitchen is small, toilet is small....you get the gist. No space to buy things which may be nicer than what you have to settle for. WK and I are also on a tight budget, what with the wedding coming along and the home reno screaming for attention too. We both worked for about 2.5 years each after graduation and we are tanking the cost of everything, so you can just imagine how tight that is. I wanted to say tight-ass but doesn't sound very appropriate harhar.
Courts, IKEA, Gain city, Hoe Kee and scouring through forums, we go places to source for things. I don't know what is good and what is not. But for starters, Alan says for hob/hood, go for Fujioh/Rinnai. Don't get it wrong, he doesn't have any affliations or lobang with any of the 2, but rather his honest opinion from experience. 
True enough, after enough reading, people swear by these 2 brands' hob and hood. The downside is, it's not sold in major stores like Courts etc.
We managed to find it though, in Hoe Kee.
YAY!
Other stuffs, we search in other places.


a) Hood

Fujioh appears to be the best hood brand around, and I was so happy when I found out how easy it is to maintain the hood in terms of cleaning. Chimney hood is a no-no because hey, my kitchen is already so tiny!
This hood even has a detachable oil-tray that collects the oil. Uncle Johnny from Hoe Kee gave a demonstration using a steam machine and we love the suction power and the low noise it has. A few years back, people love the model FX-900 but I noticed a newer one with a stronger suction power, the FS 890.

It has 92% suction power (strongest out of all the hoods) and its made in Japan! I super love Japan and Japanese electronics/appliances are always the best/one of the best. But we've seen the demo, touched this beauty personally, seen its magic and ease of maintenance and cleaning, and it comes in 4 colours! We are sold! Its not the thinnest nor aesthetically pleasing hood around (considered bulky for a slim hood) but who cares about aesthetics when what you really need is something that actually WORKS.
Its like buying an awful tasting chocolate with beautiful wrapping when you should have bought the yummylicious one with mediocre packaging. 

b) Hob

Since it was between Rinnai or Fujioh as the best hobs and I'm very set on FS890 hood, it is definitely more cost-saving to take the Fujioh hob to get a better deal price. Makes sense right? I've read about the Rinnai Inner-flame tchnology and how people rave about it but Fujioh has fans too! Since hobs and hood comes in pairs like husband and wife, plus I've always wanted a 3-burner growing up in 3-burner houses that my mum uses, we've decided to get FG 773!

Stainless steel looks old plus prone to scratches so glass is a clear winner! (I'm so punny hehe)
Both the hood and hob width is about 890 cm and thats a little pushing it so we gotta confim with Alan first if this size is okay (cross fingers!). If no, then I'll settle for a 2-burner hob from Fujioh.
Both of these babies come in a package price of SGD 799 from Hoe Kee!
For a good brand with awesome power and reliability, it's a really good price. :)

c) Sink

I did not quite like the look of stainless steel sinks which is the norm everywhere and I grew up with those kind of kitchen sinks, too. Like i said, its scratch prone and well, its the same boring colour. 

Uncle Johnny introduced us to the beautiful Blanco granite-composite sink series from Germany!
Their sinks are aesthetically pleasing, scratch proof, heat resistant, rust proof, acid resistant and non-fading colours. They come with optional fittings like cutting boards/ strainers to match with the sinks too!

I've always always wanted a double-bowl sink but who am I gonna kid? I have a freaking small kitchen space. Its either I get a small hob with big sink or big hob with small sink. With a sulky face, I chose the former cos dirty plates can always be stacked but I've never heard of stackable woks/pans :(
After much consideration for the single bowl and looking for something deeper to fit in more things (what is the purpose of super shallow sinks someone PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME) we decided on the beautiful Pleon 8 series.

Of course I'm not getting white, cant imagine the horror of scrubbing it daily (shudders). I'm getting it in the beautiful alumetallic which is a grey-toned beauty to match with my intended colours for the kitchen. Ahhhhhh! I super love this sink! Tap and mixer combo going for a promo price of SGD 614. Yes, it is a tad more pricey compared to stainless steel but hey, sometimes beauty comes with a (slightly higher) price! 
Definitely gonna above mount this, too pretty to be undermounted! I can't wait to wash plates in you!

Uncle Johnny tried to sell me a Fujioh Oven but I can't see much reviews on it, with most people and bakers swearing by European branded ovens like Ariston, Bosch and Brandt. So these three babies are quite decided already. We already placed a small deposit to lock the price. Can't wait for kitchen reno to start!

Shall write about the other appliances in part 2 of this post since they are not obtained from Hoe Kee. Till then!



With Love,
Ais <3