No more Tatami! *cry*

So... It is actually one thing lead to another...

The original design is, to corner off the TV area (aka tatmi area) with a divider as guest room when need. And we intend to do the air con back to back with Kandro's room. Liddat we oso wun need to see ugly trunking running in the living hall. Below is the diagram to aid your understanding:

BUT!

计划永远赶不上变化！！！

The air-con dude realise that the wall between Kandro's room and living hall is actually METAL! Which means they are unable to run the trunking from her room to the hall, and trunking had to run across the living hall to place that air con in the original position. So ID make a quick decision to put air con at the wall above the entrance to the corridor to minimize the look of the trunking.

Of coz, this will means that if I put the divider to corner the original area, the air from air con will not reach it. WHICH MEANS! People come sleep at the tatami area cannot on aircon, 那我放 divider 个屁啊？？！！So I make the decision to take away the divider.

And now the tatami area look extremely funny in this small room coz the purpose is gone. It is suppose to do a job with the divider to segregate the "guest room" from the other area. But without the divider, every thing look weird. I did explore shoji screen... But it couldn't achieve the same effect as a real divider...

And we took another look at the living hall again. After tatami (without divider), the hall area will look kind of.... small...

So I (Danna is more den happy to give the tatami up due to the cost), took the painful decision to say goodbye to the tatami.

Don't talk to me. It still hurt.

Making of our nest - Journey started!

It had been a month since we collected the keys, but we could do any reno until now!

WHY?!

(1) HDB took forever to do my cement screed. It is only 3 weeks later I saw workers in my unit. But well, free thing ma, can't complain.
(2) We had to apply permit to hack down the wall between Kandro & our room.

And today! I saw people hacking down the wall!!!! WHHHEEE~~~

I still very happy that my idea of "Modern Ryokan" is taking off! Of coz Uncle BK was puzzle why I insist on tatami mats (those cost a bomb!) but he design our house according to the way I wanted and trying his best to help us to save cost.

Our color theme is mainly earthly colour. Think of wooden floor (we use Vinyl in lieu of wood, poor lah), wooden (laminate) shelf, and plain colour.

 When I (yes, me. Coz Danna say I'm the creative director!) 1st started out on searching for design, I don't jump into style too fast. My 1st thought is "how to make it multi function?", as you know, it is 65m2. I can't do anything much to the bedrooms as they are tiny enough. The only option is the living area which will combine living, entertainment, dinning, storage, and home office.

Space is a huge concern to us, I work from home at least once a week, so a workstation is a must (I did try to explore the bomb shelter..). And more space please!

I start my search googling "small home", "space saver" etc.. Houzz.com and apartment therapy is truly great sources of inspiration. ;)

And also I remember the Ryokan I'd stay in 2010. The room are NOT big. It is the size of a usual double bedroom. But it look super spacious and is comfortable too. And since I love Japan so much, why not I bring it in my home?

So I decide to have a tatami for my living corner. So that it can be a dinning, living, entertainment and guest room. It is hard to visualize by words. I shall wait for the final result to be out.

Visiting the house tomorrow. =D

Sakura

Honestly, I never though of seeing sakura is such a wonderful experience.

I blame it to my irrational hate for pink. Don't ask me why, I can't even explain why I got so irks by this half-red, half-white colour. Maybe it is neither here or there so I hate it. And yes, my fav colour is red. kthxbye.

Ok, back to topic. So viewing the sakura is totally unexpected! Sakura bloomed extremely early this year by a shocking 10 days! So when we reach Tokyo on 22nd March. It is mankai! And to my surprise, they are actually more white then pink! And later on I realize that the pinker (and supposely prettier one) are late bloomers, it start to bloom after we left Tokyo.

And I have to admit, SAKURA IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! 

Will you look at this?????

We spend our days doing nothing but hanami all day long, and end up having little time to go shopping. But somehow we still bought back a full luggage of foods back. Women.

Hanami in action!

Foods make us super happy.

We camwhore all day long.

"Dango for you?"

"Flower-eat"

One of the most memorable moment is I went for night hanami at Naka-Meguro alone, as the girls wanna to get Tokyo Banana and shopping, I decide to head for some sakura at meguro after seeing cheesie blog about her accident discovery of Meguro.

Naka-Meguro

Did a google of it and realise that they have night illumination! I always wonder what so fun about night hanami since you can't see the flower in true colour... But Japanese always have a way to make it awesome, so I went with extremely high expectation. And boy, I m not disappointed. It is so beautiful I almost tear, and I wonder why do Japan love me so much.

Sep 2010, my 1st trip to Japan is full of discovery and eye-opener. From Tokyo to Mijiyama, it is trip of a lifetime. And I change my views of the world. I become less angry, more thankful, and most importantly, I finally come to the place I planned all my life.

June 2012, (impromptu) balcharlette trip to Osaka, I met an awesome friend Seiji. He show me to places that not much tourists had went to. Most memorable is the trip to Koyasan, where I got to see the tomb of all the samurai I read so much about.

Jan 2013, Honeymoon @ Tokyo. It is my 1st time seeing snow! I can't explain the excitement and even though it is a snowstorm, I'm still glad I witness the beauty of winter. And I finally saw Fujisan after 3 trip to Japan. What a beautiful mountain.

March 2013, Girls trip to Tokyo. Really, seeing sakura is something that is wonderful. I never seen something so beautiful before. And been surround by it make it so surreal.

Thank you Japan. Thank you.

And see you again.

Pitta 00

We went to Disney for the last 2 days of our honeymoon. Had to say it is a wonderful end to our honeymoon. On the last evening in Tokyo, I manage to convince the husband to spend abit more on dinner. Pls lah, be at least a wee wee romantic can?!

Nabei, airplane take budget, hotel also budget, go onsen also choose the most budget room, stay Disney also must go for the cheapest Disney official hotel.

WHERE IS THE ROMANTIC IN HONEYMOON???!!

So well, initially I want to save the trouble and dine at "Carnival" in our hotel, which serve french cuisine:

Look good right???!!! And the reviews is good! The resturant is located at the top level of Sunroute Hotel Tokyo Plaza, and overlook Disney and Tokyo Bay! And it have a reputation of been uber romantic.

BUT! 

at a heartbreaking price of 8,500yen (S$135) per pax.

So Danna refuse to pay for it. He insist that it is totally not worth to pay for 给猫吃的份量。

Boh bian! Surf trip adviser to see if there are any atas (but must be cheapo) alternative around Disney, and happened to see Pitta 00 located at Ikspiari Mall (outside Disney)! The reviews look great, and one mention there are 2 seating place inside. One formal, and one for family (causal). Oh wait, that could be a (near) romantic place! And the foods are not expensive, moderate restaurant pricing.

Original wooden fried pizza

Danna cannot complain! I DUN CARE COZ I WANT TO ROMANTIC DINNER OUT! And some more this restaurant got win awards one hor!

We order clam chowder as a starter, and surprise it actually meet our expectation! Maybe we are cold and hungry and all foods taste good. But I never had a clam chowder that you can actually taste the "salt" from the seafood! Most of the chowder I had are overpowered by the cream base. This certainly raise the bar for main courses.

Awesome clam chowder

We order pizza and pasta for main, since it look like it is their signature dishes (picture sibei big). And OMGWTFBBQ it is OYISHII!!!!! The multi-award wining wood fired pizza is a must try! Crust is crispy! And I totally dig the slight cao-ta taste of it. Cheese is well mix too, and tomato sauce have the right tinge of juiciness & sour.

 And here come the most fascinated part! The waitress roll a tray to us and ask us if we want cheese! And explained that the pasta will be mix in this giant cheese "bowl" (can't find a better word).

I got so excited that I keep taking picture, eh, so much for "romantic" sia

Oh Lord, the pasta is soooo good! It taste WONDERFUL!!!!! The cheese is well aged, and it goes so well with pasta! OH GOSH! The best carbonara I ever tasted! Not over creamy with the right taste of cheese! Goes well with the salty bacon!

Heavenly pasta

Last up, we order desserts! Didn't really have much expectation as we are too overwhelmed by the main. But even the desserts also win us hand down. We are sold, this is the best place we had dine. Sushi Dai may be great due to the fresh ingredients. We love the sushi and friendly chefs of coz. It remains the best place I dine in Tokyo until then.

But Pitta 00 is more then just ingredients, the skills of baking pizza, and effort, and even the service personnel are beyond good. And God know why is their desserts are so good too!

Tiramisu

Ichigo cream brûlée

The Tiramisu is nice, the right wetness and nice coco powder! The way I like it. Yum! Danna decide to try strawberry cream brûlée, and just one bite he exclaimed that this is the best  cream brûlée ever! I try a bit and YES!!! IT IS!!! I'm sorry I can't even describe the feeling. Maybe it feel like orgasm, food porn indeed.

At the end of the dinner, the bill arrived... And Danna open up the bill, and.....

"WHAT????"

 Really Gavin, it is better then the $270 (17,000yen) french dinner that I proposed.

About S$78

 ===========================
Trip Adviser's reviews
Pitta 00 Ikspiari's web page

Memories from Holy Matrimony

As many of you (that have the address of the blog) knew, I engaged Ronald for my church wedding photography. I can't really tell you the rate coz it is a superb friendship rate.

Today, I received the photos!

Come in a lovely CD!

Including is a short photo montage of the day which I love it very much, it totally capture the moments of a wedding. Truly did not feel wasted for paying to capture the memories. Check out their facebook for their portfolio.

Before I actually could find time to upload the pic (I blame work and my new house), here is a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I never though I had the chance to walk the aisle.

Cute little one!

With my God-pa.

The "I do" moment

with Fr. Siew that baptize me, and wed me to my soul mate

Wonderful bridemaids that did my make-up and hair.

Kiss to a lifetime of promise.

Best photo!

"Ello! Stupid Cupid!"

My Bro-in-law is hilarious!

With my backstage helpers! THANK YOU!

Refuse to give up on psycho-ing annual trip to Nihon.

And, this is the start of our life together ♥

金蛇狂舞春添彩 玉树临风喜满门

新年快乐！新的一年来临了！

2012 had been an eventful year for me, and excellent as well! I got a promotion, baptized, and get married!

And I know 2013 is a even better year for me, our home is finally coming soon! Last I heard, someone from my Blk had their key appointment on 19 Feb. I expect mine to come around end Feb or early March if key collection is based on floor.

So back to CNY, this year is a little different. I spend reunion dinner at Gavin's house and had a few more houses to visit from the previous year. Sad that I had to give Joven's home a miss this year due to packed schedule. Hope that next year we could manage our house visit better.

I had a mini-reunion lunch with BOF on Sat, also manage to buy a $39 cheong sum at Kiyo Hougang Mall.After that, went over to Gavin's house for reunion dinner and prepare for CNY. Yes, we packed our angbao like so last min. hah.

Our outfit for 初一

Angbao packed!

And the next day... The kids are all excited in new clothes and CNY wish. Kandro and Lele had a long list of 贺词, Varchel even practice a song for 拜年! How talented kids can be now?!

Look at the amt of paparazi!

"The China Group!" exclaimed the kids.

Danna & me

And we had an good time! Now it is back to work and study mood. It is Valentine day in 2 days time. Wonder what Danna had in mind for me. One thing I am sure, no flowers.

Chalkboard wall

Kandro love to draw.

She love to draw anything, and everything, and love to write sweet note like "I love mummy" everytime. I lose count of how many paper flying all over my current home now. And how much used paper we had to collect for her.

My initial idea was to buy the easel from IKEA:

To be frank, I do not like it. It is so small and take up so much space. =_= But for the sake of paper saving, I though I have no choice. I do toy with the idea of installing a white board, but it look so out of place from my Japan theme.

AND THEN!

I come across this in taobao!

click to enlarge

Ain't it amazing?! I can paste them on one of the wall and Kandro could draw all she want, and all we need will be water to wipe them clean. =D

And why black board over white? Firstly, we ain't allergic to chalk dust.

Secondly, I hate the smell of marker. The only alcohol smell should come from drinkable alcohol.

And lastly, I truly love the colour choice of chalk, and it bring me back to the school days where we had so much fun with chalk. How many of us rem this cartoon :

Cute, ain't it? I look forward to have these kind of old school fun in our home. And I'm sure Kandro will enjoy it. ;)

“Imagination is the beginning of creation.

You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will”– George Bernard Shawhildren