We have more or less settle into the new house. Mushi really love to run ard the house, I guess he must be happy with the ample space to run. The new home had kept us busy for now...
And... I never though I would enjoy cooking this much. =)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Halfway there...
Ok, so I gotta over the sadness of no tatami, and trying hard to think on the bright side on the amt of $$ I save, and how gorgeous my vinyl tiles are.
Danna and I went over the home during last weekend, and we are happy that the kitchen is almost done! What we are left is to install the hod and tralah! A kitchen!
Let start with the door shall we? Uncle BK (Our designer) initially propose a usual bi-fold door for the kitchen to help to cut our cost. But seriously...
I think guests would have though that is a toilet. Even if I make it a glass door. The aluminum frame is still going to make it look like a toilet door. After round of discussing from no door to glass door to sliding door, we finally decide to continue using bi-fold door coz mushi will have to access the service yard most of the time. But in-lieu of aluminum frame, uncle BK use wooden frame (it is actually laminate, solid wood wld have cost a bomb) to match the carpentry of the house.
And I'm very please with how it turn out!
Just perfect! Plain perfect! Exactly how I want it to be! It cost more than a bi-fold door, but it super worth it! Since this will be one of the 1st thing we will see when stepping into the hse, why not make it pleasing to the eyes. :D
Next, we move on to the kitchen itself.
We had wanted our kitchen to match closely to the laminate of our living area. But this would mean DARK wood hue. Uncle BK is not very keen on it as dark hue will make the (already very small) kitchen even smaller, he is a fav of white. :p But I'm very keen to maintain a consistence look on the whole home, so we come to a compromise. Top cabinets will be white, while bottom will be dark wood. It turn out to be a perfect combo:
The white top cabinets make the kitchen much brighter. while the bottom dark tone merge well with our home. And also, I took Ronald's tip of having all drawers for the bottom cabinets, it make retrieving stuffs so much easier!
The oven, hood, and hob are from Eletrolux. It is a package special of $1,499! We bought it immediately when we saw the offer. ha!
The Granite kitchen sink is Carysil Salsa. Danna was actually keen on getting a round stainless steel sink coz it look so unique. Sadly we are unable to find a quality one that is 50cm in diameter. The only one we saw is at IKEA... and no where else sell such round sink more den 45cm. :( After some though, we decide to get a granite sink as I like the feeling of no "Ping ping pong pong" sound that we always get when washing in a stainless steel sink.
In short, I really love my new kitchen, small size, but a powerhouse! Can't wait to start my cooking & baking adventure!
Danna and I went over the home during last weekend, and we are happy that the kitchen is almost done! What we are left is to install the hod and tralah! A kitchen!
Let start with the door shall we? Uncle BK (Our designer) initially propose a usual bi-fold door for the kitchen to help to cut our cost. But seriously...
 |
| Kitchen door??? |
I think guests would have though that is a toilet. Even if I make it a glass door. The aluminum frame is still going to make it look like a toilet door. After round of discussing from no door to glass door to sliding door, we finally decide to continue using bi-fold door coz mushi will have to access the service yard most of the time. But in-lieu of aluminum frame, uncle BK use wooden frame (it is actually laminate, solid wood wld have cost a bomb) to match the carpentry of the house.
And I'm very please with how it turn out!
Just perfect! Plain perfect! Exactly how I want it to be! It cost more than a bi-fold door, but it super worth it! Since this will be one of the 1st thing we will see when stepping into the hse, why not make it pleasing to the eyes. :D
Next, we move on to the kitchen itself.
We had wanted our kitchen to match closely to the laminate of our living area. But this would mean DARK wood hue. Uncle BK is not very keen on it as dark hue will make the (already very small) kitchen even smaller, he is a fav of white. :p But I'm very keen to maintain a consistence look on the whole home, so we come to a compromise. Top cabinets will be white, while bottom will be dark wood. It turn out to be a perfect combo:
The white top cabinets make the kitchen much brighter. while the bottom dark tone merge well with our home. And also, I took Ronald's tip of having all drawers for the bottom cabinets, it make retrieving stuffs so much easier!
The oven, hood, and hob are from Eletrolux. It is a package special of $1,499! We bought it immediately when we saw the offer. ha!
The Granite kitchen sink is Carysil Salsa. Danna was actually keen on getting a round stainless steel sink coz it look so unique. Sadly we are unable to find a quality one that is 50cm in diameter. The only one we saw is at IKEA... and no where else sell such round sink more den 45cm. :( After some though, we decide to get a granite sink as I like the feeling of no "Ping ping pong pong" sound that we always get when washing in a stainless steel sink.
In short, I really love my new kitchen, small size, but a powerhouse! Can't wait to start my cooking & baking adventure!
Sunday, May 26, 2013
1st weekend after exam
What a fulfilling weekend after exam! Brought mushi for grooming yesterday and bought Danna's phone (his Note had been dying on him. haha).
Today we went Robinson sale at expo!
The result (when the wife is around):
But! It is super worth it! Especially the 450 thread count bedsheet! I can't wait to sleep on it! ^^
And also... Hubby bought me a warm water bag for my relief from bodyache...
It is not cheap... But I really hope it will be a good snuggle when I have the aches. Thank you hubby! Choosing you to be my hubby is the best decision ever!
Today we went Robinson sale at expo!
The result (when the wife is around):
But! It is super worth it! Especially the 450 thread count bedsheet! I can't wait to sleep on it! ^^
And also... Hubby bought me a warm water bag for my relief from bodyache...
It is not cheap... But I really hope it will be a good snuggle when I have the aches. Thank you hubby! Choosing you to be my hubby is the best decision ever!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, May 10, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
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!!!!!!
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.
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.
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.
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" |
 |
 |
| Naka-Meguro |
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.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.....
Really Gavin, it is better then the $270 (17,000yen) french dinner that I proposed.
===========================
Trip Adviser's reviews
Pitta 00 Ikspiari's web page
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????" |
 |
| About S$78 |
===========================
Trip Adviser's reviews
Pitta 00 Ikspiari's web page
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