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My ideal home is

***On a high floor
***Well-ventilated and enjoys natural light
***In a quiet neighbourhood
***next to the Mrt
***Not too far away from downtown
***Big enough to let me dance around

But since I’m not a millionaire, not all of these requirements can be met. So dear friends, when you visit my home, be prepared to take a nice long walk from the Mrt if you don’t drive.

It irks me to read about the litany of complaints of my fellow citizens about their housing problems, making remarks like, ‘how can you expect me to live on the 2nd floor?' Some groused that they want to live near their parents, but the flats there are too expensive. And hence, despite spending a long time house-hunting, they still cannot find a suitable place. That is because, what they are looking for doesn’t exist!

My point is simple: no matter what the budget is, there is no such thing as a perfect home. I often wondered why those million-dollar condominiums beside the highways get sold. Obviously some people have decided that there is enough merit in these condos and they can live with the other shortcomings. Surely it should be understood therefore that within a budget, there are limited options.

One inevitably has to decide which qualities are more important than others, and choose accordingly. Why is it so easy to blame others (and society) when one cannot get what he wants? Frankly, if a person cannot recognize basic facts in life, he isn’t mature enough to set up his own family.

A new beginning

Dear Lord,

In the new place you have put me, I pray that I can

move the mountain
walk on water and
feed the five thousand.

Teach me to be wise as a serpent yet innocent as a dove. Go before me and make my path straight, broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles will not turn.

Let my arms bend a bow of bronze!

Bits and Pieces

Slowly we are putting everything together. Grilles came in. Sigh...the unobstructed splendid view is no more, but we need to ensure our safety and this is the sensible thing to do. They don't look too bad. I can live with them.


Quaint clock, another love at first sight and impulse purchase.

Bits and Pieces

Our antique furniture has come in.

Strictly speaking, this vanity table is constructed recently, but it is made with old wood i.e. wood that was retrieved from buildings torn down. I didn't know that wood can be reused, actually.

There is a romantic feel to it, knowing that the wood has memories of another existence, in who knows where...ok, that's a rather creepy idea. Never mind, it is most picturesque, and I like it.

New touches

This is the new bedroom lamp the Used-to-be-cautious one bought, to join the other hanging lamp in the living room. It looks like a great cratered moon. See the halo, where they hacked the old lights off?

And a door cross, it's stone, but it matches the brass lamp too. I like it :)

Every week we add a little to the home. When would we be done?

Bits and Pieces

Wallpaper arrived at looooong last, having flown from Europe just to come and be plastered unto our walls. It's been such a long wait, but I really like what I'm seeing now, so it's worth the effort. Don't you think that our wallpaper gives our home a special feel...whatever. Just say that it is nice...(or else...)

Now to look for a nice carpet to place before the TV console.

Flowers in the masterbedroom

I like the nice homely feel to the whole place.

Bits and Pieces

It's finally time to see if our impulse buys work. Remember that we did not take any measurement of the house, and happily put down desposit for furniture that we liked. Now is the moment of reckoning. Our renovation isn't done yet, and our flat isn't ready for those pieces to start coming in, but since Courts quite insisted on delivering their goods, there is nothing else we could do.

A huge flat pack for the dining table: It came in bits and pieces, and had to put together by the men there and then.


Voila! With a power tool, they easily assembled everything together. That's why we can't go to Ikea. Don't want to have to fiddle forever with an allen key. See the Brass Lamp?



The Buffet cabinet turned shoe cabinet, and the cutest little red engine of a phone. Even if it doesn't work, I must buy it. But I think it works. I wouldn't know until I've tried it.

That's all for now folks. The whole picture looked rather different from what I imagined it to be...but then again, what had I imagined? I think, I would be more surprised than anyone else by how things eventually turned out.

Wallpaper

Waiting
Waiting
Waiting
Waiting :(

I have never been so patient in my life. The rapid progress in our renovation came to an abrupt stop, because the wallpaper we ordered is OUT OF STOCK :( and we have been waiting ever since for new stock to come in :( Rats, it is simple work and ends up taking such a long time after all. Grrrr.....I just knew that it couldn't be so easy.

A true story

I decided to end my membership at Fitness First since I wasn’t exercising there anymore. So I called the gym, and was informed that I couldn’t quit on the phone. I have to make a trip to the gym to sign the papers. It seemed a fair enough request to me, and so we agreed that I would go down to the gym on Friday, 8.30pm. Then this was what happened when I arrived at the appointed time:

ME – masterofboots
FF – F First reception staff

ME: Hi, I would like to end my membership
FF: Our manager has left for the day. Can I make you an appointment to meet him?
ME: I have an appointment. It is now. I called yesterday.
FF: But our manager has left for the day. He is the only one who can process this.
ME: Then why arrange to let me come now?
FF: We don’t accept appointments by phone.
ME: Why do I have to make an appointment just to quit?
FF: Our manager would like to talk to you
ME: I don’t want to talk to anyone!

It transpired that to quit the gym, I have to:

1. Go to the gym personally to make an appointment with the manager
2. Go and see the manager
3. Give one month’s notice and pay one more month’s fees.

I didn’t lose my temper. I deliberately threw it away. I refused to sit down, and stood by the reception, scowling and with folded arms. I decided that I would stand there until the next morning if I had to. Sure enough, in a little while, the ‘departure form’ emerged, I was allowed to sign it, though there is no getting away from the extra month's fees.

I would like to say on the record that these terms and behavior are unreasonable, and greatly lowers my opinion of the company. Of course I can’t fight the bullying behavior of Big Business, but I would hesitate to put myself under such a yoke again.

Work in Progress

Ah, the happy sight of work in progress :) I must learn to give instructions more clearly. At first I told the contractor to remove some window grilles, then I changed my mind. Ahhhhhh, he removed them anyway! Oh no, now I know that not all men can react as quickly to my ficklemindness. The window is now utterly unprotected, and I am wondering whose fault it really is :(



This is not an ordinary lamp. It probably has to pass through the generations in our new family because:

1. It is made in Portugal
2. It is made of brass
3. most of all, the cautious one is so very proud of it and
4. It is blo*dy expensive (see, the price tag is still on it)

It hangs over the dining table area, but masterofboots still thinks that it looks more congruent in a canteen, so there :P Never mind, even the cautious one is allowed his moments of impulsiveness.

*** ***

I am very curious about our neighbours. There are 4 flats on our floor. They are

1. Family with lots of shoes

2. Catholic family (could tell from the crucifix on the wall)

3. Next door unknown entity.

Nothing is known about our next door neighbours so far. I hear the gentle clinking of cutlery during meal times, and know that they use white lights at home. Their living room walls are lilac, I know because I peeked in their flat. But I have not seen them once. They could be phantoms for all I know. I wonder very much what they are like, and hope that they are nice people.

BUT nothing is going to make this misanthrope knock on their door to introduce myself :P