Dear and me were extremely happy yesterday… Two events made us this “high”…
Event 1…
We finally placed a deposit to have our combined family reunion at Grand Shanghai…
Couple of weeks ago when we called Grand Shanghai, the 1st seating was already full. We settled for the 2nd seating where dinner will begin at 8.30pm.. A perfect timing.. Just nice for my working parents…At that point, the restaurant only took down my hubby’s particulars and contact no.. din even asked us abt the menu and no of pax…the restaurant says they will call us back a couple of weeks before Chinese New Year and confirmation.. I was quite worried at the point of time... Kept thinking whether the restaurant will forget to call us or not… The worrying turns out extra..
Grand Shanghai called dear yesterday.. Sent him the different menus for selection.. In the end, we settled for a dinner package at S$888++…Paid a deposit yesterday too to secure the dinner.. So looking forward to having a great dinner there =P
Here’s the menu… All good stuffs… Decide to reward our parents for the hard work they put in…. Yummy yummy…
(1) 发财鱼生 ( 鲍鱼,三文鱼 ) a.k.a. Prosperity Raw Fish (Abalone & Salmon)
(2) 满屋生辉 ( 砂锅鸡鲍翅 ) a.k.a. Superior Shark's Fin with Chicken served in casserole
(3) 凤凰于飞 ( 北京鸭 ) a.k.a. Roasted Peking Duck
(4) 金碧辉煌 ( 香蒜菊花鱼 ) a.k.a. Pan-fried Cod Fish with Garlic Sauce
(5) 发财开心 ( 花胶海参鲍鱼 ) a.k.a. Braised Sea Cucumber with Sliced Abalone and Fish Maw
(6) 龙马精神 ( 干烧龙虾 ) a.k.a. Sautéed Lobster with Chilli & Garlic Sauce
(7) 一本万利 ( 塔菜蝴蝶 ) a.k.a. Stir-fried Shanghai Vegetables with Paper Ham
(8) 步步高升 ( 雪花蟹斗年糕 ) a.k.a. Stir-fried Shanghai Rice Cake with Crab Roe
(9) 合家团圆 ( 缤纷酒酿丸子 ) a.k.a. Boiled Glutinous Black Pearl with Fresh Fruits in Sweet Wine
Event 2…
We received a letter from HDB with regards to HDB loan application..
This is the opening statement on the letter : “Congratulations! You will be invited to collect the keys to your flat soon.”
I went into the forum for our flat status to find out more abt keys collection.. Apparently, we need to complete the loan application, after which HDB will process it.. Once the loan approves (which will take 2 to 3 weeks time), HDB will handover the keys… Yippee ….So the faster we send out the letter, the faster we’ll get our keys.. Target to gather all my documents by this weekend and send out the letter on Sunday night.. Postman will deliver it on Monday.. and HDB will receive it later by Tuesday… So excited abt all this..
Jus to give u guys an update…Read from the forum that our 1st HDB inspection is cleared.. No major defects found so far… second inspection was yesterday and today.. hope everything go smoothly… Sp looking forward to the day where we collect our keys…
Yesterday when I reached home from work, I was wet... There was no water dripping from my clothes, but I was damp, both inside and outside.... Blame it on the heavy rain + strong wind...Just before knock off time, the sky turned super dark and it started raining very, very heavily at Changi.. Oh gosh.. The rain was bad... I was using a super big umbrella but that did not stop me from getting drenched.. The wind was simply too strong.. My umbrella and I almost got blew away..Some of the pple ard me were using those foldable umbrellas.. Bad choice to utilise it today.. All these umbrella opened in the opposite direction.. The pple were all wet, from and back... For me, i was only wet at the back.. But that was bad enough.. Cos I was seated through out my bus trip home.. The clothes won't get any chance to dry... Me and some aunties on bus even asked the bus uncle to turn off the air-con cos it was simply too cold for us... Plus I was wearing wet somemore.. One of my colleague dun even dare to go home cos she was wearing the kind of flare skirts... Dun wan to imagine which direction the skirt will go...Nowadays, weather is bad... Just a couple of days, there were reports on fallen trees (branches).. some were at Hougang.. some at Orchard Road... Muz be the global warming effects.. sigh... Hope things are changing for the better when new year approach.. =P
Just down after lunch, we drove down to our new house.. Like i mentioned before, the contractor removed the permanent boundaries.. So pple were able to go in and have a look..
We saw a couple walking past the boundaries... and we followed suit.. This is the 1st time, dear and me actually were standing under our block, in the void deck.. oh my god, can't believe it.. we even went to touch the lift and the letter box.. all these are going true finally.. our keys to our new hse are finally coming...
We even went up to one of the worker guarding the lift and asked.. can we go up and see... the worker immediately shake his head... he told us that HDB is having their inspection on-going, so meanwhile, no visitors allowed on the top floor... he even told us that on the 17th, there wld be a some sort of inspection where directions of the house might become more visible.. I guessed he is going to tell us that distribution of the keys will depend on that date where whether HDB certified the house as in good condition or not... So excited...
17th is coming Thursday... I'll be looking forward to it.. I guess we'll be visiting the site more often now.. hopefully next time, we can get to visit the 3rd floor... Crossed our fingers =P
We are currently sourcing for an interior designer (ID) that we like..
We started by shortlisted abt 6 of them, i think... Selection criteria is by their portfolio and location of offices.. 1st, dear and me muz like their style of designing and 2nd, as we'll be visiting them a lot if we confirm them, it'll only be convenient for if their office is not that far out.. Can you imagine we shortlist one from IMM and we have to travel out all the way from our hse in Hougang to Jurong.. Oh god, I din even wan to think abt it...
We went personally down to a few to discuss with them what we wanted.. The rest I actually emailed them my floor plan, criteria and our budget.. Then comes the waiting for quotation part.. So far, only 4 got back to me on the quotation...
Potential 1
This one is a neighborhood shop... The ID just emailed me abt the layout and quotation but he din call me... Discussed it with dear and came to a conclusion.. If he's sincere, he shld have given me a call or sent me a sms.. At least to tell me he sent me a quotation or to follow up... Decision : If he's sincere enough, he shld contact us and not making it seen like we are desperate and keep calling him...
Potential 2
This one is a famous one in the East... also the 1st one that we went to... The ID faxed me the layout and quotation couple of days ago.. i can say i'm rather disappointed with this one... Firstly, it was 3 weeks later that he got back to me.. It was a rather long wait and since it is long, i expected something good from the layout and the quotation.. in the end, the layout was only okie... and the quotation was overly simple.. he lumped everything together i.e. without itemizing each work.. and also after some comparison with the quotation i got from other ID, i realized he missed out a lot of things... On the layout, he put in all the cabinets and carpentry... However, the quotation dun comes with it.. what does it mean?? I have to buy them myself.. If i'm getting ready made things, I might as well dun engage an ID... with that amt of things missing, he is charging me quite a huge sum of money.. Conclusion, dun think it's worth while spending more time with them...
Potential 3
This one is also quite famous... It in the North.. Found them in the paper.. The ID is quite good, i muz say.. Know all his stuffs... All the things we wanna are provided for and included in the quotation.. Only thing is the price.. a little too pricey.. Also, we believe that this ID is an ex-contractor.. everything he always said dun worry, he will do it for us... We asked him little things and he will end with no prob.. I do things, you no worry... very traditional way of doing things..I'm sure the older generation wld like him but dun think it suit our style... the 2nd time we met him and finalizing the small details of the quotation, he asked if it is convenient for us to sign the quotation and confirm him... this turn me off a little... very pushy... dun like it at all... Think we might not choose him in the end... We shall see...
Potential 4
This is the one that I mentioned in my previous blog where we went down to her 2 offices and showrooms, as well as some of her projects.. This is also the only one that offers to take us to see her on-going projs.. gave us some comfort when we can actually see and visualize the things that we are going to expect.. The price that she quoted us is not expensive esp we are going for quite a huge renovation... but the best thing I like abt her is this... 1stly, she bothered to call contact me when she emailed me the quotation.. 2nd, she is not pushy... after yesterday meeting, she simply put it across to us that she has done all that she can.. all the quotation and advise.. now its our turn to settle down and think through the quote and decide on confirming the ID.. she ended off with saying, looking forward to meeting us again... Hmm... I liked her and her design style...
Guess it is quite obvious now who I like and who i dun.. dear dun really has much things to comment.. he always say he'll leave the decision to me cos as long I'm happy, he's happy... We've decided that we'll wait another 1 to 2 weeks before the other 2 come back with the quotations... If not, we will eliminate them from our list and choose Potential 4... after all, we are the consumer and they shld take responsibility in getting back to our inquiries asap..
So excited.... another big step in our life.. after selecting the wedding venus.. then the bridal shop and the wedding package... now it's the ID for our new hse... Yeah =P
The Saturday that just went past was eventful for us... We did so many things and we felt so satisfied with ourselves...
Our New House...
At 3pm when we came utilize our red plate car, we drove out to Admiralty to meet Zann, one of our potential interior design.. This will be the 2nd time we are meeting her... this time, we will be visiting her office at Admiralty, to go through our hse layout and the quotation and lastly, she will bring us around to couple of her on-going projects on hand..
Her admiralty office is very nicely done up and she showed us a lot of things that she noted down in the contract.. that's very impt for us cos it helped us to visualize the kinda of renovation that we are going to have... After discussing with her what we are going to have, she brought us to her on-going projects (hse that is undergoing reno that is oversee by her).. For this, we drove all the way to the end of the "world".. ha ha ha.. no lar, it's only end of Singapore.. we drove to Jurong West, which is very near to Pioneer Road (a.k.a. NTU)... This is one part of S'pore that we seldom visit or will never wan to visit..Throughout the trip, dear kept singing JJ's 西界.. we are really in the very west, that's why... but to look at the workmanship of our potential ID, we think it's worth it.. It's a trip not wasted, i would say..
After viewing the flat, we left to visit Causeway Point... We seldom visit that shopping centre cos it is pretty far.. But we were surprised by the variety of things they sell... After dinner, we had a great time browsing through the furnitures, electrical appliances and bathroom accessories .. at this stage, we are doing up our budgeting.. so it's really impt and good for us to know how much things are in the market... Will be doing my homework later by jotting down all those that we had seen =P
Our Best Couple Frenzs...
The night didn't end at Causeway Point... After all the shops closed, we left to visit Wenqiang & Lin Ling.. The link-up was pre-arranged a week ago by the 2 “无间道“ leads.. Reason of link up = Have a friendly match of tennis... Oh please reader, dun be deceived by them... playing tennis at 10pm at night... they are only going to have a match over Wii.... Ha ha ha...
It was a fun night as the 4 of us tried the different sports games... Tennis.. Baseball... Bowling... Golf.. I even managed to do a Turkey while playing bowling... Shld have captured the disappointed look on dear and Wenqiang face when I managed a turkey... They tried ways and means to get a strike like turning.. spinning... ha ha ha... all = not use... unlike me, i just throw the ball without effort and there it goes... STRIKE... ha ha ha... sometime not trying too hard will give you the maximum results...
The two "old men" had so much fun that Lin Ling and me felt like videoing down their actions... it will be real funny replaying last night action... We din film it last night but I'm sure there are many Wii Link Up in near future between the brothers... So there will always be chance.. ke ke ke...
Looking forward to the next meet up...
Dear is going for his team dinner tonight.. gonna utilize part of the S$4,000 reward… they will be visiting Chef Chan’s Restaurant (a.k.a神厨 三 绝) , in the National Museum of Singapore, … In order to utilize the S$4,000, they tried means and ways to get Chef Chan to prepare a special set of menu for them…
Here’s the menu… costs S$140 per pax.. but then, looking at the menu, wondering if the price match the food choice and quality… That, I’ll leave it for dear to comment after he has eaten.. But I ran through some forum and comments abt the food, services and quality were quite good.. ratings were like almost 8 to 9 out of 10 stars…. Here’s some pics abt the restaurant too… for your viewing pleasure =P Customised Menu
Abt the Restaurant
Dear’s working team came in top for Quarter 3. 2007. As a result of their efforts and performance, their Company gave them a reward of S$4,000. Look like a generous company. There are abt 12 pple in the team, so simple calculation would give us abt at least S$300 per pax…
Then NEWS came… that reward will not be given in solid cash… The team has to spend, after which use receipts to draw down from the pool of S$4,000… okie.. so no more S$300 cash for each pax… well, at least the team can buy S$4,000 worth of vouchers and distribute it among the staff…. Hmm, still not that bad..
Then NEWS 2 came… Company policy.. cannot use that reward to buy vouchers.. okie… so what can the money be spent on? Well, company reverted and said money can only be spent on team building activities… then they add on… watching movie, also can… Huh? I never knew that watching movie can result in team building cos there is no interaction during the show…. Unless, there is an after movie session where purpose is to discuss feeling abt the show… just like primary school guys.. muz express your feeling either after watching a show, reading a book or visiting a place of interest… so funny….. But that news is still not that bad, a couple of dinners and ktv sessions should be able to do the trick… wondering if buying toto and 4d is allowed.. they are also considered as team building activities, wat… everyone in the team can put their heads together and think of a number to buy.. this is called brain storming… ke ke ke
Then NEWS 3 came… Utilization of the S$4,000 has an expiry date… By 22nd Feb 2008… oh my god.. what is this… wanna reward pple for their efforts, yet set so much weird rules to the spending of it.. like want to give, dun want to give kind… so weird… now is already towards mid Jan.. starting from next week, the team will be taking turns to go for duty travel.. where to find time to get together? Sigh….
Dear is going for the 1st team building activity tonight… going to be an expensive one…. at least utilize some money.. else it will be a waste.. will keep you guys posted of that expensive dinner…
1 year, 1 month, 2 weeks and 1 day had passed and I had not received any letter from HDB yet wrt collection of the keys to our new house... So depressing...We purposely drove passed the area couple of days ago... whole block is up.. lights are up... block no is up... even the fixed barricades around the blocks are removed and replaced with temperory ones... think the contractors are doing the final touchup to the landscape... everything looked ok to me... like in ready move in condition...I visited HDB website yesterday.. HDB revised our probable completion date and handover for our block from 2Q 2008 to 1Q 2008... so i shld be hearing from them before 31st March 2008... but then from now till end Mar... it's such a long wait...Logged on to SengKang.com Forum... someone said HDB inspection date for my block is on 11th Jan.. that's this Friday.. if nothing went wrong, handover shld be pretty fast cos things are cleared.. but then, who is this someone and where he got this info... i'm so loss now... I can only wait.. and while waiting, complain to dear.... dear muz be bored at my complain.. ke ke ke... let's hope news from HDB will come soon... hopefully ready move in condition will be before we go to Greece... So so looking forward to my new place... Finally...
We visited a furnishing exhibition in Expo today.. 1st time attending such an exhibition and it took place on the 1st weekend of the new year.. Not a bad start…Decided not to go so early cos the exhibition will end at 10pm.. We took our time and had dinner at Xin Wang, before moving out to Expo… When we reached expo, it was already 7.45pm….
Even before we stepped into the hall, we were stopped by this lady from some bridal shop (dun remember which one) who asked if we wanna take up their wedding package.. The 2 of us just keep shaking our head and said we are already married… As usual, being a typical sales person, she went on to say that … “wow, the 2 of you looked so young, can’t tell that you two are married…. It’s okie… why not consider our anniversary photo package…” she went on and on, until I almost got scared.. grabbed dear’s hand and we moved fast into the hall…. This is the reason why I dun like going to exhibition… dun like pple following me all ard, promoting their stuffs….
The exhibition was not as crowded as what we think it should have been… maybe becos it’s the 2nd last day and it is closed to closing hour….we have lots of space to roam abt the hall, looking at design of the showroom… of course, there will be sales person ard asking if you want this and want that… as usual, we brushed them off by saying we’re just looking ard for ideas…. Anyway, that’s our real intention too for visiting the exhibition… ke ke ke…. It’s a new experience, but dun think I’ll visit another exhibition like this in near future.. Firstly, dun think there will be one coming up soon.. and secondly, I prefer to do my shopping elsewhere than in exhibition =P
