Star gazing..

at our terrace with our new telescope.. the moon was bright, sky was clear and many stars were visible.. Orion.. Sirius.. Jupiter.. etc.. so we zoomed in to see Jupiter and Sirius.. managed to see but unable to focus.. it moved and the tripod was shaky.. so we gave up after some time..

anyways.. Sirius is the brightest star and really sparked in blue in the telescope.. Jupiter, Uranus and surrounding stars look great in the telescope but unable to see Jupiter's Great Red Spot..

hopefully the other tripod works better.. so excited and hope to see more planets and stars..

Kyushu 21 Dec to 6 Jan..

5 weeks to vacation.. desperately needed a break.. 2mths in new role but feel like 2yrs.. crazy and hectic.. anyways 2 yrs since we had our last trip to Nepal.. was busy with our new home last yr.. so looking forward.. whole Kyushu.. in Fukuoka and out Kagoshima.. drive and hike.. onsen.. all types of ramen.. Yakushima (UNESCO).. still counting and counting down..

Great wall hike..

Jinshanling to simatai with no shopping.. the weather was great.. sunny and cooling.. 6km hike to cross 22 towers in 2 hrs.. not crowded but far from city..

Start


Mid of hike


End

pistia stratiotes as of 11 aug..

aren't they cute?!?!?!.. i'm checking them out daily to see if there are new buds.. a lot more leaves and roots.. now have to place each at one corner.. so worried they will outgrow the pond..

pistia stratiotes..

are placed in our water feature on 31 jul.. so amazed by the growth rate.. very cute white flower but it only lasted for 1-2 days..

foto taken on 3 aug


foto taken on 5 aug


foto taken on 8 aug

another interesting day...

guess every weekend is going to be groceries shopping day.. we fully utilized 3hr IMM free parking (2hr 55mins).. daiso and giant.. still dun have enough time to cover most of giant.. there are promotions on things i have already bought last week.. grrrrrhhh.. must start to track them..

after short rest.. decided to jog.. along pasir panjang road or to kent ridge park.. too lazy to do steep slope.. so i turned right to head to ISS.. initially there were quite a lot of cars/buses.. later on it got better.. saw many nice houses and apt/condo.. NUS business school building looks like mini "nest".. remembered the slope i always have to walk up 5+ yrs back.. how much effort i have to put in to grad with the minimal CAP of 3.. not sure how long i ran but it was relaxing.. cooled down at the first floor of my apt.. the views of PSA.. cable car.. universal studio hotel.. are really nice.. hopefully i can see fireworks tomorrow..

hubby prepared quick dinner.. korean instant noodles and frozen crispy chicken.. we had it at our terrace since i was feeling hot and sweaty.. the breeze was nice and the ambiance was romantic.. just that it did not go well with the noodles.. anyways who cares.. i'm contented with a loving hubby who cooks.. so should not complain too much..

settling down...

for the first few days.. we keep forgetting to switch off the lights and aircon.. keep reminding ourselves to close the windows.. keep forgetting things and have to climb the stairs few times a day.. din sleep well bcoz of heavy rain/wind where the heavy rain drops pelted so hard on the windows.. finally we are out of these..

we have been relying on our i-robot to vacuum the place.. it always "die" in the first run as it does not know how to go back to charge.. hopefully hubby can fix this soon.. so finally we swept and mopped the house yesterday.. washed the terrace and toilets.. wiped part of the glasses.. did laundry.. we stopped the house chores after lunch.. hubby made pork porridge.. not too bad but too "thick" for me..

my mom came over in the afternoon.. both of us went swimming and the water was so cold.. i realized i have not swam with her for ages.. we let her relax.. hubby made dinner and i did the washing.. dad came over to pick her home and went back after looking at our night views..

the busy day completes with the ironing.. it's amazing how much work we have done.. now i'm having muscles ache.. not sure if it's from the house chores or swimming.. anyways.. feel really great.. we love our new home.. hope we can keep up with these..

the day...

we moved in.. the "ceremony" started at 5:15pm where we walked over fire stove and completed some other stuffs..

the mover (2 skinny man) came late and managed to uninstall and install our bed by 5pm.. they have to climb one stair up.. the old man was panting for breath where the young one rushed him.. i must say they are professional with all the wrapping and fast..

our folks came 1 hr later for a little house warming.. they love our views and the reno.. just that we have big furniture in a not-so-big living room.. anyways who cares.. as long as we like it..

guess i will need some time to get used to the new home..

Moving in..

29 July.. finally after 4 mths of defects fixing (still fixing) and 2 mths of reno.. these 4 mths have been frustrating and many surprises popped up which we managed to overcome.. somehow i learn to be less fussy and accept that everything cannot be as perfect as i expected.. anyways very happy with the outcome.. simple and cosy.. i love my feature wall.. wallpaper.. mirror.. lights.. kitchen..

Everything just happened at the rite time.. so lucky to buy this apt at a very good price.. so lucky to have a responsible and patient ID.. so lucky to meet ppl who somehow helped me to get good deals ($250 voucher for tv console, 20% off for water feature etc)

9 days to go.. busy cleaning.. packing and unpacking.. yippe!!!

Painting..

finally started.. however leaking problem in one of the bedroom still not fixed.. this is 3rd or 4th time to get the developer to fix.. lucky my ID checked and informed me.. hopefully this will not happen again.. so hubby went over during lunch and found 5 uncles painting.. furniture are moved as well.. wonder how everything will turn out.. excited and anxious..

Delivery..

the day where sofa, dining table and tv console are delivered.. unable to postpone any further.. yeh we bought them near last xmas.. we tried to move them away from wall as painting has not started.. gave up as they are too heavy for me and hubby to carry.. during the process i dropped some stuff and created new "holes" inside the wardrobe and maybe the floor (unable to check now as it's covered).. not sure if there are new defects created by others.. so sian and heart pain..

Reno updates

Down lights are installed and come with remote controllers for living room and bedrooms.. 2 ice cubes for master bedroom toilet.. 4 outdoor lights.. 1 dining hanging light.. 1 staircase hanging light.. 1 staircase wall light.. 1 mini brown fan with 3 lights in bomb shelter..

Staircase hanging light was replaced as the original one is too small and has many defects.. new one is ex.. round and has many small Swarovski crystals (less than 600pcs).. we took another 2 hrs to pick this.. hope it beautifies our staircase/terrace and worth the price..

Interior Design (ID)

It has been a hectic 3 weeks.. trying to find and report defects.. looking for a reliable ID.. spending time with 3 ID to go through our requirements.. finally decided on the one-stop shop.. who provided a 3D model design for the living room.. design and match color/lighting for the whole house (2-3hrs).. accompany us to buy lights and kitchen/toilet accessories (5-6hrs).. we like his design.. simple yet classy.. so with everything settled.. reno can start when defects are all fixed.. counting down and hopefully everything turns out well.. can't wait to move in..

summary of reno lists..
feature wall.. wallpaper in living room.. black tinted mirror.. study table with matching window ledge top.. master bedroom extended wardrobe, bedside table with matching window ledge top.. solar film and roller blinds.. paint.. rewire of lighting points with remote and installation of lights.. etc..

Finally... TOP...

Just got a call from developer that new home has TOP... yippie.. finally after 2 mths.. so excited..

Moving to different office on this fri too... new desk.. new home.. going to have new boss.. and not so-new role (8mths).. project going to complete by mid may.. new and challenging project to do after that.. really hope for smooth mths ahead..

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalal.....

TOP

finally stepped in to my new home after so long.. it was 10+am.. windy and bright.. toilets, wardrobes and kitchen cabinets look great.. i love the kitchen design most..we took measurements of all corners and sides.. tv console, fridge and washer all fit nicely.. so happy that we do not need to change anything..

now waiting anxiously for TOP.. inspector pls hurry up..