Lorong Halus Wetland... A quick walk

As we were driving back after brunch at Prive, we decided to do some explorations along Lorong Halus. Found ourselves at the site of the new reservoir which would be having its grand opening the next day!

Saturday brunch at Prive!

Read about this restaurant which serves good brunch with a good view...


We have arrived!


Sneak preview of the view










Waiting for our food


Ah fat




Mine!




Another view, but still MINE!


Hubby's




Nice cooling drinks




The bridge that you need to drive past


Angry looking photographer




Our view as we were eating

And we ended it with a walk around this man-made island...

Our Room - The Bed

Marcus always has problems falling asleep, and staying asleep. Therefore when we were shopping for our mattress, I always insisted that he is the one who spends the most time lying on them to test trial.

Initially, we had wanted to get a Maxcoil mattress. Not too expensive, less than a thousand dollars without a bedframe. We decided to head back to Courts Megastore to try out the mattress again, and place an order for the mattress plus a storage bed frame.

However, as Marcus was trying out the mattress (and had commented it didn't feel as comfortable as the last time he tried it), I skipped over to the next counter, and took a look at the Sealy mattresses.

The salesperson was introducing the Harmony to me, and as I was lying down, Marcus came over.. I told him to lie next to me and try out the mattress. Guess what happened.... He almost fell asleep. That almost sealed the deal I tell you! If not for the fact that it was already close to 1015pm, and Courts was closed, we would have made our order that very day!

Well.. too bad.... a week later, we headed back to Courts again... and we tried the Diamond Jubilee - the special one-time release in commemoration of Sealy's 60th Anniversary.. and even I felt it was SHIOK!!

Well, there goes our budget! From budgeting 1.5k for a mattress + storage bedframe, to a 2.7k for a Sealy mattress + storage bedframe, we have placed our order and deposit for a $3,450 Sealy mattress + storage bedframe!

Oh well, as long as Marcus falls asleep easily and stays asleep! Plus, it comes with 4 pillows, 2 mattress protectors and 1 quilt! Now it looks like our bed's going end up with 6 pillows! hahaha.. I am NOT going to throw away our King Koil microfibre pilllows, it's super comfy lor!!

Happy Lunar New Year! 恭喜发财，心想事成！

Here's wishing everyone of you a prosperous lunar new year, and may all the year of the rabbit bring good luck and good health!

Our Kitchen appliances - the Microwave Oven

Initially, I had decided on a LG microwave oven that is capable of microwaving and roasting/grilling.. Selling for about $648 at Courts.

However, after a trip to Harvey Norman, I have decided on the Sharp Healsio AX-1500V



Silver or red? - Decided on Silver!



The features:
- Cooks just using water - roasting, grilling, baking and more
- Reduces fat in food & reduces calories
- Reduces salt in food without compromising taste
- Retains more vitamins in food
- Cooks whole eggs without breaking its shell
- Easy Maintenance
- Equipped with odor-removing coating, steam clean function, etc
- Reheat Option (Steam/manual/reheat)

The specs:
- Power Source : 230-240V, 50Hz
- Power System : Inverter Type
- Auto Menus : 32 Menus
- Power Input : Microwave-1,040, Convection-1,500W, Steam-950W
- Water Tank Capacity : 0.5L
- Oven Temperature : 100°C - 250°C (except proofing 40°C)
- Display : 3.5" LCD Display
- Oven Capacity : 31L
- Outside Dimensions (W X D X H) mm : 553 x 483 x 438 mm
- Cavity Dimensions (W X D X H) mm : 359 x 339 x 256 mm
- Tray Dimensions (W X D X H) mm : 330 x 280 x 20 mm
- Net Weight (kg) : Approx. 24kg

Our Kitchen appliances - THE FRIDGE

After weeks of shopping around and being fickled-minded about the fridge (but then again, I am also fickle-minded about our microwave oven, the washing machine.. yeah.. basically almost all the big appliances in the house that didn't have a demo that wowed me lol), I think this is THE ONE.

How do you know the fridge is THE ONE:
- It is big enough (I wanted a french door fridge, but that's not feasible in a HDB)
- It looks chio enough (so I don't get tired of seeing it. lol)
- It sounds techy enough (ionizer, cool curtain what you have not, ALL the fridges have at least something techy)
- When you don't get tired of seeing it

Ok lah... all these are my reasons.. lol

Anyway... Introducing the Samsung RT77KBPN



A classic two door fridge (with freezer at the top), and a cold water dispenser (manual - need to fill the tumbler in the fridge)

How it looks inside



Now, the specs:
- 588litres total nett capacity (154l in the freezer, and 434l in the fridge)
- 84cm wide, 185cm tall, 72.6cm deep, 104kg gross weight
- No frost freezer and Multi flow function
- Silver nano health function and silver nano deodorizer

What Marcus and I liked most about this fridge is the CoolSelect Turbo section in the fridge area



"A freezer in a fridge, Samsung’s innovative CoolSelect Turbo is a customisable storage space designed to meet your specific food freshness needs at the touch of a button. It keeps your food fresh longer with three dynamic settings — Freeze Mode (-12°C), Soft Freeze Mode (-5°C), and Fresh Mode (3°C)."

Yups, I'm loving this fridge more and more..

Our Kitchen appliances - Hood and Hob, and a hand held blender!

Marcus and I had decided on a hood and hob, after the salesman in Mayer (Tampines 1) did a simple demonstration. He used a stack of A4 papers stapled together (abouut 5-6 pces), and the hob we were looking at managed to suck and hold onto the papers!

Some of the more expensive models couldn't manage to suck the papers at all, or dropped the papers after a few seconds, so we were definitely impressed!

Our hood - Delizia DZH 519 IX


Specifications of our hood:
- 90cm glass chimney hood
- 1060m3/hr extraction capacity
- 3-speed settings
- Halogen Bulbs: 2 x 20 W
- Aluminium grease filter

Some people might ask "Why do you need a hood?" and the reason is really simple. When we were staying in China, our kitchen had a hood. And when I used it to cook, I was impressed with how the smell of smoke around the house is kept to a bare minimal with the use of the hood! Also, cooking hoods usually come with some light bulbs, allowing you to see clearer the colours of the food being cooked! Although I have been used to closing kitchen doors when I cook (parents' place has a door, and China home has one too), but I do feel that the hood will help to keep the cooking smells away!

For the cooking hob, Delizia DZX730 ARCHITECT



Specifications
- 75 cm hob with 3 burners
- 2 dual burners
- 1 semi-rapid burner
- Gas safety valve
- Battery ignition
- Fully sealed burner base
- Cast iron grids and burner caps

Together with that, we also bought a hand held blender - Cuisineart's Smart Stick Hand Blender - CSB77



Specifications:
- Brushed stainless steel housing
- Powerful 200-watt motor
- Push-button control for continuous or pulse action
- Comfort grip handle
- Stainless steel blending attachment
- Whisk attachment
- Chopper attachment
- 16 oz. mixing/measuring beaker

Our kitchen appliances are all coming in nicely together!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011 to all

Merry Christmas to everyone, and may 2011 be a great year to all of you!

Keep safe and healthy!

The journey of a broken foot part II

Yippie!! The screws have been removed!!


In hospital for the day op...


How my foot looks bandaged after the operation


Yup, these were the three screws which were removed from my foot


During changing of dressing a few days after the operation


Got the doctors to also cut away this growth that I had near the right near as a result of a flesh infection


Guess the doctors did make the cut at the same places as the first operation!

Next up, removal of stitches on 27 December, follow up appointment with the doctors on 29 December, and hopefully, physiotherapy and walking soon!!!

Some pictures of the house - First appointment at HDB settled!

Well, there has been some unhappiness at the first appointment. Let's just say that we have learnt our lesson, and will never look for an inexperienced agent to act on our behalf. Oh well, let's not dwell on the unhappiness.

Today, we went down to HDB and signed all the papers, including the one that makes us in debt for the next 30 years of our lives! haha..

Some pictures of the house!


The floor plan


View of the living room from the 'study' window


View towards bedroom 2 and 3 doors


View of the living room


View of the living room window


View of the living room from the kitchen door


View of the foyer/dining area


This is where we will be putting the dining table


Where we will be doing a partition


This will be removed, and we will be having a wall thingy there instead


Master bedroom - where the cupboards are now


One side of the bedroom (where the toilet is)


Master bedroom toilet door


Master bedroom toilet


Master bedroom toilet


View from master bedroom


View of bedroom 2 from the door


Bedroom 2


View of bedroom 3 from the door


Bedroom 3 - the wall with the boxed up window. Going to seal this up


Bedroom 3..so headache.. cause of the beams at the side...


View from bedroom 2


The yucky kitchen cupboards. This is where we will be having the sink area slightly to the left


This will be where we will be putting the stove


We will be leaving this wall empty


Where our washing machine will be


Removing this, so this side of the kitchen is also clutter free


Common toilet - going to be having the door to the toilet inside. Therefore, one person can use the sink, while the other is showering/using the toilet


Pipes and ceiling


Storeroom

So as you can see, there are a lot of work to be done on this house!!