It is Mellow Yellow (Part 7)

Mr and Mrs Kong selected the ever cheerful "Sunflower White" from the Dulux Weathershield catalogue, as the exterior colour of their house. In the sunshine, it is a light yellow, which, we hope gives a cheerful welcome to visitors.

Today's Progress (Part 6)

Not a lot happening today since Mr Contractor has said he won't be able to do much else without the tiles. We did however notice that he has, yet again, forgotten a design detail earlier discussed and agreed. Our toilet downstairs was to spot 3 glass blocks above the door to let some light in but the section now has been plastered and painted over WITHOUT the glass blocks!

Surprise surprise.

We have on 2 previous occasions reminded him of this. To remind him a third time is pure waste of energy.

Wonder what his latest excuse is.

On another front, the electrician's guys are fixing socket points today. We will have to go shopping for lights soon.

Tiles: More Decisions to be Made (Part 5)

Today, Mr Kong, Mrs Kong and Mr Contractor made it to MML (Malayan Mosaic - www.mymml.com/createDesign/index.html) to make a final decision on our tiles. Sadly Mr and Mrs Kong were in a rush, and forgot to bring a camera so we have no photos to post here.

The process of choosing tiles is a little painful and yet exciting at the same time. There are many considerations to be made, including surface texture and finish. In total, it has taken Mr Kong 4 trips and Mrs Kong 3 trips to narrow down which tiles we want. We can confidently say that we have made the decision we want to make. As to the final results, well, we will just have to wait and see.

Expected delivery of our tiles is in 1 week, with one batch of tiles (for the master bathroom) to be made 3 weeks later. Fingers crossed everything will go as planned, as Mr Contractor has already forewarned us of his forced idleness, pending arrival of the tiles. He seems to blame us for this, but really, Mrs Kong had informed him of our choice about a month ago - so plenty of time for him to get his act together.

Just another one of the joys of working with contractors!

House Renovations Plans .. finally (Part 4)

Renovation works have slowed, ever since we demanded plans from our contractor. "Demanded" is the word because it would not have been otherwise done.

We are well aware that contractors do not, as a general rule, draw plans. In fact, speaking to all friends currently renovating at the moment, it is really unheard of. However, if you had heard our contractor's "sell" and brag about how he will draw us plans, we thinks you would agree too.... make the man draw the plans.

Moreover, we hope, with plans, he will actually remember what he is suppose to do in each room/ at each part of the house. He keeps forgetting "the plan"!!

This was a typical conversation between Mrs Kong and our contractor before Mrs Kong gave up and handed over the reigns to Mr Kong:

Mrs Kong: Mr Contractor, at what height will the plaster ceiling be for the upstairs rooms and in the kitchen?

Mr Contractor: at the original height. I will make sure that the walls are sand down and white washed first before putting the final layer of paint. Don't worry, we will do a good job. There will be 2 layers of water proofing on the bathroom floor, we use this because the bathroom is a little porous. We don;t want it leaking do we? It will be more problems for me! This is really a perfect sized home for you. Not too big. Just nice, good space (etc etc blah blah) ... yes I have done a lot of work and have loads of experience with these things. ....

Mrs Kong: Good.

One week later, the plaster ceiling is not at its original height as promised. Mrs Kong argues with Contractor. Contractor seems to have forgotten promise, because there were no plans!!

Renovations Continue (Part 2)

The renovations continue. The Electrician and his two Indo guys have been in to rewire the entire house. In addition, the ever talented electrician has been working on our very problematic automatic gate, which just won't close and open at the right angle.


Finally on this fateful date, our Electrician turned up with a guarantee that the gate will work. Here in the pic, you can see one of his Indo guys building a gate stopper, to allow the gate to shut at the right position.

An electrician's work is not that easy afterall!

old water pipes

Loot found under one of the old beds on site - we were hoping to find money of course, so this was a little disappointing.

Electrician's guy embedding a wire, for a socket point.

House Renovations

front door - what a site

On the 1st of June, several foreign men (from as far as north China) stepped into our house to break it down. The much anticipated house renovations started a month ago!

They came with huge hammers, and saws, to break 2 walls to start with. There is quite a lot to do, from moving a toilet, to installing new flooring and windows. To friends and family eagerly awaiting the completion and future enjoyment of soon to be cosy home, take a close look at these before photos ... won't look like this when you come visit! We will be posting more photos to come

damp patches on wall

dining room - remember those tiles?

more of dining room and kitchen

wall dividing dining room and kitchen
(mummy's antique mirror before it was removed)