1 year, 5 months later

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! (kinda soon).
But nah, let’s try that again.

Ho ho ho! Look who’s back.

You may begin singing ~

Before you start to judge, I have been intending to pen down my thoughts in this space for a long time now. I actually enjoy journaling quite a bit! It gives me the opportunity to revisit my past thoughts and feelings. And these bring back (mostly) fond memories…

Truly, after re-reading the last few posts of 2018, it was all about our wedding preparation and the challenging setbacks that tested us in a particular time and space.

As a postmortem, I can proudly declare – WE SURVIVED!!! (and we are still happily married as of now lol)

The standard reply I give to people who casually shoot the “how’s married life?” question… Let’s just say married life is a lot more fun than the wedding day itself. (Yup, go ahead and quote me.)

House Planning #

With one of life’s biggest milestones achieved, and all wedding-related hurdles crossed, we’re slowly approaching the next milestone in life – our house (or also what I typically refer to as ‘our love nest’).

This is a mega project on its own. And if I may be so bold as to do a comparison, I feel that ‘house planning’ is actually 10x more intense than wedding planning!!

The only (but MOST important factor) however, is that ‘house planning’ is kept between the couple. No crazy extended family to appease. No hankering to ensure friends sit with the right people. No human emotions to deal with.

None.

Whatever decisions we make at this juncture forth, and the consequences our choices may bring, is what we will accept collectively as a couple later. To me, that’s what married life is about. The idea of teamwork and taking risks together.

So if shit happens some years down the road, nobody should be pulling up their index finger to point at the other party to say, “see, I told you so”.

FF and I made a commitment to each other that we won’t fall into this toxic trap, which would probably harm our relationship and set a substandard for any child’s upbringing. (Another reason why I am blessed to have married this man!)

This will be in a series of sub-topics. I don’t exactly have it all mapped out at the moment… So I guess I will come back to this post from time to time to make some minor edits. 🙃

1. Collection of keys #

(Chimes: ~ Zhang zhang zhang ~)

• Our HDB sales launch in 2015 had 3 plots of major projects to choose from.
• In our chosen project, there are 3 blocks of flats. Of which, 2 out of 3 blocks have had their keys in Oct and Nov 2019 respectively.
• Guess who’s still without keys?

Bingo! We.

I’ve learnt along the way that waiting is a lesson imparted by our Heavenly Father to us, so that we may appreciate what is to come at the end of the wait. The longer the wait, the larger our desire and thirst for the end to hurry arrive! I use this as a reminder and a lesson for myself that waiting for my own house to be completed is akin to waiting to be assumed into God’s heavenly kingdom. At the end of my earthly pilgrimage of course.

In the process of waiting, I discover new terrain; learn new insights; grasp fresh concepts; experience undiscovered emotions; explore new opportunities; comprehend the meaning of love…

Waiting – what a beautiful and daunting thing altogether at the same time.

Our Probable Completion Date (PCD) was scheduled as “End December 2019”. Let’s hope the keys come soon as planned!

2. Meeting IDs / Contractors #

Here’s my take – If there’s no weight to the words you so freely speak of prior to signing a contract, how can I be assured of your responsibility after we sign it? How can I possibly entrust the project management and supervision of my house’s renovation to you?

As of today, we’ve met 3 IDs in total.

• The Local Innterior
  We met up with a lady called Joanne. We shared our requirements and broad ideas at the first meetup. She took down notes onto our floor plan. She said she’ll schedule another meetup once her design and costings are up. She never came back.

• Adroit Interior Design
  Shortly after the first disappointment, we decided to put another company to the test. Same process of talk, talk, talk. Shared our requirements. ID by the name of Ashley took them all down and seemed excited. Before we left their office, she said she’ll schedule another meetup 2 weeks later. History seemed to find its way back - cos Ashley never came back either.

• Ascend Designs
  Once bitten, twice shy they said. We held z - e - r - o expectations for this 3rd player. But surprisingly, after meeting up with Jasper and Jaden for the first time, they actually did what they said they would do (i.e. create a Whatsapp group chat for all 4 of us). In the group chat, we could share information and material freely. Honestly, I am startled they followed through with what they said they would do. I do carry some half hopes that this will work out. But let’s see how! Our next meeting is scheduled for 16 Dec…

• Scratch
  This one’s probably gonna be one of the last few IDs we’ll meet. Cos the owner of this company is Fi’s friend, we decided to give it a try too. Not sure if people are keen to take up our project cos of our relatively small budget. First meetup planned for 7 Dec! Will update this space accordingly thereafter.

If all of the above fails, my list of contractors will then kick in.

3. Purchasing items #

Let’s just say that in a wedding banquet, you still have the possibility of recuperating your losses thanks to those who bless you with a larger/thicker ang pao haha.

But this time around, the house expenditure is purely the couple’s to bear. Ain’t nobody gonna come round to give a fat ang pao to bless you.

It surely was a painful and heavyhearted moment for me. To spend THOUSANDS of dollars just with each swipe of the card. Or with each signatory at the bottom of an invoice… It can be quite scary indeed. I had to constantly pray silently to ask God to release me from the bondage of the secular world. And to release me from the need of constantly wanting to build up monetary treasures. I am still learning as the days and purchases go by. But I am sure one day I will eventually be able to purchase big ticket items without the guilty noose around my neck.

Anyway, we got most of our items during the Black Friday Sale this year.

• Simmons mattress (at Robinsons)
• Philips steamer (at Sitex)
• Dyson vacuum cleaner (at Sitex)
• LG air conditioner units (at Best Denki)

Those items and other existing items like Conde House chairs and Hoe Kee sanitary fittings easily costed ~ $15K and upward. 😔

Yup. Cheers to instant noodles inside my nice comfy house in the future.
Till the next update! Hopefully by then, I can be a bearer of better news.

Oh, maybe after the mini trip to Bali (teehee).

xx.