New Place

We finally got the keys to our new place! Well, we got them on the 8th of this month, thank God it was a rather smooth transaction, unlike the last round which was quite heart-stopping. (The seller had some problem with legal representatives... long story.) However, one of the seller's family members couldn't get out of the house fast enough and he asked for about one week's extension. Said that his new place wasn't ready, so he couldn't move. So we let him stay till Sunday for a 'small token' which seemed like a pound of flesh to him. He could even say - if I don't move out by Monday u can start charging me rent. Er,... he think that place still his uh? :P Anyway, it was pegged at market rate from the 8th till 12th. On the 11th, Ben & I felt that we should make a courtesy call to him. So we did. Thank God we did. At first, the fella said, "Oh, it's about 99% done already. I just have a few pieces of item left. Oh, by the way, could you help me throw away the bench? Just leave it outside can already." I was quite shocked lah.


You want us to throw this heavy monster away? Erhm... the initial agreement was that the place was EMPTIED by the 8th November, and on the 11th night, he wants us to throw that (amongst many other things) away. We had to provide him with the mover's contact and even teach him how to go about doing stuff.

We declined the request nicely and Ben proceeded to go upstairs (we were at the block's carpark) to have a look. When he went up, he MMSed me the stated of the place. He was very very upset. That fella's remaining 1% still had about a lift landing's worth of stuff - 2 tables, 1 big cupboard, 1 kitchen full of knick-knacks (which he kindly offered to give us - erh... hawker takeaway plastic containers etc?) Ben had to help him move all the stuff out! We knew that he was a penny pincher, so Ben said, if all the stuff (subsequently at the lift-landing) isn't gone by Monday, we'll have to charge him additional rent - in response to him commenting much earlier that he'll only clear his 1% by Thursday, 17th coz that's his off day. Wah. Argh.

Anyway, by the 14th, the Town Council guys came and clear all his junk, leaving behind his shoe cabinet (which I dutifully reminded him nicely to dispose of). Sigh. He's really in a world of his own - can even lament to Ben over the phone that he hasn't gotten anything done and even hasn't brushed his teeth! It was an afternoon call. :S He's about mid-thirties, single and desperately needs a woman to clean him up. Any takers? :S

So now we're in the midst of looking for a contractor to do up the kitchen. It is in a VERY bad state. This guy can pay off his new place WITHOUT taking a HDB loan. But the current kitchen (his old place/our new place) looks BAD.


The floor's in a bad shape (not visible) and some of the cupboard doors cannot be closed. It's really dirty, though the picture does it too much justice.


This is supposed to be a kitchen balcony.

It's been like this for years. Looks like it's undergoing construction right? But we're glad that we can hack this whole place and do it up the way we want it, without feeling too sayang about 'wasting' good furniture.

Anyway, because of upgrading, we won't be moving in so soon, not in the next six months, to say the least. The HDB Main Upgrading Programme provides: upgrading of Existing Bathroom and Toilet, waterproofing of bathroom and toilet floors, tiling of bathroom and toilet floor and walls, replacement of existing squat / pedestal pan with new pedestal pan, replacement of bathroom and toilet vents, provision of grab bar, replacement of existing bathroom and toilet door with PVC folding door, replacement of existing wash basin with new wash basin, replacement of windows and grilles, and replacement of main door and gate. We really don't know how the new design's gonna look like, hopefully it's decent. We'll have to go to the Branch office to check it out. Hopefully it's decent. *Fingers crossed*