We Got One!

Like a breakthrough in Ghost Busters movie, we found ours. The search is over!

The quest for the Great Room Divider, partition or folding screen... whichever name you want to call it has been won!

Sign, sealed, delivered... "by Wednesday, 5th August, between 10:00am to 1:00pm, Ma'am." Salimah, the sales lady said. Yes!

Finally we have settled for the first one we ever laid eyes before the big quest started, at Barang Barang in Singapore Post building... after tracking to Harvey Norman at Millenia Walk and several other furniture stores at Marina Square and Suntec City... and lastly at Parkway Parade.

The heavens have truly gave us a blessing when we returned back to Barang Barang; resigned to the Solomon Divider "with Lava Motif" as it was my first choice anyway, to find it selling at 50% off this time! No Way...! Way! Yes!!!

So instead of the actual price of $690.00, we got it for half. The uncertainties and delays turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us.


Done! Our home furnishing "project" is now complete as far as "sourcing" is concern.

After 6 years, we finally replaced our sofa set, which triggered everything else. The need for new drapes custom-made with dark-wood poles to match the deco.

That replacement triggered what Wifey has been nagging about for sometime, the need for a room divider for more privacy against the peering neighbors passing by our front door.

Which then led to complementing the room divider itself by filling the void with a modern-classic mango-wood vase.

That is not all.

The dark-wood furniture will not standout if the walls were not painted off-white, to create that Zen-Balinese, resort-like feel. So the painters will come to start painting the living hall with ICI Pearl-Glo Apple-White this Thursday for the last stack of my S$550.00!

That is it! No more money will be spent on home deco for the next 5 years! Please!

We do feel that we went a "tat" overboard with the revamp of our home... typical of many Malays who are very house-proud. It becomes more intense usually when Hari Raya is nearing.

Coincidentally, we will be celebrating it this 13th October 2007. Or is it?

The Great Divide-r

The quest for home deco continues on...

The search for that elusive room divider with that Zen-like dark wood finishing led us to the most unlikely of places.

Picket & Rails came to Wifey's mind and surfing online for their branches on this island has led us to their biggest showroom of 30,000 feet at Mandai Estate, off Woodlands Road. That was near the Singapore Zoological Garden... which I would rather go.

Then again, the long journey on a bus service 960 from Tampines Interchange to Woodlands Road would a long but pleasant ride... if we had left earlier. Instead, we took the expensive route in a cab that cost S$14.00 to my surprise.

A run-down 1960's dilapidated building with a saving grace of a Picket & Rail banner on it. What! Are we at the right address?

The place was so quiet almost mistook it as a deserted warehouse even though it was near the busy Woodlands main road. I felt as if I was in a movie scene trafficking guns or drugs, or something.

Wifey was equally shocked. "Scary" was her sole word upon reaching the parking lot.

I thought somebody might have forgotten to update their website, until I saw a small flickering light coming off a zen-like water feature in front of its showroom entrance at the staircase. With it, was some yellowish, weather-beaten promo pamphlets that greeted us as we alighted the cab.


Most of the furnitures were as dated like the building itself. It irked me for making such a long and expensive trip, to find a room divider that could be mistaken for a 1950's coffee shop partition.

Maybe just because the style was not to our taste.

The out of the way was not surprising when we were the only customers there. The only nice thing about the place was the sales people. Warm, friendly, informative and very helpful.

We left the place in less than 10 minutes and got a cab as we reached the main road. Harvey Norman at Millenia Walk was our next attempt.

Fortunately, casual talks with the cab driver about furniture hunting led him to introduced us back to the area early into the journey to Sungei Kadut Drive. There, 8 to 9 large warehouse furnishing stores were within walking distance between each other.

We went to all except 2 that had closed for the day. Visited Zen Tradition and found the room divider made of birch wood that suited our deco... but it was just too darn expensive.

Still not satisfied, we had to visit and exhaust all the other furnishing stores in the island before we settle for that one which cost S$720.00 before a 5% discount at best.

I would have closed the deal for the Solomon Divider with lava motif at Barang Barang when we visited it last weekend. Though it S$620.00, I find it simple and clean-cut, but Wifey thinks it is too plain and bulky.

We came back tired and empty-handed yet again. The search continues tomorrow....

Tomorrow?! Comex PC Show will end tomorrow! It is the Mecca for Techno-Men, a quarterly pilgrim that must be fulfilled with a journey to visit... and splurge and be in Techno-heaven for weeks with the new toy! Did I say toy?

Oh, alright... I just read Barbara's comment from Trying To Catch Up and I think she makes lots of sense in this Techie-home connect versus Zen-home deco household here.

Well, there will always be another PC show 3 months from now anyway. So, get the compass out, let us track that elusive room divider... Sigh.

Comex Is Calling

It is that time again. Comex 2007 is here at Suntec City since Thursday and will end this Sunday.

I thought of going over to have a look-see and stock back up on the ink cartridges for my HP Photosmart 375, since my Mom has been asking me to print lots of photos we took when we go our outings together.

So, first priority will be to buy several packs of HP 95 Tricolor Print Cartridges... then contemplate on NAS drives for my home network.

Not that I desperately need it, but it will be a cool thing to keep everything in one central location where everyone in the family can share and retrieve, unlike when sharing on a PC's drive where the PC must be turned-on for access.


Yep! Another reason to buy a techno gadget which Wifey will ask "why do we need that?" which I will stumble for an answer... to spend my money.

Instead of going off straight to Suntec from work, I met Wifey at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station to look for a suitable Zen vase to complement our home furnishings.

At least the trip was not a total waste when we found the perfect one at Ovas in Park Mall after some legwork at Civic Plaza.

I forked out S$398.00 for a 3 feet modern-classic mango-wood vase instead of a 500 Gigabyte NAS drive. Sigh...

Now... for the next phase of home deco... a Zen room divider for the foyer tomorrow.

That will be "so interesting" as it will easily set me back anywhere between S$600.00 and S$1,000.00... and equivalent of 32 Inch Sharp LCD TV that would be great in the bedroom.

I am left with Sunday for Comex with no more money left to spend... then again, all for the comfort of home... Wifey-Zen or Techie-Me; house-proud indeed.

Moon Me Over

I got the scoop a day ago from Today's newspaper that there was a "red moon arising" over the evening sky today. Phenomenal! I love it.

The total eclipse of the moon was stated to start around 5:24pm but at an obscure angle of -8 Deg, so Singapore can only view the blood-red moon from 7:24pm to about 8:20pm... provided that the sky is clear.

Fat chance, but I left work at 5:45pm anyway to be home early enough to set the telescope and an opportunity to take some photos too, even though it has been raining every day and since morning today.

The newspaper recommended Changi Beach Park and East Coast Park as the best-viewing locations. One would still be able to see the total redness of the moon without the need for any viewing equipment.

With an hour's window to view, I took my chance and settled for the rooftop of the multi-storey carpark.

Fat chance indeed!


I did not set anything up because the sky did let up but stayed dull gray the whole day and night. Even the hardcores from Singapore Science Centre who organized a viewing night out could not get a glimpse of the "bloody moon."

I believe everyone on this island missed the stellar show, including my friends at work who were talking about it ever since they read the article.

They have another angle to the phenomenon. According to their Chinese legend, the moon appeared red because a deity's dog eat it! Yes, you read it right.

I laughed out loud spontaneously thinking it was a joke when a friend told me, until I saw his irritated expression as he asked me "what's so funny... there are other dogs than on earth..." with a serious tone. Okay....

Coming back to earth... I retreated to my fridge to eat a halal Polar Mooncake instead to soothe my disappointment, but it was not to be either. I missed that too when I learned that our son had devoured the seasonal and expensive, S$8.35 a piece "cupcake" all by himself.

Sigh... first the "heaven's dog," then the earthly boy. "Moon" was not a good word for me today.

On the bright side, the lunar eclipse will happen again in 6 months time and the heavily commercialized mooncake festival was not to start until the Chinese 7th Month or most popularly known as the Ghost Month is over... so we have another month to buy a few more mooncakes with different flavors inside.

Sister Celtic from Lopez Island Life had a better luck than me and get to take breathtaking photo I show here even though it was George's first time taking such photos. Bloody brilliant photos!