Fanco LED light kit - Review

As a follow-up on my previous blog review on Fanco FF9, I have decided to do a short commentary on the Fanco LED light kit attached.

Somehow I felt that the brightness offered by Fanco LED light kit is not as good as the conventional lighting for my tiny sofa area. No doubt each LED light can be tilted to shine at a certain angle and the coverage is still weaker compared to the previous light installation below.

Source: lighting.com.sg

Interested buyers might wish to take note of this if you are intending to use Fanco LED light kit as the main light source for a large area.  

Fanco ceiling fan review - Model FF9

We have been deliberating about installing a ceiling fan in the living room even before shifting in to Park Central. Shelved the plan after seeing that the living room is rather windy and prefer to make do with a small table fan if required.

Recently, the weather has been rather unpredictable. Hot and sunny for one moment and start pouring the next moment. Not to forget about the haze and burning smell we are experiencing now due to the hotspots in Sumatra region.

Haze in Singapore due to hotspots in Sumatra region

Decided to review our plan of installing a ceiling fan and these are some of the criteria we were considering:

- Wind speed of the ceiling fan (Does it really cool down the living room in the shortest possible time?)

- Matches the living room theme (Not that we have a beautifully designed living room but it has to at least match the Scanteak furniture lying around the area.)

- Silent (Does the fan has a quiet motor? We don't want to disturb the quiet sleeping environment for our hamsters =P)

- Comes with a light kit (As the connection that our future ceiling fan will be using is also our current light source, we would need a model that allows a light kit to be attached underneath.)

We were not considering air conditioning at all due to the higher costs involved (installation, operation and maintenance cost) and installation is going to be another nightmare. Prefer not to deal with any contractors after the long arduous with Park Central defect office. Entries are available here and here. Another reason of not considering air conditioning is due to our sensitive noses. Somehow we always end up sneezing after sleeping in an air-conditioned environment.

Currently, we are making do with a table fan (when necessary). There is just no space for a standing fan in our tiny 90-square-metres 4 room HDB flat at all.

Brands we have in mind are KDK (very good motors and wind speed but no light kits) and Fanco.

Decided to arrange for a free on-site consultation session with a seller which was sourced from an online forum and we actually placed our order in the same appointment!

 Spent a total of $380 for Fanco FF9 48" (in brown) and LED light kit (3 light bulbs) inclusive of installation. The above pricing was above the same as what was quoted by Everjoint 1.5 years back. 

After one week of heavy usage, I would say the money was well spent. The wind generated is rather strong even at speed 1 and the motor is super silent. Now I can spend my daytime in the living room without having to bear the midday heat. Best of all, the constant circulating air is 'diluting' the polluted air created by the irritating neighbour who keeps smoking at all hours of the day.

Loots from Kwerkee - Cityscape Wall Organiser

The nicely packaged item was delivered by the delivery man during a weekday evening.

As there was no call beforehand informing us of the delivery, it was rather lucky that we happened to be home.

In addition, we deliberated for quite a while, peeking through the peephole trying to ascertain the identity/purpose of the caller.

Met too many cases of persistent ice cream sellers/salespersons.

Furthermore, there are also neighbours who have come across drug users in the estate.

Really regretted installing a doorbell at times even though HE has diy-ed a switch to turn it off when necessary.

 

After unwrpping the package carefully...

After installation today...

The package actually included 2 small thumbtack like nails that was totally useless in securing the wall organiser.

Even though HE hammered the nails carefully, they were very fragile and bent out of shape in no time.

Resorted to using strong double sided tape instead.

So pretty and useful!

It really jazzed up my plain kitchen entrance and yet hidden from view from anyone standing outside the main door entrance.

Items are organised and easily accessible just before we leave the house.

I just hope the tape wont fail on me.

Anyone selling Scanteak Casual Side Table?

Source: http://www.scanteak.com.sg

Thought of getting this item for quite a while...

But the price tag of $299 just puts us off.

Currently, there is this Scanteak Mid-Autumn promotion where you will get a free Casual Side Table with the purchase of any sofa set plus at least 1 other living room item at regular price.

More details can be found at http://www.scanteak.com.sg/promotion

If you are thinking of selling the above item, do let me know =>

Scanteak - Negative review

Bought quite a number of items from Scanteak and they were delivered on Sat.

Imagine our horror when we realized 2 of the dining chairs are obviously used goods (worn leg undersides, chipped legs, one leg of a chair had even split apart from the seat area).

How could used goods be repackaged as new goods to be sold to unsuspected customers?

They were supposed to get back to us today but so far they had not even bothered to acknowledge the complaint email I sent...

Update: The deliveryman claimed that these chairs were actually meant to be delivered to the warehouse but were mistakenly delivered to us...

Installation of lights

Have installed our lightings on 10 Sept.

Makes our painting/cleaning up job much easier especially when the weather is gloomy/dark.

Spent less than $1k on simple lightings.

Luckily within budget.

Location: Entrance of master bedroom

Location: Studyroom

Currently in the midst of painting the unit.

Super tiring from mask-taping/painting/cleaning.

Will be installing wooden planks on the planter box as well as expecting all deliveries this week.

Hopefully things goes smoothly.

We are now left with 1 main defect which is the laminated flooring.

Have been waiting for rectifications since 6 Sept.

If they still fail to settle by tomorrow, I am going to just give up.

Trying hard to juggle between work/interviews/house-related matters all at the same time =<

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover? Part III

Called the Bangladeshi supervisor who is supposed to be in charge of rectifying our unit's defects this afternoon.

And got the reply which I had already anticipated....

The defects on our laminated flooring is still yet to be rectified.

From 9 Sept to 10 Sept to 13 Sept and still nothing was done.

When we handed over the keys on Sat, he promised 3-4 days is all he need to clear the remaining defects.

Thus, we decided that Friday would be the deadline.

Perhaps this is why he said laminated flooring will only be rectified on Friday.

As for the rest of the defects, he mentioned that they are currently cleaning up the unit.

*Faint*

Am I supposed to call him up every single day just to check on the defect status?

Starting to feel like a loanshark...

Anyway I guess I have no choice but to do so since HE will only be back on Fri and it is up to me to ensure that things do progress smoothly for us to start painting on Saturday.

*Gambate*

Hope things are progressing more smoothly for the rest of my neighbours.

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover? Part II

Not sleeping well for the past 1 week.

Kept worrying about the house whether can the defects be rectified by this week so that we can finally start painting.

Was really irritated at the supervisors.

Imagine taking leave to come down to the unit early for defect inspection but they take their own sweet time to turn up.

No sight of them at all from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs despite numerous calls and smses.

They seemed to think that they are the only busy persons in the whole wide world and the rest of us are just shaking legs *Argh*

The workers who are actually the ones rectifying the defects are so much better in comparison.

So far we are super happy with the workmanship of the rectified defects.

The Chinese worker 'trimmed' numerous tiles for us just to get a perfect piece to replace our chipped tile.

Another Chinese worker who was repairing the chipped/dented/ wall was also very professional.

We thought he would only 'putty' the affected areas but we were wrong.

He even sandpapered the region after the putty had dried, resulting in super smooth surfaces.

Hopefully the rest of the defects will be rectified by Fri as promised by the Bangladeshi supervisor.

If not, he is definitely going to get it from me since he is the one who promised to finish in 3-4 days and we have given him close to a week.

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover?

Pretty stunned at the state that the unit is in and keys were still handed over to us.

I don't think that we are very picky but look at this....

Are we supposed to install this ourselves?

And this is just the drain hole under the kitchen sink.

Imagine the same for all drain holes in the unit.

Who is going to be held responsible if someone gets injured?

The cement unfinished surfaces are super rough lo...

As for the bomb shelter, there are missing ventilation covers.

Starting we are quite noob at all these defects checking but I seriously think that we are now quite expert at spotting defects...

Other things like dents/holes on the walls and cement/paint stains, we can still close 1 eye and omit it from the defect list.

Just hope they fix the defects asap *sigh

Our new clock!

Bought this nice black clock in Malacca for RM 59.90.

It was love at 1st sight for me.

Somehow I knew it will fit in nicely with our Scanteak loots and didn't bother consulting him at all =>

There were white/red/black versions.

Was deciding between white and black.

The clock design seems so scandinavian with its simple clean lines.

Although our main design for the living is supposed to evolve around the minimalist theme but it seems to be shifting towards 'woody' style with the amount of Scanteak items that we have accumulated over the months.

 Might spray paint certain numerals on the clock to a different colour, eg: baby pink/blue?

GSS Loots - Bedsheets & Down Duvet

Super happy that I have completely furnished my master bedroom as of 4 July 2011.

Have already decided on a queen sized bed due to space constraints.

Most likely will be settling on Serta Aberdeen as it is much cheaper compared to Sophistication.

Glad that we already made a down payment on the mattress earlier this year as the prices had already increased.

For the Sophistication model, the increase is around $200 ~ $300.

Will be going down to Serta this weekend to 'revise' our options again so as to confirm on the chosen model.

Already bought 1 Cozy bedsheet set back in 2010.

Decided to buy 2 more sets of bedsheets as well as a blanket and hopefully can last us for like 5 years?

Dropped by Robinsons a few weeks back but prices seemed to be rather high even with the GSS discounts.

Decided to look around Tangs on Monday since it was quite a while till my next appointment.

Was circling the bed-sheets section like a shark, trying to figure out the material, whether duvet cover was included and the pricing.

After much consultation with the SA, I bought 2 sets of bedsheets (complete with duvet cover) and a down duvet for $560.

http://www.followsales.com

One set was Egyptian cotton and the other was Sateen cotton (ard $169 for each set)

According to the SA, Egyptian cotton is better than Sateen Cotton as it has a plusher feel.

I could not really feel the different though... No 'magic' touch...

HE was not very happy about it though.

Almost fainted when he saw my SMS =>

No choice, sleep is really important to me!

Cant wait to setup the new bed with the new bedsheets and new blanket.

Hopefully it will be as comfortable as I envisioned it to be !

Sliding Kitchen Door - Not achievable?

According to 1 ID which we emailed for quotation, it is not possible to install a sliding kitchen door due to the limited wall width outside the kitchen opening.

This was his exact reply: "Not possible for sliding door as the wall beside is shorter than kitchen entrance width. Can consider a wooden bi-folding door in laminate/ glass finishing $900 (size:W3ftxH7ft). "

What he brought up did make sense especially after looking at the latest 4 room drawing uploaded at the forum.

Perhaps it is time to shelf the plan...

Save cleaning/wiping time.

Save $ which is very important since I have been shopping like mad this GSS.

GSS Loots - Bosch Washer WAS28448ME

Bought my dream washer today after a comprehensive explanation by the sales assistant at Courts.

Most of the specs seemed to be quite similar to WAS28444ME.

Was not able to really identify the difference between the 2.

Furthermore, both looked the same and I was just too lazy to scan through the technical specs available on the Bosch website.

Just that WAS28448ME is made in Germany as stated at the Bosch webby but not for WAS28444ME.

http://www.bosch-home.com

Some advantages of Bosch Washer WAS28448ME (Logixx VarioPerfect Front Load Washing Machine):

1) During a wash cycle, can add in clothing halfway.

2) Able to finish a wash load in 15 mins with the results as the normal wash cycle but just that warm water will be used instead (higher electricity usage)

3) Supposed to be really water and electricity efficient compared to other models/brands

Hopefully the washing machine really turns out to be as good as the sales assistant claim.

Total damage: $1699 (exclude delivery fees of $29.90)

Freebies: $150 Choice vouchers and Bosch Vacuum Cleaner BSD 2023GB worth $249 but selling at $169 now)

GSS Loots - Sony KDL40EX520

We were looking for something that would allow me to watch my online dramas via the larger TV screen and in a more comfortable setting, ie: lazing against the sofa.

As a result, our TV budget has been yoyo-ing from $1.3k (Sony 32" EX720) to $2.2k (Sony 40" NX710) to $3k+ (Samsung LED Series 7000 46" Smart TV which the salesperson assured us has full internet browser capability, meaning I can surf & watch my online dramas with minimum hussle).

After careful consideration, we decided to KIV 1st and not make any hasty decisions.

The Samsung LED Series 7000 was really slim and chio...

Can already imagine it hanging on the wall with the slim wall mount provided although it was really kind of big for our tiny living room.

The freebies were also quite tempting.

In any case, we were doing quite well (not making any hasty or impulsive decisions) until we happened to walk into Best Denki @ Clementi Mall and saw this Sony 40" TV.

sony.com.sg

Although I was expecting to get the TV sooner or later but didn't expect it to be this soon.

Kept confirming with him if this was really the ONE as our TV budget has been revised drastically in the recent months as we try and source for what we really want.

I was really amazed that he say YES.

Furthermore he got this glint in his eyes.

U know like those look gals get when we see something  which we really like and it so happens to be on sales.

He assured me that he has been doing secret research on all these TV prices in the past few months and this was really quite a good deal with the freebies (3 years warranty, wireless toggle and wall mount) thrown in.

Scheduled delivery to be in 1 month's time which was like the best they could provide.

* Praying hard the keys comes soon. Heard that the fencing are already down! *

Total damage: $1300

Scanteak Loots!

Spied upon a Scanteak outlet along Balestier Road one Sat evening after porridge buffet at Quality Hotel.

It was love at first sight for him when he saw this ladder like bookshelf.

Ladder Book Shelf

                         

Spend $399 to reserve the item and would be collecting it in Sept.

We also saw several items which we like, for instance: dining set and coffee table.

We love the warm golden brown tones and the homey feel that it projects.

Ended up, we also added the following items to our loots.

Athos 120 cm TV Bench

Lois Dining Set

Total damage: $2500

Shopping for Lights ~ Lighting shops @ Jalan Besar/Jurong

Have spent the past few weekends shopping around for lightings.

Went to Jalan Besar which is super near Lavender Food Centre.

Quite a number of lighting shops located here.

Went into the following shops:

1) i-Lite (351 Jalan Besar #01-01/02 S208988) - Quite a large selection of lightings & ceiling fan but didn't really take note of the prices as that was the 1st shop that we went into.

There are also numerous lighting shops located along the same stretch.

2) Arco Holdings Pte Ltd (302 Jalan Besar #01-01  S208963) - Another shop with also a large selection of lightings and prices are quite attractive too.

3) Lightings.com.sg (314/316 Jalan Besar S208972) - Prices are not necessarily cheaper as advertised. Some of the ceiling lights are selling at $75 but we saw the same lightings selling at Acro Holdings Pte Ltd at $70.

Went to Jurong East to look at lightings too. Prices generally are much higher than those we saw at Jalan Besar.

1) Hylite Deco (Blk 353 Jurong East St 31 #01-109 S600353) - Friendly lady who is able to answer our various queries. Saw a dining halogen light which we quite like selling at $220 (price before 40% discount).

2) Chelsea Lighting - shop size is twice the size of Hylite Deco. Managed to find an apple-shaped dangling dining light selling at $45. Contemplated buying on the spot but decided to KIV. Also saw this nice rectangular ceiling light with wood border selling at $130. Sale assistant claimed that she can offer further discounts but we doubt that prices will be able to match the 1s we saw at Jalan Besar. For instance, this same rectangular glass ceiling light we saw at Jalan Besar for between $75-$80 but JE shops sell the same light for $130. Are they really able to reduce prices by around 40%?

Balcony - Outdoor furnitures

Found this nice set of outdoor furniture for the living room balcony.

Source: http://www.2010lifestyle.com.sg

But I worry that it might be too 'high' or 'unstable' as the balcony walls are not very high (most likely about waist level).

Book shelves with sliding mechanism - Update!

Found out that Howard United Storage System actually has this Glide A Side System with Open Shelf Cupboard which is quite similar to what we want.

Hopefully they do allow for customisation as I got this feeling their standard dimensions wont fit into our bomb shelter.

Refer to http://www.howellunited.com.sg/retailshopdisplay_4.htm for more information         

Sliding Kitchen Door - Ideal design!

Found this Italian company that sells super nice kitchen doors.

Clean lines.

Elegant feel.

Too bad they don't seem to have any outlets in Sg.

Shall try my best to replicate their design.

Due to the tiny kitchen & cabinet layout, our kitchen door choices are quite limited.

Prefer sliding designs as it takes up less space (both in 'idle' mode & in operation mode)

Furthermore, the kitchen door has to slide 'outside' of the kitchen opening.

There is no way the door can be located between the kitchen cabinets & the kitchen door opening.

My preference is tilted towards 'woody like' designs as we would like to have furnishings in warm shades of brown.

Various door designs that slide from right to left

The following designs readily gives me an idea of how the door would appear like/function when installed as our kitchen door has to slide from Left to Right based on the flat layout.

Various door designs that slide from left to right

Simply love the 1 on the left.

Classy & nice.

With the door frame located outside the kitchen, I hope it equates to lesser cleaning after cooking sessions. 

Perhaps one way of DIYing/customisation to get what we want

1) Get a normal glass door

2) Apply some tinted window film on it

3) Install the door with the wooden door frame

4) Get some nice wall decals to decorate the door

Source: http://www.cristalsrl.com/doors-as-furnishing

Sliding kitchen door - PD Door

Seems like that is not much good reviews so far on PD door.

Poor customer service, bad installation, inferior material etc...

Price wise, it is not exactly cheap.

Refer to http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=cd57c9be67c44d17ab0a022298e899fe&showtopic=18123&st=0

Basic acrylic PD door - $299 (subjected to GST) (GST waived only if full payment is made upfront) (door areas <= 800mm)

For new flats, the door area most likely is around 900 mm which means the price would be $449 (acrylic/ glass)

Even worse, I get the impression that Swing Slide Door (http://www.swingslide.com.sg/gallery_glass.html) (located @ Balestier Road) & PD Door (http://pddoor.com/index.html) (located @ Eunos) are actually the same companies.

Time to hunt for other alternatives.