Day 8: the outskirts of Hong Kong and New Town Plaza at Sha Tin

The day started off with a burger (my favourite) at McDonald's! This favourite burger of mine is on sale even during regular meal times! And the best part? It's merely sgd $1.50!

Their promo meals are really cheap too, especially since the exchange rate is 1sgd to 6.1hkd..

We travelled out to the outskirts of Hong Kong to meet some relatives for lunch. There are so few beaches in Hong Kong!

It was much quieter in the outskirts. The sky was seemingly clearer too!

Interestingly, this is the LRT for the outskirts. Pretty much like a train system. 

And it functions based on integrity. We just tapped our cards before we boarded the train. There weren't even any gantries! 

The lines. 

Pretty serene. 

Tapping out upon exit. 

Then, we returned to Wonderland at Whampoa Garden to visit the toy store. It's really a lovely huge store with loads of toys etc to offer. 

Couldn't resist getting this adorable Elmo apron for Shayna! The hubby also got another set of gundam. 

We then had some desserts. The desserts here are so pretty and are cheaper than what we pay back home! 

This whole box was what we had. 

We then walked back to a bus stop near to yipo's to grab a bus to meet my hero Ah Gong. 

I got some dried oysters and shrimps to cook my favourite mustard rice for my parents. 

The dried shrimps were big and tasty!  

I was also taken aback by the offering of salted fish in bags. 

We took the bus to Sha Tin to meet my mil's family. I love the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin! There's so much to offer. 

They even had adorable duck toys for sale. 

So cute. This Japanese departmental store had a lot to offer. There was even a Sanrio store that was pretty huge. 

Quack!

I then spotted this collection of adorable miniatures. I was this close to wanting to start a collection of it. 

A pity it was a little steep in pricing. And of course, I doubt I'd have the space to display it. 

Here are two adorable kitties we spotted at the train station while we were on our way to visit a relative. 

He lives alone and is more well to do so he's got an apartment of his own, completed with the basic but yet lovely renovation. He even has his own walk in wardrobe!!! Visiting his place makes me feel even more blessed. Our 3 room unit maybe small but at least it's gonna be cosy. 

Here's our 3D drawing of our living hall, almost finalised. It's getting really exciting. However, it's also upsetting that my kitchen's 3D drawings are still not done right. I'm hoping it'll be ready soon. After all, renovation is starting next week. 

And I'm left with less than a week in HK. Some kind of reluctance in going back to reality. 

Buying my kitchenaid, trolley and toilet bowls!

Friday was the last day of school. The flu bug that has been going in the staff room got to me.. it didn't help meeting parents on Thursday when I was unwell.. but I'm nonetheless thankful for the opportunity to meet them to speak about their child... and steps on how we can help them move to meet greater heights. 

I met the hubby after work and we had lunch before heading to Best Denki to buy my Kitchenaid mixer! Yes I have a Kitchenaid mixer now... and it's in a lovely Raspberry Pink! It doesn't match my kitchen but heck! I love it too much to give it up! 

And since I received Howard's email on Thursday night regarding their 20% storewide discount, I headed to get the trolley I was eyeing too! I was pretty comfortable not getting the other one with the handle as I appreciate the extra 'rack' on top and the absence of wine rack that was present in the other model. I was then delighted to know that these are customisable modular trolleys! So the happy me had a handle added to my trolley.. 

We then headed to our new home to check on the completion of the replacement of tiles. The keys were supposedly handed back to the BSC as of Tuesday as we last communicated.

Imagine our FURY when our gate was not locked when we checked the unit on Friday. The window was open. The kitchen tiles were incomplete (2 tiles had grouting on them still). The tiles were muddy and dirty. My walls were tainted with grey/black hand prints.

I WAS SO MAD.

 I called the BSC and they sent the two men up to give us their story. "I wanted to make it better for you" said the RTO. Like excuse me, it was already supposed to be handed over. Did you inform me of the extra work? NO. Did you take into consideration to complete it as agreed? I DOUBT SO. 

This is what we found. 

Incomplete work. And we had 3 rather off coloured tiles which we agreed would be hidden nearer to the wall so that my cabinets can hide it. How intelligent is it to leave the most OUTSTANDING tile to the part where my cabinet won't cover as much? 

Dirty and muddy floor.

All over the unit.

Dirty walls.

Even more dirty patches.

More footprints.

Open windows.

They IMMEDIATELY sent their men up to complete the incomplete works. To repaint the walls that have been dirtied. The HDB OIC called me after which to do a follow up and offered to replace that last outstanding tile. They will search for that tile and have us select the best tile of the lot for replacement on Monday. And it will take EVEN MORE TIME.

The whole rectification process it taking so long and it is really annoying. Our renovation has been delayed due to all these. So much for having affordable flats that are good for moving in.

Anyway, on Saturday morning, we headed out early to look for our toilet bowl, basin and sofa. Our first stop was Sim Siang Choon at the back of the Singapore Expo. I will very likely buy my kitchen mixer from SSC.

After which, we headed to Tradehub 21 to the shop our IDs recommended. Thankfully, I did some research last weekend and realised how much they had their prices inflated in the tradehub outlet. We did try to select the pieces we wanted and see how much discount they could give us... but the difference was too large from the other shop I went to. So we decided to go to Jalan Besar. 

Before that, we also popped by Defu furniture and Nova to check out their sofas. They had what we want within our budget but the bad reviews really had us wary. Where else can we get a nice L-shaped 3 seater red sofa under 2.1m? 

Anyway, we headed to Jalan Besar and had our lunch at the famous Scissors Curry Rice which I had very often as a kid. 

This mess is sloppy but it tastes awesome.

Anyway, we decided to go for Otto's toilet bowl.

I love the soft closing lid! And of course, the fact that is is higher than the short dwarf-like toilet bowl HDB provided us with.

And it was merely a fraction of the price the shop at Tradehub quoted us.

We took the package and got the counter top basin for our MBR too. It's in white though! Which is easier to maintain! 

We also managed to get a fountain like tap for the basin at a good price! 

Fountain tap! (:

On top of the already attractive prices, the saleslady even gave us additional discount which made shopping with her even more enjoyable. In addition, her service was really good.

So here we have it.. several items purchased.. more to come.. 

1) refrigerator

2) television

3) washing machine

4) oven

5) lights

6) kitchenaid

7) trolley

8) toilet bowls and basin

THIS IS GETTING VERY EXCITING!