From Soon-to-be to Now Mrs. Keir Blog

We did plenty of research and comparison. Taobao has been a value for money choice for some homeowners and we've contemplated getting from Taobao as well. For others, crossing the causeway is another option. It's a good thing our ID, Dave from D5 Studio Image, highlighted the risk should we get our lights or ceiling fan from Taobao. These pointers sounded so reasonable and made us change our mind and get the lights locally instead even though one should be able to save up to 40-50% should they purchase the lights or ceiling fan from Taobao. Why did we choose to purchase from a local shop? Electrical products with high usage such as lights and fan naturally have a relatively high possiblity for an electrical fire. The lights and fan from Taobao were probably not checked and approved, sans safety mark so we prefer not to risk it. If there is a missing item or broken product, you will have to wait for the seller to reship and chances are, this will delay your renovation ...

You may have read about our BOLD move to re-layout our 4 room BTO by converting Bedroom 3 into the living room and convert the original living room to a kids bedroom instead. As soon as we got the renovation permit from HDB, Dave from D5 Studio Image activated his team to start on the hacking. Around the same time, our HDB cement screeding was also completed. They work so quietly, we always get a pleasant surprise whenever we visit our place. We've also decided to hack away the service yard to maximise our tiny kitchen space.  Yes, the ugly service yard window panes and bi-fold door are gone!  The debris will be cleared on a weekly basis.  That's Bedroom 3 wall. Look at how big the structural wall was. That was precisely what stopped us from using this as the operable tatami room since the other wall can't be 'full opened' due to the structural wall.  Cement screeding down.  The place looked instantly bigger and airy once the walls are ...

Day 8 : Fun Bus > Taroko Mall > Kaohsiung Airport > Changi Airport It's time to bid Kaohsiung farewell. As our flight is in the late evening, we have plenty of time to spare today. Taroko Mall is a great place to go to, it's a mere 5 minutes drive from the airport and 2 train stops away. There are ample lockers for you to store your luggage at very reasonable prices too. Plenty of kids friendly activities as well. We left FunBus at check out time which is 11 am. We've also prearranged with the very nice driver to pick us up at 11 am to Taroko Mall. We've half a day to spend here before heading to the airport at before 5:00pm. Would highly recommend anyone with kids to pop by Taroko Mall, there are a few outlet stores here and plenty of entertainment for kids. They even have an outdoor theme park which we didn't go. Too much theme park from the day before. An impressive LEGO structure outside LEGO shop  This is the outdoor the...

Day 7: Fun Bus > E-Da Theme Park > E-Da Outlet Mall  E-Da Theme Park Review - Highly recommended We spent the whole of this day at E-Da Theme Park and its outlet mall. We got to know a very friendly driver who picked us from Zuoying HSR hence we engaged his service again to send us to and back from E-Da Theme Park. The ride cost $20 only and helps us reserve energy for the theme park instead. E-Da Theme Park was highly raved by a Taiwanese friend cum local guide. In fact, he was the very reason we decided to embark on a journey to Southern Taiwan - Kaohsiung and we didn't regret it a single bit. In fact, we prefer Kaohsiung to Taipei as the people are a lot friendlier and it's less crowded.  We went on a weekday so it wasn't crowded except for some school groups. In fact, it was more crowded in the morning and the park was pretty empty after 1 pm. So you can consider getting their afternoon tickets at a discount. They do have a discounted ticket for e...