Renovation - Week 05A Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Monday, August 11, 2008

I guess it is a standard HDB structure for older flats where the ceiling is, in my opinion, kinda low.  Our unit has different ceiling height in each room!  The highest measured is 2612mm and the lowest is 2431mm.  Unfortunately, the lowest is at our Living Room, and next come the Dining Room at 2546mm.

When a tall friend came to view the house, he joked that he could help us changed the lighting bulbs without using a ladder.  Hopefully, with the right ICI Dulux Smartlight paint, it will make the house looks wider and taller.

Fixing a false ceiling all throughout the house is a big challenge for Chiauw.  Not only that she has to comply with HBD regulation, she also have to make sure that the ceiling-to-floor height is maintained.  Thing is, we insist on having the false ceiling as it will hide all the electrical wirings.  We also want to have downlights.  As we are facing the problem to maintain the height, the only possible way is to install halogen bulbs with a dimmer.  Halogen bulb, though it can be hotter, is shorter as compared to energy saving bulb.

The Berker Dimmer and Halogen Light Frame:

Berker Dimmer

Halogen Bulb Frame

False Ceiling works:

False Ceiling Installation in Progress

Completed - Dining Area:

Before:

Wiring at Dining Area

After:

False Ceiling at Dining Area 1

[Continue Reading ...]

Needles in the Hay Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Sunday, August 10, 2008

Only when we seek for the truth, that the truth will surface.  First, we need to abandon the act of desperation.  In desperation, we are often lost.  We get easily uptight.  We get easily stressed.  We lose the focus.  It builds up confusion.  It multiplies agitations.  At the end of it, it only fills us with a feeling of unhappiness.

When we have decided to move on, and when the soul and mind are at peace, every little things become clearer.  What's lost are found.  Mistakes are forgiven.  And the important lesson is about 'Let Go, Let God' to do what is necessary.  In 'Just Is', it will accord for the highest good for our well being.

We were not sure how the missing tiles were found.  We were only guessing that Chiauw must have gone back to the house to search in the morning.  When we received an SMS from Chiauw that the tiles were found this afternoon, we were thankful.  Now, we can close the subject peacefully.  However, we have decided to move on.  We had made the choice to hack the living and dining areas and to retile them.

We decided to call Chiauw rather than to reply the SMS.  It would be more personal.  It would be acknowledging friendship.  We knew Chiauw must have gone the extra mile to find the tiles.  Chiauw wanted to give us peace of mind.  Chiauw knew that we had made our mind to move on.

Guessed we did the right thing to ask Chiauw to go ahead to order the new tiles and to get a new renovation permit for the hacking.  Chiauw told us that the missing tiles were moved from the balcony and were found in between the false ceiling boards in the living room.  One of the two missing tiles was broken.  Obviously, someone is guilty.

[Continue Reading ...]

Do Fools Fall In Love .. Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Saturday, August 09, 2008

It is a silent understood feeling.  From the moment we get the news about the missing tiles, we are drawn not to talk about it.  But deep within, we feel disappointed.  We feel rather disturbed.  There are many 'what', 'why', 'how' and 'when' in our mind.  The questions of what's next and when will our renovation ends lead us to a state of defensiveness.  There is an estranged discomfort.

Some of our friends feel that we are being too nice.  That we are too gentle.  That we give in too much.  Honestly, we are just unsure.  All of us have our stories to tell.  All of us want to make the wrong looks right.  All of us want to disown mistakes. 

Importantly, we want to keep our sanity.  We want to keep relationships.  We want to treasure good friends.  We want to abandon judgment.  We want to accept our insecurities.  Hence, we keep psyching ourselves that everything happen for a good reason - for now, we are damn hard-up to see that it is so.  Our prayers are getting loud and yet we are drowned in a flood of helplessness.

For all the troubles, that we are caught involuntarily, we can only hope that we are rewarded.  Let all these unnecessary pains lead us to a rainbow of joy.  The journey towards years of peace.  The happiness that will be eternal.  The love that empowers for a beautiful and magnificent life.

We have flushed our sorrow - though, fragments of it still linger.  When Chiauw came this afternoon to show us the tile for our living and dining rooms, there was a quiet dust of discomfort.  For the first time, we didn't make small talk.  We felt Chiauw was feeling bad and lousy too.  So, there were three of us in a room just didn't know what to say much to each other.  There was a sense of guilt.  There was a cry of helplessness.  There was a feeling of distraught.  Each one of us fighting hard in self comfort.

Looking back, it was good.  We shouldn't say anything.  Chiauw shouldn't say anything.  Though communication will ease our minds, and bridges all differences, words may not come right for now.  Pretending nothing has happened won't help either.  And, learning to deal with anger or disappointment will only make us stronger.  Above all, it is a call for life acceptance.  It is a call for clarity of choices.  It is the answer for love. 

We have come to accept and trust Chiauw.  We know she is always doing her best for us.  We deeply appreciate it.  We believe that we have always tried to make things easy .. not only for us but for Chiauw who have to face all kinds of business people.  We believe, for all things well, it has to start with give and take.  And respect.  And honesty.  We just have to learn and accept that people make mistakes, and so are we.

Chiauw has never treated us as clients.  We are her friends.  She is our friend.  We know we can rely on her.  We know she will be with us when we need her.  Just as there are always day and night, rain and shine, black and white, pain and joy .. we will appreciate, one day in our life in the future, about the missing tiles. 

An event that needs to happen for our friendship to go deeper.  All these discomforts are communicating a common language to make us understand our personality.  Our attitude.  Our tolerance.  Our character.  The language and its beauty for each of us to see and to strike a balance towards acceptance.

For now, we need to forgive ourselves for feeling this way.  We need to remind ourselves that we need each other.  Only when we put in all the energy together, with respect and love, and not forgetting the promises that were made, the trust that was installed and the relationship that we desired ..  that we will strive the bigger goal.

Looking ahead, we have decided to go ahead with this tile:

600 x 600 mm Tile

Hopefully, our application for hacking permit can be approved on Monday so that the tiles works can start on Tuesday.  The teakwood installation has been delayed again for now.

[Continue Reading ...]