From Tampines To Loyang View

Yep, my family & I have finally uprooted ourselves from our 11-year old executive flat in Tampines to this three-storey terrace house in Loyang View which is of the same age.

Not that I'm unhappy with this upgrade; it's just that I am so used to living in an area with a variety of buses to chose from to take me wherever I wish to go, and then, suddenly, all I have is 4 buses to take me to limited places which doesn't include bus changes.

The house isn't really fully ready. As it is, I have been downgraded to having limited Internet access & no house phone on top of not having a cell phone. So, while I'm living the so-called high life, I'm also given the opportunity to live in the Stone Ages. Therefore, I haven't been in touch with anybody except my family members, the occasional contractor & my next door neightbor's little kid.

So, the house was a little...eccentric, I would say, when my parents first purchased it. In eccentric, I mean it was literally plastered with wall-to-wall rosewood panelling that was enough to house a few families of furry forest friends from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. And increase global warming, too.

The house was initially stark-white with some pastel colors on the windows just to give it some contrast, but my parents had it re-painted into a slightly brighter-than-pastel shade of peach & now, it's the brightest house on the block. Dad had thought of blending the color of our house with that of our new neighbor, but I think Mom was against that. After all, we had to score points in originality. I mean, this was OUR house; our private house. And we could anything we wanted with it. Within reason, of course.

Mom wanted to actually increase the size of the living room area but extending it to the front porch, but that needed a permit that cost as much as a small Nissan March so she compromised & settled on having bay windows done instead.

My parents had all the wood painted with whitewash & gradually, the interior of the house appeared larger than before. It was quite a feat for the painters, considering the height of the house almost rivalled that of a very ancient oak tree & they had to use scaffolds to paint the wood that was partially covering the ceiling. The interior walls of the house were a contrast to its exterior, which actually comes as a fresh twist because usually, the color of other peoples' houses are all one and the same.

So, while the outside is in peach, the insides were painted a deep pastel lavender shaded with a lighter kind of lavender for contrast on some of the nooks & crannies. This kinda gives the interior of the house an extra dimension. Hell, this house sure could use it considering its lack of width that makes up with its tremendous height. You could actually build another floor above the third. No joke. I actually suggested it to Mom & Dad but unfortunately, they responded with glares that were designed to make me squirm.

I took charge of the kitchen -my favorite place in the house- by requesting the stripdown of everything until only the gray cement floor & white walls were left. I had already voiced out my choice of an orange kitchen with yellow table tops or a mixture of both colors for the kitchen cabinets; I didn't care, as long as they had the color orange & looked bright enough that when one enters it, one would be momentarily blinded by the splash of color.

I mean, come on, a kitchen had to look cheery for non-morning people like me. And since the kitchen is where most people go after they wake up, it was necessary that it shouted a huge welcome to whomever that entered it & provide the poor blinded fella with as much cheeriness as possible. My mom took it a step further by having mini colored tiles stuck to the snow-white walls of our kitchen; a combination of reds, oranges & yellows to compliment the colorful layout of the kitchen. And well, you people know just how much I love orange, right?

Beside the kitchen was the maid's room, but since we didn't have a maid, it became our temporary storage room while the rest of the house was in a great, big mess. I don't think they've even painted it yet because of all the boxes stacked up against the wall.

Right up on level two are two rooms of which belong to me, Farts & Addles. One room, is where we sleep while the other is our study room. Addles & I chose the colors of our sleeping room because the three of us couldn't decide on what color we wanted. I, as usual, wanted it to be orange while Addles chose a lime-green color & Farts stubbornly insisted on either red or brown.

Although we compromised by painting one wall of our chosen color, Mom gave us quite a lecture on paint wasting & since Farts was being unreasonable about her choice of color, Addles & I decided to ignore her and finally resolved our room issue by painting Orange Sorbet & Lime Fizz stripes on our wall while we all agreed that our study room would be the same Lime Fizz that graced our bedroom walls. My grandmother said that our sleeping rooms reminded her of a candy shop. I'm thinking, maybe she's right.

And lastly, on the third floor is my parents' & Nini & Nuryn's room. I have to say, I am just in love with Nini & Nuryn's room color. If you're familiar with Tiffany & Co, the jeweller, then you're familiar with their signature papre bag color. Because, that's what the color of their room is, only slightly deeper in shade so you get the feeling that you're near the sea or at the seaside, because out of all the rooms, theirs get the most light.

Not that I'm complaining. You see, the third floor means the highest floor. And the highest floor means you gotta climb more stairs to get to you room. No way in hell am I going to do that. Going up to the second level is by every means, enough.

And furthermore, the second floor is where my library is, right there on the landing & there's no way in hell I'm going to give that up.

Oh, shit, wait. Did I just mention I have a library?? Ahh, hell. Now, my future Beast has to up the ante. Even though I already have a library, it doesn't really matter because now, my Beast is going to get me one of those libraries that need those cool, sliding ladders to get from one end to another & to reach for those high-up books. Meaning, that my library has to probably be as high as my house. Okay?? Yay!!

The gauntlet has been thrown.

Laterz...
Lenny Chubby Dean GodGilla Xabs