IKEA living room makeover

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NICE, our living room is much more spacious now.
Kids are keeping their toys and accessories into the colourful Trofast trays.
Everyone got their own set of colour, no more contention.

Neat and elegant, we can configure the cabinets in different orientation too.
Less messy, visually pleasing, we love how the colourful trays seem to increase our living room’s floor area.

Before and after IKEA living room makeover :p

Video : Fast forward, kids took 30 minutes to construct our Trofast

To digress a bit, we all know kids grow up fast. We have been living in Sengkang for 14 years! Our family size has grown bigger, and our decade-old furniture and accessories are showing signs of wear and tear.

When kids were growing and getting heavier, they like to jump from our sofas, chairs etc.

When we were house-tidying for Chinese Lunar New Year, we took the opportunity to replace some of the old furniture.

IKEA was decked in festive decorations, and the Chinese New Year mood is everywhere.

If shoppers are ever clueless about makeover ideas, we would recommend IKEA’s HDB rooms mockup. That was how we came across our Sofa design.

1. You can research and shortlist your ideas from the catalogue or mobile app.

2. Next collect the packaging from the racks.

3. Payment and load into car. We love the whole DIY concept at IKEA.

Kids, however have other ideas when they visit IKEA. Their FUN is not only confined to chicken wings, ice cream cones or Småland. The trolleys and luggage bags never fail to provide some sorts of entertainment for them!

Measuring tapes can be handy toys too (Daddy try to hide behind some Billy book shelves, so embarrassing haha)

But when it comes to real work, kids are very efficient with alan keys. With so many helping hands, we diy our own Trofast cabinet in under 30 minutes.

Besides Trofast, we got some additional storage with wheels.

With six family members, our laundry clothes are always piling like a hill. With the wheels, kids can now help to cart the laundry between living room, washer and bedrooms.

Before and after, we are confident our new sofa will have more seating space 🙂

The last thing on our shopping list, a three seater Kivik sofa, should last us ten years (warranty). We do not expect the kids to be jumping on the sofa anymore, three of them will be serving National Service come 2025.

Somehow, parents and kids could not agree on how the sofa will be laid out. We shall see.

Whatever it is, we are eagerly waiting for our new sofa’s arrival. Four more days 🙂

ps.. we are sponsored by IKEA to showcase a different theme each month. February is “Living room makeover” for us. You may be interested in January’s theme “Let there be Light“.

** updated 2015Mar …
Our new sofa 🙂
IKEA sofa

Bathing at Sembawang Hot Spring

In Singapore, a lot of stuffs are man-made. Not Sembawang Hot Spring (三巴旺溫泉) though. Free flow hot spring water, some swears by its healing properties.

*2020Jan the new Hot Spring Park is ready! Blog link

We were curious about Singapore’s natural hot spring, and decided to shower like the regular Ah Peks (Uncles).

Sembawang Hot Spring is actually on Sembawang Air Base grounds, it is a short walk from Gambas Avenue. We would recommend you to park at Block 114, then walk 15 minutes over to the Hot Spring (GPS n01.43500 e103.82457)

(image credit Google Map)

If in doubt, follow the buckets in Yishun :p

Sembawang hot spring is free, and opening hours is from 0700 to 1900.

Kids are amazed about the Hot Spring’s source.
– Where is the Hot water coming from?
– Why is the water hot?
– Where is the tap :p

Please hold on tight to the smaller kids as they can get scalded if not careful.

There is a well inside the red brick enclosure and we heard the water is hottest inside.

The Hot Spring is supposed to cure some ailments (we cannot substantiate this claim), but we can guarantee this Hot Spring novelty is Fun!

Go ahead, soak your feet in the compound, surrounded by fence. Quite surreal to be doing this in Singapore.


Some uncommon scenes at the Hot Spring :
– People actually cycle over with buckets and tabao (package) the spring water home.
Wash car or wash own self, we did not probe.

– Most will dab their feet in the Hot water. The water can still be hot even after 15 minutes. We witnessed two aunties with their own bathtub, whole body submerged! We did not spot any bikinis.

– Uncles were topless, casually wiping their body with the hot water. Newspaper reports indicate some regulars come to enjoy the hot spring everyday.

Wefie and selfies are very common among first time visitors.

To enhance your experience, bring a couple of eggs. As water is not at boiling point, we need about three refills of the spring water, approximately 12 to 15mins before egg is cooked. Soy sauce and pepper highly recommended.

Video (Link): Novelty experience bathing at Sembawang Hot Spring

Additional Tips :
– Seats and buckles are available for use, but if you are concerned about hygiene, bring your own buckets.
– Daddy is more concerned about mosquitos. Kids got a few “jabs”.

– there is no toilet facility at this site

– 奶奶 advised us to bring one bottle of spring water home, so we can scrub our door and car plate for good luck. We are waiting for the next 4D announcement. Huat Ah!

– Do pop by our oversea Hot Spring experiences, Taiwan Beitou and Ipoh Lost World of Tambun

** safety must always be the first priority **