Mawar Merah Ayam Penyet @ Bukit Merah Central [Singapore]

As i am hardly adventurous when it comes to food, i relied heavily on friends and family members to recommend dining establishments that might somewhat interest me. 

One such recommendation was located within Coffee Express 2000 kopitiam at Bukit Merah Central I first visited a few months ago with my colleagues but alas, i didn't have my huge-ass camera with me then. The place was also too crowded; i had to quickly finish my food and evict for the benefit of those hovering around our tables!

I made it a point to return recently, right before my car were to have ended his life, and order a serving of the signature ayam penyet from "Mawar Merah" stall. Thankfully, it was the tail end of the lunchtime crowd and ample time was granted for picture after picture.

There were a few anomalies that differed from the ayam penyet i had before and most significant was the use of sweet sauce on the "smashed" fried chicken. Another would be what i described to be the "Malay style" marination for the chicken; a noticeable turmeric flavouring was found in each bite! 

Both deviations appealed to me although i am as impressed with the soft, tender chicken meat and tauhu (latter of which must be eaten first)! Those who couldn't take well to chilli should ask for it to be placed separately; it was so hot and it didn't help the weather was also insanely hot that day! 

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Location

Block 165, Bukit Merah Central,

#01-3683 (Coffee Express 2000)

Map 

As above (red star)

Operating Hours (subject to change)

Mondays to Fridays -8.30am to 6.00pm

Saturdays - 8.30am to 6.00pm

Sundays - Closed

Price

Ayam Penyet (comes with rice) - S$5

Renovation Part 3 for My Three-Room Flat - Carpentry Work; a Major Expense in the Quotation!

<<< Part 2

While the house would take more than just flooring (tiles, vinyl, laminate etc) to create its unique 'character', i personally feel that carpentry work constitutes a major component on how it would eventually turn out to be.  

I didn't do much carpentry given its high cost and the fact that i love to move my furniture all over the place and having something permanent can be frustrating at times! Oh, that's my television lying on the floor; a 65-inch that turned out to be not as huge as expected. 

Shoe Cabinet

Let's talk about the three locations of carpentry work and first would be the living room where i chose to have a shoe cabinet to fill up the void facing the corridor. The shorter cabinet shall have a cushion for me to sit on when i wear my shoes! 

Shelvings were too high for shoes though and Brayden, my contractor from RenoGuyz, had agreed to add in extra shelvings to reduce the height. 

Bedroom Wadrobe

Only the built-in wardrobe; in my current house, i had a 2-meter long wardrobe from IKEA and there's no way i am going to settle for anything less! In terms of total usable length, this L-shaped wardrobe is more than 3 meters.

Interior - funny that it doesn't look to be any much bigger than my current wardrobe. I am more excited with the top cabinets where i can put in a lot of rarely-used items; like the board games the Gang of Four used to go crazy for! 

Kitchen Cabinets

The place where we cook is the one that cost the most! My total expenditure for the kitchen alone is S$12,355 and i did wonder why i have to spend so much when my best dish is instant noodles; i couldn't even fry a decent egg for breakfast! 

At this moment, the granite top wasn't up and the kitchen looked a bit weird like a person without clothes. Anyway, back to the real reason why i decided to spend more for the kitchen; so that my mom can drop by to whip up her best dishes with ease! p.s. and for me to finally learn some of her recipes. 

Unlike the long concept that my parents' house has, i selected the above design so that almost everything can be placed ergonomically for a productive cooking session. The short island was included not as a dining area; its purpose is for mom to teach her "students" who can be seated on the other side.

Let's explore the interior! This is below the stove; since my flat isn't gas-enabled, i have to cater for a space for the heavy gas cylinder and Brayden suggested a pull-out tray for easier moving! 

Dish rack which would likely be used as a store for hardly used plates after a while. I realised many people would eventually put a separate dish rack next to the sink.

Full length cabinet that concealed the pipes! This would also be the location for my Samsung washing machine (i think S$519 from Gain City) and Brayden had informed me beforehand that the bottom section would be blocked by the washing machine. 

Top hung cabinets - i noted something was wrong with the cabinets although i couldn't put a finger to it; it's only when i returned back to my parents' house that it dawned on me. There should be a divider in the middle which would reduce dust collection without the cabinets! The dividers were added at no extra cost.

The only drawers in the entire kitchen! I am only hoping that i wouldn't clutter them up in the same way as my mom; i would lose a few strands of hair whenever i have to rummage through her kitchen drawers! 

I was quoted S$200 for this pull out tray and told my contractor i would source for my own; i did and a very normal one would have set me back by about S$300! Needless to say, i have to eat my own words. 

Granite top is up! There's something still missing from the kitchen; wall backings between the top and bottom cabinets since i didn't opt for the out-of-my-budget mosaic tiles. 

Maybe due to the laminates used for carpentry, the fumes were extremely irritating to my eyes and nose and to address that issue, let's go for a natural remedy, S$6 worth of pandan leaves! 

The smell didn't dissipate and the pandan leaves starting rotting! We got moth balls in the end. =_=. 

Miscellaneous

Air conditioners were finally installed even though my own aim was more to show you the toilet. As the flat had gone through the home improvement programme two years back, i didn't see the point of renovating both washrooms. 

However, i did remove and add in a few things; like the 1.2 meters long stainless steel mirror cabinet that only cost S$165 (inclusive of GST) from Taobao. 

Most importantly, a new Rubine heater (purchased from Hoe Kee) and the one thing i really wanted for the toilet; rainfall shower (from Taobao at about S$100)! Water pressure seemed to be okay even though i didn't install any heater storage. 

My next love; the pull up bar that's fixed to the wall; again, this was purchased from Taobao.com at about S$26. Very sturdy and can totally hold my weight! 

Now waiting to unwrap my 2.36 cubic meters worth of Taobao loot! The biggest item you seen from the picture is my television console! Shall update soon on the picture and price.

That's not all okay; two other big ticket items on the other side of the living room. One is my sofa bed (yes, i actually did that) and the other is my computer table. Excited to know how they look like?! Do check out my future postings under label "house renovation"!

Caterpillar in the Office - Confirmation that I am a Natural Attraction for Insects / Reptiles

It's confirmed; i have been labelled as the culprit responsible for attracting fly, skink, gecko etc into the offices i work in. It's strange that i have such weird encounters when no one else has! 

Evidence - my manager found a caterpillar crawling on my collar this morning and this apparently confirmed her suspicion! Whatever the case, my expression was totally relaxed; it's only a small, harmless worm! 

I have no qualm playing with it despite the fact that i have zilch knowledge about caterpillars in general. It could be poisonous for all i know but people who know me well (Kelly for etc) would know my life is constantly in danger. 

It's weird, little moments like this that changes the mood of the day; from being stressed over work and renovation at home to thinking that life is more than just all the aforementioned. Anyway, i was keen to adopt pillpill (my name for the caterpillar) until it turns into a butterfly / moth but i was overruled.

With a heavy heart, i released it to the nearby outdoor plants. Maybe in gratitude, it would fly into the office once it completes its transformation. Awww, that would be so nice right?! Well, so long it doesn't lay eggs in the office. 

Renovation Part 2 - Flooring & Preparation for Electrical Works

<<< Part 1

It is almost two months since my last update and although there were tons of developments, i prefer to break them into shorter blog posts for ease of flow.

Making good the hacked walls is a prerequisite before the contractor can do any more work and it's amazing to see that things are slowly taking shape into the house i envisioned to stay in for the next few decades!

Save for the differences in colour and tone, an amateur would never have guessed that there was a store room in that corner! Some have said i would regret the decision to remove the store room and i believe i would grumble in time to come; however, i can also bet that should the store be around, it would be filled up to the brim! 

The initial first layer of paint that, voila, totally transformed the flat; no more splashes of bright pink, gaudy green, dirty blue etc. 

Metal angle pieces were inserted to sharpen the edge; i was there when the sub contractor did the work and it was incredible that he can do it so fast! If it was me, i would fumble, curse in numerous languages yet give up after a while. Point of this paragraph; leave it to the professional. 

Space that used to be the store room; no evidence that there WAS a store room. Oh, and that's my FANCO ceiling fan (cost: S$310 inclusive of light kit). During the terrible ordeal in Maldives, i came to realise that a ceiling fan above the bed is extremely comfortable; hence, i opted to have one in the bedroom! 

Fast foward to a week later and the vinyl flooring is up! Expenses for tiled flooring shot up when the government announced that all contractors can only use pre-packed cement and this has driven up both the material price and labour costs; being a person who doesn't earn a lot, i could only afford tiles in the kitchen. 

Nevertheless, i am super pleased with the vinyl flooring; i could have chosen the conventional brownish wood / Japanese concept vinyl but this darker Amsterdam Silver was too hard to resist! 

For first time house owners, choosing the colour and design of the flooring can be stressful as what you select would eventually affect the concept of your house; to be fair, everything about renovation is nerve racking, from flooring to doors to gates to window grills to carpentry etc etc.

Please don't be too quick to criticize your contractor too as things often look strange and even out of place at first; for example, the air con trunking is so ugly right?!?!!?! Once it's painted over, you would just brush it off as a beam of the house; no big deal actually. 

As the flat was more than 30 years old, i took the contractor's advice to change the electrical wiring and ageing DB box. In the technological age we live in, it's also a great time to add in all the sockets require for the television, game set, computers, printers, air revitalisers, iphone, ipads etc. 

A rough estimate of the cost under electrical was indicated in the quotation as the amount really depends on the number of power sockets you need for your devices. 

My lights from Taobao are up! Each cost less than S$25 including shipping and that's a huge difference in price compared to if you buy it in Singapore! If you are interested, you can check out the taobao link here. 

I absolutely dislike ambient lights even though the option is available at a premium. Whatever the case, bright white lights have always been my preferred choice. By the way, the new aluminium window grills had been put up too! 

Fan and light kit were installed too! I was in fact looking forward to the KDK fans as they were known for their durability even though i had to give up the idea when i saw with my own eyes that the light kit provided wouldn't be able to fill up even half my room. 

Installation of the water pipe - do you know what this means? Carpentry will be up next and i tell you; deciding the laminate (wood grain, colour), the number of shelves, the height of the shelvings, the closure of the hinges etc almost drove me nuts! 

>>> Part 3