'Place to change the Mitsubishi 'i' front skinnies'

This posting is for my fellow Mitsubishi 'i' clubbers who may want to know of a cheaper place to change their front skinnies. For those not in the know, the Mitsubishi 'i' has a unique wheel arrangement of wider tyres behind and a real narrow pair in front which I am told is to ensure stability of the car. This wheel arrangment is found too in another car way up the car chain - Ferrari :- ). This requires some effort to source for a tyre size that is quite rare in Singapore.

Having clocked 36 000km for my 1 year 7 months old Mitsubishi 'i' ( no thank to my previous job posting which require alot of driving ) , my front tyres were worn out. I guess skinny tyres tend to wear out faster, what with the breaking force and front loading of front passenger and driver.My rear tyres are still okay despite the weight of the engine in the mid centre off - rear.

Tyre size : 145/65 R 15 fits original stock alloy rims

Anyway, those keen to change their skinnies for their 'i' , you can go to the SPC Car Service Centre at the SPC petrol station located along 157 Upper East Coast Road. I got a pair of Yokohama A Drive 145/65 R15 which is the same size as the original Dunlop sports so no rim change is needed.

Triple Wide Grooves seen above

The A. Drive tyre range is designed for outstanding traction, excellent performance and superior handling for new levels of grip - no matter whether the rain just never seems to stop or the asphalt is cracking in the heat.The A.drive also employs specially configured Triple Wide Straight Grooves (TWSG) that power its excellent water evacuation capabilities. Couple TWSG with its ‘Quiet Running’ tread pattern with Yokohama’s advanced tread compound that is designed to provide drivers with class-leading performance no matter whether road conditions are wet or dry.

Good and prompt service by the guys there. Including wheel balancing,tyre polishing and labour, I was charged $100 a piece. Much cheaper than the prices quoted by Cycle and Carriage at Alexandra and even Motorgard at Tampines.

Week 2 - Shayna

Us and Shayna

Shayna is growing bigger in her 2nd week. She's been improving vastly in her appetite and we have been feeding her beside her dry food from Natural Balance(All life stages), we have added milk and also some wet food from the Addiction brand to add some flavor. She's so eager to eat now that when it comes to her meal time, she will come running to us, asking her to follow her and then she will sit beside the container storing her dry food. Playing with Shayna

Walking around the house

She's getting more confident and now roams at will around the house when we let her out of her cage. Shayna has learned to be more toilet trained , knowing how to walk back to her cage to wee and poo on the newspaper placed there. However, we have been trying to teach her not to play with her wee and poo in the mornings before we wake up to clean and feed her. It could be a sign of anger that we wake up late but we have been talking to her and on occasion, spank her gently to tell her to behave.

Shayna after a bath

Bathing her is one big wet messy affair for the three of us as one of us has to hold her down in the baby tub we bought while the other does the shampooing. We are using Johnson's Baby no tears shampoo which has been in use with Gayle's family dog - Tisha for many years and is a good whitening and conditioning shampoo. Tisha is like a pure white schnauzer now. Anyway back to Shayna, she is really frightened and struggles like mad during bath time. So we have to spend alot of effort to calm her down. At the end of it, all 3 of us are drenched!

Us with Tisha(above). Don't you agree that Tisha looks like a white schnauzer ? She is supposed to be a salt and pepper breed but seems like her Johnson baby shampoo is working wonders!

Shayna bringing Mr Spongebob to her favourite spot to play - in our orange fun room

We bought a new toy for her , we christened it Mr Spongebob which has an internal plastic insert that makes a plasticky, rustling sound that dogs like. Also it has a squeaker at the corner so that a squeaking sound is made. This drives Shayna all excited and she just loves to play with Mr Spongebob. We bought Mr Spongebob to distract Shayna from biting and playing with a Ty beanie dog that I have .

Shayna with our Ty Beanie dog - currently her best friend besides Mr Spongebob.

Shayna looking at Gayle doing the laundry and talking to her

Shayna has acquired a number of habits , such as trying to stand on her hind legs to see what we are doing, following us around the house and sitting there watching us and lying on her back as a sign that she wants to manja and be scratched. She also has discovered a few favourite spots around the house too.

Shayna in one her faourite spots, snucking her head in between the sofa to snooze. Another of her snoozing spot, by our sofa in the orange room on her security blanket

Updates on Shayna(Week 1 )

It's been 4 days already and Shayna has slowly increased her confidence in walking about and responding to us when we call out her name.

We've been trying to get her to increase her appetite as she eats quite little but we are beginning to suspect that she is being fussy about food as she only eats if her dried food is soaked with milk(for dogs). Then she will be like a vacuum cleaner, finishing and slurping up. She likes to be mischevious and throw one or two crumbs outside of her bowl.

She's slowly being toilet trained, knowing how to walk to the newspaper for her wee and poo for most times.

Shayna posing with her two toys - a flavored teething ring and egg shaped kong on her favourite towel . She also loves to play with newspaper shreds.

She whimpers when we take away her towel so we guess she already sees it as her own bed, just like her toys which she whimpers when we remove for cleaning. We bought her a flavoured teething ring for her to bite. Oh Yes, she loves to play with newspaper.

Running around in the kitchen

She's been slowly exploring the hall very cautiously, choosing to walk along the hall skirting or against the sofa. She's supremely confident in the kitchen, and loves to chase us around when we walk into the kitchen.

Last night when we said goodnight to her, she waved her paws at us as if telling us to come and play with her so we ended up playing for awhile with her. Now that's really cute isn't it?

We also noticed that she likes to admire her reflection, be it at the chrome dustbin, the glossy kitchen cabinet or our reflective PD door to the common toilet. See her above looking at herself in front of the chrome dustbin.

A new addition to our family - Shayna

Heh Heh! What are you guys up to ? Shayna seems to be saying to us!

We have always wanted a doggy of our own and finally decided that we were ready to take good care of a doggy. We managed to source for a pure bred female shih tzu puppy from a couple. There were two female shih tzu when we first arrived to view. We were deciding which one to choose when somehow, one of them came over and started licking our fingers and well, the decision was made. We also noted that she had a distinctive coat of colours. She was really tiny and we were quite afraid that we would hold her too tightly. We were just hooked to her cutsey and adorable shy look. Two weeks passed and we were told by the couple that she was ready for us to bring home. We went to get a set of 3 partition gates and relevant puppy items like food, water bottle, toy etc. (below)

Just wake up in the morning!

Shy beauty on the prowl

So on Wednesday night, we went to collect her. She had grown much bigger but still as cute as ever. She was shivering but soon managed to calm down. Her mother gave her a farewell lick and we were off. Somehow, she just found the towel that we wrapped her in very comfortable and secure and she snuggled in. Over today and yesterday, she has taken the towel for her bed. Sleeping Beauty having a snooze on her bed

We did some research on the web and chose a name for her - Shayna ( Jewish for Beautiful ). We think it suits her to the T! It's really like having a baby! We just spent alot of time checking on her and communicating and touching her to reassure her. We also played with her as she warmed up to us and did some hopping and leaping and reaching out her paws to touch us. We brought her for a basic grooming and bath at the petshop downstairs - Alphapets, quite friendly people. They were fussing over her cos she was so cute! We are quite lucky to have 2 petshops and 1 pet clinic downstairs which is really very convenient for dog owners like us.

She's quite a joy to watch. She's resting on the floor looking at us as we are typing this blog entry. We'll be updating on her progress! Some pictures for those who are doggy lovers!

Shayna is officially 2 months old, born on 29 March.

Shayna playing with her toy

Taking a rest after playing

Additional installation of UV window film

As all of you would know, we have all been getting a little bit of a hot spell these two months especially. The weather is really hot. Luckily, we still have a good cool breeze from the sea. However as the sunlight has been shifting from our bedroom and now has spread to the hall(above), we decided to add on UV window film for our windows in the hall so that there is less heat radiating into the hall, cut out the glare and also prevent heat damage to the curtains and furnishing, especially the TV. You can see the vast difference the window film makes.

So , we went back to the previous installer - East Plan 21 Pte Ltd which did the window films for our master rm, walk in and common fun room. They are based at 576 Balestier Rd. We chose a blue film with mirrored reflective properties and good UV protection. For those keen, just quote the model no : #2237. Again, they delivered good service and were prompt. The installation finishing was good. We paid $224 for delivery and installation of window film for 6 panels of windows ( Dimensions : 1.29m x 64cmx 6 panels )

You can note the difference in light transmission coming in before the film was installed(above) and after the film was installed(Below)

The effects have been effective. Glare and heat has been cut tremendously and our hall feels cooler in the afternoons.

(Above) From the outside, you can see the reflective mirrored properties of the window film which enhances privacy.

Mickey Mouse Fridge Magnets

We found a nice place to shop for comtemporary and zen themed household items for the house. It's called Zone @ Raffles City Shopping Centre ( below).

They have many designer and unique items in particular for the kitchen and living areas of the house. We just could not resist leaving the shop empty handed and so we got at the very least a unique set of Mickey Mouse fridge magnets(below). They sell in packs of 3 and each pack retails at $16.50. Do drop by there if you are looking for interesting items for your house.

Buying a Telescopic Standing Reading Lamp

This week, I bought a standing reading lamp for Gayle to be placed next to her digital piano. As the Orange play room has a dim cozy light, we felt that it would be too straining for her to read the musical scores in the dim light if she wants to play it in the evening or nights. You can see the light cast by the lamp above which helps brighten up the area.

Initially, we wanted to buy one from Lightcraft but the service there dissappointed us once again with the staff confusing us and themselves with whether there was stock available for the lamp that we wanted. It is a pit because Lightcraft has many designer lights with affordable prices but they always seem to be let down by poor customer service ( damaged lighting, wrong items delivered, rude and no service quality staff ).

We then went down then to Citilights at Jalan Besar where we first bought our living room's Swarovski crystal pendant chandelier(above) earlier. The service there was good, there was a good discount and they assembled and test the lamp for us, carrying it out and loading into our car for us. They have a wide variety of lightings for those who are looking for nice lightings with competitive pricing.

(Above) Adjustable Telescopic arms enable extension and flexibility for varied lighting needs

We bought a energy saving bulb based standing reading lamp with adjustable telescopic arms. We did not buy halogen bulb based ones ( Their lamp design looks better due to the small halogen bulb which allows for varied designs for shade housings) as they tend to heat up very fast so it would be quite hot to be under one , have a lower lifespan and consume energy. The lamp cost us $100.

Energy saving Bulb ( Warm light - yellowish -white light ) seen mounted under lamp shade