Ok, enough of the bitching and griping with the scumbags and blind-ass relationships I have been hearing from CLM women. I'm fed up and thought I need to be boring for a change. JohnAbbot was very eager to read a nice boring blog of domestication, so here it is! Blame him if this blog article sucks! Ha ha!
Well, I blinked my eyes and here we are one year later. Wow, so fast. How time flies. It has been one year that Aishan and I have been married. I swear the older I get, the faster time passes. Years flash so quickly. Time is precious to the old and so boringly long to the young. It certainly does not feel like a year has passed. I recall my then future wife first flying to America like it was yesterday. They say the first year is the toughest for a married couple. And it's no different than any other relationship. You have your ups and downs. But graciously we have enjoyed so many laughs. So what do you give a wife for such an occasion? Jewelry? A trip away? I had been thinking what could she possibly enjoy to make occasion special? Maybe a materialistic gift is not important. Maybe the gift of a better lifestyle would be more appreciated. So two months ago, on Memorial Day weekend, it began.
I began special project that we both could enjoy. Aishan loves cooking her dishes and my 100 year old house needed an updated kitchen 13 years ago when I first bought it. I was so busy updating other rooms that the kitchen was put on hold. (For my Chinese readers, no a 100 year old house in America is not an unstable crumbling house.) The craftsmanship is considered unique in homes constructed 50 or more years ago. It's the details, styles and materials that can make them very expensive to own. But like with most home purchases you want to change and update things. I did a lot of updates and soon got tired and stopped all house fixes for a long while. The kitchen was neglected. Now that I had a new wife living in the house and hearing her complaints of a more modern kitchen it was time for me to stop procrastinating and get a new kitchen plan into production. Not a bad gift to give the both of us for a first year wedding anniversary, right? I had 3 months to complete it.
Normally one would hire a contractor to do a complete kitchen remodel, but my ass is not rolling in money like Bill Gates. Especially in this economy we are struggling with today. Plus the Chinese women love to save money when they can so I planned on doing ALL the work myself and save myself a good $15,000 minimum! Crazy hell yes, but not as crazy as paying someone else $15,000 to do it for me. I created a floor plan. Going over details; making sure every aspect of the job was thought out carefully. I researched the necessary things. "How-to" websites. Youtube was a huge help. Seeing video of something being done is much easier to understand. Great tool, the internet.
The entire kitchen would be overhauled. Empty it. Refinishing walls. A new floor was needed. New kitchen cabinets was obvious since there were none when I bought it. Closing one of the two windows for better cabinet layout and installing a new window to replace the old beat up one. New granite countertops (it would hike the budget a few thousand dollars more), but this gift is also an investment in our house's value, so it is a good investment. A new kitchen sink, faucet and plumbing. Updated electricity and wiring. All done by myself. The new kitchen I was planning would cost $20,000 USD, easily! So when you want to save; do it yourself! But not just some half-assed job. I was determined to do the job as good as the professionals, damn it!
Memorial Day weekend. I emptied the kitchen out to the adjacent dining room. What an ugly sight that was to live with. A refrigerator in your dining room! I had to take out a 220 lb (99.8 kg) cast-iron porcelain double sink. My goodness what the hell were they thinking in the old days to create such a monstrosity?!! I then closed one window with insulation and new wall-board and prepped the walls. Then I had to destroy the new walls with several holes to thread new electrical wiring. My wife freaked out!
"Aiyaaaah! What the hell are you doing?! You had nice walls and now you ruined them with all these holes?!" She counted, "Eleven holes! What the hell are you doing?!!" (Her English cursing is getting good, eh?)
I responded, "There is no such thing as Wi-Fi electricity! Wiring has to be done. Holes have to be made to thread the wiring. Don't worry, they will be patched up and you will not know they were there! Relax!" ;)
She walked off completely disgusted shaking her head. :) During this point I got a great new idea. New recessed lighting! It was not in my plans, but if you are going to do a remodel, do it right the first time! Of course this did not make my wife any happier. She complained about me making the kitchen project too complex!
"Aiyaaaah, what the hell are you thinking?! I just want a kitchen that I can cook in! It does not have to be so complex! Just put up one light. No need to have so many lights! I just want this kitchen done! Do you understand???! Bokai si fat qwai! Just hurry up and finish it!!" :) Haaaaha!! That's a bit of cantonese anger there for ya'!
Of course, I stood my ground, "Hell no!" I want a kitchen that looks great! I'm not having one shitty light in the kitchen so I can live like a caveman with one damn fire in a dark cave! Don't worry you'll love the room when I am done!"
By this time she has turned a firey shade of RED and complained. "This is not a room we are sleeping in! It does not have to be so special! It's just to COOK in! A room that I will use mostly! Keep it simple!" She then stormed off.
I yelled down the hall after her "This my kitchen too! You don't do all the cooking in here! I cook too! And you damn-well WILL want to SLEEP in here when I get finished with it! That is how GREAT this room will be!!! You'll see! And I expect a huge apology when it's done and you are loving the kitchen too!!!" :) Got to love our silly-ass arguments!
I had my mind made up. I knew what I wanted and what would look great in the ktichen. Recessed lights were going in thus sayeth TheDragonB! She may not like my changes, but she will appreciate them later or I will get a new wife! (Just joking, just joking! Stop laughing and do not tell her I wrote that! ;) Haaha! )
I researched electrical wiring, books, videos, websites, looking up city codes to do the job right. I even consulted a professional electrician co-worker to make sure I was wiring and planning it correctly. Oh, I forgot to mention, moving a gas pipe too so the stove could be in a better location. Dealing with an old house, I took special care to be very careful and do the work CORRECTLY. I sure as hell do not wish to blow my house apart! Gas line moved and no gas leakage. Cool. Electrical wiring throughout the house all taped up sealed to code. DONE! The house is not burning down...cool! It was a long 12 weeks, and it could have been done much faster, but it would not have been as enjoyable for me.
All was not happy days during this remodel on the wifey-side. I worked slow and took my time. I can not blame her, even I was getting sick of looking at my dining room junked up with all the kitchen supplies and the living room full of uninstalled kitchen cabinets. She tolerated it. I would work one day and then relax the next day. Then work a bit more the 3rd day and then take a 5 days off! Ha ha!!! Hey, I do have to work a full-time job during all of this. It's not an easy schedule. So I made sure to take my time and care about the work. It was exhausting and sometimes painful. With the bangs, drops, dips and slips that happen on a job, my body aches at this very moment.
"Aiyaaah! Ho tong ah!"
I even helped the granite guys bring in the heavy granite counter tops. They were such little Cambodian men, it didn't seem right to have them hoof huge slabs of granite by themselves struggling. That was the only part I had to let the pros work on. Installing the counter tops was beyond my skills. Yet, give me the tools and money and I could master it soon enough. ;)
Lastly, it was time for the plumbing and connecting everything! Stove, dishwasher, sink, new faucets and built-in water filter. I must say, it felt good doing physical labor for a change. Working in the office for the past 20 years has made me soft and if anything I am stronger after this. Finally, just days before our anniversary, I completed the new kitchen. Well not completely done, there is still some final touch-ups of paint, but it's basically done and fully functional. And it looks pretty damn good. Not bad for my first kitchen remodel. Makes a brotha' want to jump back and kiss myself!
So we had a new kitchen to celebrate our first year anniversary and to celebrate we didn't break it in by cooking up a fabulous meal. No, no, no!!! We did what any one would do after busting their ass working on such a project. GO OUT FOR DINNER, of course! We celebrated by going to a very romantic restaurant. We started the night with tasty cocktails, delicious international tapas dishes and finished it off with a French Banana Bread Extravaganza dessert complimented with two bottoms-up shots of Menage Au Trois drinks (a smooth and creamy combination of Stoli Vanilla vodka, creme do cacao and Godiva Dark Chocolate that is so damn tasty!). Oh not to forget the champagne. ;) Yes, a brotha' does know how to get down! That's how you break in a new kitchen. Take your asses out and let someone else do the cooking! Why dirty up a perfectly new kitchen so quickly?!!!
...And now that I think of it. I never did get that apology from her complaining about my skills to get the job done. Looks like I'll have to remind her! I'll secretly record her apology for you all! Haaa! :)
I wish I had your talent for do-it-yourself. Had I tried this, I would have been electrocuted or drowned!
I’m especially happy you made the point again about old Victorian homes, or 100 + years old homes, being very much coveted and desirable. It has hard for most Chinese on the Mainland, especially young, to understand this when they have little or no desire to live in some of their “National Treasures” and don’t appreciate some of the most exquisite antiques I’ve seen anywhere.
They’re into high-rise condos with shit workmanship falling apart by the week and not even a year old. IKEA is making a fortune here with their paste/particle board furniture that cannot stand the test of time.
Anyway, thanks for the photos and both of you have a home to be proud of.
But I will disagree!!! IKEA is stylish. Yes, it may not be real wood and is a laminated particle board, but they design their funiture with a contemporary swedish design and fashion style. If contemporary/simplistic is your taste. Ikea is a great fit. And you don't pay an arm and a leg for some good product. And if it breaks a few years down the road. Who cares, you can upgrade later and maybe have the money by then to buy higher quality. So I do not frown on Ikea.. they do have a place. And great for first time apt renters and college students or families on a budget. I also have to give them credit for the engineering of how their stuff is put together and options of draws soft close and great pull out corner shelving. Genius! But my Hand carved bed that costs thousands of dollars or the leather sofa with hand carving both from Thomasville Furniture and an old antique Asian tables, my wife and her Chinese friends frown on it as being old and out of style! I only have one word to say for them!
"Puhleeeeeze."
Roll my eyes in disgust. These people don't know what the hell they are talking about! I LOVE old Chinese decor and buildings!!! But to be fair... Weall have our likes and dislikes. Some love traditional, country or Colonial themed decor. It's not my flave either. So to each their own. -
Thanks for the kudos! Quite happy with the kitchen. Broke it in seriously yesterday entertaining the wife and her two Chinese friends showing them how to cook tasty pasta dishes. Any good guys out there? They all keep asking me to introduce them to a good man!!!! Problem is.. I don't know any! ...only scumbags! Haaaaha! ;)