Lunch on the Promenade...

Pics of the Brian Lara Promenade taken during my lunch hour today.

Twin Towers aka Eric Williams Financial Complex

Nicholas Tower
owned by Issa Nicholas

One of the new Government buildings
(this one close to the Hyatt)

A next Government building...
this one is part of the Government Campus Plaza...I think

Unit Trust Corporation

Renovations Update: Are We There Yet?

So here's the update...

Bathroom:

Tiling started on Wednesday and finished on Friday.

My tiles look FAB! and my bathroom is now my favorite room in the house.

Bathroom tiled and toilet installed

My plumber came on Sunday and started installing the toilet and the shower. He has to come back this week and put in the sink and finish up his part.

Ceiling:
My ceiling was started on Thursday last week and when I got home I was very pleased to see that most of the rooms in the house were done. The ceiling looked GREAT.

Ceiling in living/dining/kitchen area

Then I took a look at the moulding that was put up and had to do a double take as they guys had installed plain white moulding in the boys' room, but white and gold moulding everywhere else.

Nasty white and gold moulding

I was NOT feeling that white and gold AT ALL, so I had to call up my ceiling guy to tell him one time.

Apparently when they went to purchase the plain white moulding they only got enough for one room, so they made the decision to go with white and gold to 'expedite' the project and they thought it complimented the ceiling.
Hello?
Without consulting the woman who have to watch up at that ceiling for the next 10 years? Eh eh.


After a couple of phone calls I told them in no uncertain terms that the moulding had to be changed and they needed to find a solution. By the time I got home on Friday my moulding was all white and I was happy.

Electricians:

The electricians now have to come back and finish pull their wires and afix their fixtures.

To date, the electricians have been my worst workmen.

I say this not because they working slow or anything, they are actually working pretty well. I say it because they are the most untidy.

After my main contractors had completed their work they always swept up and threw away whatever rubble they made. Not the electricians...Eh eh.

They break parts of my wall, not whole wall eh...parts...to run their new wiring and left more dust and rubble over my house that my other contractors.

The one room in my house where I had everything stored to keep it 'safe' from dust, now has the most dust in my house.

Not to mention that they break one of meh scented candles.

Not to mention that they break meh brand new broom.

Not to mention that they put up some ugly ass fixtures (they have to take them down) in front the house. (like they eh make out my FAB! door or what?)

Not to mention that in taking pics of the FAB! door yesterday I noticed that the ugly ass fixtures not put up straight..one higher than the next! Hello?

High and low fixtures

*sigh*

I did mention to them (very nicely I might add) that when they were finished taking down their wires and so forth that they could move the rubble into the yard and they did do this last week. But my entire house is now dusty thanks to my electricians.

And they have plenty work to re-do cause like they breathless and just doing want they want.

That's the update for now.

I am still looking for someone to do my kitchen cupboards for me, so if you know anyone, drop me an email at afro.chic@hotmail.com.

Renovations Update...

Since my last update with purchasing the tiles, we've had to fire our tile guy and source a next tile guy. So my tiles have been sitting down collecting dust.

The new tile guy came to visit and gave us his quotation for doing the work and has said he is 'swamped' right now and has promised to come next Wednesday. *crosses fingers*

I finally purchased a FAB! shower mixer for my bathroom as well (sorry no pics), and my plumber (daddy) came and installed the pipes in the bathroom last Saturday.

In the meantime there's been some back and forth between my ceiling guys and electricians. My ceiling guys came on Good Friday to frame up for the ceiling, then had to wait on the electricians to continue pulling their wires etc.


That was finished yesterday and my ceiling guys promised to come back today to finish put up my ceiling.


The ceiling that I finally decided on is the PVC ceiling in two finishes. One for the living/dining/kitchen area and one for the bedrooms and bathroom area.

PVC ceiling samples

(Top left) Living/dining/kitchen area

(Bottom left) Bedrooms and bathroom

I've been hearing mixed reviews about the PVC ceiling, but I like the samples of the work I've seen and it's way less dust than my original choice of gypsum.

When the ceiling is installed, the electricians have to come back AGAIN, the finish pulling wires and installing their fixtures.

Once THAT is done I can FINALLY start cleaning up my house *crosses fingers* and move back into my home :)

My Birthday Weekend...

This Saturday Afro Chic turned 30 and celebrations began from Friday night.


Friday
On Friday I met with some of my facebook / blogger / triniscene peeps at Zanzibar in Movietowne. The bill came up to a whopping $1800 for the 10 or so of us!

This was my first time going to Zanzibar and I found the food to be pretty decent (I had the Seafood Mofongo and the Chicken Wings), but the service we got on Friday wasn’t that great.

Our waitress kept disappearing mid-order and it took us about ½ hour or more to get or food.
I had made a reservation for 7 o’clock and although I called twice to confirm, no one told me I would lose my reservation after 15 minutes. They did accommodate us with a bigger table after we requested one though.
Zanzibar gets a 6.5 out of 10.

Saturday
The birthday morning saw me going to the hardware to purchase thinset and grout and other tile related stuff after which I went to Crowne Plaza Face and Body Clinic for my massage and pedicure.

The massage was FANTASTIC.
You know a massage is good when you bepp off during the massage! I fell asleep and didn’t even realize it until the masseur was gently waking me up to tell me she was done!

After the massage, I headed to get my pedicure.
The pedicure left much to be desired. I like my feet to be scrubbed and rubbed and massaged well…I eh get that. I didn’t even get my nails filed or buffed.
The polish was done very well though, but I probably would not go back there for a pedicure.

It was my first time going to Face & Body Clinic and my first impression left a lot to be desired. I found the place felt more like a doctor’s office than a relaxing get away that a spa should be.
Face & Body Clinic gets a 6 out of 10.

Saturday night the hubby took me to Paprika. We had gone there previously on our anniversary last year and found the food and service to be excellent.
This time the service was lacking just a bit, but it was still good.

Paprika gets a 8.5 out of 10.

Sunday

Sunday night my girlfriend and I went to Central Bank Auditorium to view the Raymond Choo Kong play "We Like It So!"

The play was tres entertaining and had patrons laughing from start to finish, but it's not just comedy...it's a look at life in Trinidad and how we accept mediocrity because after all "We Like It So!".

The play was nothing short of excellent and I would advise you to go see it if it makes another run.

The cast of We Like It So! are, clockwise from the top, Raymond Choo Kong, Conrad Parris, Mairoon Ali and Penelope Spencer.

Pic from Newsday.

Overall it was a very enojyable birthday weekend.

Of Toilets and Tiles...

Yesterday I took a day off to go purchase my tiles and my toilet.

On Sunday, my tile guy had started removing the old tile from the bathroom and preparing the surface for the new tile, but had no new tile to lay.

So I found myself back in Chaguanas at Classic Tiles where I had initially seen a really nice looking and very affordable tile for my bathroom. Got to Classic Tiles and this is what greeted me.

Yes...My tile was SOLD OUT!
The only thing I didn’t do was cry. *Instant headache*
All my ideas for the bathroom revolved around this tile.
Hubby, who was with me at the time suggested an alternative.
But there were no alternatives as far as I was concerned. I wanted THAT tile.

I left Classic Tiles very disappointed and ventured to Tile Depot and then to Tile Warehouse in Central. There were some nice enough tiles and some hell no! tiles, but none that spoke to me the way that one did.

Now in between all of this my-tile-is-sold-out-drama, I’m calling my tile guy to find out how much of the tile I should purchase, and he tells me he does not remember the exact measurement of my bathroom! WHAT?! *Bigger headache*

I couldn’t think clearly and was getting frustrated so I ended up going back home.

After getting home and popping two Aleve tablets for my headache, I formulated a plan, went and measured my bathroom and headed to Ceramic Trinidad.

Long story short…I got my wall tiles and border and Ceramic Trinidad and my floor tiles at Interior Harmony in Sea Lots.

These are my tiles.

Wall tile and border

Floor tile and metallic accent tile

I purchased my toilet at Bath & Kitchen on Mucurapo Road (had to go to their Diego Martin warehouse to collect).

I found out that looking for a toilet ain't as easy as it sounds, as I learnt there are lots of brandless toilets out there (I know about American Standard, Twyford and Armitage Shanks).

I also learnt about 'P' trap, flushes out the back of the toilet and 'S' trap toilets, flushes in the floor, as well as the new push button toilet vs the traditonal lever.

My toilet is in a box so I don't have a picture, but it looks something like this.

Hopefully my new bathroom can look as gorgeous as the one in the picture.

Easter Weekend in pics...

I had no plans for this Easter weekend with the exception of getting the boys off to camp safely and relaxing.

And with the rough sea advisories I wasn't planning on going anywhere near any water except for in my bathroom (work was started in the bathroom area this weekend btw...WHOO!HOO!!)

These are some of these pics I took over the weekend.

Good Friday Bobolee by my mom's neighbour in St. James

Beautiful poui around the Savannah by TGI Friday

Kite flying in the Savannah

Families in the Savannah on Easter Monday

View of changing city skyline from Lady Young lookout

Beautiful poui on Lady Young Road, Morvant

St. Theresa's R.C. Church in Malick, Barataria

House purchases

Plumb Centre in Fernandes Industrial had a sale this weekend and these are my purchases.

My bathroom sink

Not on sale, but I LOVE the shape of this sink and had to have it.

I also purchased a nice faucet for this sink, but didn't take a pic.

My kitchen sink

Pretty standard and blah, but the price was EXCELLENT!

Doesn't beat the FAB! Moen sink for $7,200.00 I saw at Bathroom Plus though.

I have a gorgeous tap for this sink as well that my dad/plumber got for free.

At the sale

My plumber checking out the Kohler fixtures

Jazz on The Greens...

It would be remiss of me not to mention the great time I had at Jazz on the Greens at UWI last week Saturday (8th March).

This was my first time going to Jazz and I was unable to get anyone to go with me, so I went to Jazz solomente.

I got to Jazz just about 6:30ish, after driving around in circles on UWI campus for about half hour. (no thanks to the security guards who gave me poor ass directions).

Eventually found someone who told me it was OFF campus and it was only when I got the general area was I able to find another guard who directed me correctly. Parked my car, picked up my blanket and headed to the grounds at UWI's Centre for the Creative Arts.

The crowd at Jazz on the Greens

As I said before I got to Jazz just after 6:30 and at that time Michael Boothman was just finishing off his set.

Michael Boothman

The crowd was an older one, who came out with their chairs, blankets and picnic baskets to take in the music. The atmosphere at Jazz on the Greens was relaxed and tranquil, just the kind of thing I needed after another not so great week at the office.

Patrons at Jazz

Jamaican songstress Samantha Goden

You can read Mark Lyndersay's review here and Peter Ray Blood's review here.

Renovations Update - Phase I COMPLETE!!

Sunday evening marked the end of what I call Phase I of the House Renovation Project.

What this means is that all major construction work has been completed.
All the walls have been knocked down, any new walls are up and plastered.
The guys came and did all the little finishing and cleaned up any mess etc.

My contractor 'Rope' on top my old kitchen cabinets

Sunday we also had a second clean up of the old pieces of wood and ceiling that were removed.

The next phase of the project is Phase II - Electrical work and ceiling installation.
Electrical work is carded to begin this Wednesday and we marked out with chalk the locations of all the switches and outlets.

The ceiling guy has to work closely with the electrician and told me that his work should take approximately two (2) days. I was supposed to go with the ceiling guy to Chaguanas this morning to view the different options available for the ceiling (who knew that PVC ceiling came in different colours and patterns?!?). When I called my ceiling guy yesterday he told me he was just was in a car accident and we would have to reschedule.

This weekend my plumber (aka Daddy) paid a visit to start work on the bathroom. (I still have not selected my bathroom fittings.)
It was only this weekend, we found out that we are not connected to the sewer main and the possibility exists that we may still have a cesspit in the yard!
This means having to get WASA (*sigh*) to come and connect us to the main. I expect that this may cause a further delay in my project. We got the name of a guy who knows a guy, and we hope that this expedites the process.

After Phase II comes the part I am looking forward to the most, which is Phase III - The Finishing Touches!

Phase III will be the longest phase as this involves:
Tiling
New kitchen cabinets
Installation of laminate flooring (?)
Lighting
Landscaping
Painting, painting and more painting


This weekend saw me up in the east looking at tiles (again) and some furniture.

Possible bathroom tiles

Possible living/dining room tiles

Dining set at Signature Collection

Outdoor set at Signature Collection

I already have an idea of the colours I want in my rooms and the tiles I want as well. I am still undecided if to tile or use the laminate floor in my living/dining/kitchen area.
I'm leaning toward laminate, but everyone is telling me not to use the laminate flooring in my kitchen area as it doesn't take to water well.

I've purchased the lights for the front of the house and they go really well with my FAB! front door. I still have to find a nice ceiling fan and some nice light fixtures for the living room.

So that's the update.

Renovations Update: Pics

With the most of the MAJOR construction work (breaking of walls, construction and plastering of new walls) nearly finished, this weekend saw us doing some removal of all the rubble from the demolished walls, roof etc.

My front yard on Sunday Morning

Empty truck

Truck filling up with rubble

Part of the reno as I mentioned before included breaking walls in the kitchen to make way for an open floor plan, as well as removing the window in the master bedroom to put in some doors which lead to the backyard. We (I) decided to re-use our old front doors and plan to sand it down and have it looking like new.

KITCHEN

BEFORE - Kitchen/living room wall

DURING

AFTER - A wall and a half to go

AFTER - Walls down

(Door in the kitchen is now blocked up as well)

BEDROOM

BEFORE - Window in my room leading to backyard

AFTER - Doors in!

DURING - The wall coming down to make room for my doors

AFTER - Doors in!!

Still to do list:Electrical (starts today)

Plumbing (starts wheneverI tell Daddy to come)

Ceiling (hopefully this weekend)