the tofu house

We found our current 103sqm container (house) in February 2023 and paid for it in July after the whole sale was approved. The actual key collection was in September – right smack during the lunar 7th month (aka ghost month).

Why we went ahead with key collection & renovation in 7th month

We did foresee that our key collection and renovation would happen during the 7th month, but we were both not very superstitious. We didn’t want to delay renovation and moving in for so long just because it could potentially bring us bad luck.

Our IDs from Urban Home Design were also good with it, and even told us it wasn’t a bad idea because other home owners would intentionally avoid this period, which actually freed up a lot of labour and material!

This meant that our renovation could actually proceed much faster and smoother.

How we worked around key collection & renovation during 7th month

That being said, we were still advised to exercise some precaution regarding starting work on a new house during the ghost month,

For some ID firms, their practice is to just make some simple offerings below the HDB block. They may also carry out a ‘ground breaking’ ceremony for projects running though this period.

On our end, we were advised against rolling an actual pineapple in our new house. Apparently, this invites the “good brothers” in!

As the period coincided with the election of President Tharman (whose logo is a pineapple lol), we came up with a creative workaround: to create our own virtual pineapple filter (aptly named ONG LAI) and roll the pineapple virtually!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by the tofu house (@thetofuhouse)

P.S. this will also come in handy if you can’t get a pineapple for your new house, or you find it too troublesome to buy an actual pineapple.

How to use the pineapple instagram filter

1. Scan the Instagram QR code above or look for the filter tab (✨) on the tofu house’s Instagram page.
2. Using the back camera, tap on the spot where you would like to place the pineapple.
3. Using two fingers, spread them apart or move them towards each other to resize the pineapple.
4. To roll the pineapple, tap on the pineapple and swipe one finger across the screen. (Have to tap the pineapple to allow the roll function, it’s programmed this way to avoid the pineapple rolling while resizing).
5. Tap on screen to re-position the pineapple.

Have fun rolling your virtual pineapple!