My collection of handbags

 I love bags that is functional, elegant, stylish, sometimes relaxed instead of structured, or the other way around. Used to aim for an LV bag but not such a big deal anymore. It's you that wear the bag, don't let the bag overshadow you. I don't mean to brag about the bags that I have, they are a modest collection compared to having more expensive ones e.g. Chanel, LV...yea, mostly the European brands.

My 1st favourite bag is one I bought at Asda. I have talked about it here. Below is the collection from 2013 until now.....

All of them...almost

Longchamp

Kate Spade

Coach and one was bought by a friend when she was in Europe

My only Tods

I love my only Tods. Love the colour and shape. But I bought the jute version so it didn't last like leather. This has shown me that even branded ones have stuff that don't last long

My soft pink Coach. I only wear this to weddings

My other favourite. Le Cuir Pliage

The blue Le Cuir Pliage is wearing off at the bottom corners. Yes, I love this bag because I can wear it to weddings and shopping. Love the fact it can be folded and it's made of sheep skin, which is softer than other leather.

I try not to buy more bags and make do with what I have. But I couldn't resist to have a classic black Kate Spade quilted bag, bought during MCO for RM499 (I pledged not to buy more than RM500)

Update on master bedroom makeover and reflection

 Alhamdulillah, the custom made bed I ordered from Astana Jati finally delivered to me in Sept. It was the size and height that I wished for... I was so thankful to Allah because there could be a risk that they didn't make as I described...but Alhamdulillah! It didn't look exactly like Ashley's and the material may not be as quality as I thought but due to the grand presence of the bed, I just didn't have any complain! 

I didn't have an exact budget for the bedroom. I used to settle with what I know e.g get a custom-made curtains and a proper side table. Get a carpet to complete the look but....I have a different approach this time. Save your money for the future, don't go lavish now and there are cheaper alternatives such as Shopee, Lazada and shops like Mr DIY, Romantika, Kaison etc.

One of the reason I want to get a bed is because I bought a nice duvet set last year but it would not look nice without a bed! And this year is our 20th anniversary so it's a good reason to get one. Below is roughly the costs of the makeover:

1. New AKEMI duvet set RM300++ (bought last year)
2. New kayu jati bedframe Astana Jati = RM2,300
3. New Jotun paint RM141++
4. New plain ROMANTIKA curtain RM68 x 2 sets = RM136
5. Round ROMANTIKA mirror RM75
6. New drawer knobs RM4.95 x 8 units + delivery  =  RM44.80

Kalo tak masuk duvet and bedframe = RM396.80

Kalo masuk duvet and bedframe = RM2,996.80

Curtains: SSF curtain could cost RM100+ for a set, so I bought a bargain there. Will try Kaison's (if they have plains) because they have wider set per piece. Custom made curtain would depend on the materials, probably may costs RM300 and above

Mirror: The round shape is perfect and at RM75, I just have to get it. You can't expect much from the price. It has flimsy cardboard at the back compared to SSF's but hey, it will do for the time being. Previous plan was to buy from SSF as well which definitely costs RM200 and above.

Picture during the day

This was taken around 7.00 pm, right after I bought the curtain.

The current theme is plain grey and white. I love how it turns out as the brown furniture complete the look (or the other way around). I'm planning to get another duvet and curtain set as a 2nd theme which should include some colour and patterns. Choice of colous either muted pink, dark blue or turquoise. For the duvet, my wishlist is to get a hotel like material...crisp and comfy. I'm willing to spend RM500 on it but must make sure to get an authentic set.

I will have to survey more on the curtains....

Next buy: side table, side lamp (optional), phone charger

Need to buy a side table. A simple one as the space left is quite narrow, big enough to put a charger, a side table lamp or a vase. Light enough for easy cleaning ya...

Power point is only on one side of the bed. So I need to plan and add more points for phone charger and the lamp on the other side of the bed. Planning to get an extension and hang it on the wall behind the bedhead....

The reflection

Since then, I always reflect on my life after my prayers as I look across and see the bed. 

After 20 years of marriage, what's the reason behind getting the bed now instead of 20 years ago? Well, actually 16 years, minus the 4 years in the UK.... Was I not care about our relationship? Ya la, bedroom is a sacred place for husband and wife...How could I live without a bed for 11 years? (we moved here in 2007, we bought a new mattress without a bed in 2009) We've been sleeping with the kids since then and only now with the new bed we get to have the room all to ourselves. By now having the bed, did it affect my relationship with my husband? Is there any improvement in our relationship due to the new bed?

I may not be the person who I thought I was. I like home decorating but why my house doesn't look like the pics in Pinterest? Do I overthinking stuff and don't put things into action? Is it because of budget constraints? I'm willing to save up and buy furniture RM1,000 and above which to some, are expensive. I love shopping at IKEA and get my furniture there...but sometimes the double function furniture I bought were not used to the fullest e.g my extendable dining table and the single chair bed. And still, my house doesn't look nice as others.

I should stop complaining about not having this and that because at least now I get to have the bed that I wanted. Some people only sleep on the floor berlapikkan kotak.....Always be thankful and trust the process. Allah SWT knows better. Stuff is just stuff...get them if you want. When you start comparing with others, you will start not appreciating what you have. Never lose sight that our life is temporary. What's more important is your deeds towards Allah SWT and others. I'm not sure whether all these thoughts came because of the bed or it was just me maturing since I'm now 45 years old! Kuang3x

For the past years, I think I got things more because they were cheap/on offer especially clothes. More about this in another post.

This was taken today, just to show the mirror is now up on top of drawer

Writing from Pappa Rich Bangi

 Today I shake up my routine a bit, not sure where I got the idea from. Feel like I’ve managed to sort out my life a bit and want to accomplish more.

Next week aku dah start kena pegi office. Bercintanya nak redah jem pepagi and petang! Aku rasa aku lebih productive duduk rumah, lebih focused on what’s important. I’m pro Work From Home but there were times aku rasa cam nak pegi opis. Kekadang je la…maybe sebab once in a while, aku sebenarnya nak la juga keluar rumah.

EVO

Asal plan nak buat homestay kan….pastu MCO. Memang aku tak tengok langsung unit aku tu sepanjang 8 bulan MCO. Camna ni? Previously aku kata takda masa nak pikir, nak urus. Bila MCO, tak juga jalan plan aku. Contohnya actually masa MCO bole je aku start update unit aku dalam Airbnb. Gambar amik dah aritu, patut boleh upload masuk Airbnb. Improve narration ke…Aku pun dah start masuk dalam group EVO homestay. Patutnya boleh dah aktif memasarkan unit aku. But I just didn’t take the opportunity….Isk, tak boleh jadi ni…aku la jugak yang rugi.

Post MCO: Anak-anak dah nak masuk sekolah

Baru lepas antar Jasmin ke SGS tadi. Ada SOP: parents x boleh kuar dari kereta, barang yang student boleh bawa limited to 4-5 bags/luggage. Memang kejap gila tadi, tak sempat peluk-peluk Jasmin. Dia yang kata dah boleh balik, aku pun turutkan saja. Aku kata nanti call tau...

Esok Kasyif pulak. Camna agaknya bebudak bila nak start sekolah balik. Lutfi minggu depan 22hb July. Then tadi ada wassap kata Irdina kena duduk hostel starting Aug. Scholars kena duduk hostel, haritu kata study online sampai Dec. By the way, Alhamdulillah Irdina dapat scholarship Telekom...Thank you Allah!

Rumah akan sunyi kembali. Sunyi tu tak lah sunyi sangat. What will be missed is the moment dapat duduk di rumah sama-sama di mana semua ada. Selalu cuti sekolah, anak ada di rumah, mak bapak pulak takda. Weekend, mana yang duduk asrama takda pulak di rumah.

Mak bapak akan sibuk kembali pergi bekerja, rendah jem. Aku harap WFH ni really a new normal for my company, jangan main cakap je. Sat lagi suh jugak staff pegi office...hope not.

Sedar tak sedar, anak-anak aku dah besar. Bakal meneruskan hidup masing-masing. Aku sebagai ibu sentiasa mendoakan kesejahteraan dan kejayaan mereka. Sentiasa taat perintah Allah SWT, dipermudahkan urusan, diluaskan rezeki, bakal mencipta kejayaan yang diidam-idamkan. Aku tak mintak banyak. Aku harapkan yang terbaik daripada Allah SWT dan anak-anak yang sentiasa mendoakan keampunan untukku bila aku dah takda nanti...

Update drawer

My next project is to update my drawer. Condition drawer tu elok lagi, cuma roda rail ada yang dah pecah so bila tarik laci tak smooth la. Dulu aku pernah repaint drawer masa aku mengandungkan Irdina. Buat kaler-kaler untuk simpan stuff baby. Anak sulung la katakan, semangat betul aku. Tapi kali ni aku tak re-paint sendiri la kot sebab kat sini takda tester pot (dulu aku beli tester pots je, tu yang boleh multi color). Aku cari idea aku nak update drawer tu jadi apa. Trend sekarang glass drawer tapi maintenance leceh pulak nanti. Aku rasa payah sikit nak buat DIY project kat sini. Either that or aku sebenarnya dah tak larat cam dulu....isk.

Last-last aku kata, buat simple project dah la. Yang penting, jadi. Then aku dapat idea, aku boleh try outsource re-painting work dengan Astana Jati bagi sama dengan warna katil. Pastu tukar rail dengan knob. Siappp...Advantage sekarang ada Shopee/Lazada, boleh beli parts online. Aku jumpa drawer rails and knobs yang berkenan. Rails dalam RM50 in total, knobs dalam RM64. Tak sure re-paint jadi berapa RM. Nanti aku tanyakan kat Astana Jati

I think this would be a totally transformation project!

Hunt for new bedframe II

After visiting Ashley, aku survey pulak katil kayu jati. It's the only option yang aku tahu yang solid and long lasting. Tapi aku tak nak yang cam kerawang-kerawang and tak nak kena tipu sebab kayu jati ni banyak gred. Kalau google, yang banyak kuar yang belah-belah Shah Alam, Melawati, Puchong. Design modern pun ada. Tapi husband aku ni cam sibuk je, cam susah nak ajak pegi jauh-jauh. Aku pun ada kemalasan juga. Attitude aku sekarang, beli je yang berkenan sudah, tak payah nak survey setiap ceruk Selangor/KL. Dah tukar daripada attitude masa umur 30an, rajin giler aku nak jenjalan survey.

Katil kayu jati

Kat Bangi yang aku perasan ada 1 je kedai perabot jati, kat Seri Bangi. Aku tak tahu kot-kot ada jugak kat tempat lain. Yg kat Seri Bangi memang selalu nampak kalo lalu situ. Dulu nama Mahligai Jati, sekarang dah tukar jadi Astana Jati. Tukar management agaknya. Tak terpikir yang aku akan menjejak kaki ke kedai tu. Aku wassap dulu tanya ada tak jual katil king size. Dioghang jawab ada. Aku tanya range harga...much lower than Ashley dan dari situ la ia bermula...

So on Saturday, pegi kedai Astana Jati Bangi tu. Aku tanya lebih detail pasal harga dan design. Aku perasan ada display katil jugak kat kedai tu. Tengok kayu dia cam OK. After about 15 minutes, kitoghang balik sebab salesgirl tu nak kena confirm dulu dimension and harga. Then later that afternoon, she wassap me and quoted RM2,400 for a custom made design. Mahal la sikit daripada SSF, RUMA tapi ni jati you. Aku OK dengan harga tu...lebih kurang harga Fella Design yg discount 50% tu but definitely lagi murah dari Ashley. Meaning category katil kayu yang solid mmg harga tu kot. Maybe orang yang biasa beli jati or rajin tawar menawar boleh dapat harga lagi kurang tapi aku tak pandai nak bargain.

Aku nak design camni. Organic ada lengkung-lengkung sikit sebab dulu masa nak kahwin dah pilih katil yang square-square. I'm quite happy now that it',s already out of the way! Alhamdulillah Allah kerana mendatangkan ilham. Tak sabar pulak rasa nak tunggu katil (tempahan amik masa dalam 1.5 bulan). Paling lewat awal Sept, in sha Allah.

Aku rasa lega sangat sebab aku rasa katil RM4,000 yang husband aku berkenan tu mahal. Walaupun cantik, tapi saiz dah la tak kena. Aku rasa harga tu sampai camtu sebab Ashley tu American product. Bila size dah gitu, kena beli tilam and cadar American size juga. Cost lagi...Ashley is definitely for orang yang have-have. Ada juga orang beli je katil saiz tu tapi guna tilam biasa tapi why do you pay more if it's not perfect? Aku bersyukur sangat sebab aku dapat design yang aku nak with the perfect standard size. Tapi tak leh lega lagi...mana tahu nanti bila dah sampai tak sama pun dengan design...Ya Allah! Permudahkan la!.....

Adalah ilmu sikit yang aku belajar daripada pengalaman ni. Aku belajar pasal gred kayu jati, kualiti dan range harga katil. Dapat jugak masuk Ashley...hik!

Next project, nak revamp drawer coklat...

Hunt for new bed frame

I've been surveying for a bed frame at RUMA and SSF sebab target harga below RM2,000. Memang ada yang berkenan kat RUMA tu tapi adalah features dia tak meet pulak aku punya criteria. Criteria yang aku nak:

1. Nampak simple tapi grand. Aku nak katil aku tinggi
2. Aku nak foot end yang rendah sebab nak rasa inviting macam kat hotel
3. Ada storage lagi bagus but I can do without one
4. Long lasting sebab bukan senang nak tukar-tukar katil
5. Elegant (macam katil kat Batu Pahat. Although dah 20 tahun, still tak nampak old fashion atau ketinggalan zaman)

Survey @ SSF Cyberjaya

Last Saturday aku pegi SSF Cyberjaya. Nampak ada katil yang berkenan, design memang sama dengan RUMA. Aku tak tahu ketahanan product SSF tapi cantik-cantik la macam RUMA. Aku dah tengok website SSF, harga mahal RM300-RM400 dari RUMA. Aku hampir-hampir nak meninggalkan kedai tapi aku tanya jugak berapa harga katil yang display tu kat salesman. Sekali dia kata ada 40% discount on all items for SSF members! Wow! Ini sudah bagus! Kalo masuk delivery pun masih lagi rendah daripada harga RUMA. Hati aku dah melompat-lompat kegembiraan! Cuma belakang katil tu la, masih lagi hanya distapler dengan kain hitam, tak full upholstered pun. But at least it's cheaper than RUMA...aku bawak bertenang dulu sebab beli katil ni kenalah persetujuan bersama kan (aku pegi Cyberjaya sorang-sorang sebab merajuk dengan husband sebenarnya...kuang3x) Balik rumah tak merajuk dah sebab hati dah terhibur nampak katil idaman

Esoknya, aku bagitau husband cam dah jumpa katil yang berkenan and tunjuk gambar kat dia. Sekali tu dia tak impressed pun. Rupanya dia tak suka katil yang upholstered sebab impression dia, katil tu tak tahan. Sebelum ni aku tak sure aku nak katil divan atau bedframe biasa. Upholstered bed dalam Pinterest memang cantik-cantik. Tapi yang available kat Malaysia, dalam gambar nampak cantik tapi bila tengok physically tak nampak solid macam dalam gambar Pinterest. In a way, aku setuju jugak dengan concern my husband tu. Dia prefer katil kayu yang solid..'macam yang kat Batu Pahat' dia kata. Ohh! Aku kata kalo katil kayu tak dapat RM1,000++, starting RM2,000 aku kata. Dia kata 'takpa la kalo dah memang tu harganya'...Gulp! Aku telan air liur (sebab the deal is aku beli katil, dia beli mattress) Then aku ajak dia pegi survey dekat-dekat Bangi dulu, dia kata OK. Yesss!

Survey @ Fella Design & Ashley Bangi

Esoknya after lunch, kitoghang keluar. 1st kitoghang pegi Fella Design. Harga RM3,000 ke atas OK. Tapi ada satu tu discount 50% off jadi RM2,000 lebih. Besar katil tu, memang grand. Pastu tanya ngan salesgirl kat situ. Dia kata tu katil size European King, besar sikit dari standard size Malaysia. Owh, gitu pulak. Kalo beli tilam standard size, nanti ada ruang terlebih pulak. Kalo beli tilam ikut saiz katil, mahal lagi la harga tilam. Pastu cadar pun tak boleh cari size standard.

Then kitoghang pegi Ashley kat Bangi Central. Memang la cantik-cantik and grand. Harga pun grand ya. Yang ni katil saiz American pulak, lagi besar daripada European size. Aku tengok husband aku macam berminat. Kitoghang terus tanya katil yang offer prize jadik dalam RM1,800. Yang ni tak nampak solid macam yang lain-lain (patut la Ashley buat offer). Yang berkenan harga dalam RM4,000++ (dalam hati biar betul aku nak beli katil harga tu...) Salesman tu ajar, Ashley ada buat beberapa offer yang boleh kurangkan harga katil. Contoh trade in katil lama (boleh dapat dlm RM500), atau beli tilam Ashley dioghang (harga katil jadi kurang RM1,000) which I personally think quite attractive if you want to own an Ashley product. The only problem is the size!!!!

Kita bawak bertenang dulu la...pikir elok-elok...