Blogging on a weekend

Thanks to my HP netbook! Heh....It's Saturday afternoon, hubby's gone out, Kasyif is having a nap, the girls are chatting among themselves.... thus i can have some time for myself. A bit tired from browsing the web for colour schemes....
Yep! I finally appointed a contractor for my plaster ceiling and porch area. My original plan was to purchase sofa and dining sets around 7k. Add 'replace main door and sliding door' would come out to 10k. There was no plan for renovation at first. Then, decided to provide some budget for small renovation  to complete the makeover around 3k. So called in the contractor and tell them what i plan to do to the house.

One contractor qouted me 15k. You wonder why the figure changed drastically from 3k to 15k? Let me outline the add ons and why....

1. Decided to re do the ceiling as we need more lighting for the living room. Normal plaster ceiling is around 2.5k. But normal plaster ceiling will make the ceiling looks so low and makes the room looks smaller. Thus another 1.8k to have a L box and beamed ceiling.

2. I've always hated the position of the main door resulting a dead area behind the door when it's opened. It's an eyesore to me. What if that corner is still an eyesore if i didn't do anything about it during the makeover? I would regret for not including it in my plan, don't you think? So add 'relocate main door and window' apart from replacing so that's another 2k.

3. I have long plain walls which i think i need to break it up and give it different depth to make it more lively. What i decided to do is build a wall for our future plasma TV (still a wishlist, not being crystallized yet). Idea comes from this picture:

My shelving unit is floating exactly like that but a cheaper version, IKEA LACK shelf placed horizontal hung on the wall. Tha new wall costs 1.2k

4. Now the porch. I elevate about 3x20 ft the outside floor of the entrance because i think you really need to climb up to get into my house. It's obvious when you see elderly would need to hold the door frame and press their upper thigh to get in. Then i want pebbled wash border to the tiling, a customade shoerack, timber trellis and small polycarbonate with timber trusses to cover a 5x6 area. A mere tiling job costs about 2.5k including materials but this one costs about 4.2k.

5. Next, another eyesore. The gigantic built in garbage compartment on the front pillar... It is just too big.... I like the fact that the access is on top, not beneath that you will have to bend down to put the rubbish in. BUT IT'S JUST TOO BIG! I did quite a lot of thinking here. Modify? Make the pillar and compartment smaller and access from the side? Remove the compartment all together? Convert to a storage area and place rubbish bin outside the compound?

With budget constraint as the main factor, i decided to remove it all together and place a garden tap there. And to add a bit of interest decided to have a slab underneath the tap like in this picture. So this idea and other requirements costs me about 1.6k.

Lifestyle change: need to take out the rubbish outside the main gate.

 

My common dilemma has always been whether  it's worthwhile for the budget set. The final outcome weighing that thought is the renovation figure has climbed up to RM17.3k!!!! I know it sounds expensive but given the things i want to do and the satisfaction being able to revamp the house (am i trying to justify myself???), i hope it will be an investment.Wish me luck! Wish me luck!(crossing my left hand fingers and biting my right hand nails)  I'm a bit nervous now....

 

The project starts on Monday and will last about a month. Bismillah.........

March is still a busy month!

March really flew so fast! I wanted to start dieting, do some research on costing and survey materials for my next home improvement project. Unfortunately nothing has been executed fully. Couldn't start on the dieting as we went back to Perlis during the school hols. I just cannot 'tahan'my appetite when i am at my parents or PIL houses. Their food is too nice to be ignored.
As for costing, luckily i registered for a costing course on the 22-23 Mar. At least i can regard that as my starting point for my new function. More importantly, i can mention that to my boss showing that i've done something for the post.
Surveying....didn't get this done. My next improvemet project is the porch and living area. I think it's time we start decorating and buy main furniture such as the SOFA. Can you believe that we have lived without proper sofa and dining table since we moved in at Seksyen 3? Probably because we hardly received visitors thus it has been liveable with 1 seater sofa that we bought last year (because i was pregnant thus needed something to sit on, it was difficult for me to get up when lying down in front of the TV...). However, my collegues have started asking me to do a Raya Open House and 2 of them who moved into their new houses last year already did Raya Open House cum House Warming. And our friends also who just moved in last year also have done/renovate their houses nicely and we started to feel something need to be done to our beloved house. That is to make it as nice and inviting for visitors.... I'll start postng about the project later next month. At the moment, i've obtained 2 quotations and still need to survey the market price of the materials and jobs to be done.
I didn't get to update my facebook, i wish i could since now i have a new HP netbook. Courtesy from TM since I upgraded the internet from 512MB to 1GB starting March (from RM45 to RM76 per month). We thought it was a good bargain as we did intend to upgrade.
What i've been busy doing now is being the Treasurer for my company's Family Day. What has been eating up my time is attending the weekly and ad hoc meetings with regard to the project. The event is scheduled on 3 April which is next Saturday.
And now Kasyif is sick. I suspect it is Bronchiolitis again but i'm not sure whether to remedy at home or to go to the doctor. I'm pretty sure if it's the latter, Kasyif will be admitted. I don't think it's the best for him as now he is older and he will fight hard when going through the treatment. Like he did last Friday when we brought him to a nearby clinic to seek medicine for his cough. The doctor prescribed the mist oxygen for him and he was crying hard and fighting with all his might to not letting the face mask to be placed at his nose.
I think it would be a traumatic experience for him so i did some surfing on the sickness. It says most Bronchiolitis is acute and can be treated at home. Only some cases are major and definitely needed to be referred to the doctor for further treatment.
I'm not going to bed yet to monitor Kasyif's breathing. He seems irritated and kept on waking up the first 2 hours but now he seems settled. Now is 12.15 am and i've been on call since 9 pm. Feeling tired already by the time i'm typing this.....i'll stop now......good nite.....

Busy year?

I didn't get to blog in Feb.... Planning to get active in March. Actually many things happened between the last post which mostly trips & travelling. Not sure whether time is with me starting March for blogging. I am taking a new post in a new unit (not been properly established yet where salary and job function is still a question mark).

I am taking a risk as i'm done with what i'm doing now. I'm not the type who job hopping but now i understand why sometimes you need to when salary is not the main concern. You love what you do but after a while it gets stagnant. Nothing exciting anymore. That's when i know i need to switch. I've tried staying at home after i came back from UK. Don't think it's the time yet to take the same action.

Luckily, my division is thinking of setting up a new unit and i was mentioned. Looking at it positively, i'm venturing into something new. The downside, the salary may not match the work that i'm about to do and whether i'm really up for it. When salary is not the main agenda, doing something different is the objective. I want to learn something new and the office doesn't practice job rotation. So by taking up this new responsibilty, i'm planning to get new experiences, to be enriched with challenges and practice my decision making skills....My aim, quick right decision every time (Robert Kiyosaki).

Ya Allah! Berikan aku kekuatan untuk menghadapi kerja yang mendatang. Hanya padamu aku berharap dan berserah.....

Do something good for the company, ay....And later do the same for your life after 40...... :-)

January is a busy month for accounts...

Not that i'm an auditor but i'm still involved since i work in Account & Finance Dept. Many things to write and many pics to upload.... but which one first? Why not start with happy faces.....

 i'll write more once i find the time.....

Welcome 2010!

New Year should be welcomed with new resolutions, new spirit and focus. Look back at what you've achieved last year and give yourself a pat. For things which didn't go as planned, plan the effective way to achieve them this year. Don't blame, you'll never learn or get things done if you keep on blaming. Effort should be progressive and never ever give up. Has life given you a nudge?.... You will stay stagnant if life hasn't :-)..... Welcome 2010! Hope this year my life will be better planned......

3 day weekend_3

The 3rd of 3 day weekend (25-28 Dec). Friday was a public holiday (Christmas). Went home early from work around 4pm. Targeted to leave Bangi for Batu Pahat by 6pm to avoid the traffic jam. Used MyVi instead of Merc (after triple journey to up north within 1 month, the car demands some rest).

Just enough space for our bags

6.30pm Left house (not bad, usually time lag between planned and actual is 1 hr) but stopped by for fuel at Petronas Seksyen 15. So truely left Bangi at about 7pm.
8.20pm After discussing where to eat, we decided to stopped at Umbai, the usual 'ikan bakar' spot. Not in the mood to try something new although we just had a seafood feast in Perlis the week before. There are many 'ikan bakar' spots in Melaka. Well known ones areAnjung Batu, Umbai lama, Alai but the one that we always go is quite new. Opened in 2004, Perkampungan Ikan Bakar Terapung is suitable for families with small children since it's not packed with people (when there's no event) and there are playground to entertain the kids. More of this in another entry.

10.00pm Left with full stomach. Tried to stay awake but couldn't.

12.00 midnight Reached Taman Soga.

Day 1
6.15am Woke up to perform Subuh prayer. Getting ready for 'Rengit Parade' i.e. brush my teeth and wear something decent (tracksuit & jacket to cover the short sleeved mini T-Shirt). I'll write more about the place in another post.
6.50am Drove Myvi to Pasar Batu Pahat (where the Rengit Parade is) with Rengit Parade fans (my bros Iwan, Imi & Radhi).
8.30am Came back from Rengit Parade satisfied with purchases. I spent RM20 for a foldable wood table suitable as porch furniture.

Seller just starting to unload the stuffs.

The guy in red was putting together an IKEA chair that we wished to buy. Sorry, lost a screw so we cancelled. The chair would normally cost around RM350-RM400 over brand new. Here it costs RM35 (can bargain for RM30) as seconds.

11.30am Decided to go to Mak Ee's house alone since everyone was still lying around, asleep... The kids would follow the guys after the Jumaat prayers. Mom already left with sis Ila at about 9am. Mom said 'ada beribu malaikat menyambut kepulangan orang yang mengerjakan haji. Kita patut mengambil peluang  bersama-sama dengan malaikat tersebut supaya kita turut diberkati'. Mak Ee & hubby + Anjang & hubby went to Mekah for Haj end of Nov. Mak Ee safely landed at Senai Airport at about 8am and reached Batu Pahat at about 10.30am.
12.00 noon Reached Taman Murni and greeted everyone. Helped Mak in the kitchen. Mak Ee was talking to her biras. Never mind, I'll talk to Mak Ee later.
2.30pm Talked to Mak Ee and asked about her experience performing haj.
Free pack (given to jemaah by rich Arabs, maybe?) It was not available when my dad went there in 1998....

Contents include milk carton, a fruit, snack bars and bread rolls.

She looked thinner and happy to come back. She also looked fulfilled since she has done the last of Rukun Islam....alhamdulillah..... I'm happy for her too. Brings about the question 'Am i ready for haj?' 'Have i done any preparation for haj?'....

Glad that i shared this experience. This reminded me to live well and appreciates Allah SWT. It reminded me that this life is temporary and i should start having a vision to perform haj at a young age, not after 50s.... I should start reading books on haj....

5.30pm Left Mak Ee's house for San Ban Gay, the place in Batu Pahat if you are looking for cheap clothes for the kids or yourself. When i say cheap, it means cheap. RM5 per piece! Even my maid couldn't believe her eyes.... The truth is the clothes are manufactured for famous brands such as GAP, Old Navy, Guess and didn't pass the QC. Some misunderstood 'factory rejects' as totally unwearable whereas a perfect t-shirt with colour not as per QC is a reject. And as long as the colour is nice and the t-shirt fits us, we are willing to pay RM5 for that GAP t-shirt! However, when you go to this kind of places the downside are:

1. Defects Examine carefully the item you have chosen. Majority priced at RM6-RM12  clothes will have defects such as tear, marks or hole. The higher priced clothes are usually perfect, just need to find the size.

2. Luck You have to come regularly since the stock changes quite often. Don't expect what you saw this week is the same next month. I sometimes looked for boy's clothes and they only have girls'. Thus it will depend on your luck too.

7.40pm Came home and spent RM20 at San Ban Gay (RM5 x 4 items). Nothing much happened after that so end of Day 1.

Day 2

The plan is to visit brother Amat in Machap. He just moved in to his new corner double storey house about 2 weeks ago.

7.40am Kasyif is already up so decided to bring him to Tasik Y. The girls were still 'mamai' (not truely woken up yet although eyes are opened, they slept late last night)...

7.50am Reached Tasik Y. Losts of people doing exercise. Jogging, badminton, tai chi, stretching. This is the sight that i want Kasyif to get used to so he will be an active person himself. Directed him to a playground for kids aged 1-4 yrs old. He was more interested watching a group of Chinese ladies doing a fan dance + kung fu exercise.

After a while, we walked around Tasik Y.

Watching the Chinese ladies with amazement.

8.10am Enough of morning exercise, Kasyif. Let's go home...

11.30am Left Taman Soga for Machap.

12.05noon Stopped by at Parit Raja to buy 'kerepek'. The plan is to pack as RM1 snack for sale at my office. Chose 4 to 5 different types of kerepek costing RM30 (bargain for RM2 i.e actual price was RM32)

1.10pm Reached Amat's house. Wow!..... I've always dreamed to have a house with some land and Amat got it first. He bought a corner double storey house. I'm happy for him...really...**jealous**jealous** ;-)

The plan was to stay not too late. I wanted to drop by Air Hitam and visit Mak Na's house since A Usop also just came back from Mekah (he is a medical assistant being posted at Mekah for the haj season).

Amat's MIL and wife, Ida cooked 'Nasi Kerabu' for lunch. I've always preferred Nasi Kerabu to Nasi Dagang as it has more veggies than the latter. Amat was just starting to BBQ some chickens as part of the Nasi Kerabu dishes.

5.00pm Ucu + family from JB came. Amat called and invited her around noon. Ucu likes Nasi Kerabu so much and been hinting at Mak and her DILs (2 of them are Kelantanese) to cook Nasi Kerabu. Now she gets want she wants. She looked happy and satisfied.... (she just recovered from her cimo treatment of breast cancer).

Happy faces that never shy with cameras.

Jasmin & Najah (her cousin).

The lucious chickens patiently being grilled.

The corner lot with potential land for future projects.

8.00pm Left Amat's house. Plan for Air Hitam and Mak Na's house is cancelled. I was ok with it since i myself was quite tired.

9.15pm Hubby was hungry so he stopped by at Sup Sitam near HSBC once we reached Batu Pahat. I stayed in the car as Jasmin was asleep on top of me. I didn't want to eat anyway since i was still full.

10.00pm Reached Taman Soga. All of them have reached home earlier. My sis and bro were trying out the Alpha One therapy machine bought by my mum (she bought it cash RM16k, ok!)....Hopefully it's a useful investment for a healthier life. I'll write more about it in another post. That was the end of Day 2.

Alpha One therapy machine. Electric current is running on them.

Day 3

The plan is either to leave in the morning around 11am or late in the evening to avoid the jam. We left Taman Soga at about 8.30pm and reached Bangi at about 12 midnight. There were still a lot of cars at Seremban apparently although it was quite in the late hour. Home sweet home....zzzzzzzzz

3 day weekend_2

The 2nd of a 3 day weekend (18-20 Dec). Friday was a public holiday (Maal Hijrah) and Najib's wedding (anak Makcik Perlis) was on the 19th.
Hubby did a last minute booking at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. Original plan was to look for cheap hotels between RM60-RM150 at Kuala Kangsar since the intention was only to stop & rest. Ended up paying RM300 at Bukit Merah thus we should make full of use the facilities, shouldn't we... We reached Shah Alam at about 10pm to pick up BIL and reached Bukit Merah at about 2am. We stayed at Laketown Service Apartment Room 6217. The notice on the block were hopeless as it said the room was at 1st floor whereas it was at 2nd.
Day 1
7.15am Noticed BIL gone. Possibly didn't want to bother us when Pipi came to pick him up at about 4am. My kids were up too so i told them to freshen up. Kasyif was excited exploring the new place so we went down to walk around and have breakfast (included) at Colours Restaurant.

Kids (my kids) still in pyjamas..hehe
7.30am Saw a father and daugther went for a swim at the swimming pool next to Suria Apartment. I thought the pamphlet says pool is open from 9.00am to 7.00pm? Another misrepresentation and i think Bukit Merah should do something about it! Do not give your guests wrong information, it shows the level of your professionalism!!!

7.45am Had breakfast at Colours Restaurant. Simple breakfast with the usuals.

After half an hour, i went back to apartment to take the swimsuits while the kids waited at the playground near the pool.

8.00am Attending the kids at the kiddie swimming pool. Kasyif didn't want to be hold! He thought he's big enough to be left in the water alone!.... Had a swim at the adult pool later on, have to shed the extra kgs as well as the more kgs would be gained at Perlis/kenduri nanti!...

11.00am Left Bukit Merah for Taiping. As promised by hubby, we would drive around Taiping before going to Kuala Sepetang. Wanted to have Doli's Char Kuey Teow & Ansari's cendol but both were closed. These 2 places brought back memories to hubby as he was in Taiping for 3 years while studying at ITTM. ITTM is now known as MMU and there's no college at Taiping anymore. More about Taiping in another entry. Head for Kuala Sepetang at about 1.45pm.

2.00pm Reached Mak Jah Mee Udang Banjir. We got there just in time before the heavy rain started. Excited to try the dish everyone was talking about. More about Mee Udang in another entry. The wow was the XL prawns, the noodles is nothing special but edible.

3.00pm Left Kuala Sepetang and heading for Perlis.

4.45pm The traffic came to complete halt on the way to Gurun just after an exit i couldn't recall. Hubby decided to reverse the car until the exit (dangerous attempt but had to) and so were other few cars. Just in time before a police car came in to control the situation, or else we would be stuck. There were 2 derailed trailers between Gurun and Pendang. Hubby really made full use of the iPhone with its locator application when we were using the 'jalan lama'...

9.00pm Finally reached Jelempok and starving. Didn't notice were were on the road for nearly 12 hours! And that didn't include the 4 hour drive the night before from Bangi to Bukit Merah... Hubby must be very very tired.....Pity him...

Day 2

7.45am Followed MIL to Makcik's house to say 'hi'. By right, relatives should come and give a hand to help and prepare the kenduri. Luckily Jelempok still practices the 'helping hand' system known as 'syarikat', a group formed to help out kenduris. Left the house 5 minutes after that... :-)

12.00pm Went to Makcik's house with SILs and kids. Helped to prepare fruits for 'meja pengantin'. Had nasi kenduri for lunch... I really like nasi kenduri in Perlis. Plain rice served with beef either cooked as kari/kurma, kerabu/salads and chicken either plain fried or 'goreng berempah'. Sometimes they serve sambal belacan which goes well with the dishes. Makcik also served 'udang goreng with kacang panjang' instead of chicken. Wow! That would be considered lavish in Johor. I guess prawns are in season and easily available in Perlis at the moment.... Also tried laksa which was served to guests who decided not to have rice.... Sedapppp....
4.00pm Went back after the kenduri seemed quiet with guests.

5.45pm Hubby wanted to go to Kuala Perlis. Errr...haven't we just had kenduri today? There must be leftovers and yet we are eating out? 'Makan ringan-ringan je' he said, implying we should just order light meals e.g 'sotong goreng tepung'. Just Irdina & Jasmin in the car.

On the way to Kuala Perlis

7.15pm Still waiting for our sotong, ikan jenahak bakar, kailan ikan masin and mentarang. Don't ask me what happened to ordering 'light meal'. Will write about this eating spot in another post.

7.45pm The 2nd group joined the feast. Nurun, Anis, Dek Mi, Pipi & Harith and A Oun. Ordered another 1kg sotong and gerut bakar for them.
7.55pm The 3rd group in Wira parked nearby. Waida and Fazli. So 8 adults and 4 kids...meriah!
8.30pm Left Kuala Perlis. The 2nd group would be sending A Oun to bus station (he was going back to Shah Alam at 9.30pm).
That was Day 2.

Day 3
Nothing much on Day 3 since it was a travelling day. Left Jelempok at about 2pm. I couldn't stay awake lately, dunno why. Woke up here and there but noticed there were lots of cars. Detoured at Tapah since the traffic seemed bad and unmoving (IPhone to the rescue).
8.00pm On to Sungkai exit and i dozed off (sorry)...stopped by at Behrang for quick dinner. Dozed of again...
12.00 midnight Reached home...pity hubby....