Me, cooking?....

I don't why but it has been ages since the last time i cooked. Possibly since the trip to Cameron Highland at the end of February. I don't know why, i even get up late this few months. My last attempt was 'rebung (bamboo shoots) masak pajeri' last week. My MIL gave a biscuit-container full of homegrown raw 'rebung' via my husband who attended a conference in Penang on 13-15 April. He dropped by Perlis and brought us back a box mixed with banana and mangoes too.
The bamboo shoots were left for nearly a week when my husband asked me whether i've cooked the bamboo shoots. I knew i had to cook by then and felt really guilty for not being able to serve my husband before he mentioned it. I attempted cooking the shoots that same night and luckily the dish was edible (although the gravy was a bit too thick for me).

I really want to start cooking again.....but when? sigh.....I really need to motivate myself to do a lot of things right now!!!!!!...I'm really sorry Abah, hope to serve you better.....

Porch_progress report 2

This is the 2nd week since the project started. The trellis and 'pergola' is nearly done. They've started on setting up the ceiling for plaster ceiling. I've chose a new door. It took me 3 days to finalise the design that i want. Not because i was particular, the design that i wanted was not available. It frustrated me as the catalogue showed various choices but due to time constraint, i have to settled with what's readily available. As usual, i don't want to have what others already have. Today, i told the contractor 2 choices....1st choice is 2 panelled glass with some blue (the door will be white). 2nd choice would be moulded door with 1 clear glass panel.
1st choice (with different panel design)

I think the contractor is a bit slow this week. Not much has been done. Once the door arrives, he'll knock down some of the front wall to position the new door. Next week will be more of action hopefully... wiring, new door, window and plaster ceiling. This is only the first part. Now i have to think how to furnish to complete the new living room. Budget is tight so i have decide wisely where to spend the hard earned money most.

Porch_Progress Report 1

I applied for leave today to monitor the progress of the porch renovation. It has been 4 days since it started. So far so good. There were times when things done were not the same as I described. That is why it is important for owner to be present and monitor the work.

Porch is more complicated than kitchen, i think. It is the first impression of the house. And having a limited space also requires careful thinking in order to incorporate maximum use of the space. Currently my porch is just for drying clothes, storage for shoes and bicycles and potted plants arranged along the drain. My wish is to make my porch more inviting by having a spot to hang out. The hang out place will be in front of the sliding door, and a wooden swing will be placed between the pillars. A polycarbonate shed with timber trusses will be placed at the opening in front of the sliding door. New things i learn are about gutter and tiling. Not much has happened to show the progress. Most of the job were demolishing and getting the floor ready for tiling.

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.....