Pictures : Kitchen

Ok time to post some pictures.

One of the inspirations...

Love the white and bare, naked look.

So this is mine... mind the fridge base. En H lah yang membuat base itu.. tak ada line kan...

This one too is mine....  I wish I can have the handle horizontal. but due to some practicality I was being advised by the contractor not to do it. unless if I have budget :)...But turns out ok too. Love it. (I love it coz I really want white. And this is the look that I am going for)

I tengah kumpul duit beli the island from IKEA. setakat ini, I rasa island tu agak sesuai dengan konsep I.. boleh feeling2 macam dalam AFC... hehehehehe.......

Some inspiration for the outdoor and backyard.

cozy kan?

Pictures

 

So that's my diamond shape mirror. The top picture is the inspiration picture. They could not do like that so they counter propose to do the diamond shape one. And they have to do it with the black border.... Do I like it? Yes. Malas nak banyak cekadak. The kids were impressed with it. My hubby said he prefers the plain mirror. I personally like the diamond shape mirror as it took away the "plainness" for the room. I am just happy I did not hate it. I only see the sample picture before I agree with the contractor counter proposal tu...

 

I am sure once we have the dining table in and I am able to find the simple yet modern (rectangle, box) kind of hanging light, and paint the side wall to black, the room will look nice. I need about 6 months to complete the project due to the lack of fund :). Right now it is not a priority project. As long as we could do it before hari raya, fine by me.

 

 

 

I kind of feel irritated to see the PB box in the living room. But since living room is also not a priority project, it is curtain-less, furniture-less and with no plan whatsoever this coming months.

 

So the above pics are kind of solution that inspires me. Thanks for both bloggers. The question now either I have to do a mirror cabinet, or just plain white/brown cabinet.

 

Believe it or not (for me), though I am so cerewet with other things, I am surprisingly fine with dining and living room "not ready" like that. I am glad I do not have the awareness of "what if there is guest" etc.... It means I am plainly focus on the functionality and I am doing this not to impress anyone but me.

 

Just in case we will have guest, we have standings fans and tikar/simple carpet. I hope the guests are ok with that. 

 

 

Just to remind myself this is the show house's master room looks like with the sliding door of the walk in cabinet. Thanks for the inspiration but obviously I love mine better. Sebab mine have more rooms for drawers and more "sectionalized".

Oh ya, just for the record, do you know that to do like the above (sliding with no track on the floor) is much more expensive and the material of the door/wood needs to be more expensive than the one I have?

So that's why I love mine, coz I am able to imitate this with a cheaper solution. kind of, having the dream with half the price gitu....And also. I am glad I did the sliding door with no patterns. I just love my choice again.

nikmat Allah mana lagi yang kamu tak bersyukur? Alhamdulillah ya Allah. It worth the 7 years wait. Thanks again.

Product Review Part 2 - BEKO Dryer

For the first time last night, aku brave myself to use the dryer. Dekat 3 minggu dryer to jadik "vase" dan barang perhiasan.. Malam tadi, aku nampak baju yang semalam aku basuh tak sempat nak sidai lying "nicely" inside the BEKO washer.


So sambil memasak di dapur, I use the kesempatan to put the baju inside the BEKO dryer. *really hope tak blackout" - sebab sebelum tu I was being warned not to share the power point with washer atau dalam lingo electrician "looping plug cannot use together with washer and dryer ok? u must use one by one..." *depress sat memikirkan pasal David the electrician* hahaha...


The verdict?


I think I have a better experience using the dryer than washer. It doesn't have "rough" sound like the dryer in the public laundry/dryer. The buzzer is good indication but is annoying when you just do not have time to cancel it. So my wishes of having a buzzer for the washer now become "invalid". Tak perlulah for me. It became a chore for a busy mum like me to get up and cancel the buzzer. but wait! there is also a "cancel" buzzer button. maybe i can preset it so it won't buzz me. Let me find out and report (for those yang plan to get BEKO dryer).


Some mums maybe perlukan buzzer as they run around the house, wanting a reminder so they can upload the laundry and download back the laundry. Tapi aku macam tak perlu setakat ni. So I am fine with "buzzerless" washer.


But oven, yes. I need a buzzer. I dun think it can "off" by itself. But wait, i have not study the manual yet. So will update later when I have 2 mins of free time to read the manual.


Microwave yes. needed it too.


Back to the dryer. Cepat kering tak? To me cepat. by the time I habis masak dan smua orang habis makan. It is dry and ready to be folded/kept. tapi kalau ada machine yang fold lagi best...

The news and Pajam-KL-Pajam

I've got news yesterday.

But since I am not ready to tell anyone even to my hubby, I will just keep it to myself first.

I have to be ready before I get all these questions from others. So for me to embrace the news, accept it with all rasa bersyukur etc. I really need to be with myself.

Anyway.

It has been about 2 weeks since we moved to Pajam.

I have adjusted (almost).. on the way to and from work.

Sg Besi punya jalan I dah crossed. never, ever use this on working days or peak hours.

So I try ambil PLUS highway, exit puchong, take MEX - too far, traffic ada sesikit slow dekat exit Kajang and mahal pun mahal...

Then ambil pula jalan ikut Nilai,  Salak Tinggi - tembus MEX - ok but due to traffic, selalu sangat 15 mins late sampai office.

Today, I tried jalan KLIA(is it SKVE or NKVE? mak tak fasih nama2 highway ni), lalu jalan nak ker science park 2, then MEX - baru ok dan cepat. tapi toll? Toll dekat RM10.

Balik pulak, I prefer MEX, lalu cyberjaya dan putrajaya, then ikut jalan salak tinggi. Toll about RM4.10.

For my sanity and tardiness at work , I will have to invest RM13.80 everyday. The duration? Pergi - keluar 6:55, sampai 8:15am. Balik, 530pm, sampai 6:55pm gitu..

Tapi tak apa, ada rebate kan. So I can still bear with this.

Is it worth to stay far?

Yes, provided that you love the house. The house is your dream house. The house is better than your previous house. The kids enjoyed the house. You love the kitchen in the house and you do not have laundry problems with the house, and lastly... you just love everything about the house. hehe... Will there be a house with the same price nearby the work? no? so... that's just about one's choice.

Kids Progress

I noticed that I do not have time to sit down with them now, even on weekend.

We have not even started our co-curiculum for weekends and it is already so bad.

So far, only managed to read 1 book for Dylan. (So terrible!). I did try to supervise their homework and revision in between cooking and other house chores. (Yes, so terrible)..


In cooking department - so far I can managed, maybe excel as I could plan it well. The laundry, I can wash, no dirty laundry now, but folding and ironing still a problem. Maybe all I need is extra help.

Nevertheless, here is some good news so that I can feel better as a mum.

DD was appointed as Pen Ketua Kelas on her 2nd day in school even though she is new. Dia memang PKK dulu dari darjah 2 sampai 3. I hope she can cope and do well.


Dylan is able to read Peter & Jane 1a..a bit accomplishment for me (DD dulu same age as him, dah nak 8a) huhu...

DD jadik ketua nasyid untuk kelas dia.. (accomplishment ke tu? oklah kan? boleh build up self confident)....

Random pictures (house related)

I think I owe some pictures. Otherwise your imagination will go wild kan. hehe...

I pun tak suka if a blogger describe without a picture, so susah I nak buat reference or judge if the blogger make the right justifications on the product or cerita tu kan..

The first picture on top is my living room in Singapore.

Our very first own house. My first renovation project back in 1998. Tak ada anak lagi masa tu. The curtain is so tahan - kira dari 1998 sampai sekarang itu saja lah curtain kita ada. Masih lagi nampak macam baru... So appreciate of the quality.

Cost of renovation - SGD26K. Concept - cream/woody gitu...

To compare if my vision transpire to reality, the top one is my reference before I decide to buy a single rectangle bowl with a mixer of that kind.

 Here is mine. I letak gambar comot sebab lebih nampak practical kan?

It shows you how the big bowl can fit with bigger kitchen ware all at the same time... and the depth is super convenient for a busy mum like me.

The fomtano sink comes with a dust bag macam ni. Macam coach or LV gak ada dust bag hahaha!

 Fomtano mixer pun ada dust bag gak... chim tak chim?

 3M complete. Yang ini come with free water filter. and tak payah rebus airnya tu. according to the salesgal.Since nak pakai lama, I decided to buy this kind. I got this idea sebab office I guna 3M... sungguh reliable dan affordable in the range lah..

 Yang ini murah sikit sebab air kena rebus....

I ambil gambar kedai buah di Jurong East ni, sebab kedai ni yang I stopped over and my anak nak beli water melon sgd1. I tak ada pun duit banyak tu dulu. So this story ialah my turning point. Lepas cerita ni, tak lama kemudian I ambik keputusan balik ke Malaysia.

Walkin cabinet close up.

 The curtain and sliding door. Ambik inspiration dari the show room. I now know I need to do "organza" version for the window yang lopong tu. dulu i tak dapat idea lagi.So I biarkan...

 The deka fan in the show room... sleek kan?

 The deka baby fan in the show room, I put this one in the pantry area.

 The DEKA lighting version. Boleh tukar lighting mode to 4 tak silap.

 The boxes before we move.

 The boxes piling up... see the wall paint? It kept me busy sebab kena paint putih balik...

The boxes and almari before naik atas lorry..

I hope you learnt something from my story.(tak sengaja rhyme..)

Product Review part 1

Actually, I am assessing the products (yang sangat bersusah payah I dapatkan dan kaji, drive sana sini..yang menambahkan chores I semasa pindah rumah hari tu atau sebelum pindah rumah lagi..)


I want to see if the products worth the "drools" and "dreams" of mine.


Sorry tak ada pictures. Later we see how.


1. Washer - BEKO

So far ok. Just ok. It helps me with the laundry. But I still dun love the aeroplane sound (minor than before) during the spinning. if it is a one storey house, maybe the sound will be annoying to some.

I have not tried the dryer so no comment yet.

2. PACIFICA

Oven - I baru pakai sekali. But so far ok. Cuma I am still struggling with the function.


Microwave - Love it as it has grilled and oven function. The microwave function is also easy after a few practices.


Cooker hob - The size is good, cuma I belum terer ignitekan api. Ke memang dia lambat nak ignite. But I love it. Less problem technically, love the glass, senang wipe.


Cooker hood - the cover jer pendek. it came with remote control, chim tak chim. Love how it function. love the design. So the salesguy will inquire on the extension of the cover later.

Price for 1 & 2 - about 7k investment (we do not invest on bed frames or sofas or living room curtains or windows tints but kitchen appliances to solve our cooking issues....)

3. FOMTANO

kitchen sink - THE BEST PRODUCT EVER! the depth, the width, the size, just love it. I do not mind the dishes. (maybe mula2...hehe)

kitchen mixer (comes with pull out spray) - heaven! My decision to choose a mixer that comes with a pull out spray memang tepat dan jitu! I pull out the spray to cuci sekeliling sink, sangat convenient. Adik I menggunakan pull out spray to mandikan his baby. So geliga gak idea tu... sebab spray to come with shower juga...

Price? with discounts : Both is about 1.2k


4. Vacum - electrolux lite II

We bumped into this item when we roam around Jurong East punya pasar masa nak sign agreement hari tu. Kedai elektrik kecik ni dah lama ada since dari kita move ker sini dulu. Suction power about 1600RPM. Memang berbaloi. Solve my problems on difficult place to sapu.

Love the "cute" size as well.

Price - SGD120 tak silap. My hubby said even after convert we may not be able to find the same brand with the same price. So we grabbed it!

5. Fans

Originally I plan to buy panasonic or KDK. Punya lama survey pasal kipas2 ni....Tapi secara tak sengaja, singgah di satu kedai yang hanya jual kipas dan sedikit barang electronic. tengok kipas designnya simple. Brand DEKA. Kedai ni mahal sket tapi since I do not have time at the time to carik or survey yang murah sebab electrician tengah sibuk pasang kipas dan lampu, I rembat saja. Lagipun orang tak ramai kedai tu (sebab mahal memanglah kedai tu sunyi - itu adalah satu indication...hehe)

Turn out the product is good. Ada 4 DEKA fan in my house. 3 of it can do REVERSE function which turn out very useful at times. Our favourite is the one that comes with the lighting. My hubby said, "why didn't you get all with the lighting?" amboi!...

Mana lah tau. I beli tu pun memang main tikam2 jer. I go for design and fit the concept (hoping the function and the angin tu kuat... Alhamdulillah tak mengecewakan lagi)

Lagi satu best pasal DEKA the after service. Dia cakap 2 minggu, tapi 2 hari dah call nak datang. Excellent!

I tried ALPHA sampai sekarang I tak dapat call. Maybe later I try lagi.

So setakat ni, I am thankful, my investment tak sesia. Love most of my choice. Beli memang berdegap degup takut cantik saja tapi tak functional. Alhamdulillah it works both ways.


Thank you Allah, dengan pertolonganMu saya tak membazir.

Solving our problems with "the new house"

6 years back (my ex-landlord yang remind me that it is nearly 7 years since I stayed at his place - the rented place - rasa macam baru 4 tahun sahaja..)...

Anyway, 6 years back masa mula2 tinggal di Malaysia, tak berapa banyak masalah arrangements sangat. Cuma kami ada sikit culture shock pasal finding a library.

Dulu di Singapore, dekat sangat dengan library and the ground floor level being the children section is so happening and the kids enjoyed the weekend visit.

So that activities stopped after we moved here. sampai sekarang tak jumpa library yang dekat dan best macam tu, tambah busy dengan activity2 lain, so that activity died down..

Over the years, we accumulate sort of problems.

1. Laundry

Our washer is located outside of the house, tikus pulak berkampung kat belakang tu esp di longkang, kadang2 bergantung-gantung kat pagar grill I so bila balik malam, nak buat laundry kena fikir dua kali sebab tikus lah binatang I palik takutttt sekali.

So itulah yang menjadikan laundry a problem, menimbun sampai satu minggu. Lepas tu, 2 tahun lepas, baby was born so bertambah2 lagi bakul laundry.

2011 was the worst, as my hubby has moved permanently here. The usual 2 bakul jadik 3 bakul, so lagi pening. Bila dah buat laundry, kalau jemur di luar, bila hujan basah lagi, so tak habis2 masalah laundry ni. Kalau lucky, kena angkat dan lipat, bila malam jer masanya, nak buat laundry, nak tolong buat kerja sekolah, nak layan badan penat, memanglah tak berlipat....


2. Cooking

Sama juga masalahnya lebih kurang. Sink tu kecik sangat. Tapi bila masak, mak ai, pinggan, cawan, periuk berjam2 nak spend do the dishes kalau buat heavy cooking.

Lagipun bila balik malam, memanglah tak sempat nak buat semua perkara, so cooking is the one activity yang I tolak tepi dulu sebab ada alternative lain seperti beli di luar...

So I gantung my apron about end of 2010 gitu. Gila lama tak masak! hahahahaha! Goreng keropok, masak maggi, goreng telur ok.


3. Air

Water filter tu jenis yang murah, so malas betul nak tukar filter, dah tu paip jenis yang murah, asyikkkk jer bocor. Tukar, bocor, tukar, patah... last last I give up.

Bila my hubby pindah sini, the decision is to buy mineral water saja. So tak lah kita rebus air dah lepas tu.... Bila nak buat susu, lepas tu lupa mineral water dah habis, baru kelam kabut.

Gitulah teruknya our quality of life dulu...

4. Study area

Situlah tempat tengok TV, situlah tidur, situlah belajar. Sometimes the small kids merengek2 yang besar hilang focus.

5. Tempat tidur

Situlah tempat tidur, situlah makan, situlah buat homework, situlah tempat tengok TV. So a bit chaotic kalau ada yang nak tengok TV tapi ada yang kena buat homework....

Dan kalau ada yang nak tidur lagi haru....

6. Toilet

Ada 3. Tapi 2 saja di atas. So kalau dah lambat mulalah yang lagi lambat tu dapat mandi lambat. Mulalah tertinggal transport sekolah bagai....


So we desperately want to solve these problems with the new arrangement in the new house.

The Resolution.

1. I think I dah cerita, kita adakan laundry area lengkap dengan dryer, in case baju sekolah or baju sukan kena pakai ulang2... I beli juga 2nd washer walaupun pada mulanya tak plan, tapi dah beli, I think senang sikit habiskan berbakul2 laundry tu. Solved.

2. With the new kitchen and the compartments built enough for everything we need, I cooked in large amount on weekend and freeze some for the weekdays dinner. Love spending hours in the kitchen, once I have extra dollar and mampu beli TV to put in the laundry area, will some more love spending time here. Solved.

3. I bought 3M water filter (rm620) to put in the kitchen sebab teringat nak masak nasi camner kalau pun ada diamond or coway. Turn out it is really a good money spent. Well done!

I tried to assure my hubby not to buy coway since the water filter tu tak payah masak pun air... boleh ready terus minum...

But since my hubby dah lama nak ambil coway, we get coway juga. Memang pun we plan to put in the laundry area. So ok juga I ada filter 3M in the kitchen so bila masak, very useful tak payah jalan jauh2. And I am sooooo glad that I bought a "deep" sink so bila nak isi air dalam botol using the filter, sangat senang with the "depth".

Coway for 6 members in the family also very useful. Dalam 2 hari, air dalam tank tu merosot ke 1 bar. Betapa banyak kitaorang consume water. So I am just relief it is not a waste of investment. Senang juga buat susu for babies and coffee or tea. "Macam kat office", kata my sis.

Problem solved? Definitely. we have never seen the mineral water bottle anymore! yaye.

4. Study area

Cuma yang ini I belum pasti nak letak mana. Originally I want to put the place next to family hall. Sama macam "office area". Tapi since it is now occupied with boxes, I get the children to study/do homework in the surau downstairs. Surau cum library.

Original idea is to make the surau a look like "RAUDHAH" with carpet hijau bagai dengan tempat Quran gold color. Tapi sebab $$$ tak ada, we recycle most of everything in that surau. Yang bestnya, the color macam matched. hehe....

The walnut color book rack from our old house, the brown carpet from Singapore house, and the brown color small cabinet for telekung and magazines. I memang tempah langsir dark brown for the room, so I am glad the combination works. at least for me. I tak rasa I tak puas hati ke apa. I think it is modest enough.

I love it has good lightings, the DEKA fan works well. The space is a good size. So I put the kids there while I cook in the kitchen.

We do not have study table yet, but dulu2 masa I kecik, I pun study kat lantai, jadik pun orang, so I believe they can too.

Problem solved? Solved - they dun share the space with sleeping area or TV area anymore, but we need to improve the conditions later.

5. Tempat Tidur

We have rooms but we do not have proper beds yet. But I still think it is much much better than what we used to have. My husband has not complained on the lack of sleep yet, so syukor.

To me, it is solved, we just need to improve it later.

6. Toilet.

This too is solved. Cuma I do not like the wooden door that the developer gave us. Less than a month, kembang dah kayunya.

Kecik jer problem ni. We can also improve this later.

Unpacking - master bedroom

Seharian aku pening-pening lalat. Only able to wake up in full at 11am. (I mean selepas bangun, after subuh, siapkan anak2 ke sekolah, sediakan bekal makanan anak2, mandi, dan aku literally merangkak ker dalam bilik si DS (the only new bed and mattress yang sangat empuk) to sleep....I left baby to sleep alone in the master bedroom. Pandai plak dia cari kat mana I. Tak nangis plak tu.

Agaknya dia dah sangat rimas dengan diapersnya, dan maybe dia haus, tapi aku punya kepala sangat berat tak boleh langsung buka mata.. so aku tepuk2 dia suruh dia baring sekejap, tapi terlena sampai 30min lagi pukul 11am gitu.

Teruslah aku gagahi diri nak bangun sebab I need to send her and the children's bag to nursery as si Dylan akan balik nursery pukul 12pm maka kecoh nanti kalau baju tak ada.

Lepas hantar baby, kepala aku masih berat. I cubalah makan maggie kot pening sebab lapar. And milk. Teringin nak sambung baring but the BEKO washer manager datang nak tengok washer.

To cut the story short, they managed to find the culprit so I am able to use the washer dah.

Lepas mereka balik, I sambung buat laundry, outside washer and inside washer. Lepas tu tarik napas sekejap, tak tahu nak start dari mana, the unpacking agenda.

I decided I will start with the master bedrooms sebab susah nak cari baju dan tudung nak gi kerja. After 4 hours - pukul 640pm gitu baru siap. nothing blocks our way now. (Dulu, dari almari ker master toilet, banyak barang2 kecil on the floor heheheheh)....

Gambar? Tak taulah masalah aku apa. Masih malas nak snap pictures.

Tidying up the house

Tomorrow I will be taking a day off.

To wait for the "BEKO washer" guy to come and take a look at the machine. I do not know what fate will be for the machine or me, but hope for the best.

The maintenance office will be coming as well to check if everything we complained has been rectified.

I hope I could tidy up the place as well. At least all boxes unpacked. If by end of tomorrow, nothing in the living room and family hall area would be 1 big achievement for me.

I get bored of cooking (or maybe I get so tired of maxing myself in the kitchen) so I will not be spending much time in the kitchen tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the "unpacking and organising" day.

Adjusting to Pajam

Sebelum beli rumah ni, banyak cerita-cerita negative yang di dengar.

 

1. Bau busuk

2. Lalat yang banyak

3. Jalan raya kecil

 

 

So walaupun sendiri cari maklumat negative ni, pergi ker tapak rumah untuk mengalami sendiri, tapi akhirnya still decide the house itself is a good buy and we will not get this anywhere else (with this price) in Klang Valley area.

 

 

Bau busuk

 

Kadang-kadang masa hujan ada bau, kadang-kadang hujan tak ada bau.

 

Nak masuk maghrib, whether hujan or not, ada bau tapi lepas isyak hilang da bau, sometimes bau prolong sampai entah bila.

 

Macamana kita cope? Sama macam hal lalat nanti.

 

 

Lalat

 

Kalau balik dari pasar, tengah nak menyiang ikan or basuh ikan, lalat tu hurung macam ada bangkai di tepi sungai. A lot! Never seen like this all my life. Not in my hometown, not during my asrama days in Kajang or Segamat (or even Perth), and not in Puchong.

 

 

Bila dengar or baca blog orang pasal ni, macam tak boleh imagine, now I know how bad it is.

 

 

So kalau ada buffet table nak hidang makanan pun tak boleh lama. Sampai guest akan terganggu...

 

So macamana nak tackle problems ni?

 

Jangan buka pintu dan tingkap. so bila masak habislah berbau satu rumah. but I have my sanity.

 

 

Jalan raya kecil

 

 

Dulu, sebelum tinggal sini, dan kita just come here once in a while, this matter is not a problem. But sekarang bila drive pergi kerja, balik kerja etc, baru terasa kenapa orang lain dulu complaint pasal jalan yang kecil.

 

 

a) Bila jalan kecil dan banyak pula lorry, I tell you it is difficult to cope with the traffic.

b) Kalau malam, there is some portion of the road, very dangerous dan gelap, di tambah lagi dengan sebab tempat ni berbukit kot? Tak ada lampu jalan pulak tempat yang berbukit ni. Bila jalan kecil, ada pemandu yang memandu laju, haruslah very dangerous malam2 tu bila berselisih dengan mereka. Naknya yang kat tempat tak nampak kenderaan di hadapan (sebab berbukit) tetiba pemandu tu beraksi bahaya nak memotong lori, Nauzubillah kalau berselisih.

 

Aku pun tak paham dengan pemandu yang gini... Mintak dijauhkan dari kami semualah....

Given all the above, do we make the right decision by staying in Pajam?

Yes and yes.

Despite yang negative points, we still love so many things about the house.

Love the new kitchen. Love the size of the kitchen. Love the arrangements of things in the kitchen.


The kids now like to pop up in the kitchen, asking for food. Atau, lebih tepat lagi, nampak saja I di kitchen, mesti "nak makan" something. They know where I put "the pancakes", the pancakes syrup, the bread etc. They know when I have stocks for spaghetti.

Terasa macam Nigella Lawson at times. I masak and the kids waited for it. Grr tapi best jugak rasanya.... (Tapi sementara nak tunggu siap tu, ada lah seround dua mereka sangat bingit bermain, dan berselang seli dengan pergaduhan sengit juga hehehehehe)

Walaupun tension tapi I enjoyed sangat. Tension sebab I kena basuh the dishes jer kerjanya... Kerja menyusun baju di atas bila nak start pun tak tau sebab asyik sibuk di dapur....


I love my laundry area yang bagi I sungguh inspired by the pictures I googled. But the place is not yet fully functional. Now I kerjakan my 2nd laundry area, I love my awning yang sungguh murah itu, how I wish I make more clever decision by extending it to the fullest and if I have budget, to put proper tiles so hujan I senang.....Bolehlah jadik my 2nd hiding place other than the kitchen.


I love the shower too. Like my hubby said "the difference is, dulu penat malas nak mandi, now penat macamana pun looking forward untuk mandi.."


Si DS, malam pun dia rajin mandi. Tapi menjerit bila I ter"off" the water pump. Opps! ingat nak save electricity mana tau ada orang mandi malam2 buta.


I love the fans, but I do not like the downlight arrangement. Hari tu sebab malas nak conflict banyak2 dengan si David, dan nak cepat, I suruh jerlah dia buat 1 switch for all downlights. Jadik, kalau i ada 6 downlights, semua terbuka dan sangat terang. Good in a way, but I tak suka terang2 sangat sebenarnya, so I rasa, I have to find reading lamp or bedside lamps to reduce the lighting.


I love the wardrobe but have not gotten the chance to organize the baju2 inside so .. I belum betul2 into the "wardrobe systems" lagi.


I have not enjoyed the lawn, the backyard or the frontyard yet, coz I have continued with the BAU duties already. Kebanyakannya on mengemas, laundry, memasak, dan rectifications.


My siblings dropped by. And so far they were impressed with the "longkang cover" and "water pump" that were provided by the developer. Yelah, jual rumah jauh2 kalau tak ada frills sapalah yang nak tinggal sini kan.


Seriously, I tak berapa nak sempat ambil gambar sebab sibuk dengan dapur dan budak2...I try tomorrow.


Nilai Giant and Tesco


Semalam I pergi hantar kereta basuh dan wax di Giant Nilai. Sambil tengok2 keadaan sekeliling. Tesco kami dah pergi beberapa kali, rupanya Giant lagi happening.


Nandos pun ada. Yang paling melegakan, babies shop banyak juga, senang nak beli Tommie Tippee products. Tak payah drive jejauh ke Alamanda gitu....


Extra Curriculum for the kids


Ada piano class juga di Giant ni but I could not call the person. Bolehlah DD resume her piano class. Taekwondo class for DS belum jumpa, tapi tak apa, we targetted to resume in 1st Feb, still have time.


I met Karate class instructor at SK Batang Benar, (chinese rasanya) tapi malaslah nak start all over. DS is already a blue belt 2.


We need to resume the tahfiz class as well. We have not decided whether we should go to Bangi or find a class somewhere in Nilai or Seremban. But have not find any info on that.


Kumon, we know there is 1 in BBN, the 2nd nearest is Bandar Mahkota, tapi let us settle down first sebab to chauffer them to and fro is also a chore. We really need to coordinate our time and adjust to this new lifestyle.












 

Dealing with imperfection

Malam tadi buat pertama kalinya aku dapat mengamati dapur aku. (Punyalah busy)...

 

Owh tidak.

 

Aku ternampak sesuatu.

 

 

En H telah menampal / membaiki tiles dapur tu dengan tidak balancenya. Dan dia pecahkan tiles tu dan cuba sembunyikan dengan simen putih.

 

 

Di antara 2 plug point pulak ada gap kosong. Owh tidakkkkk... kenapa aku nampak menda ni?

 

 

Selepas dah tahu trick dia tu, dan selepas kejadian black out dan wayar live "bahagian En H di dapur", I decided, I do not want to pay the remaining Rm280 to him.

 

 

Masih lagi sakit hati bila dia implying, "dia harap I tak lari dari bayar balance kat dia". Aku lambat bayar balance tu sebab orang cabinet belum pasang hood. Wayar hood tu dia buat. Wayar oven pun dia buat. True enough bila nak buat, wayar2 tu ada pulak masalahnya.

 

 

Huhu. First of all, I am not kind (tak bayar hutang, dosa tu). 2nd of all, berapa banyak jubin dia potong dengan recklessnya tu I kena ganti dan beli, I kena bayar ke dia kena bayar? Dan sebab I bimbang, I upah the indonesian untuk tolong dia potong jubin, dia bayar ke I bayar?

 

 

Dan bila dia salah advise to plumber dan tiles kena bukak balik, yang bayar indonesian tu I ke dia ek?

 

Memula sebab dia tu orang tua, dan I pun nak suka2 duduk rumah tu tak nak ingat kisah pahit, nak saja I bayar.

 

 

Tapi, bila dapat ayat2 yang menyakitkan hati dan masa blackout tu dia refuse to come and blame it to developer, I think it is beyond my patience lagilah.

 

 

So I nak tunggu dia sms minta duit, then maybe after that I will calculate the kerugian yang I alami to rectify his fault and see what say him.

 

 

I do not know how to "buat bodoh" sebab I felt that I need to do a round of coordination. dan belum boleh close lagi chapter dapur ni. Which is very frustrating.

Hujan

Bila hujan, pintu dapur tu  akan mengalir air hujan dari luar masuk dengan derasnya melalui celah2 pintu dapur... tak daya den nak complaint.

 

I just hate conflict and then I have to do another round of coordination.

Fans


Fans cantik, mahal, tapi si David pasang, speed 1, 2 ok but 3,4 bunyi "clucking sound". Both Deka brand.

Alpha brand. Emergency light, when the fan off, the lights will be on.


Another round of coordination to get the technician to come and take a look at that.


Washer

I did not plan to buy a 2nd washer at the beginning. Sebab tu I let go the old washer. 

 

 

Tapi washer BEKO brand aku beli tu was making an aeroplane sound. So sebab takut guna dan tunggu technician lama sangat. I have to buy a 2nd washer.

 

 

8kg for RM680 - to me, reasonable price. So I bought.

 

 

Malam tadi I tried the BEKO washer again, and it made the same sound. So I called the technician again. Next week only they will come. Another round of waiting.

 

 

I am telling you, these make me restless. I just hate it. I should be moving on to other phase/other projects. But the old projects issues are still there to haunt moi. But anyway, syukur. Allah nak I belajar bersabar, take things at times, and learn to deal with imperfection and to accept this with more wisdom.

9 days without internet and TV, school in Pajam and nursery...

Flashback

 

I would say that we start to speed things up on 31 Dec 2012. (really speed things up like 200km/hour)

 

I was supposed to work that day. I mengemas dan angkat barang/boxes during weekend (the M-day was on 29th Dec's night kan) sampai kaki bengkak. So at that point, I memang dah tak boleh drive as I have pushed myself to the limit.

 

I was on medical leave 31st Dec tu. I remember I told myself over and over again, even though my foot dah cedera, I still have to finish this, so the kids can start school and my parents can stay here comfortably.

 

So dengan keadaan yang begitu, bila the electrician tak datang nak habiskan hacking hari tu, I memang lah menjerit over the phone. esp when he promised me dia nak duit the day before so he will finish all the work by monday. 12pm monday,  still no sign of him, I was so mad and scream to him over the phone and to my relief he came to my place within 1 hour. Nasib baik habis. Lepas tu I gaduh lagi dengan dia, sapa plak nak tampal kopak2 tu, as I do not want to pay extra to any guys to help me conceal just coz he is so bad in coordination. So he agreed to settle it.

 

 

So walaupun he sucks at times, he can still be responsible dan tak berbelit2 macam En H so tahap ketensionan I pada dia tak lah se-max macam I tension dengan En H tu...

 

 

By 1st, all concealed, dah boleh bersihkan rumah. Tu yang kelam kabut on the 1st of January - cat rumah sana, kemas rumah sini.... sampai tak tahu new year.

 

 

Memang tak sempat tengok TV. And I was "disconnected" from my internet connection from 31st Dec onwards....except for FB - I can still check status via my BB.

 

 

Schooling in Pajam

 

In between supervising the contractors/electrician man/delivery man/ and mengemas, we dropped by to the SJKC Kg Baru Pajam to meet up with the headmistress.

 

It is good that we met her. We were able to clear the tension and "assumptions" of her request to interview the parents. We also got to know that she will be transferred to Seremban on 3rd of Jan.

 

Another bonus was, we found out through her that our 6 years old can join the SJKC Tadika there. (cuma kena minta tandatangan pengesahan dari majikan dan ketua kampung - bila i sibuk pasal rumah, memang quite a challenge to get the signature etc)...Anyway, that really solve our problems on tadika arrangement. Jauh juga Smart reader, and transport already a problem in this location. We were like.. so lost at the beginning and to think that we dropped everything to see her, dengan berpakaian ala2 contractor, compang camping dan basah sana sini, ada juga kebaikannya!

 

 

So we begin to like the SJKC school and the tadika. The tadika setup quite new and modern (chairs and tables are new) so our 6 years old have no problems adjusting when we first brought him there. So solve all problems about school! Alhamdulillah....

School Transport in Pajam


Another problem we faced is transport. Dah lega sekolah2 ni semua within 1-2 km from our house, but transport pulak susah nak cari. I did try to ask from the PCH forums but semua senyap saja. So we assume, memang transport problems lah di lokasi ni, sangat menakutkan pada mulanya!


After the first week school over, we still can't find transport. We found one for our daughter to SK Batang Benar and that was it. Seram sangat!

That weekend we went to Singapore. Ahad pagi balik, I went for house painting and house handover in Puchong, while my hubby was assigned to solve the school transport issue.

Alhamdulillah we were able to solve it for all transport arrangement for the 3 school goers. Thanks to my hubby for his perseverence.


KAFA in Pajam

Having been in Selangor for all my life, I was also "culture shock" to know that the sekolah agama was not like what we used to have in Selangor.

 

Kalau nak yang "normal" have to travel all the way to Beranang ikut jalan kampung, which is abt 10 mins drive melalui kebun2 dan sunyi. Transport yang dekat lagikan problems ini kan ke Beranang?

 

I decided to drop the idea of "normal" sekolah agama, and brave myself to follow with the "norms" in Pajam saja. I get to know the class only 3 days in a week (which breaks my heart sebab I doubt it so much apa lah sangat yang mereka dapat belajar, or whether they will get to learn like what I used to have during my SRA days). But since we have little choice (and no better choice), that looks like the best choice ever. Dekat 500 ustazah, dan 500 kali aku tanya ustazah dan ustaz if anak aku boleh apply masuk asrama penuh sekolah ugama dengan peperiksaan UPKK darjah 5 tu saja. hahahaa! like macam real lah aku dah decide to send my daughter to sekolah agama asrama penuh gitu kan! Talk about being a kiasu mum!

 

UPKK is a standardized and recognized "peperiksaan dan sijil" all over the state. While periksa darjah enam tu cuma Selangor jer yang recognize huhuhuhu....

 

So basically we have solved this problems with this choice. Cuma anak2 akan terus ke sekolah petang dari sekolah pagi mereka. tak payah tukar uniform. (kira membazir jer aku beli uniform sekolah agama tu kan...)

Aku juga culture shock bila tau, sekolah disini cuma ada satu session saja. SK Batang Benar juga masuk TV9 new year hari tu sebab dikatakan "sesak" , so aku a bit terkejut dengan "sesak" tu bila dia cuma ada 3 kelas jer.... habis Puchong and cyberjaya kira lagi sesak lah kan? huhu...


Nursery


Lagi satu problems ialah nursery arrangement for our 4th child and "transit" children. Tak nampak plak ada nursery kat kawasan ni, sampai lah we all interview staff Seri Pajam. Baru tahu ada. tapi being the only 1, memang lah "sesak"... but that is the only best choice we have.


Again, we will live with this arrangement until we have a better solution.


The Kid's Comments

1 obvious good thing is, all the kids enjoy their new school. Infact they said it is a better school than their previous school. mungkin sebab environment kampung, sekolah kecik, dan "nilai-nilai murni" yang di terapkan so budak2 tak havoc sangat macam kat Puchong tu.

 

 

Itu kami lega.

 

Sebenarnya, aku ingat lagi. Masa aku nak beli rumah di Nilai Impian dulu, the owner said , dia hantar anak-anak dia ke Batang Benar sebab "nilai-nilai murni" yang diterapkan. So dia memang tak nak hantar ke Taman Semarak yang walaupun sedikit bandar dan modern tapi budak2 sangat senang terpengaruh.

 

 

So maybe Allah kasi I jumpa owner tu bukan untuk beli rumah (as the deal was burst) but to give me lessons learnt about the school.

 

 

Memula kitorang phobia dengan nama tu. Sebab sangat kampung dan sedikit "weird" nama dia.. hehehehehheehe... langsung tak glamer. But we learnt to accept the fact that nama tak penting, yang penting akhlak anak2.... dan the surroundings.

 

 

Adjusting to new location

 

The traffic was quite bad approaching to KTM Batang Benar every morning, so we have to leave early. Another challenge is after UPM and towards Sg Besi, dah 2 hari terperangkap dengan jam. Hari ni sampai office 915am. Sebab ada lori rosak di TUDM. Kena make U-Turn and take MEX highway.

Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully we will adjust to this new location a bit faster so everyone can settle down asap.

House Projects : Next Potential Projects

The house is currently in a mess. 

We are still living out of box. 

Banyak sangat nak run errands sampai tak boleh duduk dan mengemas boxes yang ada... ie. last saturday we went to Singapore to check out the new tenants and to sign the tenancy agreement then same day balik, reach Pajam at 1am, then wake up early the next day to go to our rented place in Puchong to finish off the exterior painting, went back to Pajam to meet up with contractors and then went back to Puchong for the house handover.

We just need to do that "back and forth" travelling so we could finish all the "errands and chores" as soon as possible and to suit the contractors time/house agent time. I hate to re-schedule or postpone it so memang "suffer" to complete the whole "chores". 

By sunday baru all the hacking and plastering work done. So officially barulah all the "dust" issues resolved. Itupun selepas I give up and told them the "painting" I will do it myself. Stress sebab tengahari sunday tu juga my parents akan datang with my children, so a bit kelam kabut to finish up the place so it will be comfortable for them. 

2nd Jan was the school reopen day. So basically this project had driven me insane. We are racing against time and we had to do the hard labor ourselves as we could not find cleaners on time (dec was their busiest month) and we need it to be done fast......

Here the first picture... 

This is our pantry cum laundry area. The handle is not yet installed - they could not get the order on time due to "Dec - the busy month". Banyak juga drama sebelum jadik gini.. 

Ie. The wall tiles - was a last minute decision. I bought some cheap tiles and change my mind againts using them when the indonesian worker "cemuh" my bad taste. I could not get mosaic tiles on time as it needs 2-3 weeks order. So at the end, I used the same tiles as in the kitchen. 

The washer was installed wrongly - it shook pretty badly and made an aeroplane sound. So we were "washer-less" for few days....

The design need to be changed due to technical "plumbing job" - so the sink was moved to the right side so it would be more practical.

Kira memang berdegup degap gaklah jantung buat project rumah ni.  Macam nak pengsan!

Below is the inspiration.. so how was the results? Is it according to my imagination? I would say yes.
But I was unable to enjoy it yet. I betul phobia nak guna washer and dryer ni sampailah sekarang...Haven't got time to read the manual. geez. crazy and over madness.

Next Potential Project:

1. Hiding the electrical box in living room - we have 2 electrical box. We managed to hide it for the upstairs one but left out this project in the living room due to no budget left :)
2. Living and dining room curtains
3. Living and dining room lightings


Here are links for some fantastic ideas for no 1..

http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com/search?q=hide+a+gas+meter&x=0&y=0

http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com/2009/08/hiding-electrical-panel.html

House Project: Phase 1 almost done

Bermacam-macam cabaran ku tempoh nak menghabiskan project ni.


The phone line still nadda. TM said new housing area no cable yet. The developer said, "got already" so I guess dah seminggu I call dan inquire sana sini, I am going to put this to rest. lantaklah sana. The consequences are the ADT installer will be delayed, no internet and no house phone.


The contractors all have gone, thank God. Except for the kitchen cabinet. Which still have a small small thing to be done. But I do not mind them, they have more ethics than the rest I tell you.


Anyway, too tired now. Thought of putting pics but unable to load.