Quantum of Solace

Ini adalah entry bergambar mengenai  renovation progress untuk fasa awal. MH adalah sangat busy membuat photocopy lay-out plan untuk tukang rumah dan kontraktor yang berkaitan - wiring etc. Ini tips yang bagus, biarlah bersusah sikit, tapi dapat memudahkan kerja dan elak kekeliruan kemudian hari. Kontraktor nak sedia quotation pun senang.   Projek dimulakan dengan  marking the plots.  Kami memang kena berada di site sepanjang proses ini kerana mereka perlu  re-confirm  banyak perkara semasa marking ni especially on the size and usage for each space . Pening juga kepala mereka sebab ada spec kami yang agak luar biasa dari kelaziman. So kenalah explain banyak kali untuk elak kesilapan .   Marking dengan kayu dan benang khas Dimulakan dengan persiapan untuk naikkan beam . Lepas marking dengan kayu, mereka gali pula ruang untuk beam dan dinding. Masa ni suspense juga sebab nampak ruang-ruang tu kecil je...muat ke nanti?  Macam plot tanah kubur pulak Ma

This is the continuation from my previous entry on being left-handed. In this entry, I wish to share some everyday little things that you might not aware about living as a left-handed person: 1. Pencil / pen smudges As we write from left to right using our left hand, our hands would smudge the lead/ink as it passed over the writing. This is most apparent after sitting for an essay-writing exam. I had to scrub my hand really hard after the exam as it would be covered with blue/black ink. Using a fountain pen is a nighthmare as the ink is 'wet' so we tend to smear  not only our hands, but the paper as well. Before  After - the pencil smudge 2. Choosing a notebook Lefties will a void buying notebooks with the rings/binders on the left. It is because we will not be able to write comfortably as our hands will push the ring. We also despise any notebook with thick binding for the same reason. It hurts our hands!  The binders is a nuisance! 3. Compute

For our home renovation, MH and I decided not to hire interior decorators and principal contractor to do the work. We hired a group of carpenters and manage the project ourselves (read: MH is the lead contractor, I'm just sibuk-sibuk je )! Making such decision means that we:   (1) have to know EVERYTHING about house construction / renovation, (2) need to BUY all the necessary stuff ourselves - from the biggest to the smallest parts like the nails, (3) need to visit the site frequently (i.e. EVERYDAY!) (4) need to make every decisions for every single thing that involves the house and (5) will be fully accountable for the choices that we have made - whether it was good or bad. Basically it requires our 100% involvement through out the process.  But the good part is, by doing this ourselves we will know what to expect when the renovation ends - so we can avoid disappointment or unnecessary 'surprise' and of course, we can hope to save some $$$. MH in action!  

Kalau dulu sibuk cari rumah, bila dah dapat rumah, apalagi kan, mulalah sibuk nak fikir hal renovation pula. We got the house key just before Aidilfitri. Lagilah happy ! Sambil beraya di rumah saudara-mara dan kawan-kawan, MH and I  perhatikan design di rumah-rumah yang kami ziarah. Banyak juga idea yang kami dapat, especially in terms of practicality sesuatu ruang, furniture dan lain-lain. Siap ambil gambar mana yang berkenan untuk rujukan =) Majalah interior design pun mula jadi koleksi. Jadi inspirasi. Balik raya terus kami roll plan untuk renovation . MH paling bersemangat. Balik kerja walau pun dah malam, sambung pula aktivit melukis lay-out plan . Manual pulak tu. So bila kami berdua sit down untuk tengok lay-out plan tu, fikir balik, discuss , jenuh jugalah MH nak erase tak pun lukis balik selepas tu. Agaknya kalau upah profesional buat dah berapa kena charge , sebab asyik tukar je. Hehehe... Owh, ini hanyalah inspirasi. Bukan lay-out plan sebenar Bab lukis

Please don't be fooled with the title of this entry. I was not referring to J.Lo, Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie here. And of course, I was not referring to myself!  Muntah darah kot, kalau buat macam tu, hahaha.   I'm talking about feeling hot as in sweating  - literally. Not really a great picture huh? But that is exactly what I'm feeling right now. I really can't stand the heat lately. I sweat like crazy even early in the morning, after shower, when it's raining outside or even in the car with the air-cond blowing straight to my face...I'm feeling hot everytime. And it's so uncomfortable and gross! There was this one time that I felt really hot that I thought that the air-condition in my office was not working. So I got the technician to check it and it turned out that the air-condition was working properly and the temperature was fine. So, it was just me!   A quick survey on the Net explains that pregnant ladies will feel the effect of the hot w

(This entry is a continuation from my previous entry on House Hunting) MH and I continued the house hunting for the next following months. It took us quite a long time to find our dream (dream lah sangat!) house to call our own, mainly because we were looking for these specific set of criteria - a landed house, corner lot, somewhere near Putrajaya but still not quite far from KL. There were a few houses that we really like, but the price was sooo high, like very close or even more than a million! Mahal tak hengat!!!  Sometimes I wonder how much do these people have to pay for the mortgage and how on earth they can afford it? Kerja apa? Business apa?   (Statement jealous sebab terpaksa mengucapkan bye-bye kepada rumah-rumah cantik tapi mahal tu!) One more thing that made me also frustrated was the fact that most of the corner houses had been converted to kindergartens. What to do, takde rezeki. To cut the long story short, we finally found our perfect house. It was a single stor

Alhamdulillah, after almost 3 years waiting,  naik/turun to lawyers’ offices, banks, Land Office and even signing not one, but two Sales & Purchase (S&P) agreements, - finally we’re home owners!   In this entry, I would like to share our experience which might be useful for those out there who are about to start looking for your own nest =)   Our house hunting session began since I was pregnant with my lil' princess. She's now two. So you can imagine how long we have been waiting for this =) We spent countless afternoons driving  around to various housing areas in Klang Valley looking for the right house. Kadang-kadang tersesat sampai kat ceruk mana! One fine day, as we were driving around we spotted a house at Bandar Kinrara, Puchong. It was the perfect house! Double-storey, corner lot, low density housing area, very near to shop lots - wow! We called the property  agent who came right away. Checked on the price, took a look around the house. "This is

We’re living in a perfectly right world. We are told to do the right thing to make sure that everything is alright. We learn to say the right word to the right person at the right time to make things right . In doing so, we have to make sure that we adhere to the human rights and all other related rights . Singletons will only want to settle down once they met their own Mr. or Mrs. Right . Being 'right ' is acceptable in all cultures especially people in the East. It is synonymous with being 'correct' or 'proper'. Those who wish to act or think differently would be called the 'lefties '. The rebellious one. Not that desirable to have at all. In Malay, 'kanan' does even mean supremacy. Pengurus kanan (senior manager), orang kanan, turutan kekananan etc. If it is all good with being right ,  how about us who are more inclined towards the left a.k.a.  left-handed ? It is estimated that 10% of the world's population are lef

Image from Google Salam Ramadhan! It's been a looooong time since I last updated my blog. I have way toooo many things happening in my life now that I'm not really sure where to start. But I guess I'll start with the good news first, I'm now 20-weeks pregnant, alhamdulillah. The first trimester had been very challenging - I couldn't hardly eat anything at all and I was fatigue most of the time. B ut as I'm reaching towards the end of my second trimester now, I'm feeling much better, alhamdulillah. Yesterday I went for my monthly check-up and we already knew the gender. But I'll keep it secret from you guys until my baby is born..hihihi. Image from Google Second good news is my baby brother (he's 29 this year, so not so baby lah !) is getting married in November. As I'm writing this, he is still in the U.S and will only be back for good somewhere in October. I was kinda nervous too thinking about all the preparations that need to be m

Images from: http://themescompany.com/2012/02/10/quotes-on-trust/

Anda ada Pembantu Rumah Indonesia (PRI)? Hendak tahu cara-cara untuk renew passport PRI anda? Anda tidak perlu mencari lagi! Ya, di sinilah tempatnya!! Cewah, ada macam iklan MLM tak? Hehehe... post ini bertujuan untuk share prosedur untuk renew passport PRI step-by-step based on pengalaman terkini saya pada 2 Februari lepas. So selain nak share info ni, post ini juga boleh jadi reminder should I have to undergo the same process later. Hopefully not in the near future lah!! Passport PRI  expire 1 8 Februari ini. Dah dekat sangat kan tempoh tamat dia? Itulah akibat  saya yang suka bertangguh kerja, ditambah dengan kesibukan kerja di suasana baru, maka tindakan renew pada saat-saat akhir memang  gamble betul. So here it goes: 1.  Datang seawal mungkin ke Kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia (KBRI) di Jalan Ampang. Saya sampai agak lewat, hampir pukul 8. Ada yang sampai seawal jam 6.00 pagi! Pastikan PRI dah siap bersarapan, lebih baik kalau dia bawa air mineral, r