Prior to moving in, Hb and I got the move in date selected by Kok.Chong.Ming. There were several dates provided. However not all suited our renovation schedule / leave plans so we were left with only 1 choice i.e. 31-December-2012 (Monday) which also coincides with my parents & brother's move in date to their unit! Lucky thing their timing was earlier i.e. between 5am-7am and ours was between 9am-11am. Which meant that I was able to help out at my parents' house first before moving in to my own house. Lucky thing both our units are on the same row!!!

Here are the list to-dos that we were told to follow for the move in ceremony:

• Before time to move in, hang red cloth at the entrance

• Auspicious time, at the car porch, light pot of charcoal

• Make sure it's burning red (pili palak)

• Patriarch to shout: "San Ook Yup For", "Tai Kat Tai Lei", "Heng Ah", "Huat Ah"!!!
• Patriarch while holding pot of burning charcoal step into the house with LEFT leg NOISILY!
• Take the charcoal pot straight into the kitchen! Don't stop, don't turn back
• Then patriarch to get god statues from the car and tell the gods (facing the sky) - Today we "sun ook yup for, cheng (god's name) into our new home" then put god statues on altar
• Patriarch to add 'ang pow' of RM12 at the bottom of the rice urn. Rice to be 80% full. Carry into the kitchen

• Sequence: > Patriarch: S&P, bank books, cash, jewelry, marriage certificates in pockets > Matriarch: Pillow, cash, jewelry & oil, salt, sauce, vinegar & tea leaves > Son: Marriage cert, bank book, cash, jewelry

• Open all the windows and doors. Switch on lights, on taps!
• Boil sweet dessert. After eating, everybody to say "hou tim"!!!
• All to take bath and change into new clothes!
• Start praying!
• Change bed sheet
• Sprinkle tea leaves, salt and rice and leave for 3 days!
• Move old furniture in!

More on this later as it was an important day for us all! :)
In the meantime, read about how we got the dates in the first place here.

Happy to say that at the eleventh hour i.e. 7-ish, place was thoroughly cleaned! Thank gawd my father managed to get the painter to drive our rubbish away (the stupid garbage man collected the giant garbage bin a day ahead of schedule)!

Update as at 11pm:

Living Room

• TV panel doors not installed yet
• TV!!! Have not purchased a TV yet!!!
• Sofa was delivered at 10pm!!!
• Need to get an additional 1-seater!
• Curtains tracks up
• To hang curtains before moving in
• Windows cleaned
• To put in plug points

Dining Room

• Crystal lighting bought & installed!
• Dining set to be delivered by movers
• Feature mirror! To buy!!!

Dry Kitchen

• Sink & taps installed
• To install pendant lights
• To install drawers
• To install backsplash mirror!
• Fridge to come on Mon / Tue

Wet Kitchen

• Sink & taps installed
• To install handles
• To complete door installation
• To put on hob
• Hood to come on Wed / Thu

Altar Hall

• Lights bought and installed!
• Wall painted!
• Pending altar delivery
• Pending god statue purchase & activation

Master Bedroom

• Bed & mattress delivered
• Side table delivered
• Pending bedsheet set!

Toilets

• Lights installed
• To buy mirrors for toilets

Staircase

• Lights bought and installed!

OK OK, breathe, breathe... still got time...

On the final renovation day (workers can't work on Saturday), everything single corner is still work-in-progress!!! Update as at 12.11pm:

Living Room

• TV panel not polished yet
• Doors not fitted yet
• LED lights not installed

Dining Room

• Lighting not up yet

Dry Kitchen

• Middle backsplash mirror not up yet
• Breakfast bar mirror not up yet
• Cabinet doors not installed yet
• Bar lighting not installed yet

Wet Kitchen

• Still installing the cabinets frame
• Doors not up yet

Altar Wall

• Still painting

Rooms

• Pending colour change

Stress level is extremely high for everyone involved. I am so worried that the place will not be ready for our move in day!!!

Here's an update on our renovation as of 15-December-2012 (Saturday). Renovation is in high gear now as we approach the last 2 weeks of reno.

Car Porch:

• [Done] Down lights installed
• [Done] Prayers wall erected and skim-coated
• In Progress: Skirting around the car porch
• In Progress: Painting works
• Pending: Gate change & auto-gate installation
• Pending: Gate post lamps installation
• Pending: Plugs x 2 to conceal the wires (to display firecrackers ornaments during CNY)

Living, Dining and Dry Kitchen:

• In Progress: TV feature wall for living room
• In Progress: Dry kitchen installation
• Pending: Granite installation for kitchen counter top
• Pending: Sink installation
• Pending: High gloss spray paint works for cabinets
• Pending: Doors change and installation
• Urgent: Plaster ceiling cracked, gotto ask the plaster ceiling guy to come and fix them
• Urgent: Dimensions for the fridge area incorrect, to resize the cabinets accordingly

Wet Kitchen:

• Pending: Tiles for walls, flooring and kitchen counter
• Pending: Granite installation for counter top
• Pending: Sink installation
• Pending: Hood installation
• Urgent: Relocate Unifi box a little for it to be within the kitchen cabinets

Lighting & Fans:

• [Done] Down lights installed
• Pending: Living and dining room T-5 cove lights concealed around the plaster ceilings
• Pending: Feature lighting for dining room
• Pending: Pendant light for breakfast bar & altar area
• Pending: Fans and toilet lights

Master Bedroom

• In progress: Wardrobe installation 
• In progress: Headboard installation

Other pending items:

• Grills
• Paint works
• Plaster ceiling touch ups
• Air-cond installation
• Electrical items to be purchases

More on this...

Finally decided to have an altar at home! Cos only Hb and I will occupy the entire house. Plus Hb has his own business. Best to have our own altar at home. We have decided to pray to Guan Yin Goddess and thus the hunt for an altar began. Actually it wasn't much of a hunt cos' we spotted something that we liked at the first shop we visited via the catalogue that they showed us. Then at the 2nd shop they have the actual unit on display. So on the spot we said OK.

There are however, 2 options. Without a top (as per photo above) or with a top (as per photo below). Personally, I felt that since our altar isn't very huge (think it's 3ft in width), we can have the top. That way, our goddess will have its own background (no need to share the same colour as the wall behind it) and that there will be a light shining on the god statue always. Plus, smoke from the incense won't reached the plaster ceiling so quickly. So ya, that was how we decided to get the one with a top.

 

Price was RM1,088.00 at first but because my parents also bought a different altar from them, they reduced the price to RM988.00. Hb paid a deposit of RM300.00 on 15-December-2012. Delivery date is set on 26-December-2012 and day to "On San" will be on 7-January-2013. A week after we move in on 31-December-2012. Now the next urgent thing to do is to get a Guan Yin Goddess statue that we both like!

As always when i.P.h.o.n.e begins selling in Malaysia, telcos frantically rush to launch it first. M.a.x.i.s as always have their midnight launch. This time round the launch was on 13-December-2012 i.e. 14-December-2012 morning at CapSquare. I went to the launch event as a Corporate customer with my friend.

At 12 sharp, it was already our turn to collect our phones. I bought 2 units:

• 1 for myself (64GB White) - signed up for iValue 2 RM155 for 1 year i.e. RRP RM2,799 but got the phone for RM2,249.00
• 1 more for my father as his belated birthday present (32GB Black) - signed up for iValue 1 for 1 year i.e. RRP RM2,499 but got the phone for RM2,049.00
• Total Paid: RM4,298.00

My friend bought 6 units on behalf of her god father!

• All 64GB, 3 White, 3 Black - outright purchase of RM2,799 each i.e. RM16,794.00
• When they swiped her credit card, first time it was rejected. So she asked for the amount to be split. RM10,000 + RM6,794. RM10,000 transaction went through. But then the second transaction was rejected. So she called the bank and they were confused and all. In the end, I swiped the balance transaction for her. Banks can be so thick at times with their stupid policies...

I love attending i.P.h.o.n.e launches. This is the 2nd one I attended after I left. Met so many ex-colleagues and ex-bosses and had a great time catching up! Only thing is that everyone said I looked better and fleshier... so ermmm... I think they were trying to tell me politely that I am "bulat". To be honest I am not sure if my face is swollen from water retention or if I have sememangnya gained weight... hmmm...

The best part about attending the event as a Corporate customer is that we don't have to queue. There is a special hall where there are performances, free flow of drinks (beer and soft drinks - last year there were even red wine and champagne!) and free food (by Modesto's). All we needed to do was to take a number and indicate which phone we want (in terms of colours and capacity) and that's it. We're free to roam around until it is our turn.

 

So thanks to M.a.x.i.s, I now have my beloved iPhone 5 with me!!! Am I happy with the phone? Well, it is thinner, lighter, faster and clearer in terms of display when compared to iPhone 4. But in actual fact, it works the same. Wonder how long I'll continue being an Apple sucker. Hehehe... next in wishlist, an iPad Mini... waiting for the cellular version to be released!!! :)

These days everything can be done online. Called up Kok Chong Ming to select an auspicious date to move house. Information required are pretty standard for occupants occupying the house. In this case, Hb and I la:

• Name
• DOB
• Time of Birth
• Gender
• Address

Then proceed to bank in RM85 to their account number online, mail them the transaction slip and follow up via phone call to determine if they've gotten the details. That's all. Kok Chong Ming said they will be reverting back tomorrow. :)

Oh, the period we've given them was any day between 22-December-2012 and 6-January-2013. Coinciding with my 2 weeks leave. :)

UPDATE:
We were given 3 sets of dates to move:

• 31-December-2012 (Mon) between 9AM and 11AM
• 2-January-2013 (Wed) between 9AM and 11AM
• 7-January-2013 (Mon) between 9AM and 11AM

Of the 3 dates, think we will most likely move on 31-December-2012 cos the 2nd date wasn't reflected as  a good date to move house according to Lillian Too Almanac and the 3rd date, well I have started work di. Took 2 weeks off work to facilitate the move between 24-December-2012 and 6-January-2013.

We needed to buy 2 sinks. 1 for the dry kitchen and the other for the wet kitchen. The one for the dry kitchen will mostly just be for light washing so that means that the one at the back will need to be the main one Hb and I use daily for whatever it is that we do in the kitchen!

The decision was a simple one! Get a double bowl sink!!! Why? Cos we are always fighting to use the sink with one another. Say if Hb is washing dishes, I will suddenly see the need to wash something too at that precise moment! Similarly when I am busy washing, Hb will often "excuse me excuse me" and wash his hands or whatever he has to wash at that precise moment!

So ya. To solve this issue, we shall just get a double bowl! Hehe... Besides, we don't do heavy cooking so no issue like difficulty in washing big ass wok!

Hb got this for RM495.00 on 26-Nov-2012. :))

December's my absolute favorite month of the year. It's a month of love and festivities!!! Unfortunately on the first day of the month, I woke up with a massive sore throat which quickly escalated to fever, cold sweat, running nose and slight cough. Too weak to go out so Hb went out and bought Clarinase.

Slept the entire Saturday. Skipped dinner with BIL & SIL and barely ate the food that Hb packed back. Just felt so tired. 7am the following morning, I woke up with a really heavy head. As if it was going to burst! This time round, since Clarinase wasn't working its magic, Hb ransacked the cabinets for medicine from Dr. Arul (the old Indian doctor in Tanjung Karang with excellent command of Hokkien that left me startled!)

No appetite to eat so Hb bought porridge which I quickly finished, took med and slept again. Slept for so many hours and this time round, woke up drenched in my own sweat! Thanks to the sweat, I felt better and no longer had heavy headache.

Think cos I slept too much in the day time, I couldn't sleep at night. It's 6.30am now and I am still wide awake!!! Also had diarrhea with a bit of spotting. Hope everything's alright!

Special thanks to Hb too who took care of me when I was sick. Making sure I ate, drank lots of liquid, sleep enough and offered lots of TLC! :) Definitely a month of love alright!