The day before yesterday; at my weekend home back in KS, I had this really close encounter with a bigass lizard! It happened when I was in the loo. When I got up to flush, I saw this huge lizard on the toilet seat staring at me in shock for several seconds before scrambling to scoot out of sight. The lizard was so fat and gigantic that I think I was more afraid of it than it was of me. Worst still, I think I may have sat on it without realizing!!!

What happened next was brutal. I grabbed hold of a can of "Sheltox" and sprayed at it until it fell on the floor. Then continued spraying (and nearly killed myself in the process) and locked the toilet door.

15min later...
I saw the tail first. Then looked everywhere only to find the "deflated" lizard struggling to breathe at the corner of the bathroom. Wasting no time, I picked it up with a bundle of tissues and flushed it down the loo!!! Boy, was that satisfying!!!

I hate lizards! They leave messy poo everywhere!!! So there, goodbye lizzy!

Unlike most couples with "normal" relationships, Hb and I have been in semi-LDR ever since we started our courtship. So while it took us 12 years of courtship before we tied the knot, in actual fact our courtship was only 5 years ++ if we discount the days we spent apart. But yala, quality over quantity! So anyway, even after we got married, we continued living apart on weekdays due to our work commitments. This post documents our journey in making ourselves a nesting place... a place we can both call home.

3 years ago; I bought a service residence called Kuchai Avenue. It was supposed to be ready early 2010 but was delayed and hence our plan of making it our weekday home too was affected. The only consolation is perhaps the escalating prices over the years that saw the property increase over 35% in value. The market rental rate too was pretty high at RM1,200 for a basic unit. At that rental rate, it is more than enough to cover my monthly installment and maintenance so the decision to rent it out was an easy one.

Since Hb has his own home in KS all to himself (his parents lived 2 min away), we decided to make it our weekend home. In our quest to change the bachelor pad into a homely home, we embarked on a home improvement project that lasted close to 6 months where we changed every single piece of furniture! The project was truly a FUN one that somewhat strengthened our bond as husband and wife for it heightened our anticipation of going home every week. I leave office 6 sharp every Friday and Hb will already be waiting for me at my parents home to fetch me back. Though tiring, this has been our routine for the past 7 months.

In the same period also, Hb and I have been hunting high and low for a landed property with my parents & brother as we intended to get 2 units in the same garden. So one fine day, all of us went to Setia Alam with the intention of checking out a sub-sale unit which was newly completed with CF but not occupied yet. Unfortunately, there was only 1 unit where we liked. On our way back, we stopped by the Setia Alam Welcome Center and looked at the model of a previously sold-out soft launch. Coincidentally, there were 2 units available due to loan rejections and both units are on the same row; 6 houses apart. To cut the long story short, that was how we ended up placing the deposits for both units!

And last week was truly an EXCELLENT week! Loan for the landed property was approved and CF for the service residence was finally out after months of waiting! Definitely more on this later. :-)

I've been neglecting this blog of mine because I think I'm bored with the design. Been hunting high and low for a nicer looking one but can't seemed to find any that I like. Enquired about a professional designed blog design and got the shock of my life that a basic one cost SGD$950!!!

So anyway, here's an update on our project; code named HIP (Home Improvement Plan) which Hb and I have been working on.

The latest addition to our home is the dining set from Monzio Italy; full marble piece in white including the base. For chairs, we chose 4 black-coloured chairs and 2-white ones for contrast.

The huge smiling Buddha photo was from Houz Depot... comes with the frame as well which coincidentally matches all our furniture colour. The shaggy black carpet was also from Houz Depot so that the chairs don't move around noisily. And so, our home now has a set of 3 colours at a glance: White, Black & Brown. :-)

We also changed the carpet in the living room to a shiny, furry carpet. Think the lighting made it looked black in this photo but in actual fact it is in shades of brown and is ultra soft!

Next to-do in our list is the guest toilet renovation... :-)

HIP in progress...
We spent close to 3 weeks hunting for a brand new sofa. Initially, we thought that our requirement was pretty simple... All we wanted to get was a simple L-shaped, leather sofa... how hard would that be right?

Wrong!!!
Buying a sofa is like contemplating a marriage!!!
So many different things to think about!!!

• The type of leather (leatherbond, half leather, full leather, thick leather)
• Functionalities (expandable seats, reclining back, adjustable headrest)
• Leg materials (wood, metal, chrome, stainless steel)
  
• Number of seats (3-seater, 4-seater)
• Size of seats (8-feet, 9-feet, 10-feet in width)
  
• Brand name (obviously, the branded one will cost more la)

We looked at so many different outlets and sat on so many different types... that after awhile, they all looked the same. In the end... after weeks of hunting... we ended up buying the first sofa we shortlisted when we first saw it...

But that wasn't the end of it. 10 minutes later, on our way home... we suddenly, collectively agreed that the 3-seater we paid a deposit for was way too short for our living room... and that we should have opted for the 4-seater instead... SO we found ourselves frantically calling the shop again to change the specs of the sofa from a 3-seater to a 4-seater one... (am certain the lady thinks we're both mad)... hahahaha...

Nevertheless, here's the L-shaped, leather sofa we now have at our weekend home... and OH... it has 2 special functionalities that helped us make up our minds... (1) Expandable seats - apart from the single "L" seat, all the rest of the 3 other seats are expandable so in actual fact... this is a 4-L sofa... hahaha... and (2) Adjustable headrest - the headrest can be adjusted to whichever angle one prefers...


Next HIP item... dining set... :D

I realized that I call my husband so many different names on this blog... first it was Alan... then OWLoon cos that's his nickname to Dee sometimes cos' that's what I call him and now Hb which stands for hubby... So from now onwards, think I will just address him as Hb lah... easier...

So anyway, Hb and I are on a Home Improvement Project (code named: HIP).

The last time we did that was prior to our wedding... the reburbishment of the entire master bedroom and attached toilet... where every single item was brand new from wall colours to built in wardrobe to furniture to electrical items... everything! But because we repainted the entire house and re-wired the whole place during the last HIP... this time round, our HIP involves only furniture hunting! But guess what??? HIP - Furniture is so much more FUN than HIP - Renovation!!! At least, there are WAY less mess to clean up... :D

So anyway, our HIP - Furniture project started with our living room where we started our hunt for sofa, TV rack, coffee table, lamps and wallpapers... It took us forever to decide and to agree on what to buy... that in the end, we found our TV sitting on the floor pathetically...

What happened was this... We asked the guard at our place if he'd be interested to have our old bulky 34 inch TV along with its TV rack... and he immediately said YES!!! But he was so happy that together with the gardener, they came and carried both the items away on the same day itself (actually, it was more like within 10 minutes of Hb asking him...)! So with the TV AND THE TV RACK gone, we had no choice but to force ourselves to relook at all our previous choices...

That day, we went to Klang and purchased 4 items... and luckily... managed to get them all delivered on the same day itself...!!! We bought a TV rack with a matching coffee table... and best of all, 2 lamps that we really liked... one standing lamp and the other one being a table lamp!

For sentimental purposes... here's how our old bulky TV and rack looks like... hehehe... Hb and I nearly d.i.e.d of exhaustion moving it to the side of our living room to make way for our flatscreen TV...!!!

The following day, we went to another outlet in PJ to place our deposit for the sofa... but unlike the outlet in Klang, delivery can only be made 10 working days later!!! So yala... that's a post on its own for some other day...

Oh and before I forget, since we are focussing on the living room first, we only added blinds to hide away the naked windows... in our kitchen... :)

Ahhh... the joy of shopping!!! :D

The bed installation ceremony or "On Chong" in our Bridal Room was scheduled on 03-December-2009; several days before our Actual Day on 06-December-2009. That morning, my family (my parents along with my uncle & auntie) accompanied me to Kuala Selangor; where OWLoon and my Bridal Room is (our weekend home in Kuala Selangor).

[Clockwise. From Top Left to Right to Bottom Right to Left]

Prior to the "On Chong" ceremony, OWLoon and I spent like several months trying to get our Bridal Room ready. After installing our air cond and baby fan, painting for the entire house started. Then the wardrobe guys came to install our built in wardrobe... Furniture was then delivered... and additional furnishing were added like curtains, carpets, bedside lamps and full length mirror.

The entire bed installation ceremony is to be completed anytime between 11am and 1pm. So first thing first, my parents fitted the bed with the brand new mattress and pillows protectors, bedsheet, pillow & bolster cases along with a box of "lingzhi-bai-he" on the bed.

Then came the time to decorate the entire room with Double Happiness symbols... on the master bedroom room door, on the wardrobe door, on the walls, on our full length mirror, on our console table and even the bedside drawers. The mandatory props from the Bethotral / "Guo Dai Lei" were also placed in the room for example the basin, mug, cup etc, the rice bowls set on the console, the red bedside lamps etc etc.

Here's how our Bridal Room looks like... :-)

Since this is the weekend home which only OWLoon and I will live in, the decorations also spreaded to other parts of the house... like how our wedding photos were everywhere, and that almost everything around is in red... curtains, sofa pillows, table cloth etc. Additional deco items were also added by OWLoon to somewhat transform his bachelor pad into a lovely, homely home for us...

And with that, the ceremony was completed... within the stipulated time too thanks to my parents, uncle and auntie. Next would be the Actual Day di... :-)

When we first started the Bridal Room project, we said we'd do the bare minimal since our place in KL will be ready next year... likely in March... And believe me, we really did... At every opportunity, we tried to save money... like the bed for instance... instead of a King-sized bed, we went for a Queen-sized one, went for clearance and warehouse sale to get discounted items, buy direct from factories etc etc. But guess what, try as we might... we've still spent over 10K... So the next time if you hear others grumbling that our money is worth so much lesser these days than before, IT'S TRUE!!! No wonder they have movies called "Money Not Enough" part 1 and 2!!!

YTD Total Spent: RM 12,085.80

The breakdown of the cost spent to renovate the bridal room and the adjoining bathroom is as follows:

Bed Set
RM 01,280.00 Bed with Headboard
RM 01,680.00 Silent Night Posture Firm Mattress
RM 00,540.00 Bedside Table x 2
RM 00,800.00 Dressing Table / Console
RM 00,189.00 Aussino Mattress & Pillow Protector (Sale)
RM 00,079.90 Gingko Pillow x 2 (Warehouse Sale)

Electrical
RM 00,305.00 Baby Fan with Lights (Clearance Sale)
RM 00,159.90 Table Lamps x 2 (Clearance Sale)
RM 00,331.00 Sockets x 2 and Switches x 4

Extras
RM 00,479.00 Macy French Pleat Curtains
RM 00,024.00 Curtains Track & Hooks
RM 00,000.00 Carpet (Wedding Gift)
RM 00,330.00 Full Length Mirror

Paint Works
RM 03,500.00 Paint and Paint Works

Air-Cond
RM 01,100.00 Air-Cond Move & Re-wiring

Bathroom
RM 00,135.00 Floor Tiles (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,550.00 Toilet Bowl (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,200.00 Sink (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,135.00 Tap Heads
RM 00,180.00 Hose & Workmanship
RM 00,088.00 Mirror & Brush Holder

Wardrobe
RM 00,000.00 Wardrobe & Box Up (Wedding Gift)

Have yet to receive the bill from the wiring man yet for concealing all the wires in the house, installing our lights and changing all the switches casing and socket. Estimated cost about RM 01,00.00.

Then again, no complains... I love our Bridal Room and I think it's PRICELESS!!!

Ohhh... am so so so so happy!!! Last night, before I went to bed, OWLoon called and asked me how to insert the hooks into our french pleat curtains... After telling him, I went to ZZZzzz... And surprise, surprise... this morning when I got up, there were 10 messages on my phone and they were all photos of our Bridal Room in KS from OWLoon!!!

OWLoon and I had so many "syiok sendiri" moments throughout the progress of renovating our Bridal Room and the attached bathroom...

• Like how when the baby fan with lights were first installed, we sat and marvelled at it...
• Or when the entire house is fully painted... we sat down and did nothing but look at the walls...
• Then when the wardrobe was fully installed, we inspected it carefully...
• When the furniture came, we contentedly stare at them...
• When we got a carpet as our wedding gift, we placed in under the bed and took many shots of it...
• When the full length mirror was installed, we marvel at our reflections in the mornings...
• Or like when the toilet was ready, we took turns using it then compare notes... hahaha...

Must credit OWLoon for he footed the bill... engaged the painters, the air-cond men and the wiring men... actively participated in cleaning the house... responsible for hanging all the curtains in the house... patiently shop for furniture with me... and even visited factories for the toilet seat and sink... thank you lou kung!!! Hehehehe...

Thus, am happy to say that the Bridal Room is now READY with all things NEW... for the custom on Dec 03, 2009 called "On Chong" where my parents will put on the bedding set, insert moolah in our wardrobe and decorate the entire room with Double Happiness symbols...

Yippieeeeeeeeeeeee.... life is beautiful!!!

This is the first time OWLoon and I are involved in a renovation project together and the said project involves our Bridal Room in Kuala Selangor (given that our place in KL is not ready yet).

It all started with a sketch after a round of measurements taking:

Followed by further illustrations with colours as we needed to decide on paint colours and furniture colours.

Then the following renovation works began:

Wiring

• New plug points and socket / casing change
• Conceal all wires into wall
• Remove previous ceiling fan and fluoroscent light
• Replace with new baby fan with lights

Air Cond Move

• We also had to move the air cond to make way for the built up wardrobe
• That involves another round of drilling to hide the hose of the air cond

Carpentry Works

• Wood panels as a frame for the built up wardrobe
• Additional wood panel below the window so that the bed headboard is not directly below the portruding window frame

Painting Works

• New paint for the bridal room as well as the entire house

Installation of Wardrobe

• Then the guys delivered the custom made wardrobe and installed it on the spot

And walla, the room renovation was completed...

And yesterday, the furniture was delivered...

What's left now is the beautification of the room...

>> Curtains

>> Table Lamps

>> Floor Mat

>> Laundry Basket

>> Runners

>> Hangers

>> Full Length Mirror

Life is beautiful... but guess what... the above alone was already above RM10K... which was OWLoon's initial budget... Honestly, we're hopeless when it comes to sticking to budget...

Ohhh... am so excited!!! The guys are here to install the wardrobe... Since I'm only going to KS tomorrow, OWLoon was kind enough to send me status updates via MMS on the progress thus far...

Looking good!!! Yippieeeeeeee!!!

Yippieeeee... the toilet renovation is completed... and here's a quick recap on the works done:

... New tiles
... New paint
... New toilet bowl (+ repositioned)
... New washing basin
... New taps
... New accessories
    > mirror
    > toothbrush holder
    > toilet paper holder
    > shampoo rack

Hooray!!!

I realized something new about OWLoon ever since we started planning for our wedding... Considering that we've known each other for over a decade... this is definitely worth talking about...

Whenever I ask or suggest something pertaining to our wedding... he will be the first person to brush it aside... "No need la...", "So mafan...", "What for...?" and so on and so forth... leaving me irritated and frustrated... BUT... the thing with him is that... it doesn't just end there... Eventually... he will get them done much to my surprise later on!

Take for example... the master bedroom... I've been grumbling and complaining for the longest time ever... and he had never once bothered to entertain me... You see... the entire room layout is really very weird...

Windows & Doors

There are just too many doors and windows within the same room and it's directions make it near impossible to position furniture nicely without compromising anything...

• If we position the bed facing the toilet door... it's bad... feng shui wise...
• If we position the bed like the above layout... there are 2 windows to cover and a balcony door with grill that is never used / opened...
• If we position the bed opposite where is it on the above layout, it's again too near the toilet...

Toilet Bowl

The architect who designed the building deserves to be hanged and slapped cos somehow... the toilet bowl is facing a pillar!!! Not only is it narrow... it is also claustrophobic to do business cos all you see is the pillar in front of you!!! For taller dudes / dudettes... your knee will be touching the pillar once you're seated down...

Since he ignored my grumblings and rantings earlier on, I took it that our Bridal Room will look as is... and was tearing my hair out trying to figure out the best way to make use of the space... but THANK GOD... he was pretty into making the room nice!!!

• Where the balcony door and tiny window is... it will be sealed with wood planks and replaced with a box up wardrobe of ceiling height... since the door is never opened... the tiny window too is always shut... (there's another bigger window on the other wall)
• The toilet bowl too will be moved to face out vs. facing the pillar!!!
• Not to mention all the switches and taps that he's gonna replace...
• All the wires that he agreed to get someone to conceal... etc etc etc...

The final outcome should look something like this...

With the exception of the wall behind the bed... it will be flushed with curtains like this...

Lalalala... I love my husband! It is the little little things he does that makes me oh so happy!!! Ahhh... life is beautiful!!! :-)

Yesterday, the carpenters came to do up the box up wardrobe frame (just the frame, cos' the wardrobe will come only next week) and the wood panel under the window...

The baby fan with lights here was installed previously...

The air-cond too was moved to a new place...

What's left now is of course the actual wardrobe itself... and the painting works... When OWLoon sent me those pictures... I wasn't sure what to say... cos I'm one of those who can't appreciate the progress of renovation... can't really see how the finished product will look like... until well... it is finished...

It was kinda funny... when we nailed down what needs to be done to complete the bridal room in Kuala Selangor, the works seemed minimal (as in the least we could do) and fairly quick and easy. Afterall, our tasks were broken into 2 categories... shopping related and labour related...

The shopping part was easy peasy... and we're pretty much on track:

New Furniture

• [DONE] Bed frame with headboard
• [DONE] Mattress
• [DONE] Bed side tables
• [DONE] Aussino Mattress Protector
• [WIP] Bedsheet

New Lighting / Deco Stuff

• [DONE] Baby fan with lights
• [DONE] Switches casing
• [WIP] Side table lamps
• [WIP] Curtains
• [WIP] Toilet door
• [WIP] Full length mirror
• [WIP] Carpet

But when it came to the labour related portion, we totally underestimated the amount of work required. The wiring guy came yesterday with one of his staffs... and our brief to him was simple (or so we thought)...

1. To move the air-cond to make way for the built up wardrobe
2. To remove the existing fan and fluoroscent light and replace with our new baby fan with lights
3. To pull new plug points where the side tables are for lamps & phone charger
4. To conceal all wires within the wall...

Point no. 1... he can't move the air-cond for us (we need to call another air-cond fella to move it) but he can pull all the wiring to where we wanted...Point no. 2 and 3 was pretty ok... But point no. 4 was a KILLER!!! To conceal all wires, they needed to DRILL and DRILL and DRILL... between the 2 of them, they took turns drilling like mad in our master bedroom, the 2nd room (OWLoon wants to install air-cond cos for the next few months while we work on the bridal room, he will need to sleep in the 2nd room) and the living room. When they were done drilling, the ENTIRE house was covered in a layer of white "snow"...

After that they took turns hammering the wires into the walls they drilled earlier... so lots of knocking and banging... then came the patching work to conceal the holes they drilled... When they were done (some 6 HOURS later)... the ENTIRE house was covered not just with the layer of "snow" but with cements as well!!!

The cleaning work was MASSIVE after that... We only managed to clean both rooms before OWLoon called for help. As much as we would like to do it ourselves, it was very very tiring... Thank god his mom cleaned the living room while I wiped and vacuumed the rest of the furniture...

BUT guess what? The air-cond guy is coming this week and there will be another round of DRILLING and PATCHING works to be done!!! Am just so glad that I'd be in KL... working... LoL...

Though the carpentry work after this won't be as dirty, it  is the painting work that we're worried about... tsk tsk tsk... another round of massive cleaning! Never ever take things for granted... my current house has no visible wires at all and I have not for once thought about the works required to do so... But now I do...

Spent the entire day spring cleaning OWLoon's apartment in Kuala Selangor cos' the wiring man will be coming on Tuesday... Never knew how tough it was to sweep, mop and vacuum the entire house until today... OWLoon's mom does it with such ease... and my mom too does the same thing like it's the most natural thing on earth and with such perfection! So ya... maybe I'm not ready for domesticated life yet...

Anyway... my new found best friend today has got to be Mr. Vacuum Cleaner! The thing with Kuala Selangor is that, this place is a haven for insects... AND lizzards... so no matter how clean you sweep nor mop the floor, there bound to be little black dots on the floor (not sure where they come from or what they are)... but, with the help of the ever-reliable Mr. Vacuum Cleaner... all stuff tiny and stubborn are very quickly sucked away...

After I finished cleaning the entire house and transferred 80% of the furniture from the master bedroom to the second room (to make way for renovations of the bridal room), I swear I felt like collapsing into a coma, there and then... GAWD... it ain't easy being domesticated...

But I had to do it else OWLoon's mom will be doing it and since it is OWLoon and I's bridal room, thought we should do as much as possible and not trouble the older folks... but since OWLoon sprained his back from carrying me (one of the photoshoot poses), told him to go to work while I worked like slave at home...

I must say though... that I was pretty happy and satisfied with the results... the entire house was spanking CLEAN!!! :-)

OWLoon and I have been so so busy with our latest project... the Bridal Room!

Since our place in KL is not ready yet, our Bridal Room ("San Leong Fong") will be in Kuala Selangor. When OWLoon's elder brother got married, his bridal room was at the parents' ancestral house... Now that it's our turn, it's at the parents' other house which is located like 2min walk away from the ancestral house... where we occupy the entire house... :-). However, given that our place in KL will be ready next year and that we only use the room in KS on weekends, we tried to keep the works to a bare minimal...

It all started with a sketch by OWLoon's sister; a kitchen designer on the custom-made wardrobe for our room...

But because we can't imagine everything in colours and that we needed to decide on the paint colours, my little brother; an architect drew the entire room layout again in colours!

Our job now is to ensure the following is done before the BIG day!

New Furniture

• Bed frame with headboard
• Mattress with mattress protector, pillows and bolsters
• Bed side table
• Bed sheet

New Lighting / Deco Stuff

• Baby fan with lights
• Side table lamps
• Switches casings
• Curtains
• Carpet
• Toilet door
• Full length mirror

Wiring

• The air-con (currently where the wardrobe is supposed to be) will have to be moved to the wall facing the bed
• The ceiling fan will have to be replaced with a baby fan with lights cos normal fan blades are too long... can't open the top wardrobe door...
• The wires are currently all hidden within a plastic casing... which is rather awful... thus we will have a wire man to conceal all the wires within the walls...
• New plug points at side tables for the table lamps...

Carpentry & Paint Works

• Box up wardrobe frame
• Wood partition behind the bed that covers the entire width of "side table+bed+side table"
• Repaint the entire room

This is so exciting and fun!!! :-)