Monday, November 21, 2011

Terima Kasih Ianya Hari Isnin!

Di sebalik gelak tawa senyuman dan kederat mencuci pejabat tingkat 19 ini (dan kadang-kadang juga membasuh cawan sudu garfu saya yang selalunya 1-2 terbiar sebelum dicuci oleh saya sendiri), sebenarnya hati Kak Chik sedang menanggung seribu satu kerisauan.

Sembang 20 minit bersama Kak Chik (yang aku dah pelawa duduk tapi dia tak mahu), saya rumuskan bebanan emosi yang Kak Chik alami memanglah dahsyat, nak dibandingkan dengan setakat kamu yang rasa malas nak ke pejabat sebab konon-konon Monday blues, atau sebab ada 4-5 mesyuarat berderet yang nak bincang pasal apa entah asyik mesyuarat memanjang, atau sebab geng lain semua cuti tapi cuti kamu dah hampir habis dek selalu sangat cuti tergempar, atau sebab kau malas nak bersemuka dengan boss sama ada ada silap dengan boss atau memang kamu tak sebulu, atau banyak lagi seribu satu alasan yang sebenarnya boleh kamu tangani dengan hanya berfikiran positif. Betul, berfikiran positif itu juga tidak mudah, tetapi boleh dilakukan.

Memendekkan yang panjang, Kak Chik kini melalui fasa yang saya rasa sangat sukar untuk dihadapi jika kamu tidak betul-betul mensyukuri nikmat Allah :

1) Anak Kak Chik yang bongsu (anak Kak Chik ada dua orang) kini berada di hospital. Ini adalah kali ketiga atau keempat sepanjang hidupnya yang hanya 10 bulan. Yang kali pertama, pernah saya ceritakan dahulu. Yang kali kedua disebabkan jantungnya terhenti dek diagah (atau sebenarnya disergah?) oleh penjaga (adik sepupu Kak Chik), yang ketiga mungkin ada atau tidak tapi saya tak ingat, dan yang kini disebabkan kekurangan sel darah putih di dalam badan. Masih lagi si kecil itu di wad pengasingan, tetapi Kak Chik terpaksa datang juga bekerja memandangkan gaji yang diterima adalah gaji hari.

2) Suami Kak Chik kini dalam proses untuk bernikah kali kedua dan mungkin akan terus bermastautin di Acheh. Kak Chik kata, "Kak Chik dah tua Cik, Kak Chik dah malas nak pikiaq semua ni. Banyak lagi yang Kak Chik nak pikiaq. Kak Chik malaih nak pi ikut dia sana, kang makan pakai tak tau lagu mana."

3) Anak sulung Kak Chik yang berusia 13 tahun kini berada di Acheh, belajar sekolah agama di sana. Memandangkan kebarangkalian penceraian Kak Chik adalah tinggi, Kak Chik kini mengusahakan agar anak sulung nya kembali ke Malaysia dan meneruskan pengajian di sini.

4) Kak Chik merupakan bekas penghidap payudara. Bukan sebelah, tetapi kedua-dua belah payu dara Kak Chik telah dibedah dan dibuang.

5) Baru-baru ini Kak Chik telah menerima keputusan diagnose ketulan di pinggangnya sebesar buah anggur; besar kemungkinan juga adalah barah. Namun begitu Kak Chik berkeputusan untuk tidak membuang ketulan itu memandangkan umur telah lewat dan penjagaan selepas pembedahan akan menyukarkan Kak Chik untuk bekerja dan menjaga anaknya. Kata Kak Chik, dah tua-tua ni kalau tuhan nak ambik tu, ambik je lah.

6) Barah mengalir dalam keturunan Kak Chik dengan sangat kuat sekali; ibu dan kakak sulung Kak Chik meninggal dunia disebabkan barah, manakala adik bongsu Kak Chik sekarang ini sedang menderita leukemia. Aliran darah yang dibawa oleh keturunan Kak Chik ini memaksa doktor membuat banyak ujian terhadap darah anak bongsu Kak Chik memandangkan kebarangkaliannya yang tinggi.

7) Penjaga anak Kak Chik adalah sepupu Kak Chik yang berusia 20 tahun. Sudah beberapa kali kejadian yang merisaukan berlaku seperti anak Kak Chik diagah sehingga terhenti jantung, benjolan di kepala akibat jatuh dan juga doktor kata anak Kak Chik seperti kurang diberi minum. Pilihan untuk menghantar ke nursery adalah sukar memandangkan Kak Chik perlu membayar RM350 untuk nursery berbanding RM200 kepada adik sepupunya ini. Luluh hati saya memikirkan ini.

Lalu, berfikirlah kamu sejenak, apakah yang membuatkan kamu tidak bersyukur sungguhpun hari ini adalah hari Isnin?

Bersyukur dengan muka bulat dan double chin.

Friday, November 18, 2011

RM45 Dewasa, RM38 Kanak-kanak

So last weekend off the 16 + 2 x (1/2) of us to The Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh. 7 am from KL (with the kids all tak mandi), the troupe of 4 cars of Sabariah's clans managed to reach Ipoh 3 hours later (berhenti makan pagi di R&R Tapah), and it took only 10 minutes from Ipoh reach to this park. With sufficient number of signboard, inshaAllah you'll manage to get there in one shot.

Oh, since my husband and I are Citibank credit card holders, we got 10% off the entrance ticket, for maximum of each credit card, translated to total of more than RM50 of saving. (Sebenarnya baru tahu masa hari kejadian).

The area is quite big and it does not only consist of water park (with brilliantly several scattered sections that prevent the whole park to get crowded during peak hours), but it also has some dry park with petting zoo, tigers feeding show section, a small pond with swans and fish and a small amusement park with semi-gigantic ship and buai banyak-banyak yang macam kat Genting Highlands tu.

The whole day was spent effectively (business hours 1000 - 1800). The morning session was so much fun for Eirsa and Papa until Eirsa voluntarily got out of the water and fell asleep while we were still struggling changing her clothes. We then explored the dry areas after she had her 1-hour-tidur-tak-bergerak afternoon nap.

It was basically the first time we Eirsa enjoyed an opened water park with direct sunlight. Her eczema seems to lessen a lot and with tons of sunscreen lotion SPF 50, alhamdulilllah her skin was remain intact. Cuma jadi hitam sikit anak aku sebab berjemur tak berhenti.

Here's the pictures (dalam kemalasan I nak mengedit tapi akhirnya siap juga) of us. Ok I look fat, but I'm not THAT fat. Jahat betul ilusi optik.













Fun Info With 5 indoor waterparks, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is recognized as the "Waterpark Capital of the World." So kids, we are so going to Wisconsin one day!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tempat Berteduh

New family member equals to more space required in the house. It's not like I'm adding one more child on top of 5 that we are not having now and not that I'm carrying triplet in my belly. There are only 3 of us in our small 998 sqft condo and so far it fits us perfectly; small area = low maintenance. Tu pun kadang-kadang aku dah malas nak kemas sungguh-sungguh, lalu panggil part time maid je. And to give space for our new little one should still be sufficient.

Since the property price has been skyrocketing as compared to the past 3 years (even our small house has now doubled from the bought price), it is a good time for us to start look, before it's too late! I mean the location is surely going to be farther and father from the city, the offered sqft is getting smaller and smaller, to keep up with the attractive price. So we went for some good 5-hours survey at some targeted area of new landed residential projects.

Prior to that, I've made some online homework as we could not afford to merayau-rayau without hala tuju within the limited time. Among the considerations were :

1) The targeted location is to be as close as possible to my in-laws. It's good to be closer to them as they might need our assistance and so do us. As such, we only shortlisted the projects to those situated in Damansara, Subang and Shah Alam area.

2) Price. The monthly salary for 2 senior executives at their age of 30 who are working and residing in Klang Valley, with one and soon two children, and a new car, is not a passport to own a more than RM500k landed house. Even with down payment of 10%, yearly interest of conventional bank loan of 4% - 5% (after minus the BLR), you would still have to allocate around RM2,200 of monthly earning just for the house loan (you could google "House Loan Calculator" and easily find a lot of this kind of application). Yes, you could always makan bersila after moving in to the new house since all your savings and EPF has been used for the down payment, house renovation and all.

3) Size. This is not actually an option. You could settle for either the price or the size since the price for 20 x 70 as compared to 22 x 75 could reach more than RM50k. Yes, quite some additional price for a 2 x 5 ft area, that could hardly equivalent to a standard parking space.

4) Design. Hmm.. You could say that we are being picky but yes, we would want a modern design as that is going to be the place that you would return to daily, after a long, tiring working day. Bayangkan kalau anda balik, menghadap rumah yang design rumah mak kau kat kampung lagi lawa.

This resulted to several areas listed in our mind : Subang Bestari, Ara Damansara (yeah, I know, kau dah gila ke apa. But my PILs insisted us to check this place out), Denai Alam, Puncak Perdana, Bandar Nusa Rhu and some other new developments at those area (sepanjang Jalan Batu Arang).

Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare for some jaw-droppings :

1) Ara Damansara. Apparently Sime Darby is now focusing on developing commercial area. But there is a project of a few of bungalow units, the is currently opened for booking but we don't dare to ask for the price.

1) Subang Bestari. Some developments are in progress but we could not find the sales office and gallery. But the area is quite isolated with view of RRI's rubber estate on the right side along the main road. There's a petrol station, secondary school, surau and other common facilities but the area is still being actively developed which results to holey and dusty road. Price range : Unknown (you could always google more information on this area online).

2) Denai Alam. This area is developed by Sime Darby, same like Bukit Jelutong, and yes, you could expect the standard as set by Sime Darby. This newly developed area is a bit further ahead along Guthrie Highway towards Rawang but easily accessible from Guthrie in fact you could see most of this area from this highway. The latest development is Maple 3-storey series which I don't dare to ask the price after knowing the latest lowest price for 2-storey in Denai Alam is RM750k. They'll be launching new series of 2-storey landed property perhaps next month and the starting price is again nothing lower than RM750k. C R A Z Y. But the design is fabulous. Modern design with good selection of colors. Plus, the whole area is well-planned as areas that are going to be developed has been flattened and cleared, meaning no heavy-duty pecah bukit activities will be done.

3) We passed through Puncak Perdana and Puncak Alam and drove further along Jalan Batu Arang. This road will lead to another currently develop area, Shah Alam 2. From my research, the offered price could probably starts from RM300k, but the location mak datuk, jauh ke dalam! We eventually settled with the next house survey area at Bandar Nusa Rhu.

4) Bandar Nusa Rhu. This area developed by Metrogen Sdn Bhd is currently having some new units of landed residential. We went straight to the ongoing development area named Idaman; some of the houses have been 50% completed whereas some of them are still under construction. There is a big hill (batu kapur) right beside this new development which will later be flattened to make room for future development by Metrogen Sdn Bhd. At 20 x 70, offered price after discounts is RM515k and there are only 4 units left. The design is quite OK but the fact that there is going to be some pecah bukit activities sooner or later, you might want to think twice to occupy this place before the area is being completely cleared.

5) Sunway Alam Suria. Located opposite Bandar Nusa Rhu and Puncak Perdana along Jalan Batu Arang, this was among the first developed cluster at this area. There is one project of 2 1/2-storey landed residential by the developer, currently opened for booking with price of at least RM688k for 22 x 75 ft area.

So, which one did we consider? NONE. *menangis keluar air mata mencurah-curah*

All down to the ultimate factor : price versus monthly income.

And since we are not in the hurry for a new bigger house, as for now we choose to explore more on other options or other future developments. Yes, we might require more space for the family but at the same time we would want to be able to live comfortably too. Selagi ada tempat berteduh.

Jauh lagi nampaknya perjalanan mencari rumah pencen ni.

Info from a friend : Kajang area is actively developed too. Soon there's going to be a new landed residential launching with starting price lower than RM400k but you have to expect long queue as early as lepas Subuh, with high possibility that everything will be gone before noon. Yes, I know, I N S A N E.


Interesting Info : Japanese companies believe that married men work better than unmarried ones do because the former feel more obligations and responsibilities toward their families. This results to the higher unemployment of men aged 35 above, with direct result to the homelessness in Japan. Source : Wiki lah, mana lagi.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Part-Time Maid

2 days after getting back to our own house, with our very own responsibility and kudrats to maintain the house, I had started feeling the tiresome. It wasn't really anything, seriously. It's just some routine of office hours, get back home, tapau food, take 15 (or if possible more) minutes baring, fetch Eirsa from daycare, keep her company to bath and play until Samurai gets home. But the 1-day activities could easily cost me some backache, tiresome, punggung-ache and all that I could think of is berbaring and watch TV even if it's only 9.00 pm. "To hell with the dirty dishes in the sink, dirty clothes and crumple tommorrow's office wear". How. I. Wish.

Since the past 1 year, we occasionally engaged with the apartment cleaner to clean the whole house every 4-5 weeks. RM40 per session and it's quite a good deal. But the whole concept of assistance here is different than what I currently need. So, I made a different deal with the cleaner with targetted tasks of the daily house chores.

Yesterday she came for the first time, to do all chores related to clothes, to swipe and mop the floor, to clean all dirty dishes for the day. The deal was, she came for all those tasks after my office hour, every Tuesday and Friday, RM25 for each session. And I tell you, I feel so relieved, relaxed and house-chores-headache-free. It's still tiresome to look after Eirsa whom shows no sign of slowing down when she's having her fun time, but yes, that's the only thing that I have to do after office hour. And by 8.00pm, usually Samurai is already home, to offer (a lot) of assistance. Lalu boleh nonton Masterchef Malaysia sambil berbaring dengan selesa sekali. Thank God.

So far the quality of works is acceptable, the time taken didn't really interfere with our family time and she didn't yet show any sign of harm to the house or us. But still, pre-cautions should be taken in every way that we can.

If you are looking for one, there are a lot of maid services agencies offer this service but the price is quite high. Perhaps you want to ask around, for instance the cleaners who work for the apartment/condominium's or office cleaners. But please be extra careful on the selection and rapport could only be made via trial and error.


Interesting Info : Maid juga ada kelas-kelas yang tersendiri. Read.
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