End of T1 AY2021/22

Salam my lovelies,

We are well into the final 2 weeks of the first term. Bean is settled into Year 4 and Girl is spontaneously comfortable/bonded with her new teachers and classmates in Year 7. Moving to upper primary and secondary were definitely remarkable milestones (and school fees increment!). Parent Teacher Evenings are lined up for the week ahead so wish me luck!

The Christmas charity is up and we have sold 50 Sarawak Penan Bags to raise RM1260 for donation to Rumah Charis. Syukur alhamdulillah. The gift pledge cards are hung on the school Christmas tree and steady stream of presents are expected until 17 December 2021. Considering the economic outlook is not as bright as we have hoped, the generosity of many never fail to impress us. May this charity be long and blessed.

Last Friday, the very first COVID-19 cases was recorded in secondary school. The Senior Leadership Team, teachers, staff, students and parents have mostly remained calm and orderly. As of press time, there have been no new cases, no cluster has been formed and we will continue to trace and test. The year group in question are being self-isolated and lessons will continue online. Grit on! Our first school case since March 2020, what an amazing feat while it lasted.

Girl and Bean were in school for total of 2 days during their turn in rotation. The community we live in recorded 2 cases by the end of their second day at school and we immediately opted for online learning/work from home module with trips out to the grocer only when necessary. This self- imposed/strict discipline/err on side of caution have worked well for us as 3 more local cases were recorded. The Other Half stalks the community e-bulleting like a hawk and we will remain vigilant, inshaAllah. May Allah swt grant us all the strength, stamina, financial resources and protection while we ride out challenges of Omicron, Delta and annoying political situation in Malaysia.  

A little note to celebrate: I got my Pfizer booster dose!

Here is a quick update on my journey of luxury minimalism. Many of you know that I am an investment-conscious, work-from-home mother with no helper and have limited fund for frivolous spending. I used to purchase luxury purses and shoes using my annual bonus and this habit stuck. In 2020, I started curating my items mindfully, adding only a couple of key classic pieces so that I have a good rotation to choose from.

By 2021, my closet declutter items that were identified had been sent to a local reliable consignment company known as Labagatory. They sold some of my items in record fast time - one noir Hermes Bastia coin purse in Epsom leather which is now obsolete with e-wallet being so prevalent, one red Salvatore Ferragamo belt with GHW which I bought for Christmas and CNY "uniform" but never wore, and one pair of black Salvatore Ferragamo Vara jelly that I never quite broke in because leather shoes are so much more comfortable. I also sold a carmine red Salvatore Ferragamo shopping tote and black Anya Hindmarch work tote to another luxury reseller at Bangsar Village.

However, there were also some items from Carolina Herrera the wonderful people at Labagatory assessed and decided not to take on. I guess these will be donated, same as I had done with the bundle of Coach, Oroton, Braun Buffel, Frankitas and several other contemporary branded intems that were quickly snapped up in my neighbourhood preloved group.  

My consignment success also did not extend to a brand new Balenciaga City Classic. Maybe I will ask if I can dye the distressed lambskin from denim to all black so that I can make it work better with my capsule wardrobe closet but I know that denim colour can work just as well with my casual/weekend pieces. I just need to put in some coordinating effort when dressing myself?

I feel so light and free from having a smaller but cohesive wardrobe and those of you on this journey will agree with me that less is more. I do not understand how I ever "lost" my capsule wordrobe as I always had one since small until my early 30s. Boy, am I glad I hit my resume mode?

Pardon my rambling on. I better get back to decluttering. I bet I have a whole lot more items to donate, if I care to properly assess. I am already looking forward to less clutter.

Stay safe, everyone!

Post-Renovation

Syukur alhamdulillah, The Flat is finally ready after a short delay!

We moved back on Deepavali Day a couple of days ago and it feels like home. The gratitude and relief of working with the right people, who understood our wishes, budget and timeline makes all the sacrifices and inconveniences worth it.

All our bedrooms walls were stripped of wallpaper and now painted white. The entire ceiling is white. All our curtains except Girl's bedroom is white. The walls at living and dining are magical indeed - it is a shade of grey slate known as "Abracadabra" from Nippon Paints. They look fresh now. The previous wallpapers have served their time and purpose to the maximum and were beautiful then.

The concealment of air conditioner wires look neat, plaster ceiling leak patches have been repaired, cracks have been hacked then sealed and door frames have been stripped of the temporary wallpaper covering and repainted white.

We also have 2 units of the living and dining hall air-conditioner replaced. Although the new units are somewhat "noisier", this is still the better choice with consistent performance so far. Hopefully the electricity bill savings will show by the next billing.

Our new timber doors have been customized and will be delivered for installation soon. They are also painted, you guessed it right, white!

Alhamdulillah it is good to be home again. Now, moving on to the repopulation and unpacking mayhem...wish me luck!

The Flooring

Salam my lovelies,

We are not quite ready to place laminated wood over our marble flooring just yet. Upon second thoughts, second opinions and further reading, it "cheapens" The Flat and whilst we are not selling our home, we are not completely certain that laminated wood is the solution to our concerns.

What if the air cond leaks when we are away? The warranty says "waterproof" and yet we are not 100% certain to commit.

Speaking of the air cond...the unit near our playroom is wonky. It turns off and on before settling on "on mode" upon being switched on. Then it blows warm air. After a while, it will blow cold air if it is a cool day outside. On a hot day, it blows warm air. Needless to say, the contractor is coming to "sign its death warrant" this Friday.

The other air cond unit at our dining hall is somewhat better behaved. Alhamdulillah for that.

With these pending work and the move to The Flat At Block B (home away from home while we renovate), I am going to be bogged down this October. In my quiet joyful moment, forced spring cleaning is always good for my soul as all our worldly possessions go into keep, donate or recycle categories. Most of the children's books and art go to keep, their outgrown outfits find their way to the donation box and random 1001 items that do not spark joy end up in recycle box.

This is one journey I am determined to enjoy and be thankful for, inshaAllah. Wish us luck!

The Search

Salam my lovelies,

Before we decided on carrying out the minor renovation to upkeep The Flat, we considered flipping The Flat for a landed property closer to school.

We saw 3 units of double-storey linked houses at Taman Tun Dr Ismail and my parents-in-law even tagged along. The first was too dark, the second was too depilated and the third was facing Petron! All 3 quickly got struck off the list despite what we call "Mummy's eternal love for Taman Tun Dr Ismail". I spent years living there and I know the area well enough. Unfortunately, things do not work out this time.

Then, we saw this wonderful double storey semi-detached house at Kiara View. The garden patch on both sides of the house, double security gating, and fairly quiet neighbourhood were all charming. However, the main power grid in that area was too close for comfort. That outshined our minor complaint that the street was both cul de sac and narrow. We were hoping to escape the upcoming 5G EMF radiation in the city so we were careful in our search to avoid transmission towers and power grids.

There is a house facing the school which is still being put up for sale but the price tag is beyond our budget. I still say a prayer every now and then for the house to wait for us...and maybe I will stop when The Kids have both gone to university.

So, here we are. Selecting the main-contractor to help us maintain The Flat in good order for the next decade, inshaAllah. In any case, I am looking forward to filling The Flat with more plants.

Wish us luck!

The Flat

Salam my lovelies,

We have been living at The Flat since Deepavali of 2011. Seeing Facebook Memories from the time we received the keys to furnishing and adding some final touches to The Flat brings me fond memories. Back then, I was so much more confident in my choices, and resilient in dealing with interior designers, delinquent contract workers and bouncing back from it all to delivering The Flat satisfactorily.

I did all that while Girl was an active 16 months old and The Other Half was still working 12 hours a day for 4 days in a week. We had no helpers and I remember driving Girl home one evening at 5:30 p.m. after seeing off the contractors for that day. She cried and threw a tantrum in the car from exhaustion and there was once the 3 of us walked from Corinthian to Hampshire en route dinner at Ampang Park to peep at our lovely wallpapers and lights. I was definitely younger and had more energy...

The reason why I am noting this journey with The Flat is because I am out of "fire" or courage and need to find that brave old me. 

We are in the midst of searching for a suitable main-contractor to help us with some maintenance and upkeep of plaster ceiling, door frames and wall. The plaster ceiling has suffered some leaks from the central air-conditioning leaks over the last few years. In the last 6 months, the leaks have finally stopped but left some unsightly watermarks. We were in a quagmire about replacing the central air-conditioning or not before repairing the plaster ceiling. So far, it appears to be working well and we just have to take the plunge at some point to carry on.

Our door frames have been the worst nightmare for us as they left paint bubbles that cracked and released fine dust which we have covered with wallpaper for "interim" measure. It trapped all that fine dust since 2012, and 6 years of interim measure has been working so well for us. Now, to replace the door frames will mean cracking wall and floor tiles which we are not ready to finance. It looks like we have to resort to conventional ratification of stripping, sanding down and repainting of the door frames. 

The wallpapers in all bedrooms and living/dining areas will be removed in the process of us repairing some cracks and concealing some wires. We seem to find external wiring with white PVC tubing covers done by the air-conditioner installers when we replaced 2 units of air-conditioners for The Kids' room disturbingly unsightly. That will call for the walls to be repainted. Our wallpapers have hit their lifespan, but they were the loveliest way of concealing settling cracks on our walls since 2011. 

On a positive note, we have found Floor Depot to be still the best fit for all our flooring needs (cracked and chipped marble to be covered up with laminated floor boards) but that is the last item on our top to bottom sequence. We can only book and lock in their current sale price once we confirm the main-contractor next week.

In the past week, we have met 4 different possible main-contractors who showed up at The Flat for an assessment. All the leads came from Kaodim but we cross-checked their reviews on other websites and apps too, just to be safe. We are likely to select the one with the best review, albeit more pricey as the best and honest opinions have come from that fourth and final appointment today. The Other Half and I share the same sentiment that we may have to pay a small premium for the best possible outcome with the team who seem to understand our concerns and targets.

Wish us luck!

Summer in Sydney: Day Two

The hallmark of Girl's Sydney breakfast ritual is morning cartoons. This trip, she discovered a cartoon about 3 bears - polar bear, brown grizzly bear and panda bear who coexist in a home near a town. Her last trip was all Ben-10! Bean was obsessed with The Bare Bears every morning so I had often brought them their breakfast and allowed them to eat in front of the telly while they were still in their pyjamas!

Since this was going to be a short holiday, we literally had to turn off the telly and pry them out of the serviced apartment by 10 am. We walked to the ANZAC Memorial, had both lunch and tea at Australian Museum and dinner at Sydney Opera House.

They both spent many hours collecting twigs and leaves at ANZAC Memorial and Hyde Park. It was a taste of normal childhood as they played tag (ran and chased one another while laughing crazily and loudly) while The Other Half and I sipped our lattes and watched out for their safety. Inside the memorial, Girl was able to recognise the red poppy garland as a tribute to fallen soldiers who defended Australia during the war.

We went indoors at Australian Museum as soon as the sun got hotter and we left the kids to be fascinated by display about Spiders. They especially loved colouring their own spiders, scanned it at the kiosk and see their own spider animated. There was just so much for them to do we spent many hours and two meals there until closing time. The rooftop cafe offers a lovely view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Fresh air and sunshine were let in as they left the sliding doors wide open for natural ventilation. Fresh food and drinks were of fairly good quality too, a nice change from just cold sandwiches, pastries and coffee which you often find at museums.

After an overload of Spiders,  we let the kids loose again at Hyde Park and Botanical Gardens until the shower hit us at 5.30 pm as per weather forecast. We had ponchos and umbrellas ready. Dinner was at Sydney Opera House for the Harbour Bridge view. Japanese cuisine was fresh and tasty but we were too stuffed to order any dessert.

At around 7pm, the little ones started showing signs of having had too much fun (read as: tired, tantrums) so we boarded the train from Circular Quay back to Town Hall. A quick walk past Queen Victoria Building, and we were almost at doorstep of our home away from home. Bean threw a mini tantrum because he wanted to hold all 4 Opal cards, and insisted on being carried once he got tired of walking. I was his one and only MamaTaxi, and to be honest I enjoyed kissing his cheeks while he clung on tightly for dear life.

Again, everyone got washed and retired early while adults stayed up to pray, finish the laundry and enjoy a cup of tea - which soon became a good routine considering it was a holiday.

Summer in Sydney: Day One

Once we breezily cleared our immigration and collected our two luggages, we went out to search for Alex. He is our trusted, reliable and friendly limo driver, whenever we visit Sydney.

Remember how we declined our pre-booked in-flight meals as we were sleeping during meal time? We were so famished and thirsty we requested for a quick breakfast at the arrival hall. Alex Anani introduced us to a kiosk that serves halal pita bread, baked on the spot! Brews fresh ground coffee too. We bought apple juice for the kids but oh, fresh pita bread with latte for breakfast was simply divine! He was so kind he let us eat and drink in his luxury car (we promised not to leave crumbs or spills).

There has been an upgrade to his Mercedes-Benz since we last saw him and kids were thrilled with the sunroof. They kept saying it was just like their grandad's last car and how it works differently from the current Lexus sunroof, I distracted myself by looking out of the car window as we passed Zetland and headed into the city. I felt right at home. Home away from home. Only with cleaner air.

A short 20 minutes later, we arrived at Meriton Pitt St. Check-in time was brief as they had all our details. The bonus was that they had a unit of serviced apartment ready for us right away at noon. Check-in time is stated at 2 pm and we were not charged the extra couple of hours. Sweet!

The reception staff was also culturally-sensitive/aware and asked if I had any objections to the number 4404 fengshui-wise. We did not mind one bit and our only minor comment after being shown the unit was that the master bedroom was a bit of a squash and a squeeze.

The extra two hours allowed me to unpack, got everyone showered and we ventured out to Woolworth for supplies (laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, fruits, tea, cereals and bread). We went out again for a walk as soon as the groceries had been brought home. There was a construction site along Kent St. so luckily we did not select Meriton Kent St.!

We walked towards Pitt St Mall and since there were buskers everywhere, we did not have a chance to go shopping. Bean asked for a photo of Sydney Tower from Pitt St Mall before asking for an early dinner from the Japanese cafe near Meriton Pitt St. He got over-stimulated at an electrical and computer store, and only cooled down once we were outdoors.

After a quick dinner and wash up, we retired early to recharge for the adventures ahead. I did the laundry with eucalyptus laundry gel - and be the first woman in history who regrets not buying a dozen bottles of laundry gel to bring home. 

Oh, Sydney. You have changed so much and yet everything is the way it is. 

Happy Malaysia Day!

Salam, my lovelies.

How are you spending Malaysia's 53rd birthday?

I had fun cleaning, no joke. There is a certain happy aura once everything is spick and span (I am beyond help, you may snigger away). After spring cleaning, I went to dinner on my own at Bonjour Garden (the kids gave me a holiday, woohoo!) and stocked up on groceries from Jaya Grocers' at Intermark (RM350 for a couple of stuff?!)

Looks like it is going to be piano lessons tomorrow (assessment and concert are fast approaching) and Sunday at The House.

Have a good holiday and fun, everyone!

My Iron Lady

LaundryMonster no longer rules our roost, alhamdulillah!

Miss M comes over for two hours twice weekly and she has been consistingly producing these great results:

My stress levels have dropped since. I can actually sit down and work every evening for productive 20 minutes or so and still have time to read to the kids if they decide to stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights. Without me losing my mind.

I am not sure if I did share openly about my low period? I was liking The Other Half less because he too, was not coping with the ironing. When I had to put in extra 4 hours a week to just cover for him, I started feeling resentful and bitter. Actually, exhaustion and feeling depleted can be very damaging.

We had a heart-to-heart talk and agreed to budget for a part-time, live-out helper. 

Everyone feels so much better now:

1. The Other Half can also rest and focus on the kids (I believe my next move is to remove the handheld device from him for 2 hours every night when he is supposed to be spending time with the kids!!)

2. I feel less resentment and can actually watch a DVD at night at home once a month with The Other Half without guilt (or running short of things to wear that actually matches). I used to feel like a useless mum not in control of my home and chores because of LaundryMonster. Shopping for clothes is more liberating now because I do not focus on how long it would take to iron anymore and choose base on what looks good on me.

3. Girl has her clothes all sorted out now. I just focus on her Taekwando uniform and swim bags. Those frills and bows, sashes and pleats? Miss M does not mind them one bit. Yay!!

4. Bean has a good choice of shark, cars and trucks tees and pajamas with their matching shorts/pants. Bean's tantrum from not getting what he wants to wear when he wants "it" has reduced significantly. Even when a favourite item is still in the wash, I can just reason with him, "Aunty M will iron it for you after it is washed. She will be here tomorrow." Magic.

5. Miss M is happy with the extra income and since she considers our laundry bulk small for a family of four,  we are an easy family to work with. 

We count of blessings for having Miss M. To think that we had her phone number all these while but not trying out her services until The Other Half and I were recovering from our respective surgery. 

We had been silly, haven't we?

Work From Home: Support Network

Salam, my lovelies.

Seven years ago, I made the decision to quit the rat race to raise a young family. It is the craziest/bravest/stupidest decision I have ever made in my life (I must confess it is actually the best and appropriate decision given my circumstances).

We have no live-in helper. No driver.

When I was pregnant with Bean, I had Kak Saras come over on weekends to help clean The Flat. She did that for a few months until after my confinement. She used to help me out when Girl was first born too. Alas, she is too old to take on cleaning jobs now, and we have yet to find someone as trustworthy and detailed as she is. If you know of a live-out cleaning lady/housekeeper, please drop me a message. Thank you.

Recently, we also contacted a live-out helper to come in for a few hours twice weekly to help with ironing. She is a real blessing and I kick myself for not engaging her sooner! Together, she and I, we fight LaundryMonster. So far so good, Alhamdulillah.

Finally, we have a professional babysitter to watch Bean for a couple of hours when I take Girl out to her piano lessons. Ms R is someone we are familiar with as she was a former teacher at The Playschool. Bean adores her, to my huge relief! They read, watch Disney DVDs, share snacks and play when I am away.

Whilst we can and want to do everything ourselves, sometimes, we just need an extra pair of hands. With a spouse recovering from surgery, and my having 3 work-from-home jobs (other than being a full-time mum and wife), I feel this is a wise move and better employment of time/skills/energy.

If you have more coping tips, please do share!

Spring Clean: Arts & Crafts

Best 10 minutes of my me-time last night. Muji drawers, Dymo label printer et voilà! 

We are more psyched to paint after school now that it is less hassle accessing our supplies, inter alia.

Here is what we made for autumn:

This will be complete once we add a stand behind the piece so that it can form a backdrop for the dolls' house.

Hope this spring clean bug infects you too, my lovelies!

Spring Clean: Wardrobe

I love the high I feel after a good spring clean. I spent 10 minutes this morning, putting away a few blouses, skirts, scarves and blouse inners that I no longer wear.

Yes, 10 minutes was all I had and I ended up donating 2 bags full of clean clothes of good wear quality. I value closet real estate and once I feel it is on the brink of bulge, I purge the items.

Yesterday, I spent 10 minutes spring cleaning our shoe cabinet and donated a few pairs of the children's outsized StrideRite and Clarks. At least now I know which pair exactly to upsize during sale.

They grow faster than they can wear those shoes, I kid you not. One brand new pair of ballerina flats Girl tried on and purchased just yesterday at Res Toe Run ended up in the donation bin today because she woke up this morning and said those lovely toes of hers have grown longer. And it is true! I tear my own hair out over this RM139 overnight growth spurt.

(Her Sprout on bottom right also made visible progress so I guess she is growing  overnight!)

Despite that costly incident, I love these pockets of effective and efficient 10 minutes so much. It leaves the entire flat with good, fresh, positive energy.

I have a good feeling the art and craft supplies drawers are going to be next. 

How often do you spring clean, my lovelies? Please do share!

Wallpaper On Door Frames

We had paint bubble defects on all our door frames since before Bean was born and The Other Half had taped down every single door frame with contact paper (wood grain design). Alhamdulillah it took care of the problem, albeit temporarily.

We knew we had to find a permanent solution so we started budgeting, did some brainstorming and debated our options. Change the door frames? That would rip apart our existing wallpaper on walls. Paint? That did not take care of those mysterious/reappearing bubbles and bursts. 

Long story cut short, today, our ID contractor finally got the wallpaper of our choice, his workmen et voilà! 

We knew we found the right ID contractor when he agreed with us that this out-of-the-box-solution of applying wallpaper on door frames is something he would love to take on. 

In fact, he had been so kind as to carry out glue maintenance for our wallpaper so that we can gauge of his team is good enough for the task. The Other Half had taken this golden opportunity to pay his team for other menial tasks that other contractors will not take on. Simply because they are menial. Like cut a manhole (for air conditioning maintenance access) and repainting of plaster ceiling together with gluing back of warped wooden skirting.

Returning to the present recount of wallpaper on door frames, some run of the mill contractors suggested paint, which did not address the reappearance of bubbles, as we have tried and failed before. I guess our legwork and shortlisting of ID contractors at the KLCCC home fair worked well for us, alhamdulillah!

Certainly a life-hack we love! We eagerly anticipate the end of this little maintenance project of ours, inshaAllah by tomorrow. 

Then on to tackle a bigger project of creating a home office, a laundry room and Bean's bedroom, perhaps in 2016 inshaAllah!

Lego Table

If you are a fan of IKEA Hackers, you would have seen a few Lego Table hacks by now. 

This is ours. A simple Lack, 2 Bygel rails and some colourful Bygel buckets. We had the Grundtal stainless steel containers and cutlery stands at first but they felt heavy (and noisy when Lego pieces were being thrown back inside). 

Before:

After:

This hack has given Bean unlimited new play angles, and he explored new possibilities like never before. The Little Girl loves how accessible the "special pieces" are in plastic buckets without having to rummage through our Samla big box of bricks. Special pieces in her definition means non-brick pieces. 

The Samla transparent box tucks neatly under the Lack table when not in play, which is just awesome! Being transparent, Bean can also easily spot the Lego pieces he wants and aims for them.

We have not screwed down the Bygel rails as The Other Half is worried about damaging the fragile Lack table. He used 3M double-sided tapes instead and those strong tapes have held the weight so far. There are various weight hold grades, be sure to select 3 kg and above. 

We did not choose the Grundtal rails due to the sharper corners, preferring the smoother and rounded finish of the Bygel rails. Babyproofing!

We have not taped down the Lego green play base because we wanted some flexibility and not restrict ourselves to just Lego. After the kids have gone to school, we parents may just want a coffee table to serve the purpose it was designed for - have a hot cup of java on it!

Happy hacking and playing, my lovelies!

Snippets: LaundryMonster

The Little Girl victoriously applauded and excitedly exclaimed, "Wow!"

I guess she has only seen a huge mess of laundry to be ironed most of her life.

Let me just bask in this temporal Brabantia glory for the next few hours...

Gratitude: Raindance, Hansgrohe

Today, I am grateful for shower of blessings, literally and figuratively.

How have you been, my lovelies?

I have been quiet and busy, obviously. The sort of busyness that involved an end of tenancy, handover, repairs and maintenance followed by deep cleansing by professional cleaning crew, sussing out new potential tenants and redecorating. Fun, tiring type of busyness, in my case.

Also, I cannot even begin to describe my utter joy of getting fabulous customer service from Madam Cecilia Hiew at Hansgrohe, No. 211 & 213, Jalan Maarof, 59100 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia without sounding like a complete lunatic because her friendly banter was exactly what I needed to snap me out of my blues. That, and some retail therapy for the kids' attire.

More importantly, I have been busy trying to find myself. That part of myself where my happiness and contentment resides. I cannot even begin to tell you how refreshed, revived and nourished my soul is after a few sessions of podcasts from Nouman Ali Khan, subhanAllah. 

The other successful formula to my happiness is free (meaning no retail therapy required) and simple. I had gone to bed early, drank enough water and just like that, the depressing mood lifted. He must have answered my prayers, ultimately.

Have a lovely week ahead, my lovelies!

LaundryMonster

This is precisely why I am NOT active on Facebook or possess any other social media account.

As The Other Half puts it, "Something has to give". He has a good point because Allah swt gave each of us 24 hours per day equally so when time is preciously limited, we need discipline to use it wisely, for whatever good cause close to our hearts.

Chin up! Iron on! It is just another week of LaundryMonster! 

 

The Leak, Part 2 of 2

Here is an update since my last post about the leaking from our air-conditioner units at the hall, dining room and master bedroom. 

As the temperatures and humidity soared when the air-conditioner units were out of commission, my patience wore thinner.

Thankfully, the rain over a few evenings kept the temperature at night slightly lower than usual. We made do with a few ceiling fans and portable fans. It was bearable, at best. Bean slept in his shorts and tees without his cellular blanket on.

During the day, sweaty and stuffy best described us. We could not leave the windows open as it was humid, dusty and noisy. Often, I asked myself if this "unsustainable" lifestyle of having the air-conditioner on for 24/7 is reasonable. The answer was (is) obvious but where we live is not my call. So I put up with it and tried my best to shut my mental chatter up.

Mental chatter aside, we are now crossing our fingers and toes, hoping and praying that the leak is fixed for good. The contractor finally managed to slot us an appointment and did some serious blueprint search at the management office. 

What he found was shocking.

First shock: All 5 units share one master outlet pipe, and some "dummy" outlet pipes were found, unused of course.

Second shock: This master outlet pipe runs along the height of our wing for the entire block. That is at least 33 floors worth of air-conditioning outlet water to channel out? I pray so hard this will not get blocked perpetually. Who am I kidding, right?

Should we reroute our outlet and resort to activate our own private "currently dummy" pipes? That way, we will be saved the hassle of a blocked master outlet pipe, if and when that happens.

Too shocked, still. Please find me a chair, I need to sit down for a moment and think this through. Moment of needing pedoman from His Almighty...

The Leak: Part 1 of 2

Allah swt is really testing my patience of late. The subject is constant, and my "answers" and/or reaction have hopefully improved over the years. Sabr is part of iman and since He keeps testing me, He must really want me to pass!

Two of our air-conditioning units are leaking and since they are out of commission, the comfort level at The Flat has been ...

... severely lacking.

I guess I failed the test right there when I mentioned my discomfort.

The dripping has not stopped for a few nights now, sometimes waking Bean up at wee hours of the night. On a positive note, it sounds quite comforting, like pitter patter after the rain. Can you guess how desperate I am at trying to look for the beauty in this ordeal?

Our timber skirting has warped from water damage. The wallpaper is taking a beating too. I self-soothe by telling myself that this is just a small property damage that can be fixed. Be thankful we still have a home.

The timber flooring strips look wet from beneath despite being mopped up. My fear is rot. If indeed it rots, we will have to get replacement strips. Put in the effort, this is a trial of sabr.

The bucket has to be emptied so often so as not to pose a drowning risk to curious Bean. Be watchful over Bean, he is His Amanah.

On top of that, we are not able to open our windows to let in fresh, cool, clean air because there is none to be found in the city. When we did, briefly, we let in dust, noise and humidity. Much regret but be patient. Clean, clean and clean. 

The serviceman is coming tomorrow and hopefully he can fix this fix we are in, pun intended.

We know he cannot fix the underground pipes without hacking half of The Flat. We know one of the air-conditioning units  have to be rerouted, at best.

So often, I feel so frustrated at the architect and interior designer who had conceived The Flat. Did they not foresee these intricacies? Was it purely a commercial decision?

Until then, I am reconsidering a simple, traditional Malay kampung home at Janda Baik. Freehold. No encumbrances.  Small plot of garden. Time it takes for daily school run...reality check!

Hope the leaks will be fixed for good, in sha Allah. 

Note to self: Be thankful for the lessons derived.

Spring Clean: Handbags & Beneficiaries

My former cleaning lady received a few large bags containing my pre-loved Balenciaga and Oroton (and a couple more hand-crafted totes) about a fortnight ago. She was pleasantly surprised as she has stopped working with us for about two years.

She also has a grand-daughter a little younger than The Little Girl who has been inheriting outgrown but mint-condition garment/toys/books since birth. Everyone is thankful for this arrangement as nothing goes to waste.

This symbiotic relationship suits us all because they can find good wear out of our pre-loved items and we in turn clear up some precious wardrobe and bookshelves real estate. 

Being a busy mum on-the-go, I find it tedious to sell online or at second-hand boutiques outside the city. For the pittance I probably get in return, I am sure my former cleaning lady and her appreciation is worth more. 

We are happy that they are happy. Often times, that is all that matters.

To Kak Saras and all her good years of service especially during my pregnancies and confinement periods, thank you. May God bless you and yours abundantly.

 

P/S: Yes, you may have my tattered Jim Thompson navy tote when I finish saying goodbye to it. I am just not quite done loving it. I know how much you love the same tote in red *hehe*