First Home

I received my keys for my very own first home few weeks ago but the elation was replaced with dread after seeing the poor workmanship and incomplete works within my unit (not talking about outside yet).

It totally spoiled my mood and I almost threw a fit at the developer's representative. (Thank God, I didn't... totally).

Here is the scenario:

1. Owner
- First time buyer
- Paid using hard earned money
- Can't wait to move in
- Whole long list of defects which is just poor workmanship, cheap material and no supervision, rushed work, incomplete design.
- Already swamped for months by calls and sms's property agents from (developer's staff selling all the information)

2. Developer
- Already collected money from purchaser
- Minimise cost and maximise profit
- Had to issue Vacant Possession because almost expiry of 3 years from signed SPA
- Assume most purchasers are investors who will renovate or sell off quickly
- Based on current situation, the price bought then is consider "cheap" so can give "cheap products"

Why I am dreading even visiting this "home"?
1. Snagging list - I have to check the unit for defects and ensure they have fixed it. Have to carefully prepare the long term documentation to ensure rectification by developer for latent defects in future.
2. 2nd inspection - There was no water supply to test the wares during the 1st inspection. 2nd inspection can only be done on weekdays. So I HAVE to apply leave to check and collect keys the second round.
3. Extra renovation work - They specified timber skirting which was wavy, different thickness, poorly installed, nails protruding, 5-10mm gap from the floor tiles. Meaning, it does not function as a skirting but is an eye sore. A skirting is to prevent dirtying the wall when you mop the floor. In this case, it's to hide all the dust between skirting and tiles. It's perhaps envisioned as hidden behind the furniture...
4. Potential leakage from neighbour above - Yes, overseas bathrooms are designed and used as dry bathroom. But in Malaysia where bidet is a must, all bathrooms & toilets are usually wet. Face the fact and design according the norm. You can't expect the majority to use like the westerners when it is not the culture here. By not allowing a drop level from the toilet to the bedroom, if a leaky tap is left overnight, you will flood the whole unit and drip even down to the units below. Hello?

In short, despite my profession, it is sad to see the whole consultant team and even the superintending officer allowing such a basic thing to happen. Worse of all, it's a reputable developer. The other project before this - had almost zero defects. My friend bought the right project.

It boils down to luck for normal purchasers. You see, for construction, only one things matters: the consultant and construction team.

If you get a good project manager (representative from client) who can direct the whole team and also more conscientious consultants who will take effort to design as if it's their own home, maybe then you might get a more decent home. If these people were willing to take an extra effort to ensure the quality of the workmanship, perhaps then, the general perception of poor workmanship in the construction line can be lessen? If the developer's management really wanted to maintain their reputation despite it being a middle-cost project, perhaps then, I would not be so irritated and disgusted by the construction line?

Lol. Daydreaming..

My Happiest Moment

My happiest moment relates back to my loved ones around me. A little furry ball which changed a major event in life about 2 years back.

Both my parents were retired.
Both my parents are now 24 hours at home together.
My siblings and I have grown up and moved on with our lives.

But most importantly, my parents argue more often as they have to deal with each other all the time unlike previously, half day away at work. I've heard these situation occurs to my other friends' parents too. With nothing much to occupy their time, squabbles over littlest things sprouted overnight like mushrooms.

Then, my brother had to move to a smaller place and temporarily left a little furry ball under my parents care.

Dad; annoyed with additional responsibility, originally didn't welcomed it.
Mum; a lover of all creatures, became a doting "mum" again.
Gradually, our lives changed and now the whole household revolves around this little furball..

What changed?
Suki , the one-eyed Australian Silky terrier changed us.

Dad, who hated all pets now dotingly carries her out with him when he drives out to buy newspaper or groceries. Mum spoils her with scraps from our meals and dresses her up. She becomes the little "grandchild" and the centre of attention. Everyone laughs at her naughty antics and smart tricks she does.

Who is Suki?
This little terrier was 2 years old when my brother adopted her. Mischievous dog who likes to jump onto tables and run around - was not wanted by her owner anymore. She will bark non-stop when left alone - separation anxiety. However, she dotingly follows you and anyone who is eating food; hoping for scraps.

She sits when you tell her to. She stays when you put food in front of her. She only eats when you ask her to. And she barks at every sound, stranger and even when one of us are driving up the road. Her alertness makes her a good guard dog while her "obedience" a good companion.

She uses her nose to push the lever to the dog cage as part of her escape act. She uses her paw to push the door open and she barks at the main door to be let in or out as she pleases. Her intelligence amazes us and make me smile.

Yes, she even eats durian to my mum's delight.

My happiest moment is when this new life joined our household and brought so much laughter, fun and most importantly, companionship to my two retired parents at home. Thank you, Suki for being such a precious dog.

P.S. Technically, she's now my parents dog and my brother can't stand how spoilt she has become under my parents' care. Lol

***
This entry is written because Olympus is giving Nuffnangers the opportunity to win cameras with the ‘Happy Photography’ contest, revolving around your happiest memories.

This is your chance to put your photography skills to the test! Here’s what you need to do:
1. Write a blog post titled “My Happiest Moment”.
2. Include a photo in your blog post that describes your happiest moment. It can be a pre-existing photo, or you can go out and shoot something that represents that moment!
3. Download this file containing Olympus Happy Photography logo variations, choose one of the colour variations and include it in your blog post as well.
4. Once you have written your blog post and taken your photo reflecting the theme of ‘Happy Photography’, submit them at http://nuffnang.com.my/olympus2011 and the best photos with stories behind them will win some awesome prizes from Olympus!

Wish me luck! :)

What would Puss in Boots do?

It's been a long time since I write a post for Nuffnang screening. In fact, this is either my 2nd or 3rd time. Anyway, I can't help but try for this because I'm a big fan of animations e.g. Disney, Pixar and of course, Dreamworks too! Wish me luck!

***
It's a disaster ! The murderous outlaws, Jack and Jill are escaping with the stolen magic beans...
What to do?!?

If I were Puss and Kitty Softpaws, here are 5 simple steps I would do:

Puss with sexy voice of Antonio Banderas and large "Bambi" eyes..

Step 1. Charm his way out with sly tricks and seduction (refer to the movie Zorro)

Step 2. Use his innocence to gain pity and compassion

Step 3. Camouflage/ blend in

Step 4. Borrow Peter Piper's flute to get all the children to come to get lost in the crowd when escaping

Step 5. And when all is loss...  get help from cat's worse enemy - dogs!

Maybe not a goldie (golden retriever) ... perhaps a rottweiler? Poor kitty.. looking so scared.

As for Kitty Softpaws? She should just do one thing:

THE Ultimate step: Sashay her sexy kitty butt away and let the men fight among themselves! ;)

But definitely not dressed as this though! lol  .... Although, the enemies might be too busy running away..... ;)

***
Thanks to United International Pictures Malaysia, Nuffnang is giving away 25 pairs of tickets for the Nuffnang Premiere Screening of Puss in Boots!

Date: 22nd November 2011 (Tuesday)
Time: 9.30pm
Venue: GSC 1 Utama

How to win the tickets?

All you have to do is like what I have done;

- Write a blog post titled “What would Puss in Boots do?”

- Tell them how you would defeat the bad guys if you were Puss and Kitty Softpaws.

- Include the movie poster in your blog post using the codes provided here.

Vanity vs Practicality

I'm going to walk under the hot sun more often these days.

Walking into the site exposed to natural sunlight before 10am (I'm told it's acceptable and that's when you get Vitamin D) is good for you but after that, you can get skin cancer!! And of course a dark tan, skin aging and other skin problems which everyone loathe.

Was thinking, should I get farmer's hat to protect my skin? Vanity?

Wonder what the rest will comment when I walk around as if I'm going to the beach. ;)

Then I saw this... it looks like I can easily fold/ carry around. Simple and practical straw hat? The Koreans are always designing cutesy stuff like this.

Then I can also put over my safety helmet. Lol. Will I'll look like the typical construction workers then? Perhaps I should choose pink or purple that will make me stand out and look different. Lol

What say you? Don't care and walk in the sun (suffer the effects years later) or in the name of vanity/health, put on the hat like this? ;)

Besides the physical barrier with a sun protection/ hat, what about sunscreen/ sunblock?  I only put in the morning before I go to work and I don't reapply later. Does it mean by mid-noon I need to reapply? Think my other consultants would be rolling their eyes if I did that... hahaha

Well, in the meantime, I should just walk in ANY shade I can find... ;)
 Don't want to have those dark pigmentation spots which even laser cannot remove but only lighten it. I have enough skin problems for the past 3 decades....

Blogging woes

I started blogging to vent out my frustrations and also creativity juice. I love writing... used to dream of being a novelist and even wrote an adventure book in my primary 5... alas.. not finished but loved to read through eat and laugh at my creativity juices then.

Hence, blogging allows me and every other person to share their own opinions and views very easily to a large target of group.

However, when I write, I love to attach with some pictures and here comes my problem.

I take picture with whatever I have; handphone, camera, ipad, etc. So I get lazy and annoyed with having to synchronise my photos with Itunes. Sigh..  In the end, I have so many ideas to blog about albeit without the pictures shelved aside... for.. some time.. and I hope not shelved away forever. Lol

Was thinking perhaps I should finally invest in a good camera for myself but with the wide array out there and not enough parameters from me yet, what would I get?

Olympus PEN-EP3?
Reading the reviews - seems pricey for a compact dslr.. might as well get a dslr for that price.

Sony NEX5N?
Don't quite like the feel of it when I hold it... how??

Or just get a compact camera with a little higher specs?

Or just maintain with my Iphone 3G? (Miss my Sony Erricson!!)

Oh well, let me dwell and think about it till I find one that catches my fancy... ;)

Dressing Up Your Nails

I used to keep my nails short because I play the piano. Plus, goody-two-shoes me always followed the rules (school rules) and my feminine hormones haven't kicked in to get me interested to keep them long. Plus the fact, I thought my nails didn't grew straight enough to be painted on and skin around my nails used to peel.

Thank God, those two worries seemed irrelevant now and belatedly, I wanted to try to dress up my nails especially with all those nail art, bling-bling, konad stencils, etc. Tried manicure twice but was worried about scratching the nail polish (which usually happens in hardly an hour) and so, I only choose neutral pinkish natural colours. Maybe I should be more daring and just try them out since promotion sites like groupons happen to have cheap promo on manicures.

Anyhow, here is my collection of nail polish to jump start my new interest:

1. Rimmel nail polish from the Cut Above launch.
At first I thought when will I daringly colour my nails so dark.. but with the quirky cute patterns to draw, that'll be different.

2. Little Romantics set from OPI.
I always thought french manicure was simple and neat. Hence, when I saw this little set from OPI, I decided to give it a try. I managed to get from a seller in lowyat at 30% cheaper than Sasa... yipee! :)

3. Face Shop Nail Polish
At RM5.90 each, I thought it's no harm to give it a try. Got a simple pink coloured one (I know, still playing safe) and an upper coat with glitter. Lol

Told mum I wanted some nail polish and these are what she got from me from Aussie.


4. Revlon Nouveau Nail Polish.

5. Rubi shoes Nail Polish
Says that it's 1 AUD! Sounds like a steal to me.

*Note: Will add in the details of each nail polish later and share my DIY manicure next time! ;)

Girls being girls..

Girls being girls.. love looking pretty and of course, pretty little things. Don't you?

I guess I'm going into another cycle again and am getting interested again with makeup. As I read some reviews online on beauty products and look at FOTD (face of the day) by other bloggers. It makes me wonder; can I play dress up and practice my makeup too. Perhaps, that'll give me confidence too?

Lol... the last time I went full blast into makeup, my skin had an outbreaks of comodones which was horrible.. took me 2 years ? or less to clear those blemish and bumps on my face. Perhaps it was bad cleansing or most likely the stress from studies, but I have a little phobia with putting foundation on my face nowadays.

Well... meanwhile I've placed some "orders" with my parents in Australia to get me some Face of Australia products that I've been reading online by beauty bloggers in Australia.

Should I or shouldn't I start experimenting again?

I personally think, ladies should practise and improve their added advantage from men. Ladies should dress selectively to enhance certain feature when necessary and look pretty and pleasant all the time. People will like to deal with a sweet pretty smiling lady, right?

Like watching this smiling Korean actress in the new drama series now, Glory Jane

After all, men is said to have the brawn and strength. Women have their beauty. We should use all the gifts from God in our physical form too. But not too extreme- mind you.. ;)

Hence, this is a checklist of makeup I wish to try and master it:
1. Eyeliner ..... (liquid!! Lol)
2. Day eye makeup which is not blue. Maybe try the neutral warm tones without looking like a black eye.
3. False eyelashes
4. Manicure - technically not make-up but I think with the beautiful nail art around, I should at least give a basic polish to my nails, right?

Wish me luck! ;)

Cutesy Stuff: Baby Booties

My friends have reached another stage of life: motherhood. Their facebook profile pictures are of their little ones.

Hence, baby gifts shopping is also part of my routine.

I watch out for cute personal stuff and of course - useful ones.

I've been buying handmade crocheted baby booties from a nice seller in lowyat.net "raven" and reviewed before.

Now another seller has caught my eyes with her creation but it's pricey! No one has bought from her yet and I'm also apprehensive to spend so much on it.

So here are some eye candies of her cute creative creations. Wish I can concentrate and make my own.. lol

Cute right? ;)

Looking Through the Eyes ....

I don't know why I just feel old.

I look around the office politics.
I look around the young ambitious people.
I look around the over-eager-to-prove.
And I just feel disgusted.

Seriously. I'm not that old but I just get fed up looking at all "these".
Call it what you want but knowing someone's true intentions is not good sometimes.
But being ignorant might find you at the sharp end of the knife.

Looking through the eyes of someone who sees things..
Even though I have not seen the worse,
But it feels like there is more drama to come.
I wonder who will fall next.

Does this mean I should take effort to safeguard myself?
Does this mean I should flee before I get entangled?
Does this mean I'm thinking too much?
Or does it mean I... to quote Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind,
"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Whatever it is, I wish I can quickly find my calling and make up my mind what I truly want to do next...