lauk raya 2017

one of the year's resolution was to attempt a couple of Hari Raya dishes from scratch.

which i did! oh-so-proudly at that!

a few days before Syawal, i decided i wanted to make kuah satay. so i expressed my intention to mummy and told me to remind her about it the day before Syawal. i wanted to stop at that, but i thought, just one dish? a little pathetic or what. i didnt make any last year because i was jusssttt done with confinement period then, so prolly i should make up for it this year.

so i decided to make lontong goreng (not really lauk Raya, but howellsss) and ayam masak merah for Syawal 2017.

and then i thought, nowww im overconfident. hahahahh.

dont we just loved Post-Its!

i started this labelling practice since i was single when helping with mum in past years. i cannot remember for nuts which set is for which dish - they all consists of similar ingredients! garlic, shallots, chilli, serai, lengkuas etc. how to recall! hence this practice was sooo helpful for mum, and now me!

i didnt realise how much planning and time were needed to make the dishes!
had to skin and blend the ingredients the day/night before, so that by the time i needed to cook, the ingredients were ready for the fire.

by the night of Syawal, i was done with the satay gravy and sambal chicken cooked halfway. because can continue in the morning of Syawal. only made lontong goreng in the morning itself, reducing the risk of it going bad because there's eggs in the dish.

aaand there you have it,
Lontong Goreng,
Ayam Masak Merah,
Kuah Satay
and of course, lontong

all made from scratch, for our small house for Syawal 2017.

achievement unlocked, yayyy! 

come what May.

we are approaching the end of July 2016, and i still hadn't got down to my moving house story and labor story.

well, not that they are any value, but these are two major events that happened back to back which i would like to pen properly.

if you followed me on instagram or fb (im not claiming im famous or anything), you'd know that i have shifted house on 1st May 2016 and given birth on 31st May 2016. the only two reasons why May is an unforgettable month for me.

well, this new motherhood is keeping me caught up with a lot of things. and i hadn't actually finished unpacking yet. this explains the lack of updates everrr. this seemed to be one of the longest ive been on hiatus.

moving and giving birth in May, confinement and Ramadhan in June, followed by Hari Raya Puasa in July. so so many things i want to write about. i just hope i have the time and energy to do so.

for now, its simply motherhood, one day at a time.

oh hack!

its been a while.

we got caught up reviewing the updates on the reno, planning when to move what over time, getting what appliances for the house, settling/planning for payments (urghhh), etc.

#throwback to when i saw the firstttt boxes of appliances in the house - a sign that the reno/installations were right on track. sooooo excited! it felt like opening birthday presents!

the first to be installed was the air-con, looking at the boxes was enough to thrill me.

next up was the partial hacking of the kitchen wall, and the contractors brought over the hood, hob and oven for installation. ooohh all the more exciting!
the painting, kitchen cabinets and lighting etc came nice and slow after that and my eyes warmed with happiness.

our reno progress was pretty prompt, from the laying out the floor protectors to hacking of wall, installing kitchen cabinets and shower screens etc. i supposed its partly due to us informing the reno company that we want to move in by a certain date, and also because we didn't do a lot of renovation (carpentry etc). we also didnt have any specific theme in mind, abz and i went ahead with what we best thought suited our needs and budget. for that, i am thankful that the progress was smooth.

of cos it was not totally perfect. we had a few tough calls like rusty parts, unsmoothened wall paints, dented item parts etc. however we put it across to them nicely and asked the contractors to look into it and get back to us. its like, dont sweat the small stuffs, these things can be talked through.

at the same time, Alhamdulillah for gifts for the new house, namely:

• rice cooker,
• food blender,
• electric airpot,
• airfryer,
• partial monetary contributions for the major appliances
• giveaways such as sofa, bed, towels, dining table
• wedding gifts previously such as juicer and serving plates 

these gifts saved us alottttttttttt, given that we have only been forking out moolahs for the year so far. i knew the prices of the items, so receiving them felt a little overwhelmed on my part. nevertheless we are so so thankful for the generosity of everyone who gifted us these items.

we also received our first bills. bummer.
SP Services and IRAS sent us our electricity bill and property tax. we have not even stayed in the house and money flew out more. pfffffffffffffft.

now the reno is at the last stages before we can actually start to pack up to move in.

ouhhhjyesssss!

clink clank goes the keys.

and so we collected our house keys on 04-Mar-2016 (must save this date!). another milestone as an adult/couple.

recalling that day, it was a smooth process, Alhamdulillah. prolly because we had read earlier on what to do prior to the appointment and we had people advising us what to do upon reaching the hub.

here's the recap upon reaching the hub (and prolly as a reference to those who are collecting keys):

• took the queue number for the key collection appointment, 
• went to Level 2 to pay for fire insurance,
• went to Level 1 just in time for our queue ticket to be called, 
• proceeded to the counter to sign what seemed like endless documents but not yet the keys (danggg), 
• were asked to activate and pay the SP Services and Service & Conservancy Charges accounts at Level 2 and Level 3 respectively, 
• went back to Level 1 to finally collect the house keys, 
• end of appointment at HDB Hub, 
• proceeded to The Home (where else right).  

oh, this process applies to those who applied for HDB BTO. im not sure about the procedures for resale flats purchases.

so anyway, before HDB handed us the keys for which we paid heaps of thousands for, they made us signed tonnes of docs. almost all docs indicated the outstanding amount due to HDB and monthly repayment. the officer over the counter will emphasize on each doc that "this is your house amount, this is your house balance, this is your monthly repayment to HDB." on almost every.single.doc. well, can't blame her really, she was just doing her job.

anyway you'd be too excited to hold that key pouch to even listen to what the officer was blabbering about.

the brief moment of adulthood when holding the keys to your own place and seeing the gate still in shrink wrap - oh so surreal.

abz delayed my entrance into the house to do the rituals inside first. i couldn't even hear what he read. howells.

and so we finally entered the house. a sense of proud moment for a bit, because thats my place now, my own place. abz were still going room to room for laungan doa, while i stayed put in the living room soaking in the reality of sweetness of our place.

we stayed for a bit to inspect for defects and to soft-plan our reno. other than that we were just chilling at the bare house.

we left slightly after Maghrib, with happy faces, for sure.

we kinda got busy right after that - bringing the folks to view the house, settling our reno plan/contract, finding home/kitchen appliances, calculating finances, shuttling between the current and new residences - these on top of having to work and juggling a heavier load etc.

thankfully, we have managed to clear these checklists in that busy period:

• checked for defects and sent to BSC to review and rectify, which they promptly rectified within two weeks (we were not so anal for painting works as we will be repainting the house from the reno)
• sourced and purchased home appliances - namely:
  - washer/dryer,
  - refrigerator,
  - telly,
  - cooker hood, hob and oven,
  - air conditioners,
  which came with some freebies such as additional discounts, a microwave oven and grocery vouchers
• finalized renovation materials and colors for all rooms, toilets and kitchen

all items are currently pending delivery - be it physical appliances delivery or delivery of reno materials to get it kicking, or delivery and installation of the aircon. oohh looking forward! 

praying hard for the progress to go smoothly! =D

square room.

abz whatsapped me this notification some earlier this week, and i had never been any more elated receiving updates about the house.

this means, by end of March 2016, we shall be holding the keys to our own home! yessaaaahhhh!

i have to admit, that for the past four years, i wasn't very much into receiving updates about the house. not that i was not excited about it, but i think i was being practical. the estate was still in its building/construction stages, so why would i get excited seeing the blocks being stacked like lego blocks. rumput pun belum cucuk lagi, painting pun buat. its not as if i can go into the construction site to see how its done. i was just, delaying my excitement.

and now the time for the excitement has come! if all goes smoothly, we would be able to move in by mid year insya Allah.

i honestly cannot wait to move out from my current residence. i told abz i didn't care if there is no sofa in the living room, i wouldn't mind to recycle our current bed, wardrobe and shelf, i can close one eye to an unfurnished guest room. i dont even mind if there is no television or air-con for the first few months. i am even okay with a basic renovation to the house, as long as i can move in the soonest.

oooh i just cant wait to be there, in that half-a-million-dollar square room, with my people who matters.

we hadn't bought any new appliances since the last update. or did we? i couldn't remember, as we were focusing on other things as well. hahah. however, we have secured our reno company. the project manager (or somebody) is abz's friend, so we decided to lock the price down before it increases over the month. it wasn't much works too, as we opted for the Optional Component Scheme from HDB. i truly pray it is going to be a good deal, and a smooth process.

oooh cant wait to collect keys and get the reno started!

with so many things thats coming our way, i am starting to feel like an adult =/

**UPDATED**

shortly after publishing this post, abz texted me to check my SMS, which i received nothing. sensing it had got to do with the HDB, straightaway i went into myhdbpage, and saw this:

WE ARE COLLECTING OUR KEYS!
Alhamdulillah!

we didn't have to wait till end March! 'cos we are getting it in early March, syukran! syukran!

looking forward biggg time! =D

square room.

aww, my pigeon-holed house.
the #fsprojecthome.

abz updated me on the painting progress of the estate.
!!!!!!!

while other couples are excited about the updates, i honestly felt somewhat composed. i am happy for this upcoming phase, and i know i am totally geared up to move out from my current residence. its just that the moment for me to really be ecstatic hadn't arrived yet. key collection is definitely not anytime soon, so i dont want to be extremely hyped about it.

anyway it will another round of forking out money so im keeping away unnecessary stress by not visiting any ideas for the house - the concept, the brands, the loans, the cpf, the reno, the IDs, the colors etc. except that i know i want a green kitchen. anything else is just not important until we have the keys in our hands. the only preps we are currently doing for the house is still collecting small appliances and china. we also accept informal housewarming gifts! hahahahh.

i am thankful that the estate is stacking up fast and hopefully stable. there had been so many horror stories about housing defects that we knew we had to be on guard during our turn. why HDB, whyyyyy?? i know that i dont really have to worry about reviewing for defects because abz will be more OCD that i am, and thus he is definitely more reliable in that section. let the man do his job ahhahaa.

in spite of all that, some days i do feel exhilarated thinking my own space.
read: my own 

so yeah, there is our half a mil buckaroos of a pigeon hole.

hamarė ghar.

done with #projecthun, its #projecthome now.

i am excited as much as worried seeing the estate being stacked up like lego blocks.

of course i am thrilled - getting the keys, designing the house to our taste, deciding ourselves what color we want for the rooms, what to buy for the house etc. basically, a place to call our own with minimal interruptions from external parties. (i say minimal because i know that there will be people who might just insist for us to take their opinions and way of doing things. and if we don't, they'll sulk or take it to heart etc. ohgerddd.)

at the same time, i'm nervous because of the amount of money that we're likely to fork out again, this time for a bigger investment. we are not from Atas Heights, hence we don't have the luxury to purchase very atas brands. abz and i hadn't even think about the house yet. but silently i do think about the finances.

i suppose this is one of the worries that's to stay in our minds, yes?

the pic update below was taken a few weeks back.
and its not our block too. heh.

the last site visit showed that most of the blocks had been stacked up to somewhere above the tenth floor. a few more stories to go before all blocks are completed!

abz and his cousin did timeline calculations to estimate when our unit will be up, when the blocks will be done with all units piled up, when they'll start painting and finally when we're likely to get the keys etc.
i'd rather to just wait.

abz and i hadn't really talked about the house, but unknowingly we are s l o w l y prepping for it.

we have some basic stuffs for #projecthome - some were given, and some were bought for use now but ended up saving for later. and these items are stored either at my current place or my parents'.

so far we have:
- china (glasses and mugs): balance carried forward from my sister's wedding and from #projecthun;
- china (plates and bowls): not much, but my eldest sister left us some before her famz moved to Qatar;
- floor mats: also from sister, just a few so guests can sit on the mats when there's no sofa upon moving in;
- hand blender: because we redeemed from Cold Storage but i can't bear to use brand new items;
- hand mixer: abz bought at expo for me to use now, but again i can't bear to use brand new stuffs;
- bedsheet cover / wall light: wedding gifts from my famz;
- juice maker / cupcake tray: wedding gifts from our friends;

getting and buying new stuffs makes me happy,  so i guess its not a bad thing totally.

but for now, until the official letter comes in and the keys are in our hands, imma take a chill pill and take it as it comes.

keep calm and ... ... ... wait for it.

whats in your closet.

i recently helped faeO packed her stuffs to make space for her room reno, and saw how much apparels she had.
among the many boxes, she prepared four boxes of clothes- work, travel, home/exercise and throw.
it was fun watching her stressed herself out trying to figure out which apparel goes into which box.

then i came across this:

given my stuffed wardrobe, this might definitely help when im purging it in a couple months' time!
:)

two peas in a pod

source: daily odd compliment

this, for sureeee i can count on abz! 

so looking forward to lazy days together, doing whatever.

in our nutshell.

lets take a break with projecthun. lets chat about....... projecthome.

with a few friends who have gotten their hdb apartments, i thought about how mine would be. 

it'll come, in due time. i think about four years' time..?

we've been watching shows such as Love It or List It and Income Property to sort of have home ideas. each time i watched these shows, listening and watching these angmohs complained that they dont have space in their home, i'd be sooo annoyed and exclaimed to the telly, "try staying in singaporeeee! we are paying more than you for half the sizeeee!! HALFFFF!! " so ungrateful ah these angmohs with their homes. tskkkk.

if, i repeat, IF we were given the space and the money, i'd want to have a home with the following rooms:

a living room 

a study room, aka a library

an entertainment room 

a spacious kitchen 

a dining space

two spacious toilets 

one master bedroom

two children's room

one guestroom 

one walk-in wardrobe  

a backyard 

a garage, not a carpark slot

too much to ask for? i hope not. these rooms are kinda basic. 

forget spacious, its pretty evident that the apartments these days are soooo small, we could barely fit a wardrobe in the master bedroom! 

now you know why those angmohs are annoying when they say they dont have space in their homes.

for us, depending on the room-type you select, the basics you get are:

a living room

a small kitchen

two small toilets 

a small master bedroom

two other small bedrooms

we live in pigeon holes, figuratively. 

there goes my guest room, my study room, entertainment room and all the rooms i dreamt of. pandai-pandai lah kita kena arrange tu rumah to have as much as possible.

ahhh you know what they say - get a hdb apartment is good enough already. 

mehhhh~.