Guess who?

Some grumpy kid

Flying by the seat of our pants

Showing off the tickets to the last seats on the last flight of the day.

So we decided to take a trip to the much recommended White Beach of Borocay Island in November 2007. Much recommended as some have raved about their fantastic honeymoon on this beach, and I suppose we were going to be in the neighbourhood anyway.

But of course, we did not book ahead. Of course we would have preferred it that way, but found making travel arrangements to be quite difficult. Our tour agent could not make bookings for us, and neither could we as no one in the Philippines seemed to answer their phones!

Our first hours in Manila, involved taking a 1.5 hour bus ride from Clark (the Air Asia terminal OUTSIDE of Manila), 'wrestling' with local taxi jaga boys, and begging for an internal flight from Manila to Borocay on the same day. We did it, thank goodness!

After the domestic flight, we took a taxi to the ferry to the island, and then a taxi from the ferry point to the hotel which we had NOT booked! Luckily for us, there were a few places which were not so popular (though still a little pricey for what you get) still available just as the sun was setting.

the ferry

Hibiscus in our apartment

Diniwid Beach

We stayed in a small hotel on White Beach on the first and second night, to enjoy the life and bustle on White Beach. Nothing anyone has told us about Borocay would have prepared us for what we experienced, as we found the place to be quite busy and inhabited. There are of course quieter and more expensive parts of White Beach, but instead of forking out small savings, we decided to make migrate to a service apartment on Diniwid Beach on the 3rd, 4th and 5th night. Here we absolutely enjoyed the privacy, and seclusion of Diniwid. For one, there were less vendors trying to see us stuff.

Here we enjoyed a massage on the beach, and just chilling out in the clear blue waters. We made our daily pilgrimage to White Beach ten minutes walk away for groceries and just food. we had grilled seafood, Mexican and local dishes such as the chicken adobo and sinigang.

We did not learn any Filipino words, though lots of people spoke to us in the language having mistaken us for locals.

Here we fell in love with the very relaxed lifestyle, the sound of waves crashing against the rock cliffs, and the art of just simply doing nothing! Anyone want to share in an apartment in Borocay? Check out - http://www.sprboracay.com/ and let us know!

Renovations Over!

So here we are in our new house! We still have a few little kinks to iron out but the good news is that we have finally moved in! Some say its an achievement in itself... but renovations did take some time. So for the moment, we are just trying to enjoy the house!

Our first House, our family

When Mr Contractor completes work (hopefully) next week, we will be moving into our very first Home.

We have lived in several categories of rented accommodation before, but this is probably the most exciting of all our previous domestic experiences; partly due to the time it has taken us to prepare our house, but mostly because we will be planting our roots for the first time in 3 years.

Everything from land assessment to the plants in our garden will be within our realm of responsibility, and from this, we anticipate a less care free life. Notwitstanding the added responsibility, we do look forward to a life together in a place we can truly call our own, in every sense. Perhaps this is a significant part of being a grown up, and building a life together.

It is a sense of pride, that we feel, that flows beyond words; or perhaps it is the case that we just can't find the words to accurately express our happiness.

Things are finally looking up... I think (Part 18)

The good news is that our house is finally done. Save and except for some minor touch ups here and there, Mr Contractor is moving in the right direction.

Further good news from since our last post is that Mr Contractor has finally commenced rectification work on the long bath. Today, Mr Scared Looking Indonesian boy came with Mr Contractor to add cement to the bottom of our bath. We were hugely relieved that that is all they needed to do (ie remove one tile and slot cement in) because otherwise, the whole long bath would have had to be removed. We are even more relieved that Mr Contractor is taking this seriously (as we still owe him 20K!). We certainly hope he keeps this up till the end!!

Still we dare not say when we will be able to move in just in case it gets jinxed! We have been very stern with Mr Contractor over the last week and thankfully Mr Contractor has played ball & cooperated.

Can't wait for the Holidays!!

Anywhere!!

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? (Part 17)

The standard question asked of us these days is "have you moved into your new house?" and our standard answer is "almost". The whole experience feels like a long car ride to some unknown destination when what we'd rather be doing is lying on a secluded beach somewhere!

A lot has happened since our last post. Mr Contractor has gotten his act together on a few occasions, and then slacked off, and then gotten his act together. The good news is that the house is done (yay!)

The bad news is there are a lot of defects, with the bath tub being a major one. Mr Contractor has installed the bath tub incorrectly, causing the bottom to be slightly flexible. Mr Contractor did not think anything wrong of it mainly because he did not test it when installing. This certainly raises alarm bells, but what can we do now but to insist he hacks it up and redo the job?

Sunday Action (part 16)

After much pressure, telephone calls, temper tantrums, Mr Contractor has finally move into fifth gear with respect to renovations on our house.... for the last 2 days anyway.

Yesterday, Mr Wooden Flooring arrived at 8am to start work. Mr Marble Floor was here at 3pm to fill in the gaps, in preparation for polishing tomorrow, Monday. Painter boys arrived at 10.30 am started painting, and finished the second coat on the interior walls downstairs. The basins and WCs were installed, and Mr Contractor has finally gotten thinking about the fittings.

Today, Mr Plumber even attended briefly to look at an outdoor pipe. Things are finally moving. More has been achieved in the last 2 days than the last 2 weeks.

So we are finally hopeful. We are not relaxed yet, but hopeful.

Blood Sweat and Tears (Part 15.5)

Mr Wooden Floor has given a verbal, albeit personal guarantee that the uneven colour will be of the same colour once they finish polishing the floor. Mrs Kong, being so mad already, told him that she will put this down in writing. Mr Wooden Floor did not look too happy.

Too bad for him.

Blood, Sweat and Tears (Part 15)

I can quite confidently say that there has been effort and tears spent on every inch of our house,
ONCE COMPLETED! We are no where near completion in case you are wondering, with only less than 8 sq feet worked on this week - and yes, I am referring to the flooring!

Last week, Mr Wooden Floor laid wooden slabs on an uneven floor, causing a disparity in levelness of at least 1/2 an inch. At least this was the obvious mistake. Today another different landing has been subjected to even more mistakes: colour of the so called "teak" we paid for is off.. resulting in 4 different shades of wood, ranging from the darkest to the lightest... all within 5 square feet.

I wish we had better news to report. I wish we had some progress for a change.

Our Trip to Singapore

We went to Singapore last weekend, for the SUO 2007 tournament. For one weekend, we did not think about our construction site. (A Good Break!!)



Instead of the usual hotel off Orchard Road, we stayed at the Perak Hotel, which was only 10 minutes away from the fields. It was a brilliant choice, for Little India is just filled with colours, sights and sounds. It is perhaps a part of Singapore that we have not seen, which is strange since we have both been so many times over the years.


Perhaps we have never seen Little India for the essence of this place for the sake of experiencing something different on a holiday. If you squint very hard, and look down the streets and the buildings, you could think you are in Penang! The shops and people itself remind us of Brickfields. A little like Brickfields, but a little more organised and less rubbish.

It is in places like Little India that we get slightly confused. In so many ways, it is like home in Malaysia, and yet, it is so different in other ways. I think many of us forget that Singapore used to be a part of Malaysia, and that we used to be the same country. Many will say that Singapore has progressed much further on in just 48 years, and that it is now completely different from Malaysia. (though this is in itself is a point of contention between Malaysians and Singaporeans... for we don't believe progress can be measured in economic terms alone)

Then again, no matter how different Singapore becomes as a country and society, its history and culture will remain very close to that of Malaysia.

More Delays (Part 14)

Just when we think we have our house renovations done, up springs more surprises. Yesterday evening, we discovered the wrong grills installed on our doors and windows. Mr Contractor called Mr Grillman this morning and discovered that Mr Grillman had used the wrong design!!

Now is that ever possible? Well apparently so, and not surprising since no one writes anything down in this business!

Mr Kong is extremely disappointed with this outcome and Mrs Kong is thinking of buying the Mr Contractor a notebook.

Singapore

On a brighter note, Mr & Mrs Kong are off to Singapore on Friday till Sunday.

Mr Kong is going to play in a tournament where a bunch of people chase after a flat plastic disc. Mrs Kong is going along to lend her support, cheer and party.

Looking forward to it, Mr & Mrs Kong need a break.

Crazy (Part 13)

Mr and Mrs Kong - absolutely knackered - absolutely fed up with mistakes Mr Contractor is making. Too tired to list the ones made today!

Progress Report (Part 12)

Almost all renovation projects will inevitably face delay. At the end of the day, we accept this fact and the question turns to "for how long" will this delay be?

It is now 2 weeks since Mr Contractor promised the 3 week deadline; which leaves us with only one week to go for works to be completed. We were skeptics at the 3 week deadline, not because it isn't possible (anything is possible) but more so that this isn't a big enough job for Mr Contractor to pour in all his resources.

With a slight hiccup with tile supplies from MML last week (MML was scheduled only to deliver in September - which was really not acceptable so Mr and Mrs Kong kicked up a huge fuss), that will probably be Mr Contractor's most convenient excuse.

On the bright side, the tilers did work today. Mr Contractor was bright and early. Mr Carpenter has started to take our kitchen cabinets a little more seriously after we told him that we are moving in on the 30th of August, and we should have all our kitchen white goods ordered by the end of the week!

Colour Me Wrong (Part 11)

How difficult is it to get the colours of a small double storey terrace house wrong? Especially after the house owners have specified their choice of colours IN WRITING, ON A SHEET OF PAPER?

Well, apparently quite easily for Mr Contractor.

As the "Paint Team", three Indonesian men were sent over to paint our house. They have been working quite swiftly, preparing the walls of our house for the final layer of paint. They have been working hard, no doubt, though the house is not that large to begin with. However, (and yet again) Mr Contractor had failed to give proper instructions as to what our instructions meant, and our Indonesian friends mixed up the colours for Bedroom 2 and Bedroom 3.

Mr Contractor has since instructed Indonesian friends to correct the mistake but we suspect we have not seen the last of this category of mistakes. For 3 days later, we walked into a yellow house, coloured yellow on the inside!!

At the very least this project is "interesting".

Bedroom 2 in the wrong colour.

Visitor to new house

A very cute one decided to pay a visit to our construction site. She seemed to enjoy herself in the little corners she found. If the current owners of this cute one is not careful, they might find her "no longer living with them" after the construction site is completed. We would keep an eye on her if we were them.

Kong's Newly Tiled Kitchen (Part 10)

For once in the period of this renovation project, we have been so pleased with what we see. This is one occasion where we did not have to call Mr Contractor up immediately to complain about some work he did or did not do. We had happy thoughts of Mr Contractor on this day.

We are happy with the tiles we chose for the kitchen, and Mr Contractor has finally, after much cajoling, completed the kitchen tiles (for Mr Carpenter to measure for the kitchen cabinets). Fingers crossed, everything goes well in this space and the rest of the house from now on.

Mr and Mrs Kong's blue mosaic wall

special switches for special fingers

Blue mosaic wall ... again!

Despair (Part 9)

10.25 am in the morning and there is no one working at our construction site.

3 weeks he says!?

Nearly There (Part 8)

What would you do if your contractor told you he will finish renovations in 3 weeks. Would you -

a) run out and buy your furnishings?
b) give another 3 months from his expected completion date?
c) believe it when you see it.

At the moment, we are not sure what to think. It is coming along fine, and with such a small space as we have, there is really not a lot to be done though there are jobs that need doing (if you get my drift). So, the tiles are going up, and the marble floor is perhaps 70% done.

As an answer to the earlier question perhaps (c)!

It is Mellow Yellow (Part 7)

Mr and Mrs Kong selected the ever cheerful "Sunflower White" from the Dulux Weathershield catalogue, as the exterior colour of their house. In the sunshine, it is a light yellow, which, we hope gives a cheerful welcome to visitors.

Today's Progress (Part 6)

Not a lot happening today since Mr Contractor has said he won't be able to do much else without the tiles. We did however notice that he has, yet again, forgotten a design detail earlier discussed and agreed. Our toilet downstairs was to spot 3 glass blocks above the door to let some light in but the section now has been plastered and painted over WITHOUT the glass blocks!

Surprise surprise.

We have on 2 previous occasions reminded him of this. To remind him a third time is pure waste of energy.

Wonder what his latest excuse is.

On another front, the electrician's guys are fixing socket points today. We will have to go shopping for lights soon.

Tiles: More Decisions to be Made (Part 5)

Today, Mr Kong, Mrs Kong and Mr Contractor made it to MML (Malayan Mosaic - www.mymml.com/createDesign/index.html) to make a final decision on our tiles. Sadly Mr and Mrs Kong were in a rush, and forgot to bring a camera so we have no photos to post here.

The process of choosing tiles is a little painful and yet exciting at the same time. There are many considerations to be made, including surface texture and finish. In total, it has taken Mr Kong 4 trips and Mrs Kong 3 trips to narrow down which tiles we want. We can confidently say that we have made the decision we want to make. As to the final results, well, we will just have to wait and see.

Expected delivery of our tiles is in 1 week, with one batch of tiles (for the master bathroom) to be made 3 weeks later. Fingers crossed everything will go as planned, as Mr Contractor has already forewarned us of his forced idleness, pending arrival of the tiles. He seems to blame us for this, but really, Mrs Kong had informed him of our choice about a month ago - so plenty of time for him to get his act together.

Just another one of the joys of working with contractors!

House Renovations Plans .. finally (Part 4)

Renovation works have slowed, ever since we demanded plans from our contractor. "Demanded" is the word because it would not have been otherwise done.

We are well aware that contractors do not, as a general rule, draw plans. In fact, speaking to all friends currently renovating at the moment, it is really unheard of. However, if you had heard our contractor's "sell" and brag about how he will draw us plans, we thinks you would agree too.... make the man draw the plans.

Moreover, we hope, with plans, he will actually remember what he is suppose to do in each room/ at each part of the house. He keeps forgetting "the plan"!!

This was a typical conversation between Mrs Kong and our contractor before Mrs Kong gave up and handed over the reigns to Mr Kong:

Mrs Kong: Mr Contractor, at what height will the plaster ceiling be for the upstairs rooms and in the kitchen?

Mr Contractor: at the original height. I will make sure that the walls are sand down and white washed first before putting the final layer of paint. Don't worry, we will do a good job. There will be 2 layers of water proofing on the bathroom floor, we use this because the bathroom is a little porous. We don;t want it leaking do we? It will be more problems for me! This is really a perfect sized home for you. Not too big. Just nice, good space (etc etc blah blah) ... yes I have done a lot of work and have loads of experience with these things. ....

Mrs Kong: Good.

One week later, the plaster ceiling is not at its original height as promised. Mrs Kong argues with Contractor. Contractor seems to have forgotten promise, because there were no plans!!

Renovations Continue (Part 2)

The renovations continue. The Electrician and his two Indo guys have been in to rewire the entire house. In addition, the ever talented electrician has been working on our very problematic automatic gate, which just won't close and open at the right angle.


Finally on this fateful date, our Electrician turned up with a guarantee that the gate will work. Here in the pic, you can see one of his Indo guys building a gate stopper, to allow the gate to shut at the right position.

An electrician's work is not that easy afterall!

old water pipes

Loot found under one of the old beds on site - we were hoping to find money of course, so this was a little disappointing.

Electrician's guy embedding a wire, for a socket point.

House Renovations

front door - what a site

On the 1st of June, several foreign men (from as far as north China) stepped into our house to break it down. The much anticipated house renovations started a month ago!

They came with huge hammers, and saws, to break 2 walls to start with. There is quite a lot to do, from moving a toilet, to installing new flooring and windows. To friends and family eagerly awaiting the completion and future enjoyment of soon to be cosy home, take a close look at these before photos ... won't look like this when you come visit! We will be posting more photos to come

damp patches on wall

dining room - remember those tiles?

more of dining room and kitchen

wall dividing dining room and kitchen
(mummy's antique mirror before it was removed)

Sally Yeh at Genting

For his recent birthday, Mr Kong received tickets to attend the Sally Yeh Concert at the Arena of the stars, Genting Highlands. It was a fun night out, having had dinner first, at a local restaurant on the way up to Genting.


For those who don't know who Sally Yeh is, this is the wikipedia entry on her (Mrs Kong was not the cluest) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Yeh

notice the row in front and behind mrs Kong looking very bored...

Great songs, albeit cantopop, though the crowd was a little luke warm. Sally tried her very best to get the crowd a little more enthusiastic, but Malaysian uncles and aunties are Malaysian uncles and aunties. They would pay RM300+ for the best seats in the house but have their arms folded across their chests!


Mr and Mrs Kong tried their very best to inject a little more excitement to the event by cheering Sally on (see pic above). Inspite of our best efforts, Sally missed our row of audiences when she came by to greet us common folk. We went away without a pic of Mr Kong shaking hands with Sally Yeh. Unlike some lucky cousins of ours who got to go back stage (we heard :P).

Obsession with food

An Uncle (who I shall not name today), recently commented he thought a little less of his life now as all he thinks about is food, cooking and food. This made me wonder about my own circumstance somewhat because this is precisely the turn my life has taken in the past 12 months.

All I can think about these days is what I will cook, bake or eat. Needless to say I am happiest either holding a rubber cooking spatula in my hand or surfing the net for cook books/ books on cakes. I spend most of my money on cook books, and look forward to the days when I will have my own kitchen again - to cook and bake up a storm!

Is it really so bad then to be obsessed with food?

The happiest people I know love their food. People who love their food also seem happy to me. The loveliest people I have known either love cooking or feeding their loved ones.
Good food brings people together; great conversations and ideas are exchanged over fantastic meals!

Personally, I am pleased I have found this new obsession. Everyone else around me will just have to get fat eating what I plan to cook and bake!

Mrs Kong

Cake Decorating Class

Black Forest with only 3 cherries as the rest of the class got to the cherries first before Mrs Kong could get down to decorating her cake.

Pictures from Mrs Kong's Cake Decorating Class. Results produced under the strict eye of teacher. Mrs Kong prefers less "oriental" cakes (a little too fine!!) but I suppose one can't a expect a Delia Smith class from a Taiwanese trained teacher!

Still yummy. :)