Tuesday, August 6, 2013

design work begins ...

measured out the rental which is the same layout except our living is abt 3.5 feet wider :)


signed the spa ...!

this SPA has nothing to do with scrubs and massages ... it's the Sales and Purchase Agreement :)

so ... we signed the SPA for our new/old place in serdang last night! *drumroll*

why a subsale? there are pros and cons of buying a pre-loved property but i'm fully convinced that unless you are purchasing an apartment for the sole purpose of investment - you would do better to buy a place that is a little mature for several reasons. since there are fairly few 'new' built properties in the msian context, with a subsale property - you know exactly what you're getting. the SPA is a word document - and no amount of words and certainly no artist renderings can paint a true picture of an apartment. just like how most people would not marry their spouse until they have met and spent time together - i think it is important to have walked through a house and to have a sense of the spatial flow, height of rooms, how the sunlight enters the space, etc. secondly, it's good to have an idea of the neighbors you're getting and the overall competency of the condo management for obvious reasons. i'm less concerned about the 'age' of the building - because old hardware, pipes, wiring, etc. can generally be replaced. anyways. again - in the msian context - old is relatively young - 10-20 years is young when you compare to apartment buildings elsewhere.

so now we have to wait patiently while lawyer submits the documents to the land office to get their consent for the transfer. and then the actual processing to transfer the title of the property ... lawyer estimates it will be after cny 2014 before we get the keys to the apartment. hmm. why the super long wait? from what i understand the land office is short-staffed in the condo/strata dept because there are so many such transactions in the klang valley - apparently it takes only 7 days for landed property transfer.

thankfully we have the rental leased for a year so i think that the timing should work out just fine. :)

in the meantime i've measured out the apartment and have been playing around with the spaces. am planning to remove a couple walls so that the living/dining/kitchen/library are a single open space. i'm also planning to punch a whole in the utility to connect it to the main hallway and to carve out a study in the oversized masterbedroom - which will then make it the same size as the other rooms. the current size of the masterbedroom is pretty big ass and quite luxurious - but i want to have another little room/private study and given the roominess of the common spaces i think it is justifiable to have a more compact bedroom. -to be cont.

Monday, August 5, 2013

a wedding in hk!


yes, we will certainly save the date as we too got married on 28 feb! cant think of a lovelier couple to share the date with albeit 10 years apart. congrats karen and bernard! thanks for the invite. looks like we shall be celebrating 10 years together with you in one of our favorite cities. xoxo

Param (Pasar Ramadhan) @Kelana Jaya

Thursday, August 1, 2013

banana barley smoothie


this is what we had for sahur this morning and took all of 3 mins to make :)

this is ALSO my FIRST mobile blog post! for someone who prides herself on being a relatively early adopter of technology (i said relative!) it is quite embarrassing that i had not used this app earlier hence all the previous posts without pics since i take all my pics with my phone these days ... 

to make 2 large and tall glasses:

blend:

2 cups leftover cooked barley and ginko (from barley drink)
1/4 cup yoghurt
1 large banana
2 tablespoons raw honey
1 tsp cinnamon (leave some for sprinkling)

this is a great way to use up the barley and ginko portion of boiled barley water drink which i'm not a big fan of ... but it's quite ok in a smoothie and helps to give a silky smooth textured body that doesn't interfere with the taste of the other ingredients 

the bonus is that barley is incredibly nutritious and high in fibre, i.e. very very good for you!