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Monday, 28 March 2011

While I was away...part 4/5 - Pimp my ride Malaysian version!


http://www.mtv.com/shows/pimp_my_ride/season_5/series.jhtml


I've mentioned in my previous post that our good neighbour whom we depended on to send and fetch our children to and from school has migrated to Melbourne, Australia recently. We have to find another alternative as a mean of transportation for the children and we have to find it fast so that the problem won't affect the children and their study. The children can actually take the bus to school, but my worry is on the prolonged hours they will have to spend on the journey as the school bus make its rounding to cover several big residential areas. Actually I've tried the school bus before, but pity the children, they only reached home after Maghrib adhan was over. By the time they have cleaned themselves and sat for dinner it was almost 9pm. They were then so tired that they fell asleep even before they managed to finish the food in their plates!!!

The only way to solve this problem is to send and fetch them ourselves, but that would need us to get another car because I drive our mpv to work everyday and I can't reach home on time to fetch the children from school. My husband, who prefers to ride his motorbike wherever he goes, can reach home much earlier, but without a car he simply can't bring them home, unless he train his children how to become circus monkeys performers.

I can't imagine seeing my husband and children riding on a bike like this.....
Pic taken from Nissan Grand Livina hillarious advertisement on TV.

But alhamdulillah, truly Allah provides us with all our needs if we asked from Him in our duas. It so happened that one day, another neighbour told us he wanted to sell his old car because he wanted to buy a new one. We know this person well enough to trust his words that his 2004 model Perodua Kelisa is still in good condition. So, after a 30 second 'test drive' of the petite car, we bought it without further question, at a selling price 41% below the market value!!!

No one is ever so excited with the existence of the second hand car but my husband. He started to day dream about making some refurbishment works on the car so that it would not look too 'old' at its age. At the end of the day, we decided to repaint the car, change its upholstery completely from fabric to leather, modify its engine, tint the windows, change the tyres and install a cd player. Even after incurring all these costs, we can still sell the car and profit RM3,000 from it!

I attached below the before and after pics of the car. The mechanic did a wonderful job with the engine. Smooth, fast, lightweight. It totally feels like driving a brand new car. As a matter of fact, now I am feeling like my mpv is so heavy!



The second hand Kelisa, before the make over

Dusty interior with faded fabric upholstery

...and dirty engine too!

At the workshop where the mechanic and his gang dismantled every parts of the engine

The car looked rather scary at this point

Out went the dirty parts, in came the new parts through the dismounting process


And the result after two whole week in the make over process......



The same car, after the make over
  
Many people told us it's the body paint that makes it look gorgeous


The third day we park the car outside our compound, a stranger approached my husband and asked,



"Are you selling this car? I am interested to buy it"

  
*speechless*

Monday, 14 March 2011

While I was away...part 3/5 - Get your butt outta 'ere!!!



We made such a heavy decisision to fire our domestic maid who has been living and working with us for almost two and a half years. Yet things need to be sorted out and rectified. We have caught her red handed one too many times, and I thought then that the time has come for us to let her go. Not that I did not appreciate all her hard work all this while, but when there has been too many unpleasant incident happening in the house, I have to make her leave. What more if her schedule and timing slipped obviously, routines became difficult to be completed and most important of all, baby porcupine has several times told me that the maid pinched her at her thigh, sometimes slapped her butt and hit her at her arms because "she was naughty".

Well, you can play truant and skip the house chores, I can still close my eyes and pretend there's nothing serious to make a fuss out of it, but DON'T HURT MY BABY!!! Unless you are taking care of a sick and handicapped child, try pinpoint me one child at her age that is not active a.k.a. "naughty". I did not pay her monthly salary so that she can be bossy to my children! So out she went, with only 5 minutes notice from my husband to pack her things and clear the room.

What is done, is done. I was actually speechless. Come to think of it, I've got my thesis to complete and I was chasing the deadline, my son also needed attention because he'll be sitting an important examination at end of this year, baby porcupine also demanded some times be spent for her as she starts her school session this year, and to make situation worse, our good neighbour whom we depended on to send and fetch the children to and from schools everyday has recently migrated to Australia, leaving us in difficult situation to find other means of transportation for the children. Everything took place at the same time! AllahuAkhbar! I felt so weak and hopeless!



As a consequent, the first week being independent without the assistant of  the maid was very tough. I had to cook, wash the clothes, mop the floor, prepare the children to school, iron their uniforms, tidy their rooms, send them to school, fetch them back, bla...bla...bla... By the time I've settled everything and thought I still have time to read and do my research, I was terribly tired and sleepy, with another active little one who continuously playing soccer in my tummy.

Nonetheless, I am so blessed in life, alhamdulillah. My husband did not leave me behind to handle everything alone. He has always been by my side and helped me whenever he was at home. I really appreciate him so much that at times I can't stop the tears from falling.

Entered second week, then third, fourth, and so on, the whole family slowly adopted the new environment at home and alhamdulillah, we are now at a point where we don't find things difficult anymore. I made a proper schedule for everyone in the house to optimise the usage of time. Alhamdulillah, it works!

Behind all these hardships, there lies a blessing. Once everything has been adjusted back to normal, we made a shocking discovery: we saved about RM1,000 (Malaysian Ringgit) per month on groceries, toiletries and utility bills!!! Would you believe it if I told you that since she left home, our water bills was within the range of RM5 to RM10 only, compared to RM35 to RM50 monthly when she was around???  And the electricity bills reduced from RM100 ++ to below RM70 per month??? Let me remind you that daily consumption of water and electricity remains the same.  We also spent less when we shop for groceries nowadays. A 2 kilogram Milo (instant drink) can last for up to 3 months compare to only a month when she was here. So is the sugar, condensed milk, rice, cooking oil, etc.

That made me wonder whatever happened in the house when we both husband and wife went to work and the children were in school, leaving only the maid and baby porcupine at home.

I guess the decision to terminate her service immediately was a wise one after all..... *sigh* 




Alhamdulillah, right now I am feeling fabulous....





(all images from Google.com)

Monday, 7 March 2011

While I was away...part 2/5 - Happy Belated Birthday

So you think I've forgotten all about this, huh? Not a chance, dear.

Happy Belated Birthday to Miss Blue Pearl...(February 9, 2011)

O Allah! Please grant this beautiful lady with heart of gold bundles of happiness in her life. Please make her a strong muslimah.




And oh! one more thing, ya Allah... may she be blessed with a handsome, romantic and rich man with taqwa and iman in his heart as her husband who loves her truly. Ameen!

While I was away...part 1/5 - Blog Awards

A true friendship exists naturally, need not be asked of or forced to show. I am so blessed to have circle of friends who cares about me even though I have to be away for quite a while to concentrate on my study. While I was away, I received these two awards from my fellow bloggers that I adore so much. This was so unexpected. I am happy till this very day. Thank you, dear Blue Pearl and Zarina Hassem, for these blog awards....





January 18, 2011
I received this award from my lovely sister Miss Tweet Blue Pearl from Qatar.
Do visit her at her sparkling beautiful blog at http://bluepearlfun.blogspot.com/






February 13, 2011
Another award came from my amazing sister Zarina Hassem from South Africa
You'll love her aspiring stories at http://muslim-women-exposed.blogspot.com/


Nevertheless, I am so sorry I can't extend this award to other great bloggers because I guess it's been too late for me to do so. Like I've said earlier, I missed a lot of things while I was away. Such a regret to have wasted this opportunity...

JazakAllahu khairan kathira
May Allah grant you happiness in life and protect you from harm at all the time.




I am back, alhamdulillah...

I am finally off the hook, at least for now. Given precious moments to inhale the clean air while enjoying this short term freedom. Alhamdulillah.

To all my dear friends and readers who continuously provided supports for me all this while, jazakAllahu khair. I love you all!

Will be posting more from now, insya-Allah.

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