Eh ...

Eh, what're these?

-___-

O_O

- O -

> o <

@_@

Cucumbers we got from our back and right neighbours yesterday. The short one is Lebanese cucumber. I forgot what the long one is called. The back neighbour gave us some and then our right neighbour happened to be in his backyard and gave us some too over the fence. Both neighbours plant a variety of vegies (lettuce, pumpkin, lemon, chilli, etc) in their backyards. A good hobby. Our garden bed is filled with weeds at the moment, haha. Photos next time.

Anyway, these are the typical cucumbers available from the supermarkets. Can't get the light green cucumber over here, never seen any.

Tahu Goreng?

Inspired by Mamabok's blog entry about tahu goreng.

I had trouble cutting the cucumber into strips with a knife. The cucumbers sold here are either lebanese or .. forgot what the other is called. The cucumbers are dark green and I find them not as crunchy as the Asian light green ones.

I thought I'd try this satay sauce. Not bad for AU$1.95 a jar! I hope I can find Rojak sauce (if there is such product on the market in Oz). I know there is Indo Rojak brand around but I don't think I wanna try Indo brand, yet.

Oh about the Sling ... alamak not comfortable to use on a hot day, haha ... sweated profusely just exiting the mall to the covered carpark. As usual, we got stares in the mall. Good thing it is always Kiwi G who wears it :D The lil monster now wants to face outward instead of inward when being carried in the sling which means she has to twist her body in an uncomfortable manner. Looks like the happy sling days are numbered. We'll need to get an umbrella stroller soon as the existing stroller is a bit bulky and tedious to carry around.

Asian Stores

Today we discovered a huge Asian Mart called G&L Supermarket with almost everything you would find back home in Msia. I was soooo happy! The price is also cheaper than all the Asian stores I have been to thus far.
Upstairs is a Chinese cafe run by the same management ... didn't have time to check it out, but surely will!

There is also a Chinese bakery right beside the supermarket and wow wow wow, fresh & cheap Chinese bakery. Don't need to go to Chinatown to get good stuff anymore. Now we only need to drive 5 minutes to get all the freshly baked yummies.

There is also another Asian Mart near to G&L but it was closed at the time. We'll have to check it out some other day.

We bought some goodies from G&L (who could resist?) but didn't take photos of them, very lazy ... had to feed baby and all.

Anyway, below are some photos of what we bought at Randwick Oriental (another Asian Mart) in Kingsford a few weeks ago.


The Curry Laksa for noodles is nice, almost like the real hawker taste.
I think I've blogged about the Vegetable Curry Mix before, it's pretty good too - very easy to cook, dump all vegies, pour the powdered mixture in the packet and bring to the boil.



Yee Mee (yum yum yum), this one I have not seen it available at Asian stores in Sydney for years until recently. It's now even available at Coles Supermarket Asian aisle. And wow the Ipoh White Kopi (sorry I forgot what the price was) ... slurp slurp.


I've tried many brands of spicy instant noodles ie Indo and Thai which are widely available here but I didn't take a liking to any. Then came Maggi Curry flavoured instant noodles sold at Coles (too bad there is no Cintan brand sold anywhere). Wow, that's the best at the time until we recently discovered this "Nong Shim" brand noodles that is sooo spicy, we absolutely love it. No more having to rely on Maggi mild (really mild) curry taste instant noodles.

I usually buy Singlong or Glory (picture above) brand sambal paste. It's the real thing. Sometimes I fry some ikan bilis and onions then add this paste and some sugar ... you get the real sambal, haha! Eat it with nasi lemak ... it's da bomb!



Lastly, this is the BEST I have tasted thus far ... really authentic red red red super yummy and spicy curry paste! Absolutely great for curry chicken! Once we finish this brand of curry paste, I'll be sure to try Prima Taste's curry as it looked very nice and red in Mamabok's blog!

Blinds Installed

Finally, we had timber venetian blinds installed on all windows throughout the house. No more garbage bags as curtains! We ordered the blinds(supply & install) during the half yearly stocktake sale and got a good 40% off the usual price, otherwise we would never be able to afford real timber blinds. Below are examples of what the blinds look like.

View from the backyard. Notice the bare soil. Next to do is the lawn.

Amazing Parents

Many times I tend to forget how blessed my life is. It takes some things to make me realize what a whiner, lazy and ungrateful person I am.

I admire people with lots of drive, never give up attitude and do the almost impossible. If any physically normal person feels she/he could not cope with a newborn, maybe this will change the way they look at parenting. Please click here to view the video "Amazing Parents" (don't forget to turn on the speakers). It is a segment from our local daily TV show, "Today Tonight". I think the first parent in the video is simply AMAZING but so are the others.

Portuguese Tarts

We sometimes buy Portuguese Tarts from Michel's Pattiserrie (a franchise you find in almost every shopping mall in Australia).

The taste is pretty good but nothing extraordinary. The price is a whopping AU$2.90 each ... it's just normal small size. So expensive?? What to do, that's the nearest place we could get it from (5 minutes drive from home). Serves me right for not having baking skills!

House Update

While we've been busy with Sweetpie, we've never actually stopped working on our house. Just too lazy to update on this blog. Money continues to flow like river every month - unfortunately it only flows one way ie OUT. Here are a few before and after photos.

The lounge room - before

For 6 years, we had only this 2 seater second hand sofa

The lounge room - after

We wanted leather as it would be easy to clean but contemplated whether to go for cream colour. At last, we decided to get dark chocolate colour as it is more childproof. To reward ourselves, we picked a set with two reclinable single seaters, hehehe.

The rumpus area - before & after
Also bought a proper 6 seater dining table and a Chaise sofa set.

Phoebe's room - now

We've decided to move Phoebe to her own room only after we have timber venetian blinds installed on all windows. As the blinds are all custom made, there is a waiting period of 4-6 weeks. Right now, we use black garbage bags (how elegant is that?) as curtains all over the house. Meanwhile, her room is in a mess at the moment, sorry bebe!

Our new bed - before & after

We decided to purchase a King size ensemble after much brain storming. We thought we'd reward ourselves after having slept on a small double size bed for the last 6 years (poor Kiwi G's feet dangled at the end of the bed, hahaha)! The photo of the double size bed was taken without the ensemble, just the mattress.

The quilt cover on the King size bed was chosen by Kiwi G when I sent him on a shopping spree shortly after I was discharged from the hospital. I didn't request for pink - it was his choice as he knows I like pink and pastels.

Poor Kiwi doesn't get to enjoy the bed as much yet as he has been sleeping at the guest room on the old Double size bed since late June because he needs uninterrupted sleep in order to stay awake at work!

Census

Received the Census form (I think it is known as Banci Rumah in Malaysia? Not sure).

I haven't read through everything yet but while flipping the pages, this certainly caught my attention:

"... in 2001, there were approximately 350,000 more single females aged 18 years or over than single males aged 18 years or over"

A&W

Discovered A&W near our place today! It's a rare discovery because you don't get A&W outlets everywhere like in KL. The only other A&W outlet I have heard of is located at Miranda (in South Sydney I think). The same goes for Nando's. It isn't available everywhere in Sydney (FYI I don't think there is Coffee Bean in Sydney either, but Starbucks, yes). Anyway, we decided to check out A&W. Sorry no photos, I have yet to get into the habit of snapping photos of eateries with the digicam or phone camera.

This A&W outlet is a bit different, it is actually called A&W/Long John Silver (opened in March 2005). The menu is limited, it has burgers and fish & chips but no coney dog or fried chicken (how can??).

I just had to order Root Beer Float but it's not called a float. It is called Spider Root ie your choice of Root Beer or any soft drink with a scoop of ice cream, served in a transparent plastic cup. Price = AU$3.75. Next we ordered fish & chips, not bad, good value for money at AU$4.95. I hope they'll offer coney dog and nuggets on their menu someday. It's good to be able to drink Root Beer Float again - the last time I had one was in KL back in Nov 2002. Kiwi G has never tasted A&W Root Beer Float or eaten A&W food until he first step foot in KL 7 years ago. He finds that Root Beer tastes like medicine *LOL*

www.bookcrossing.com

I'm a loser, I have never heard of BookCrossing until recently when someone wrote me. From the brief reading I had on that website, it seems that one can register a book they wish to release in the wild, as in place it at public places for others to hunt. Finders are not keepers though, read here - finders are expected to do the same. I don't think I'll be participating as I am not an avid reader (I know, loser me!). For KL-ites, some books are still up for hunt at Melia Hotel, Times Square & Cititel Midvalley and Starbucks, The Curve. For a complete hunting list in Malaysia, Click Here

Happy book hunting, bookworms!!

This n That

Completed the left side fence of our house on 2nd May

This is Colorbond fencing.
Most houses use this kind of fencing with cream colour being the most common choice.

Thanks to all who complimented on Kiwi G's confinement lady role. The truth is, I doubt he has any idea what Chinese confinement means as he was brought up in a totally different culture where anything goes. Other than to be around me and baby 24/7 as well as having to do more work around the exterior of the house, I won't be expecting him to make me any herbal or "pou" or "jor yuit" food as both of us have no idea how to make any, hahaha.

Many friends back in KL asked why don't I employ a "jor yuit lady". Well, if I am rich enough to fly one from KL, hahaha for there is no such thing as "jor yuit lady" for hire here. For those who are unaware, there is also no such thing as Indo and Pinay maids for hire here too. I don't think the Aussie Govt issues work permit for foreign maids employment. That is why daycare centres are making a killing by charging AU$50-AU$100 per day for each child and that's only for day time. You drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the evening. I think this is the very reason why most medium to low income earner Moms here have no choice but to quit their jobs to care for their child especially if they have more than one. It is cheaper than sending them to daycare centres.

So there you go, Malaysians, count your blessings. You pay about RM400-RM800 a month, for a live in domestic helper who not only cooks and cleans but takes care of your child while you're at work too! RM400 - RM800 is only about AU$143 - AU$287 ... which can't even cover one week's daycare fees for one child over here! Seriously, if Indo and Pinay domestic helpers are available for hire here, say for AU$400 -AU$800 a month, I think most daycare centres would be out of business in no time and most families would not have to depend on a single income.

There you go again, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. I haven't even touched on the subject of taxation yet ... if I explain how the tax system works here especially for medical, your savings in the bank, bank charges, etc, Malaysians would stop complaining I think, hehehe (don't be too naive to think that medical is really free).

Having said all these, it's just my point of view. You may see a totally different perspective from a rich Msian in Sydney.

Okay, off topic, now let's talk about my pregnancy cravings. Do I have any? Yes but sadly, as you all know, one can't get mee siam, makcik nasi lemak, mamak food, pan mee, claypot yee mee, etc, etc over here (I am a useless cook, like most Msians, I have never tried cooking until I got married). So it is totally pointless to have cravings, hahaha. I pity Kiwi G whenever he asked what I crave for, only to be told he would not be able to get the foods here. In a way, it's prolly a good thing for him too, else he might have to drive out middle of the night just to get me mamak food, haha. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of western food ... whenever I see potato, pies, roast chicken, meat and more meat, alamak, very sien lah! I am a "kuih muih, Malay, Indian, Msian Chinese, Mamak & Nyonya food" person. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I so wish I could just go to any kopitiam for breakfast then and there. Sigh ... here ... all you get are cafes offering you pies, sandwiches, breads, buns, croissants, etc. Dah Muak!!

My older brother at first suggested that I give birth in KL so that baby could enjoy dual citizenship. I've thought about that much earlier but dropped the idea as it is a bit complicated considering that I would really like baby to maintain its auto NZ PR status once baby is born an Aussie. If baby is born in KL, I'm not sure what dual citizenship baby would get, will it be Msian+Kiwi or Msian+Aussie? This is because Kiwi G is a Kiwi. If baby gets Msian+Kiwi citizenship, it'd be a hassle having to apply Aussie PR for baby and to keep renewing it every few years. Actually I'm not even sure if dual citizenship is granted for babies born in Malaysia, of non Malaysian fathers. Neither of us have any plans to give up our citizenships as we're not quite decided whether to live in Oz for good. Maintaining our own citizenships would allow us to easily kidnap each other to NZ or KL for long term under spouses visas. We're keeping our doors open for now ie Oz, NZ or KL. So once baby is born, we'll have quite an international family, a Kiwi Daddy, Msian Mommy and Aussie Baby.

Update

Photos alas! I am skipping photos of the complete process of each job (else there'd be too many - overload). Here is the summary:

BEFORE: The entire completed house is handed over without any floorings. You are looking at concrete floors of one bedroom

AFTER: We decided to hire some tradesmen to install and supply laminated floors to all four bedrooms

We decided to hire tiling contractors to tile the the rest of the house ie kitchen, meals, family, rumpus and the living room. Boxes of tiles on the concrete floors.

DRIVEWAY: We decided to go for stencilled concrete driveway and chose burgundy colour to match the roof. Excavation work to level the driveway and to remove 10 tonnes of excess soil

Truck pouring concrete onto the driveway

After a lenghty process of laying the patterned stencils onto the wet concrete ... tadaaa ... hours later this is what it looks like

Still lots of work to be done .. we have not begun to touch the backyard yet and to lay the lawn on the bare soil at the front and sides of the house. That'll come later after the fences are up, I hope. The interior of the house is bare ... no furniture & curtains/blinds yet! We are hoping to grab a few bargains during the Australia wide stocktake sale in June (if our bank a/c hasn't run dry by then, haha!!).

Now that we have got the major & important works done already, we're concentrating on preparing for our baby .. just a month and a bit more to go. Only set up the baby cot last night. My stomach's feeling so tight lately ... like a full blown balloon. I tire easily too - even scooping styrofoam beans into bean bags was like hard laborious work. I am so not used to having such little stamina and energy and a BIG stomach. I am pretty nervous about labour especially if it's a natural birth *GULP*, we'll see. It has to happen somehow.

Our lives will be changed forever - that's another nervous feeling, hehehe as we've both enjoyed our freedom so very much over the years. But I know, we can resume our freedom once baby/children grow up and what's even more fun is that they'll be able to join us in our travels. Gee, don't I plan too far ahead??! Well, every reality begins with a dream, hehehe.

Update

We finally have our laminated floating floors (fake wooden floors) installed in all bedrooms last Saturday. Feels good not to have concrete floors in the house anymore! Photos to follow much later.

Had been so busy and still am. Trying to unpack and sort things out. I strife to practice the Japanese 5S system in my household (more explanation here). I was very impressed with the 5S philosophy many moons ago when I had the privilege to be part of the implementation team at one of the manufacturing companies I have worked in my early days (the company was also going through the process of achieving ISO 9002 certification of which it succeeded). But ... 5S for household? I must be a freak but we'll see - things are often easier said than done, haha.

Meanwhile our driveway, patio and retaining walls are under construction this week (before & after photos later).

Neighbours are nice and friendly. It's a complete contrast to neighbours in apartment dwellings (maybe because apartment dwellings consists of mostly renters and not owners). Already our Greek neighbours to our right and our Indian neighbours to our back have invited us for BBQs later. I must say, the Indian neighbours are very friendly and hilarious. The Greeks are a very good looking young couple with two daughters. The Mrs is one hot babe - I hope I could be as fantastically presentable like her even after having children. Haven't had a chance to meet and say hi to the Chinese neighbours on the other side of the street at the back (a big double storey Mirvac home ... if I am not mistaken, it is this model they went for (don't be fooled by the house price, it's misleading. I mean, it is correct but lots of things are not included such as floorings, landscaping, driveway, etc, etc which will add up to at least AU$30-40k and you need to buy your own LAND to build a house that wide in our estate, which costs around AU$270k-AU$300k for 450 sqm).

Okay back to sorting.

Goosebump Post

How blessed it is to receive a dozen kisses on my face, cheeks, forehead & arm from my soul mate before he leaves for work Mon-Fri; while I was still lazily sleeping in bed and to get another kiss on the forehead after he returns from work. How could a man keep this up for several years (one peck each morning I could understand but one dozen?) ... it must take a lot of LOVE to do that especially to a grumpy, groggy non-morning person like me. Thank you Kiwi G and I appreciate it a lot *muakz*. I must have done something right over the years.

Moved

We've been living in our own home since March 9. Much to do. Boxes unopened.

Little bubba is doing fine, it's one tough little bubba alright, hang in there bub, 2 ½ more months to go till we get to tickle you.

Finally made contact with an old friend I knew and went to school with since age 15. I'd been ingnoring her emails and letter for more than 6 months. Reason? Because she never bothered to keep in touch after all those years despite my efforts. The only times she'd contact me was when she needed help on something. This time I was curious and because she was persistent in emailing me for the past 6 months, I decided to ask why the sudden interest in contacting me. Well looks like she has migrated to Sydney since January this year and just wanted to touch base with me. She apologized profusely (which is nice) for the lack of contact over the years and cited "busy" as the reason. I don't like it when people tell me they'd been too busy to keep in touch even at least once a year by any mode, be it greeting cards, emails, phone, IM, etc. Do they think that people's lives revolve around them? C'mon, you're busy, I'm busy too. Everyone's got a life to live. Contacting me only when they needed some favours kinda puts me off.

Just two nights ago, another friend whom I have never heard from for more than 2 years suddenly asked for my home address. The motive? Hope to stay at our place when she stops by Sydney in a few month's ime.

Hmmm ....

Big hearted people

Many times we tend to forget how fortunate we all are .. well at least for me, I tend to whine about this and that. I was clearing my Inbox this afternoon and was touched by this particular email. I have replaced the real name of the person with only initials to protect her ID and some words with "@_@" that would give away what I do, hehe:

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"I was so excited to find your @_@. My husband and I have adopted two children from China, and it has been very difficult to find Asian children @_@ to use in making their lifebooks. Both of the children have special challenges. Joshua, age 8,(from Hefei, Anhui Province) was burned very badly when he was 5 months old, and he has a prosthetic leg and is missing his hand on the left side. Our Marinna, age 10,(from Shanghai) was born without her left hand. I loved your special needs kids @_@. Thank you so much for sharing your God given gift and talent.

Best wishes,
B. E.
Denton, Texas"
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I am touched by how much love this person has to adopt special needs children as their own. It takes tremendous amount of Love, Courage and Strength to do what she did. She and her hubby must be such lovely people. Yet she chose to drop me a nice note to thank me for something very insignificant compared to hers. May God bless them and their newly adopted children tremendously.

We're getting there

Very busy still. Kiwi G has gone for his weekly cricket comp so I took the opportunity to go shopping. Bought some baby clothes :)

Recap for the week:

Heatlights for the bathroom and ensuite. It's amazing how much heat the lights emit.
It'll be so good during winter, no more shivering the moment you step out of the shower!

Have booked a removalist for 9 March. Over here, removalists charge by the hour (rates range from AU$95 to AU$110 per hour); not by lorry load like in Msia. Here, they usually supply two men and a big truck, not lorry.

Met another neighbour across the road, nice people. Got invited for a tour of their gigantic double storey Bellvale home.

Got the keys!

Received the keys to our home yesterday. The builder provides a personalized name plaque for the house (most people hang this on the front wall of the house). This is what we named it ... get the meaning? hahaha.

We were also given a welcome hamper containing some cheese, biscuits, a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses.

Had been ultra busy coordinating for various contractors to come on specific dates next week but it's pretty much been organised, phew! In the midst of all the hoohaas surrounding our home, I had totally forgotten about our engagement anniversary date on 22 Feb ... yeah, we are hopeless romantics that we even wish each other happy engagement anniversary every year. BUT Kiwi G didn't forget. He left me a card on the table. I was so surprised and touched; especially when he had been sooooo busy lately.

Anyway, we have decided to stay on at the rented apartment until the floor tiling to our new home is completed since the required 21 day's notice of tenancy termination ends only on 14 March. We're probably moving on 10 March. That would give us time to clean up & arrange for steam cleaning on the vacated apartment for handover. It is a requirement for rental properties here to have the entire place spick and span and all carpets steam/dry cleaned or else they won't return our one month's rental bond.

House photos

House is fully completed. Kitchen appliances, fly screens, ducted air-cond, ducted vacuum & light fittings will only be installed after we moved in.

The front door


Completed kitchen minus the oven, cooktop, rangehood and water filter to be installed later


Will show more photos after we move in - a bit difficult to snap photos during the Practical Completion as the Site Manager was waiting for us to finish snapping so that he could lock the doors.

V-Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all. For the first time in our 6th year of marriage, I received nothing from Kiwi G. That's okay Kiwi G, I forgive you, hahaha. I totally understand that he has been very caught up and stressed over the zillions of things pertaining to our home, coupled with a high blood pressure job. I honestly don't know how he keeps his cool and sanity.

Kiwi G took leave today and we spent the whole day together. Firstly, we had to do a joint inspection with the builder for the Practical Completion of the home at 8.00am. Still some red tapes to go through before we get the keys, such as getting the bank's valuer to inspect the home before releasing the final progress payment. Anyway, we finished at 9.30am and went to collect the lights we ordered from a shop a few weeks ago.

We then proceeded to Macquarie Shopping Centre to do some baby, maternity and Daddy G shopping (Kiwi G loves to shop for clothes too yeah, hehe). Bought a maternity top for myself and Daddy G bought a t-shirt+casual shirt for himself. Kiwi G wanted me to select a gift for myself as he felt really bad not having surprised me with anything special today. Aww, that's sweet but that's okay, as I'm a very contented person, I have nothing in mind and I don't fancy chocolates, so I declined his kind gesture. Had a great time looking at baby stuff but refrained from buying any now, not at least until we've moved. Had KFC for lunch.

Got home by 3.30pm and I was buggered; napped till 5.00pm while Kiwi G went to see the doctor to get medication for his eczema condition and visited the hair salon thereafter.

Had dinner (left overs from yesterday, romantic, no? haha), rested and started to clean, vacuum, mop the place a bit for the real estate agent's routine inspection of the apartment tomorrow. Finished our tasks by 9.30pm ... we're both buggered by then.

Oh yes, I gave Kiwi G a lovey dovey card and surprised him with a heart shaped pink icing coated Dunkin Donut last night. Yes, I'm a romantic - it's great to know I could still spring some surprises from my bag of tricks in our sixth year of marriage :) Happy Valentine's Day, my dahhhhhhlinnnnnggggg, if you happen to read this.

Summary of last week

I wonder what happened to the "Title" box on blogger - seems to have disappeared. (Edited on Feb 13, I stupidly picked "no" in the "show title" field of the formatting settings. That explains, my bad!).

Had Yum Cha (Dim Sum) with a new friend last Thursday at the nearby mall. When it came to settling the bill, we were told that we could only do so after we had eaten to at least the value of AU$10 per person. The waitress pointed that "rule" as printed on their menu. Well, it didn't help that neither of us could read Chinese. That's okay, we ordered chinese brocolli and egg tarts to bring the total to AU$27 and off we went, with super full stomachs, BURP!

Watched Memoirs of Geisha yesterday. It was a bit slow and boring for me. Just ok-ish.

Started watching the Winter Olympics. Love figure skating. It will be interesting to find out if Russia or China will take the gold. Can't wait for the Commonwealth Games to start in Melbourne. I love watching artistic & rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, diving and wushu (not sure if this will be included).

Current apartment

Since we'll be happily kissing our current rented apartment goodbye for good, I thought I'd show what it looks like.

Please click onto the photo below for a full sized collage of photos with comments on the apartment's interior:

Believe it or not, we've never used the indoor pool! The pool is very tiny, just like any other suburban apartment pools. If there are more than 3 persons in the pool at any one time, be prepared for a collision, hehe. Most of the time it is filled with teenage kids too ... that's enough to put me off. Suburban apartment blocks here are no higher than 15 storeys unlike those in KL that come with HUGE swimming pools and cafes or eateries. Of course here you can find high rise apartments too but usually within close proximity to the city centre itself.

However, I love this apartment a lot, it is very secure and private (except for the thin walls that couldn't keep out the mating sounds of the neighbours, ewwww). Most of the other tenants (mostly not owner occupied) are friendly, we say "hi" to each other in the elevator except for a few younger gwai pohs and one haggard looking Asian woman with orange coloured hair who are too snobbish to smile or exchange eye contact.

Anyway, the negative side of renting is that like most landlords, the owner of the apartment stinge on repairs that are necessary eventhough the matters have been highlighted the first week we moved in. Oh well, we've done our part, if they like to let the place rot and be held liable for any accident, so be it (for example, one switch has been hanging very loosely from the socket even before we moved in!). The funny thing is, they also send the real estate agent to conduct 3 inspections a year. The last inspection was done in October 2005 and now they want to do another next week ... in a space of 4 months! What the?!!! My guess is that they might take the inspection as an excuse to increase rent. Well too bad, they'd be receiving our notice to cease renting very soon. Good luck to them finding a responsible tenant with just two persons and no kids living in it, with no rent delay or default as well.

Well, alas, the AU$1,180 per month rental we had been paying for this 2 bedroom apartment in the last two years will go towards part of our mortgage from now on, yay!!

Update - Baby & House

I've been in holiday mood for this whole week, knowing that everybody I know in Malaysia has taken the whole week off in conjunction with CNY celebration. Unfortunately we don't celebrate it here ... one can hardly feel it's CNY and tend to forget easily if not for CNY SMS greetings & snail mailed cards received from family and friends back in KL and of course, greetings from bloggers too. We've stopped going to Sydney Chinatown to watch the CNY Lion Dance ... I guess after awhile, you'd get bored seeing the same thing at the same venue over and over for the past 5 years.

Little bubba is growing well. We already know its gender but we'll keep it a little secret from this blog until its birth :) We've decided on its name too "PML". P is its first name, M is the middle name and L is the surname. Yup, no Chinese name just like its father - just not common for Aussie or Kiwi born Chinese to have Chinese names on the birth certificate. I'll refer to it as Baby P from now on. EDD is 10 June 2006.

We've been busy yet again with the development of our house. A picture paints a thousand words, so here goes ... a few before and after photos of the kitchen and main bathroom yet to be fully painted and fitted with the shower screen.