Yes I am conciously aware of my blogging backlog.
Main reasons are:
- VERY slow internet connection. All the waiting really puts a damper on blogging and also blog surfing.
- Master Prince’s school test (which has now ended).
- Planning Master Prince’s birthday party (which we celebrated over the weekend and will blog more about it separately).
- Started house renovations.
- Back to reason no. 1.
Anyway, back to renovations. After more than a decade of dreaming my own house including scouting 3 years at Homedec, all I can say is FINALLY we got MBPJ approval to start renovating the house last Friday.
The Contractor has quickly moved in to tear and hack most of the house down since its very old. What can I say, in Malaysia when you purchase a house, you basically pay for the location only. Unlike overseas such as Australia, when you purchase a pre-owned house, you generally buy a home in move-in condition.
And so we have a big stressful project now to look after for the next couple of months.
LOTS of decisions to be made – gee, what a headache especially when both of us seem to have poor colour coordination sense!! Ha ha…I suppose that is where half the ‘fun’ is!! Anyway, am so glad that we manage to agree and complete the tile selection. Phew, that was the most daunting part for me personally. Surprisingly the final decisions were made fairly quickly as we kept it to a few types of tiles only. Boring I know but since both of us have no flare in mixing colours, this is definitely the best step forward!!
In every renovation, the biggest challenge is keeping to the budget. Lots of people have warned us that we should allow at least 20-30% contingency above our initial estimated budget. We are consciously aware that we are definitely going to blow our original budget, the question now is how much more!! Oh dear, perhaps might end up with a nice empty new house since no money left for furnishing!! Lolz.
Thankfully there are a few sales going on now. Am spending a lot of time shopping around, checking prices and meeting/talking to people. Poor Master Prince hasn’t had a proper bento for quite a while since I’ve been getting him to prepare his own simple snack box and breakfast. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to mind this task.
Other updates – there’s a few since I’ve accumulated a huge backlog, yep feeling the bloated blog-constipation!! Ha ha…
I’ll leave you with my latest beloved gadget which darling DH (on a splurge) got for me on sale at Homedec.
Introducing.....Ms 'Blackie'.
Would have loved a red one but since the colour was not available there, DH gave me a choice of grey (how boring) or black (ok, more acceptable)!! I was undecided since there were so many other colours to choose, was contemplating on a baby pink but both M and DH quickly said ‘No’. What’s wrong with pink, I thought it was sweet!!
You know, I didn’t realise Kitchen Aid generally costs more than Kenwood (kMix) – can someone tell me why is that so? A marketing strategy?? Anyway, the latest Kenwood style looks pretty slick too since it now comes in a red, silver or white top.
I’ve been a Kenwood user for a while since M owns one for years but we haven’t used it for a while as the bowl broke. Since then I’ve been using a cheap hand-held. I must admit that they are pretty good but a table mixer is very convenient especially if you like to multi-task like me!!
So far, I’m pretty satisfied with ‘Blackie’. Not complaining, just noting down some observations.
Updated:
The difference:
Kenwood KMX51 - 500W, 4.6L (available in 3 colours)
Kitchenaid KSM51 - 325W, 4.8L (variety of colours)
