Curtain : Checked!

Gila pening. curtain je for God sake. Aku plak baru pas baca Mini Shopaholic (halfway through). So all the Becky Bloomwood 'saying' came up in my mind.
Why i never tried curtain shopping before?
This colour will go with that bed sheet. And that colour can match with those bed sheet. Shall i get both?
Or, shall i get all of these?

I almost cannot decide and almost pay 1000AED for bedroom curtain alone. Lucky Kak Ina was there to suggest the economical solution. I have to take good care of these expensive curtains and make sure i bring them all back to KL. Sure it could curtain up all my sliding doors in Selayang Heights right?

Next is furniture hunting and all the electrical stuff. Should i buy the good quality and high price one or the normal quality and cheaper solution? It's not like i want to stay here forever, right?

House Hunting Dilemma

Betapa cerewet susah nya aku nk cari rumah yang sesuai kat AD ni. Gila punye cerewet susah. Sampai 4 agents and 4 watchmen. Akhirnya jumpa jugak dengan yang sesuai di hati dan mata.

Journey begins with one of my colleagues, Murad. Dia bawak aku g this one place called ADCP. Ni macam government body yg build the residential building and rent it out cheaply. One bedroom apartment Cuma ada kat MBZ je. Murah la. 48k je. Masa tu takde idea lagi MBZ tu kat mana. So salin je la infonye sume.

Then when my cousins are back from the Eid, maka bermulalah pencarian secara serius.We surf the net, and got a few (like 20 like that..) agent’s contact numbers. We started with one at Khalifah Street which is very nice location. All the kedai I need are downstairs je. Hospital kat belakang rumah. Depan ada masjid. Ada park (konon leh rajin jogging). One block away from Corniche. Inside building itself ada gym. Tapi takde parking… Still, consider No 1.

With the same agent (Lea) we went and view another 2 units. Both are studio apartment at Electra Street. This one ada parking, gym and swimming pool (yg mcm kolam itik blkg umah nenek nye size). Once I saw the unit I straight away pull out the idea of staying in a studio from my head. Mmg macam hotel. I’ll be staying in a (bigger) hotel room when I’m travelling. Balik rumah dok ‘hotel’ gak ke??? So scrap.

Then my cousin bring me to the MBZ area. Just to show me how it is. So I know if the agent says MBZ how it will look like. Turn out: memang tahap padang pasir. Literally turun dari kete memang pasir. Confirm aku dok setahun je (ntah ke 6 bulan je) kat AD ni kalau aku decide nak stay here. Scrap lagi 3 units shown by their watchmen.

Weekdays? I staeted out with Kak Kelly. A Malaysian doctor yg ikut husband ke AD. Got bored with the domestic work, decided to become a property agent. Smart huh? She kind of knows my taste. So she showed me only the units that she herself would like to live in. A big studio behind my cousin’s building. With uncovered parking, gym (with trainers some more) and pool (real one siap kerusi leh jemur2 lagi). Tiba2 I’m considering studio plak. Hahah.. But this one is really a nice studio. Maybe sebab almari dia super besar. Pastu dah siap ada cooker. N the counter can become meja makan. So I’m seeing myself tak pyh beli brg byk sgt la.. So consider No 2.

Agent No 3 (Manoj) called up and says he has a unit in Tourist Club Area, which according to my colleague, Sari, is just a 10 minutes’ walk from the office. So, let’s walk. Mak datuk berpeluh makcik…. Unit ni seems ok (selain dari peluh tadi) with parking. Yang tak ok nye (selain dari peluh tadi lagi) is the building keliling sakit mata and the fact that it would cost me 95k per year.

So Manoj said, takpe. Dia ada cheaper unit at Al Nahyan, which is the area I’m considering coz my cousin lives there. We made an appointment for viewing. Happened to be sume kat villa. Bunyi best, tapi 7 unit dia tunjuk takde satu pun aku kenan. Sorry la. Murah camne pun aku takkan boleh accept villa camni. So scrap lagi satu option.

Kak Ina helped me a lot. She called up some agents and one of it (Mohd) kata dia ada unit kat Khalifah Street (yg aku suka sgt tu) one bedroom, new building with parking, 80k. Ini sudah baik. So I set up an appointment (rupanya Mohd ni boss. Dia hantar macai dia Haris). Hantu tu siap mintak AED100 untuk view je. Sabar je la. So dia bawak la g the apartment. MEMANG SUPERB! This is it! I like it. I want to live here. Forever (that it takes la..). Tapi ada one small tiny winy problem. PINTU TAK PASANG LAGI!!!!!!!

I was frustrated. I asked the agent to check bila boleh masuk. In the meantime this guy baiklah jugak. Dia bawak g 5 unit yg lain around AD city ni. Malangnya, takde satu pun aku kenan. I told him, I’m done. Kalau dia nak bawak tgk building lama tak payah la buang masa. Just check the availability of that superb unit at Khalifah Street bila aku leh masuk duduk.

Balik. Solat. Doa banyak2 yg aku leh duduk that unit. Mak will love it. Ayah will want to stay for months. Everybody else will be easy. Esok menjelang. Haris called. The unit will be ready by end of December only. DANGG!! Camne? Cannot la. I have to find another unit then.. Haris kata dia ada unit kat Defense Road. So, jom la g tgk.

Ada 2 units. Both are ok in term of layout. Location, one street away from Al Nahyan. Bawah tu is deretan kedai. Belakang tu ada masjid and sekolah. Since aku dah tak larat, I was like ambik je la yang ni… But I’m smart enough to call my cousin first before agreeing to anything. Kak Ina kata jangan lagi. You’ll have 4 days off so ada masa lag ink all out. Abg Shiraz pun kata benda yg sama. And while talking to them over the phone yg dh nak abis bateri, Haris ni sempat tunjuk satu lagi unit kat Tourist Club Area. 90k with parking. Masa dia tunjuk tu I don’t really like the layout. Tapi location wise this is ok. Bawah tu ada hypermarket. So kalau garam abis leh la turun. And ada basement parking. Dekat dgn ofis (lagi dekat dari yg Manoj bwk tu).

Penat punya pasal, I just dismiss this guy. Balik sakit2 otak pikir. Worse come to worse I will take the 90k at Tourist Club Area with Haris or 70k Al Nahyan with Kak Kelly. Dah.

Pagi2 Khamis Kak Ina dah call. Ajak g tgk unit2 yang aku dah narrow down. Dia dtg Beach Rotana and we went to the Tourist Club Area dulu. Mintak kunci dgn watchmen. Watchman tu ingat lagi aku. So dia bagi kunci unit yg aku tgk smlm. Dia siap cakap, kalau nk amik jgn amik dgn agent. Amik direct dgn dia. Dia tak de agent fee. Dia terima je bape2 pun yg kitorg kasi. Ni sudah baik. Kak Ina smart enough Tanya ada brapa unit lagi yg kosong. Dapat lagi satu kunci.

Masuk yg tgk smlm punya dulu. Unit 410. Kak Ina kata “OK la ni..”. I still don’t like it. Ok takpe. Let’s see yg lagi satu. Unit 217. This one I LIKE…. Consider TAKEN. Terus deal dgn watchman. Dia kata market price 85k with parking. Kalau without parking 80k. (Damn agent!) Bayar kat dia 2k, which is less than agent fee 5%. Kautim! Wa amik unit 217! 

Dah tak payah nak pikir2 lagi dah!

Fariwell Version 2

This one takde big bosses. Tukang bayar is Boh. I was already on leave that day. The guys yg plan. N turned out to be quite good place to eat. Souled out at Desa Sri Hartamas. What shocked me was the fact that Jason picked out the place. Scary. How can they trusted him (biar pun tempat tu cool pun). You are jeopardizing MY farewell. HELLO!!!

I didn't took any pictures at all. Memang g, sampai, duduk, makan kind of night for me. After all the eating they ask me to give out some speech. Well, I gave a super short one and quickly asked THEM to give specch to ME. Smart huh?


Anyhow, here's the speech that i could never say it out loud in front of you guys.

It's been a SUPERB 3 years for me. The best team eva (so far). It's not easy for me to make this decision and most of it because of you guys. You have been not only colleagues, but friends and more like brothers to me. I will always remember the times (good and bad) we had together. Be it the fun time during our training in Italy (or Manila) or the stress time (where in the end we turned it to fun) during all those scary meetings.

TJ, I spent the most time with you for meeting with customers. We understand each other so well. I hope you don't break anything anymore. I will not be there to supply you with spare parts anymore. Laptop bag, mouse, handphone.. Don't break anything and please be done with that mirror.

Anip, you were always there to help me especially when I'm in need of a personal driver. I always feel needed when I'm around you.  Don't get to attached to work. Get loose a bit and enjoy the time while you can. Just remember where you put the keys.

Jason, I enjoyed your jokes even though most of the time it just doesn't make any sense. You made it easy for us to laugh. All the tense can go away by just listening to you calls which you always takes using the loudspeaker. Remember, we've been given the cool gadgets for a reason. Use it well.

KK, I know you are enjoying married life more than bachelor life. It really shows all the time. I'm going to miss the posh talks about the baby stuffs (before was marriage stuffs). Your opinion are always valued for the quality of it.

Mie, the big brother. I might miss you the most. Especially you little reminder to yourself when you're trying to complete your work. And all the 'almost real' things you always says. And the new 'in' phrases you always started. Don't bully Anip k..

All in all. I really gonna miss you. I will always love you as it is. Do pray that we can all be in one team again.