A Love That Will Last - Wai Mun & Sharon

Since we still have time, might as well write a post or two. Suddenly I came to remember this particular part of my life. I remembered those days when I wasn't pretty or people deemed I wasn't pretty. I used to cry myself to sleep because of the remark i heard from the people in school but that makes me stronger and work a little harder with my subjects! But growing as a young girl, we would love people to compliment us for looking beautiful. I could remembered who ever so give me a word of praise as "Sharon is beautiful" at that time, reason is because the compliments were very little, I could count them with my five fingers! That is how life was for me. I never got invited for any special activities because of how I looked! I wasn't fat but just simple plain Jane! 

I remembered watching tv at that time, and the movies and drama series used to go to church and they would pray to this God! I never know who he is and never know the exact way to pray, I thought of him at that time like a genie who grant three wishes! Up till today I remembered what I wished (prayed) for! Being a young girl, before I go to sleep I will just say something like this, "Whoever that is out there, if you exist and you are a powerful being please grant me these three things:

1. My mother would have a long life (My mom got high-blood pressure and I always pray for her to have long life)
2. Please let me have a beautiful family, mommy and dad wont fight so much
3. Thirdly and the one that I said from deep down off my heart with tears streaming down my face, something like this : Please make me beautiful so that I will one day meet someone who loves me and he will make me his wife ;)

Its Friday and everything suppose to be cherry. I am just uploading my second final sets of honeymoon pictures, now all that is left is France! Once uploaded I can move on to compiling my wedding pictures and it is another task to do as I have thousands to go through! And then I have to go figure out how to burn em into the CDs for distribution.

We all have somehow a certain amount of freedom of speech (not in Malaysia) but we are a free human! I am never the political kind! But off late I have been reading enough bull-shit from Facebook about fellow Malaysians gearing up for rally AGAIN! That is fine if you guys wanna go ahead and duduk! But stop taunting others through your words! Its good that you guys are doing something for Malaysia! 

I am not going to be a part of "sitting" because I will not fight for a "Malay"sia... I am sorry! I am not going to go in and fight to get back a Muslim country, rule by a Muslim government and still be under the Muslim law which we are not very clear about under the opposition! What changed if it is so?? Well I am sorry! I respect the Muslim and the message it brings BUT overdoing it is not necessary! Up until now the opposition has not gone pass of getting hold of the government! What is their agenda? I did not see? Will Chinese be a part of your victory?  What about the Indians? Will we be a better race under you? What are your clear agenda? I want to read about it! Impress ME! Get my vote! Isn't that the way Parliamentary government does it?? We made clear the things that we will bring about to the country, changes, revolutions, betterment by actions NOT by brawls and street demonstrations! 

I am not a supporter of BN! Yet I am not quite a supporter of the oppositions! How do we, Malaysian in general vote? We go into the voting booth and get our little voting slips and then we cross next to the face that we think most likely to our fancy! That is all! How ignorant we are! Because non of these political people has actually given their personal touch to our life! Neither! Then the opposition will say "That is the existing government not us!" Well then instead of catching scandalous politicians in bed with a "paid companion" why not do something different? Touch our life? Make a more equal Malaysia? A lot of things which are unfair, a lot of racial inequality, a lot of misuse of power, a lot of things which are broken we do not fix! Fixed it and definitely you will win! 

We are already graded as a third world country, do something that is meaningful in order for us to rise above that level for the world to see! The news of the world will somehow report and categorized us as "yet another third world country at war against its own self" more than that? Nothing! Corruption within the government so say? Well bring out the proof and we rakyat of a "developing nation" majority degree holders will certainly know what to do! Show to us what will you do when you gain victory! Somehow till now what I see is that whoever wins, the little "grey money" will transfer pocket from the existing fat cat to the barking dog! Therefore show me the actions! Not just words" 

Been a bit busy fitting in off late, cleaning, washing, ironing and cooking. These items are already a handful to keep up. "Who told you staying-home is boring?" 

Life in Johor has been quite a challenge. Nothing serious just the case of identity! Not a crisis yet! But still bad at times. I have mentioned like a million times - Civilization has not hit Johor yet and this place is infested with Singaporeans! In the eyes of the world we are third world country BUT I refused to agree with that until I am here in Johor! In Klang / KL people are very modern, other than little quirk like rudeness and arrogant, we are OK bunch of people! BUT in Johor! OMG! I hardly could find words to describe the whole situation here.

1. LV & Prada 
• Practically everybody has one! Down to the makcik who is sitting by the road side waiting for bus
• It makes original look so fake! We do not have to go online or anywhere else to find, they practically sell it from store to store! 
• I am not against you girls buying fake stuff - it's your freedom! But it makes me want to return my "branded" by to LV because I felt dumb! 
2. Free stuff in the Mall
   • Remember the days when free stuff booths were set up at every corner of the mall to hand out free samples to the consumers? Well there are practically one every walking aisle here
   • Back in KL, these people will chase after us to make us try their free samples and we will walk away saying "NO" because we knew for sure, we are not considering that particular product but here in Johor, these people brought their whole family along, queue up (some even push along) to get the free samples! Remind me of a scene in those war torn countries where the authorities are handing out rations! These are the exact situation here
   • Also remember those days when we were still young and parents would dress us up for mall "Yippeee" this is still a practice here in Johor! Where children, big and small follow along even up to the fishery and vegetable areas because its family day out! Cramping up the area! 
3. Singaporeans 
• The things here are overpriced! Why? SINGAPOREANS DOES THEIR GROCERIES SHOPPING HERE IN JOHOR! Pushing our inflation to a all time high here in Johor
• Who said in Johor we can save money??? The things here are crazily overpriced
• Buttercup - Back in KL is MYR6.50, here in Johor - MYR 10.50
• Nescafe - Back in KL is MYR11.00, here in Johor - MYR16.00
• Prawn - Back in KL is MYR24.00 per KG, here in Johor - MYR41.00 per KG
• Average grocerries back in KL - MYR150 per week, here in Johor -  MYR250 as of last week!
• Nasi Lemak with egg & fried chicken by the roadside in KL - MYR 6 we complaint "its very expansive" but here it is MYR8 per packet! 
• No I am not swaggering you! Take a trip down here and see for yourself. We do not know until we came! Above is just a few examples. Quoting from my sis "the only thing nice here in Johor is my house" - Ditto!
4.  Driving 
• As if driving is not already stressful enough! Driving here makes it all the more stressful
• Potholes are inevitable here, they are everywhere! So extra alert here! Want to win Johor in the next GE! Think about making the roads more presentable please! Where to start?? Pasir Gudang highway! 
• Johor is indeed one of the main port in Malaysia - something to thank the Singaporeans for making it back home! And indeed there will be a lot of containers truckers around, they drive not like a trucker but mother-f'ker! (Sorry for the foul-word! I have asked forgiveness for that) But coming back from Europe has made me see how far left behind we are! Come on! Learn to give way! And stay in the THIRD LANE! Why are you even competing with each other and worst still with us passenger cars???? 
• People here drives like they are always LATE! They honk like nobody's business and they just am not very forgiving when people overtake them! Learn to signal like your good neighbors! Be courteous. 
• Just like their driving, Johorian pushes their trolley in shopping mall exactly the same way! I was going to have an anxiety attack or even an emotional meltdown right in the middle of doing my groceries from all the pushing and congestion the other day! Thank God my hubby gave me his support and I was ok!  
5. "Please", "Thank-You" & "Sorry"
• These are the golden words that my momma taught me, never to loose them in my life! And do I hear them here! RARELY! - I say them anyway! 
6. Mandarin
• If you don't speak Mandarin, you will be just like me caught in the middle, my mandarin is barely acceptable! What more conversational.... People here does not speak other language except Mandarin! So brushed up or you will be just like a tourist in France or Germany (at least the people there are more patience to do the "sign-language" with you!)
• They speak little English! How do you compete? I do not know! Such a pity that such a powerful language as English is poorly spoken here! 
7. Overly concern over small little things
• I still remember those little procedures that they are all so concern with example: do not bring your groceries bag into a shop even though it is just one bag. 
• Instead of taking care of these small stuff they should matter of fact look into improving the mannerism of people there! And you speak Mandarin with me!
  "Sorry, I no understand Mandarin" 

Finally settling down, as the owners delivered the appliances they promised. Now all that is remaining is the cooker-hood, the dvd player and also one of the light bulb sample. We thank God that this couple is not those kind of lousy owner who simply purchase any cheap, lousy product and put it in (after all its a rented unit right!) That is what we have encountered during our hunt for a place to stay in Johor in the past, although it is advertised as fully furnished, we can't help but think that it is merely a storage / disposal shed for second-hand furniture! (In which they put in old, moldy, smelly furniture and rent it at a fully-furnished price)

There are a lot of difference when it comes to condos & apartments in Johor & KL. Mainly are

• They are all pricey (you get old looking apartment for MYR2000 and below)
• They are all not that furnished even though they claimed it to be fully furnished, DON'T expect nice furnishing
• Agents can be not very honest, so do ask questions - a lot of questions (example: Who is the previous tenant? What race is the owner? What they do? What races mainly resides here? Any students? so on and so forth... Prepare those questions before going to view some units. Set some expectations on what you wanted - surf up Property websites to have a clear idea first before calling up agents.
• You might need to travel a bit on the road as there are not many condos and apartment around. (As I said, Johor is only starting to develop! They are not as forward as KL, Selangor or even Penang)
• They all claimed to be guarded & gated but do this little experiment yourself (Walk past the guard house by simply acknowledging them and then without any words just walk in, see if they come after you. Many doesn't!)

• Claimed to be guarded & gated, we just walk in with a smile and nobody seems to question us. When we punch into the dark lifts lobby, there is one Indian guy seems to have forgotten his key card or wasn't even a residence here, signal for us to open the door for him! The agent just ignore! 
• The pool looks more like a fish pond without maintenance, than one we can swim in it
• Dishonest agent who took chance to diss us! She told us that mainly Singaporean stays here and what we observed mainly middle or lower class Indians (no offence - just stating the truth) stays here! (Dishonest agent!) Judging from our simple dressing, the auntie told us that if we are looking for cheaper units, there are non here! (we were insulted! But we remain civilized! Nothing to fight about!) 
• Lift were small and one thing in particular, seems to remind me like those old Hong Kong flats when I went in! There are altars everywhere and it just makes me feel uncomfortable!
• Do I have to describe the units insides??? Well furniture far from acceptable, with no view at all! That is just too bad!

• Level of occupancy here is 30% all the other units are empty
• Boasting of the apartment with the best swimming pool in Johor Bharu but trust me it is not impressive if it is dirty
• We were waiting for the "already late for 3 hours agent" while walking around the park area next to the swimming pool, and we notice how quiet and how dark it is! With just two small lights shinning the pathway. Supposing this is the main area BUT nobody was walking around and it was posting to us "nobody walks around here after 7pm kind of feeling - (nothing scary just security purpose)
• Although this condo was just only 3 years but the exterior looks like it has been around for years and years 
• Most important of all : THE PEACE OF MIND. We both, hubby and I felt uncomfortable even standing there and we decided to leave! So hence NO! NO!

•  Was deceived to think that this is a luxury condo with a little bit of class, with the price of MYR3100 we get a run down smelly apartment and was told by the agent that our budget is too low. Average unit here with minimum furnishing is MYR4000 and above? Why? Not because it is new and classy it is because the residence here are mainly Japanese and European and Singaporean! What scares me and still haunts me today is moment the agent opened the door to the unit emit the smell of old furniture and non-occupancy for long time, the curtain is ugly and dusty with stains on it.
• The unit comes with bathtubs on all toilets and as a unit age, you will see stains and smells and just plain dirty! 
• The condo is old - about 10 years of age
• Although peaceful and highly guarded it reminds me of the Singapore HDB units
• Car park is without shades
• Very noisy with children running and playing around shouting and screaming
• Swimming pool is very huge (sort of like Olympic size) but OLD!
• The units are build in a way that they faces one another and there is one block which are abandoned halfway. So its not a good sight at all.
• The units front door is very close to one another and the walkway to the lifts are dimly lit making us feel uncomfortable and a little claustrophobic. 
• If you are looking for space, this condo unit is 1600 square feet and its very spacious.

Price : MYR1800 onwards 
Location: Johor Bharu (2nd nearest to hubby's work place about 15-20 minutes drive)
Our ratings: Our 2nd choice! Fair!

• This condo is brand new! In fact if you search in iProperty, you couldn't actually get the actual pictures so one of the pros will be brand new units without yucky stench!
• The security is fairly good but rude! I dislike the way they talk to us about not parking inside! But then it is good enough with triple security. We would have go with this if we did not find anything better BUT we have to overlook the cons - listed below
• Students - Like Casa Subang, we saw bus full of students coming back, so judging from experience it is bad! 
• The low cost flat behind the apartment which were only divided by a small fence and on the downside, the flat is on the higher grown and the apartment is on the lower
• The apartment is built so near to the street that the noise of traffic can be a bit disturbing
• The last one is the one that makes my hubby uncomfortable, since we are not allowed to park inside, we parked outside and saw so many beggars and drunkards sleeping in front of the empty shop lots.
• Shop lots in front of the apartment are occupied by cyber cafes and massage parlors

5) 

Suriamas Apartment

Price : MYR2300 onwards 
Location: Taman Dato Onn (Quite a distance about 40 minutes drive on a jam prone area)
Our ratings: OK! But No!

• Its a flat! But its brand new and the owner actually spend a lot of money to renovate the house 
• One good things about it is that it is very near to Woodland and you can actually cross over to Singapore in less than 25 minutes
• The design is in such a way where you can actually look into your opposite neighbors units, it is that near to them
• The walkway is very narrow and the neighbors are mainly factory workers and blue collars workers.
• Interior of the unit is very narrow and from the way the owner renovate it, there is no way at all to cook, not even instant noodle.
• The design in such a way like a semi-d where it is two by two and seperated by a small wall, I notice that the direct neighbors are some messy slobs! So I dislike it (call me picky and hard to please BUT this is a place to stay you know, we need to find a place that we really like it!)

6)

Datin Halimah Condo

Price : MYR2500 onwards 
Location: Larkin (Quite a distance about 30 minutes drive on a jam prone area)
Our ratings: Not really

• The owner is still living inside the unit & supposing we wanted the unit, he can move out instantly
• Security is so so! Required entry pass but did not ask us where we are going and unit details
• The moment I stepped in, I do not like it because it is old and the interior does not age well! The master bedroom is in a very bad condition, there are many things in which needs replacement so we do not want to waste time with it.
• Another thing is that we do not like is the house is full of things, just a lot of things, way too many things! From experience moving items are not easy, I have half or even a quarter of the things in the house and it took me some time to clear em up! So it gives us the reason all the more to not bother
• The owner do have this worship thing and I do not like it at all
• Next is that the kitchen has too many full items and stuff and it is very untidy and unclean
• Overall is that the units creeps me up and no point wasting any longer!

The main thing that we required is that the moment we walk into the unit it is peaceful, nice and pleasant. Security should be good and the surrounding is tightly secured. People that walked around should be of values and not anybody off the street. Location should be good and we should find a place that we will want to call home. Above has not fulfilled what we required but we did by God's grace! 

Happy Birthday Mommy! Today is the first birthday I am not celebrating with MOM on the actual day! I wanted so much to be there BUT guess mom is better in arranging her own program as well! She is going out with her friends.... Well that is one thing that makes me less worry when I am so far away! The feeling is still not the same, as you wake up and unable to hug mommy and wish her Happy Birthday but after talking on the phone with her it makes me feel better.

We did had an early Birthday celebration the day before we traveled down to Johor. That was like many days ahead so to me it is still a little doesn't count! To add to that we almost were in a rush, as my father in law was in the hospital after a minor surgery. Anyway we did had a good time, we went to 

I have been working ever since the day I graduated! I had in-between-breaks BUT not like this before. When I stop working, my husband is around the house so people don't ask me questions like I gotten nowadays. Today is my hubby's first day at a new place! Thank God for the opportunity and open door that he has presented to us! 

So the "concerned" questions goes like this and I so wanted to be sarcastic to these "concern people"

"What you going to do at home alone?" 
I wanted to answer: The kid from home alone has a lot of things to do! So we just need to be creative......
Instead I answer: Don't worry! Got la!

"Wont be boring meh at home?"
I wanted to answer: how you define boring? A stay home wife has  lot of things to do from early morning till night! How can be boring? Plus we got facebook, blogger and chat program!
Instead I answer: Wont be!

"You don't plan to stay home for long right"
I wanted to answer: so what? My mom doesn't dictate! Plus I got a whole long schedule to keep! Why are you guys so concern?? Hubby also ok!
Instead I answer: Dunno! Depends

"So getting a job soon?"
I wanted to answer: I am already on the JOB!
Instead I answer: Dunno! We will see

"So you just cook and clean house only"
I wanted to answer: So? Cannot meh?
Instead I answer: Yeah and a lot of things

"Not much thing to do one woh stay at home! Hubby out for work whole day"
I wanted to answer: a lot, search up new recipe to cook, chat with my friends and sister, blog about life and things in my life, look up Martha Stewart Dot Com and look for interesting craft and plan for my mom and dad in law to come stay! Its a lot of things to do!
Instead I smile and don't answer!

Its tiring to answer to all this, plus you haven't heard those sarcastic remark people make about  nowadays no need to work just think about "LV, Prada, Gucci"! Life is not like that.. We are realistic people... but hopefully it will end one day, its my choice to stay home and after all I love what I am doing and God has answered my prayer! I can now no longer need to worry about datelines and stuff but the only dateline I have is when hubby arrives home ;)

Collected our wedding pix and there are so many wonderful shots capturing the meaning of friendships, bonding of families and the heart-warming ties each person that attended meant to us. We have our best of friends for years, ex-colleagues who stood with us through the test of time, families, uncle aunties and church members who went all out to help us! We wanted that all along. A small ceremony with only family and friends. Our total guests in attendance is 150, to us it was a very small crowd BUT after chit-chatting to an Australian couple we met (celebrating their 40 years of marriage) during our Europe trip they shared with us about their son's wedding and told us that they had invited way too many people! (Instantly our mind revert to about 900 guests! Like here in Malaysia) but when we asked them how many people in total attendance, they replied 180 pax! They even added that our 150 is not a small crowd! Well different cultures have different ways of defining "A LOT". 

Well nonetheless, we had a lot of fun, we are glad to have so many close friends that make time for us. We truly appreciate it and we know who you are! Thank You! Looking through the beautiful glossy pics, I seen one of the most heartwarming picture that send joy and sadness at the same time through my heart.

After whole week of going through and fro, going back and forth... Finally we are almost settled. It is easy to find a house but making a house a HOME takes a little time and effort. Working through this few days, I believe in something "There is nothing a united husband and wife cannot do. Indeed God has put power in the union of man and wife" :)

We do not feel nice until we brought our own pillows, comforter and clean up the house from corner to corner! Although the agent promised to clean up the house but we believed that somehow that cleaner did a very poor job! I couldn't stand the stains and the dusty floor! So we started from zero, maybe its all psychological BUT at least that is the way we make it home!

Only yesterday we finished cleaning and now we are three boxes left to unpack. Two boxes of food & sauces (given reason, the owner promises to install a cooking hood for us so no point arranging everything out YET!) & one box of stationery! Other than that we are done and settled. Even manage to do a little cooking yesterday! Yoo-hoo! Our first meal in our new home.

Time really flies, we have a lot of fun in Europe and we get to see a lot of things in my life! So many first times that I had experienced during this trip...... Its all a very rewarding memory! Love it to the bits! It might sound like funny BUT anyway "Yes! I got to see and touch snow for the first time in my life!" I will blog into details about the trip later!

I am turning my attention to Jesus - my Lord & Savior! Its Easter! Hallelujah! Jesus is alive! Amen! Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross for us so that we no longer fear death and we can now live a blessed life! Thank YOU! As we travel across Europe - Easter is a huge celebration there but it is how can I put it "in a wrong reason"? Easter is not about cute little bunny or even intricately painted eggs! It is about the Lord sacrifices on the cross and he has RISEN! Well anyway I do hope that everybody discover the love of God and celebrate Easter for the right reason....