2010-A Year In Review

Haii..

I was supposed to post this entry on 31 December 2010. But due to time constraint and the never-ending things to do, I didn;t manage to finish it on time.

So how has the new year been to you? For me it's work, home, friends and all things as usual, except that then end digit to the year now happens to be 1.

I remember at this time of the year last year, when we were at the beginning of 2010 feeling all kinds of things, especially when thinking that I would be moving to my own place. Fear, mostly, and worries. That's cause I was worried about how I was going to make the new place a home, where I would find money to move, what I needed to move and things like that. But towards the end of the year, I was also busy attending social gatherings and outings and lots of makan-makan events with friends.

Anyways, let's just do some review of what 2010 has been for me ya!

January
Started off the year just like any other new year. Rested nicely. I would say that January was pretty uneventful for me, as we were just turning into the new year, so it's been all about making plans for the year and adjusting to the new digits to the year.

February
February was the month when everything picked up for me. We celebrated Chinese New Year, and during this time, my parents came for a two-week stay. My cousin was here too as she had a work trip which she then extended to spend time with us.

We took the opportunity to drive up to the East Coast, and we went to Kota Bharu for about two nights. Once my cousin left, we also went to Port Dickson for a day trip and a picnic with my recently-married cousin.

That's just Mum and Dad posing near the fancy briodge in front of PICC

Picnic at Port Dickson

Our road trip-me camwhoring! Sorry gambar bercelaru tak ikut order!!Hahaha..


Then, my friend Carol got married and I was there to witness her big day. She's now settled in Adelaide, Australia, and I'm trying to find time (and money) to fly there and visit her some there.


During Carol's reception at Sunway Hotel and Resort.

March
March was another uneventful month I reckon, except that this was the month that I seriously gave a thought on switching my job. Alhamdulillah, as soon as my parents flew back to Kuching, calls started coming in to invite me for interviews. Among them was from an oil and gas conglomerate, as well as a government statutory body.

At at the same time, at the work place, I enjoyed my work as I had a wonderful boss and collegaues who werer really understanding and appreciate my contribution to the team.


April
April was a melancholic month for me, mostly because it was 'his' birthday month. And yes, I guess it was around this time that we made our break up more definite.

I also got a new job offer in April, so end of April I tendered my resignation. Four years at that private university was among the best in my career. I learned a lot, made many friends, matured a lot and grew financially, intellectually and in so many other ways.

It was while here that I decided also to buy my own apartment as I was confident enough that I was financially able to do so.

In April, my friend Carol moved to Australia. But before that, she asked me to come over to her place to give her one last cooking lesson. The story is here

May
May was the last month at my old place. As I was preparing to leave, I also prepped myself up for the new place-nervously anticipating how it would be like, prayed that things would go smoothly and that I would have a good time at the new place.

During this month, due to serving my resignation notice, I had to forgo my planned trip to mabul and Sipadan. Oh well, what to do?

June
It was 'the' month that I finally made a professional transition. Before that I was in education line, now I am in the communication and multimedia line. Before that it was the private sector, but now I am in the government sector, albeit a statutory one. Work-wise, it is still pretty much a corporate environment. I still have my pay deducted for EPF, Socso and tax.

But when it comes to transportation and travel, my oh my..the expenses took quite a lot from my pocket. As I was still living in Damansara, I had to travel around 45km and paid two tolls one way. Expenditure for fuel doubled. Before that, a full tank could take me two weeks before I had to refill my tank, but now, it took only on average one week. Then, multiply the daily expenses and really, i would easily spend about RM300-RM350 just for travelling to work and paying the tolls.

It was hard to adjust at first. The long travel also took a toll on my car, and as a result, I had to get it serviced at shorter interval.

July
Things start picking up at work, and I was getting busier. It was towards the end of this month that I received the notice of vacant possession from the developer. Happy siot! Finally! My home was ready to be occupied.

Last summer was a footy-mad month for me, as it was the World Cup season. Started in June, and culminated in July. Bad football withdrawal jugak after that, so was counting the day till the new season started again.

Then, due to the heavy daily travel, my car broke down in the middle of peak evening hours when I was descending from the Cable Bridge at LDP!! Oh my godd!! Memang teruji betul kesabaran time tu! Kalut sangat-sangat as thins kind of thing never happened to me before. But thank god it taught me to take better care of my car.

It was during July also that I rescued another kitten. Tried to adopt it out, but nobody seemed interested. So now I ended up with 8 kids:).

This was this lil kiddo when I first found him


And this is a much bigger Adik when he's busy suckling on his big brother's chest like a baby:)..(Sorry gambar dia takde plak, lots of it in my camera, and I don't have it with me right now)


August

Pretty much occupied with fasting. It was also a historic one as I collected my house keys during this month. Then I started looking for ideas on house deco-buying magazines la, and scouring the websites for inspiration.

Towards end of August, right in the middle of August, our family welcomed a new addition. My cousin gave birth to her baby boy and I got myself a new nephew!! Yippeee...!

Work-wise, things were as hectic as ever.

September
What is there to remember about September ya? Hmm..it was Hari Raya month, lots of celebration, family gathering, meeting friends and of course, food!:)

It was also my birthday month. I attended my school friend, Marlene's wedding reception on the eve of my birthday, and after the reception, we proceeded to another ermm..'private karaoke party' for my birthday:)..It was great, and glad to be able to spend time with friends.

Some photos from the wedding reception and the karok party;)

So glad to share the table with my school friends and the bride's trainers heheh..And here of course, with the bride and groom.

We were so gila-gila that we even took the flowers after the reception;)..And we're all from the same school:)

At the karaoke reception while waiting for our room to be available. We sang the night away from midnight till about..3AM? Tiring, but we had fun.

October
What happened in October ya?? Seriously can't remember much, except the fact that the house preoccupied most of my thoughts. I know that during this month, I was busy engaging contractor to do some things at the house, as well as choosing wallpaper and paint colours and getting my thoughts together on what kind of house can be my home, one that suits me personality as well as my budget.

It was also the time when I finalised and approved designs, and started to scout for the little things that would be featured in the house. I decided that furnitures could wait, so I was not exactly in a rush to get new ones as I prefer to use the existing ones that I have. I found a place that could reupholstered my L-shape sofa, for a fraction of a new one.

At the same time I also started packing up my stuff at home, delegaing between the impotant ones as well as getting rid of the ones I don't want. But the packing was going slow at that time as I gave myself the deadline to be end of November. Memang niat nak pindah to coincide with Ma'al Hijrah. Ye lah, like I write earlier, nak ambik berkat hijrah kan:)

November
So the works started in November. By then I was making more frequent trips to my new place during weekends. At the same time I was also busy doing lots of surveying. Foremost on my mind at that time was the lighting needs of the house:)..I was not worried about things like kitchen cabinet and airconds as they come with the house. Alhamdulillah.

So little by little I saw my house becoming the vision of what my nest would be like. I started packing up more aggresively as well. My family agreed to come and help me settle down. So I gave myself the December move-in target as I don't want to trouble them too much. They could just help me unpack instead of packing and unpacking.

Anyway, I gave a notice to my landlord about my impending move, settled the bills at that point and started searching for movers and packed more and more stuff. My kids noticed the changes, so I hoped in a way they understand what was going on. And of course, being around boxes make them very happy! Like this:



December

So December finally came. My family arrived on the last day of November, and I brought them straight to the new place. I got the movers to move the rest of my stuff the day before-a tiring and stresful day indeed. Sadly, had to leave my kids behind as I didn't want to stress them out during the move, and add that to the anxiety of having lots of people around as they're not used to being with many humans at a time.

We spent the first night at the new place with boxes scaterring around and my friend's hubby and his worker doing some final touches to the wallpapering and changing the bidet in both the toilets.

Unfortunately, despite being on leave on that 1st and 2nd day of the month, I had alot of driving to do. To make matters worse, I got my period, and naturally, the pain that comes with it as well as horrible fever and cough. It actually started a couple of days before that, probably due to the dust that I was exposed to whilst cleaning up the house. I almost lost my voice, and I squeaked when I spoke.

On the first day I was due back at work, I felt the lousiest. Remnants of the stomach discomfort persisted, and on that day I totally lost my voice. Couldn't stand the lousiness, I went to see the doctor during lunch time. He performed all sorts of checking, drew my blood for a test, and actually had to take three readings of my blood pressure. Oh well, it was a stressful period indeed, as my BP was at an unhealthy level!

So he immediately ordered total rest for the rest of the day, as well as on the next day. Went home and tried as much as I can to maybe get some more sleep, but as I had lots of people around, resting was impossible.

Anyway I recovered a few days after and could finally enjoy having my family around. Only after they flew back to Kuching did I bring my kids back to the new home.

It was really a covert mission, done at night with the assistance of my friend, Kartini. Thanks Tini! Once at the new home, they were at first wary, except of course, for Mimi who, as long as she can see me, would feel very much at home anywhere I am. Alhamdulillah, by the next day they started smelling and sniffing the nooks and corners of the house and registered the fact that they now have a new home.

Some of the stuff in the box are yet to be unpacked. I'm just taking my time.

And now that the new year has descended, new hopes, aspirations, wishes, and plans are being executed and put into place.

So that's it folk, my uber-long entry. Sorry for that, but well, after all, it;s the year in review isn't it?

Till the next time, cheers!