Second last day

Second last night in Gombak. Today will be the last full day. Tomorrow will be the final day, in sha Allah. After that there will be no turning back. Bt Cerakah, Jeram will be our new home, for a long time to come in sha Allah. Like it or not, its a choice we have made. We have to make good no matter what cause we have decided. That's it. Living in a kampong in Jeram will be different from living in a kampong in KL. It will be a new experience for the wife and kids. For me, I was in Merbau Sempak for so many years so its the second time for me. Bt Cerakah Jeram is like Merbau Sempak ten, twenty years ago. Still not many people. The charm of village living is still there. The kampong atmosphere is very much still alive. I hope it remains though I doubt it. Ten years from now, I think we will see a different Bt Cerakah, just like Merbau Sempak now.

Still waiting for the water

Yesterday the new contractor that I engaged for securing the water connection has done so i.e he has done the application. That's the first phase done unlike the previous contractor who after a few months has not even applied! Alhamdulillah. No more stories about SPAN or what not like the previous contractor. It got me stumped for a while as I cannot see the connection between SPAN and getting the water supply. It seems he does not know what he is doing. It is Syabas! Anyway, its the past. Hopefully with this new contractor, everything will move smoothly in sha Allah. Syabas Hq will process the application. Then Syabas K Selangor will do the site check. If everything is okay, we will get the meter and the water. 

First meal at Danau Merbau

Enjoying our lunch at the backyard. That's the fist meal since we moved, partially. The final move will happen on 28th June Thursday in sha Allah. In the meantime, there are a few things still to be sorted out in Gombak.

Many things to do

We are still in the transition period. Still ferrying things to the new house, the annoying little bits and pieces. The last day will be Thursday, in sha Allah. That will be when we move to Danau Merbau and stay there for good in sha Allah. In the meantime, we will travel to and fro, Gombak to Bt Cerakah, Jeram. There are a few things still to do in Gombak before we finally can make the final move. Once in the new house, there are more thins to do like fixing the internet, air condition unit, water heater, plus plus plus. Already there are a few things in the mind that we need to do with the new house. The most important is fixing the little bit of awning at the side of the house. Otherwise, the rain will get into the verandah. Then there's the need to put a few plug points in the backyard, a sink, pipehead for the washing machine, putting mat on the floor etc. Hmm...... there's plenty to do still! My budget has already run out. Looks like it will run out some more. Need to put a plug as soon as possible or my pocket will run dry.

From empty to full

As it stands

Today will be in Danau Merbau again. Till we finally move next week, this will be our routine I guess. Really would like to move once and for all but the situation does not allow. Am thinking of staying at a homestay but that will create a big hole in the pocket. The stay could be as long as a month. Or maybe stay at the new house, getting by with water taken from the neighbour. That will be the much cheaper option but I don't fancy having to ask for water every now and then. So, what will be the decision? No matter what, one thing is for sure i.e. by the end of the month we will move out of our rented house in Gombak.

Now its the car

After two trips with the 5ton lorry, now its the turn of the car to carry more bit and pieces here and there to the new house. The operation was carried out yesterday. There's more to come. This will be done in phases till we finally move before the end of the month. All these are necessary because of no water in the new house. We are in a dilemma actually. We have to move out of Gombak by the end of the month but the house in Jeram still without water.

Empty house in Gombak

Moving

The lorry came a bit late but that's normal. Only the driver and one other person. Looking at the two of them, I had my doubt if they were up to the task but they proved me wrong. Really competent and efficient. The way they went about their task is commendable. I have to say they are good at what they do. They filled up the lorry in no time at all considering there's only two of them. However, there's still plenty left in the house. In the end, it needed two trips. By the time its done, it was already time for the evening prayer. We stayed on to clear the mess but much time was wasted when we went looking for food at Puncak Alam after the evening prayer. Not many restaurants were opened because of the Raya holidays. The few that were opened were packed to the brim. We had to wait almost an hour for our food.

Packing up

Tuesday and Wednesday busy with packing. We have booked the lorry for Thursday to transfer our things to the new house. We will still be staying at Gombak however, until the end of the month. That's because the water is still not there. End June, we will move out, water or no. We will stay at some homestay or something some where near our new house. Hopefully by mid July, water is available already. Then we will move to the new house for good, in sha Allah.

Done

A real tiring job, packing up things. For two days, our mind and body fully occupied with the task at hand. Not an easy thing to do with all the things that we have accumulated over the years. Some we use them but some remain in their box, not used at all. Finally we managed to do it albeit, feeling very very tired after completing the task but happy. We asked for a five ton lorry. Hopefully it is enough but I have a strong feeling it might not. All ready to go.

Operation cleaning

Second round of cleaning although not as intensive as the first round. Just a little bit here and there to spruce up things. Managed to fix the curtains as well except for two windows. In a few days time on Thursday, we will be transferring our things from Gombak to here. We are moving in sha Allah.

Having fun

The kids of course, were having their own fun. With them along, the work becomes doubly hard but alhamdulillah, we managed. We brought along their toys. That helped a bit as they were at times occupied with them, thus no time to disturb us.

Eidil Fitri

Early in the morning, did my duty by leading the Eid prayer at the local surau. This will be the last time I will be leading the Eid prayers as I will be moving house soon. All in all, I think it must be five or six times altogether, Eidil Fitri and Eidil Adha. At the new place, don't think I will be doing it anymore but then, you never know. Many things I didn't expect to happen, happened including leading the Eid prayers. I never anticipated it. Never even cross my mind. 

After the prayers I was at home the whole day. The wife and children were quite busy visiting houses within the vicinity but I prefer to stay at home. Come night time, my children from the previous marriage came a calling, together with their spouses and kids. That made my day. 

This morning, I am starting my first day of the six days of fasting in Shawal. Not wanting to lose the momentum of fasting in Ramadhan cause the longer you wait, the harder it becomes. That's from my experienced. In sha Allah, I hope to finish well before the end date.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Childen came a calling

Gave him the boot

After giving him so many chances and so much benefit of the doubt, I finally gave him the sacked. I am talking about the incompetent water contractor whom I have engaged to help me procure the water supply for my new house. After months of dilly dally, I am still not any nearer to getting the water. Missing one target date after another, my patience finally ran out. The last straw was when I went to the Syabas office in K. Selangor yesterday only to find out that there is still no application. Damn! After so many months, he can't even get to the application stage! How to progress? Finally I decided that's it and gave him the boot. I managed to get a new contractor immediately to work on what is left or to correct what has been wrongly done. In sha Allah, everything will work out find this time.

Drop dead date

By hook or by crook, we will be moving out of the house we are renting now before the end of the month. That is the drop dead date. Whether there is water or not, that is not in the calculation. We will make do somehow. Hopefully, with the new water contractor, everything will move smoothly in sha Allah. He look like he knows what he is doing. One look and he already knows what are needed to be corrected. Firstly, the pipe connecting the main Syabas pipe to the stand meter must be of stainless steel. Next, the stand meter must be fixed as near as possible to the Syabas main pipe. It cannot be as what is now, in front of the house. Thirdly, any drain crossing of a poly pipe must be enclosed in a hard casing. All these need to be done before approval is given.

Still in limbo

Its getting nearer and nearer to Eidil Fitri but I don't feel it that much. Perhaps I have been focusing more on the new house in Bukit Cerakah, Jeram and the problem with getting the water supply connected. Thinking back, it all boils down to choosing the wrong contractor. He does not know his job! Its as simple as that. He is not well versed with the requirement of the Syabas, the company that supplies the water. As such, he did what he thought was right when it was actually wrong. Secondly, he is not focused on this job. I think he is doing many other little things here and there. These distractions has the effect of slowing down everything that he is doing. Hmm....... I need to be patience, stay patience. In sha Allah, everything will come good.

Cleaning time

Using water from a nearby neighbour, we managed to clean the house yesterday. Not a very tiring job but the thirst was sometime unbearable as the day was hot. Nonetheless, we continued with the cleaning and the fasting, no problem at all. For breaking of fast, we went to Puncak Alam and also did our Maghrib at the mosque there. After that it was back to the house for more cleaning work. It was almost eleven in the night before we finally left the house for home in Gombak. Very tiring but satisfying as we managed to do what we set out to do despite water still being unavailable.. Now, its for the moving of things. That will be after Raya in sha Allah.

Cleaning the house

What a night

I still can't get over what happened on the night of 9th May. It was something that I have been waiting for years and years. Always hoping every time there's a general election but it was never realised until 9th May. The whole night I didn't sleep. Too excited watching and living what was unfolding as the night progresses. True, the TV stations were doing a bad job about it. Results were slow in coming but the social media was fantastic. Judging from the results that were coming through them, by about 11pm, I was sure this was going to be a historic night. The BN government was going to fall. In the end, there were no doubt about it. The Rakyat has spoken. We have thrown away a corrupt government who's leaders are more interested in enriching themselves led by the 1MDB scandal to a new government led by leaders who believe in integrity and transperancy.

Only a temporary setback

I am getting closer and closer to my drop dead date with regards to moving house but the prospect of water supply coming before the date looks slim at the moment. Chasing after the contractor bears little result mainly because it is so difficult to get him. Just as I was thinking of changing to another contractor, he called to say the on line application has been done but the manual application has to be done as well, which he has not of course! That's the progress after almost two weeks, from on line application to manual application. Don't know how long more I have to wait! Really frustrating! Meantime, I try to be positive. This is only a temporary setback. Today, I'm going to clean up the house thoroughly, using water from a neighbour. After that, the house will be ready. After Raya, we will move our things in sha Allah.

Cleaning the house

Today I'm going to the new house to do some dry cleaning like sweeping and vacuum in sha Allah. This is the prelude to the actual cleaning which will be done later. That I have to get the water from the neighbour. Meantime I will do the initial preparation first. Need to clean up the house. Otherwise, the house looks dirty and unkept. A pity really as the house has been ready for so long already. Its the water and electricity that is keeping us back. Now the electricity is okay but the water is not. Hopefully it will be done within the next two weeks.

Pasar Ramadhan

As always I seldom go to the Pasar Ramadhan. Can't remember when it was that I started to go less and less to these places but it all had to do with food wasted and ultimately, money. When the stomach is hungry, everything looks nice and delicious. Most of the time, we will end up buying more than we can eat. Sometimes, during breaking of fast, after drinking to quench the thirst, the stomach is no more hungry. The food don't look so inviting anymore. End up, the food go wasted, not taken and thrown into the dustbin. What a waste! That's why I stopped going. Can count on my fingers how many times I go. Maybe once or twice during the whole of Ramadhan

Its decided

Finally its decided. We will move to Danau Merbau on or before 1st July, with or without the water supply. The decision was forced upon us. Knowing that we are moving, the owner of the house we are renting now wants the house back. They are increasing the rental and have already found a new tenant. In fact they wanted to increase it from last month itself but we resisted simply because we have spent thousands repairing the house but they only agreed to reduce the rent by RM100 in order to pay back. At that rate, we will not get our money back even after ten years. To increase the rent on us is really in bad taste. Just wait another one or two months. We will move out! Then do it on the new tenant!

The plan

So, next week, we will clean the house using water from a neighbour's house nearby. During construction, water and electricity were sourced from this same house. After that, we will move our things most probably after Raya but must be before 1st of July. If by then water is already available, well and good. We will move into the new house immediately. If not, then we will stay at some homestay nearby. It will not be a problem as there are many reasonably priced homestay in the neighbourhood. We simply have to pick one. So, that's the plan in the next one month. I am feeling relief now that a major decision has been made. It settles all that have been clouding my mind lately. In sha Allah, everything will worked out fine.

Excited

Danau Merbau, here we come!