House Renovation Update #1- Demolishing

This morning we dropped by the house to check on the progress and also to discuss with the electrician on how many power points, switches etc that we want.

It’s quite surreal to see the transformation. Just two weeks ago the house was in a sorry state with ugly as hell tiles and overgrowth of shrubs and unidentified insects crawling around. Now it’s almost completely bare.

Here are some pictures:

Kitchen

# This is the kitchen before.

# We demolished a section of the wall so when it’s done the kitchen will extend into what is used to be a wash area. All the old tiles have been stripped off. The entire kitchen except one wall section will be tiled floor to ceiling. In fact, the kitchen will be the biggest space in the entire house, that’s how serious we take our food, hehehe.

Stairs

# This is the staircase before.

# We have ripped out all the parquets and old wooden railings from the staircase. We are putting laminated wood flooring for the staircase and the entire upper floor.

Living Hall

# This is the living hall before.

# The old tiles have been ripped off. The concrete bench under the windows have been demolished. We’re also putting in new doors, windows & grills. As for the ground floors, we’re not tiling the them at all, just going for smooth cement render.

Master Bedroom

# The master bedroom before.

# The parquet flooring has been removed and will be replaced with laminated wood flooring as with the rest of the upper floor. The old door frame has also been hacked out. The french doors on the left will also be removed and turned into a wall.

Room 2 & Room 3

# The rooms before.

# Room doors, bathroom doors and old bathroom tiles have been hacked out. Parquet flooring also removed. These rooms will be my wardrobe/vanity/activity room and guest room.

So there, some updates on the progress of our new home :)

And also, if you’re not into this sort of things, here are some pictures of me mucking around:

# Say no to fugly grills :P

# Here’s me dressed up in solidarity with my contractor. Hehe.

# And another one in the now bare toilet.

Till the next update, happy house renovating!

To read about what you should do before buying a house, check out my partner-in-crime, ShaolinTiger’s Guide to Buying a Property in Malaysia.

Happy Birthday Nicky!!!

Today is Nicky’s birthday. He’s only 2 years younger than me so he’s just turned 24!!!

Yes, both my baby brothers were born in the month of March and both of their names start with Nick. Don’t know what my parents were thinking lah.

Anyway, I wasn’t there when they celebrated Nicky’s birthday early so I’m mad now for being left out of the party. Why no one called me? I only found out from my Mom’s twit -_-

This is not a picture from last year. My Dad forgot his age -_-”

Sorry ah no presents cause you know I’m saving up for renovation :P But you know I love you Ah Boy!

#emocharlie has separation anxiety

Charlie my beloved mutt has separation anxiety. There, I’ve said it.

We spend RM300 every month just for a dogsitter to look after him on the weekends and I’ve basically given up on a full time job just so I could be with him on the weekdays (okay, I really do not like working full time also :P). Which explains why he has to be at the sitter on the weekends, because I need dog-free activities like eating at non-dog friendly restaurants, catching a movie etc.

Leaving him for a 1/2 hour alone would mean that he would be barking ferociously at the closed door for a full 30 minutes until I’m home. Though I don’t work full time, I need to go out to meet clients on the weekdays too and whenever this happens, I in turn become the one with the anxiety problems :P

Yesterday someone offered me 2 tickets to watch a new movie tonight and imagine how ridiculous I felt when I had to decline the tickets because my dog cannot be left alone?

My greatest fear is the neighbours complaining and eventually getting us into trouble but touch wood, that has not happened yet. A neighbour did voice out to us about a barking episode a while ago though. And I had strived to stop that from happening again.

English Cocker Spaniels are a great breed but they are infamous for being needy. They need constant human contact, very very affectionate animals. Something which I had no idea when I got Charlie. Trust me, if I had learnt to research on dogs’ characters before getting a dog, I would not have gotten him at all. I’d get a cat instead, JUST KIDDING! But alas, it’s fated and I have to live with my decision for at least 15 years :)

So anyway, due to Charlie’s separation anxiety, I’ve been avoiding going out at all. I know it’s unhealthy for me but to be honest I was pretty happy cooped up at home with just my dog.

Then suddenly, I was swamped with work and had to go out a couple of times a week. Luckily my friend, Ringo could look after him. Another time the bf took leave to do it.

But today…today I couldn’t find any help. So it’s just me and Charlie and then Charlie alone from 12.00pm – 4.30pm. Frankly, I was worried to death. I took a chance by leaving the wooden door open hoping he won’t feel so trapped in our tiny apartment.

And when I got home, he wasn’t barking which was not really a good sign as I had learnt because it probably meant that he’s exhausted from it. I decided to ring a neighbour’s doorbell and according to her, he didn’t bark but instead he howled. In fact he howled for a while like he’s asking for pity. Then I asked her whether the howling disturbed her and she answered, “Nope”.

At that very moment, I was filled with pride and happiness that you cannot possibly imagine. I guess leaving the wooden door opened really worked!

Yes, I have reached a new milestone with Charlie :)

And possibly getting my social life back!!!!!