Finally, someone with compassion

*Sigh of relief*

From the previous few entries of mine, it was clear that I had some issues with my landlady. She claimed that the house is fully furnished and its within a guarded compound and and the property is equipped with security system, but upon arrival, our expectation fell bottom low, not only was it semi-furnished, problems started popping up like hotcakes.

Booked a flight back to Singapore with a heavy heart, preparing for a good round of negotiation in regards to the rent not being able to justify with the condition of the property.
The well rehearsed speech I've prepared wasn't exactly needed as I've found out. Instead of speaking to the landlady personally, I was pretty lucky as her husband (V) has decided to take charge of the matter.
Not only did he gave me his full empathy on the issue, he's kindly lowered rent for this coming month to RM1000 and RM1200 for the subsequent months to come.

Somehow I can't help but feel that the landlady won't address nor handle the case as well as V. If she did, she wouldn't have just offered to write off only two days of rent as a gesture of goodwill,..... clearly that wasn't enough to compensate us.

No doubt a good businessman, Moo and I were happy with the verdict and outcome. V suggested that he'll try to hook us up with internet (but no promises as its down to the authorities to connect the phone lines for the estate, which is beyond his control), and that its best for us to source out other accommodation other wise. But meanwhile we are welcome to stay as long as we want.

So the search will continue after my return ....

Useless F00s

. . . Migraine . . .
Just the day before I've given my final 'warning' for the fans to be installed in the two guest rooms as well as the study in preparation for Pea's visit. Her brother turned up last night with two other friends, without prior notice, with their dinner, and just entered and make themselves comfortable then proceed to have their food,... leaving me puzzled as to the purpose of their visit. It's only upon questioning that he informed me they were here to install the fan.

For that moment I thought that things ain't going so bad after all, no,.... that thought popped too soon.
In fact they came so "un-prepared" that they conveniently forgot to buy the switches required for the fans,... ok they went out to get it and were back in half an hour. After making a mess,... and removing the ceiling light,... his friend claimed that he doesn't have the tool to complete the f**king job and they happily went off saying they would be back tomorrow.

Woke up today at three,.... landlady's brother called and said they are coming over,... I cut the conversation short and told him not to as we are heading out. Wahoooo the next minute landlady called and well well told me exactly what her brother dearest said a minute ago as if my memory is really that bad,.... and which part of F**KING NO doesn't he understand? And it appeared that she's not willing to take no as an answer either,... well he has the whole morning to come and complete the job,... I'm not as free as he is or does he think that he's so F**KING important or I've got all my time at his disposal?

Best of all, after two calls from the landlady,.... her dear brother called again, here's the conversation, for the re-enactment of the conversation he shall be known as LM (Loud-Mouth):

LM: Are you gotta be back by five?
Me: Can't be sure.
LM: Are you gotta be back by five?
Me: (*Tearing hair*) DUNNO.
LM: Coz my friend is alright to install the fan today.
Me: We are heading out.
LM: I've got one of your keys (*this comment left me feeling pretty uneasy*), you can go out while we continue installing then I'll lock up when we are done.
Me: No, I'm heading out like NOW!!!!! (at this point I was desperately jumping around putting my clothes on),

No the commotion din't end here, sigh, landlady called up again and I've totally lost my cool. I've to tell her word by word that they were at fault to begin with for coming over unprepared, don't expect me to waste my day off just because they were F**KING useless (k I din't really use any vulgarities on her). Finally with god's grace she took my words in and stopped calling me.... only after repeating the information to her twice or maybe three times.

After today I'm even more determined to move out,...

Ripped Off

It has been a very rewarding night I've to say, spoken to various people, people from the developing company in charge of the estate I'm currently renting in as well as folks who stay here. All information leads to one thing, me and Moo had been nothing but a big juicy slice of beef steaks.... From what I've gathered so far a fully furnished house similar to ours, just round the corner in the same bloody estates was only renting out for RM 750 while we (the house wasn't even fully furnished) had to pay RM 2000.... (fork and steak knives slicing into our belly).

Haaaa, just (after I've finished writing the above paragraph) befriended another two nice chaps who stays nearby. Had a lil chat with the three fellas and yet to find out moi and Moo are pretty well known in the estate,.... for being the two idiots who paid high bucks for the rental,... too high for what we should be getting,.... sigh. Landlord and family boasted off the neighbours that they managed to find two cabbage heads (i.e. anyone who are easily talked into paying for more than bargained) who paid a deposit of RM 6000 and rent of RM 2000 to them,.... errr,,.... the part about the rent is the truth,... but deposit wise,... where the hell did that come from? One of the chaps jokingly asked if I wanna rent his house for 1200, fully furnished, air-con in all rooms,... a koi pond in the front yard, and such. Ouch yet again. And security wise, I was warned not the walk Yumi alone after dusk, change all the original locks in the house and switch on all the lights including that in the porch even when I'm not using it for extra measure. And was told as well that one of the houses around the corner just got broken into not long ago. lol its nice getting to know your neighbours, especially when we are not locals. I love chatting to them, and using the dialect I'm all so familiar with just makes me feel more at home.
One of them mentioned spotting me as I walk Yumi passed his place, and commented that I'm kinda brave to walk alone in the dark,... two big lads like them won't even do that as there's a risk of falling victims to robbery. All too common from the stories I've heard
After the whole chat, its natural that I became a lil uneasy, well now that the lights are all on,... all doors and gates locked, I'm still feeling a tad iffy. Little bit of noise makes me jump.

That's it,.... will be sourcing out a new place soon,.... my title of Bargain Queen does not tolerate such a rip off.... the hunt for a new property starts tomorrow!!!!!

Another Moody Day

At long last, the dining table and sofa has arrived. I've been on the phone several times today to the landlord, all the problems we had with the rented house is drawing my last straw, and with me PMSing, its just a test of how much my patience could stretch.

Miss landlord is a nice gal, but as with all locals I've dealt with, there's always a communication problem. To explain a certain scenario to them, I've to break it up into really small chunks of information, digest it and regurgitate then feed it to them. Hence it took me a while to let her get the full picture of the inconvenience we faced during our two and a half week stay. Promises are empty as I've learnt after our arrival in this new country, only actions can convince me now. Currently still pressing the gardener to send us the palm tree they have "promised" for our front yard, which I suspect that they are still growing from seeding.... and now he's no longer entertaining our calls, leaving us hanging on the other end of the line enjoying his irritating banga caller ringtone.

Will be flying home in less than a week's time, wonder if all would be settled before I go. Sigh, simple life? I wished. Guess I've gotta change the banner to my blog soon. Well at least it managed to keep my mind off the issue that I'm still bloody OFFLINE!!!!!! and oh,.... there's still no cable TV!!!! And due to that fact, Yumi has been getting tonnes of attention which she adores, attention = treats and playtime so she's slightly overweight at the moment. Arggggggggurh I need my triple Ws.

.............. (*pout*) It seemed that all my recent entries are starting to sound like Moo's, nothing but grumbles .... (*collaspe on table outta exhaustion*) ....

Canine Rant

Nope, it seemed that I'd be offline longer than I've thought, the ISP company which we've contacted got back to us. More bad news, apparently the phone line in our area ain't even hooked up,.... and with no wireless coverage in this zone,.... we are stranded. Oh and did I mention that this estate isn't on my street directory which was printed this year?

As if things ain't bad enough on our end,... tried calling Pea who just refused to wake up from her nap, ended up with my mum grumbling down the line. Complaints of Bubble kept flooding in, how he marks around the house damaging her second-hand-passed-down-gonna-break-down-any-moment antique washing machine, and his excessive barking. For years I've been trying to get through to her that her disciplinary actions towards his misbehaviour isn't gonna work,... same way I've been telling Moo that his actions won't work on Yumi.... but mum's too old to listen,.... well she might think that she's too experienced in life to listen to her daughter anyway. No amount of screaming and spanking is gotta stop his yelping but just gotta make matter worse. I'm having not much problem with Yumi using the positive re-enforcement training matter, neither did I have any problems with Bubble before I left for England.... I don't see why she shouldn't do the same since it worked on the stubborn six years old minpin.

Gotta head back to Singapore in a week's time, I can so see my effort on Yumi going down the drain when I get back. Moo's disciplinary towards her differs from mine.... or I should say is teeny bit similar to my mum's. But instead of screaming and yelling, he chose to growl at her, trying to use the packing behaviour telling her who's alpha,... well I won't say it din't work, it does stop her misbehaving, but as timid as she is, she wets herself from fear,.... if this continues, her bubbly character would be ultimately be replaced by low esteem and confidence level would drop,... not good either.

(Silence .............................................................................. ) Here are some pictures to distract you from the awkward silence.

Back from Yumi's walk, ten minutes ago she was sitting at the door whining and protesting to visit her vast outdoor toilet. Bumped into another dog owner, they'd be now known as Kumar and Rex. Background check, Rex, a five month old timid shepherd mix purchased from a home breeder. I've initially mistaken him to be at least two years old on occasions when we drove past his place. He's huge for a puppy, looks as though full grown. If he and Yumi are to become playmates, I can so see her bullying him, as the owners chatted, Yumi, being tiny compared to Rex was barking like hell, while the latter hides behind his owner. All I can say is small dogs think BIG,... same reason why chihuahuas barks like hell.

Looks like this entry is nothing but a rant about canines, sigh. I'll be calling it a night soon, nothing much going on today, meeting Kumar and Rex might be the most exciting event and that concludes my simple and a lil boring day.

Offline(ing)

I'm currently drafting my blog entry, it has been almost two weeks now that I've been totally cut off from the cyberworld. There's alot of going ons during my cyber-hibernation, we've moved to a new country, one that's closer to my birthland, with much more delicious food than Lala Land and more scenic places to explore.

The past two weeks had been nothing but exhaustion, moved into a half completed two storey house, no air conditioner to relieve the heat, no dining table or chairs, no sofa and coffee table, no washing machine nor study table. We literally ate on the floor like cave men. The landlords got us a mattress the day we arrived, gas stove and stuff, only basic necessities enough to survive. It was very nice of them to show us around places where we could get our daily supplies and thanks to them, I have a new companion, a four legged rottie lookalike who's now has many names lol, Ayumi, Yumi, Mimi or what Moo named her "You & Me", Butthole, Fatarse, Idiot. And this is her story, her mum's a stray who stayed with the landlord's family, being a stray and a bitch, she reproduces like a factory and her recent litter had a headcount of seven, but when I met her, she's only left with two female puppies, the other five unfortunately died in hit and runs. Not wanting her to end up being a roadkill nor some banga's dinner, I brought her back. She's smart as a stray, we've (or more like I've coz Moo can't be arse) trained her basic commends like sit and down, and outdoor potty training all within a week. She's very food orientated, so that's the driving force for her to learn quick.

Alright, back to the busy week, like a blank canvas we've loads of stuff to do to make it feel like a home (well, at least a temporary home for the next year or so). Hmmm, here's what we've got so far, a huge dustbin, GIGANTIC box of mosquito coil, study table, bug buzzer, nettings to stop the nasty buggers (ya from the list you should be able to tell we've got an insect problem around here).... curtains, blanket set, rice cooker, microwave, kitchen stuff, ..... k better stop here, I can see the drool wetting your keyboard. Oh one more thing,... Moo bought a TV for his xbox,.... to only have the latter dying on the same day we got the TV,... so for the time being, the 32" is exclusively for my Wii Muahahhahahaaa.

Oh where was I, yah so past two weeks had been draining me, and having a overly-hyper four month old puppy around din't help either. But I've really appreciate her around today since Moo is on night shift and there's no internet nor cable TV keep me entertained. Fingers crossed both would be available by the end of this week (praying hard).