Farewell

It's been a while. My last post.

To keep everyone in the loop, yes, we have finally put in the sale and purchase transaction. I have a happy buyer of our current home, and I am a happy buyer of our future home just a little bit further up North.

It's been a nail-biting ride, this process of sale and purchase. Ultimately though, I hope come December, we'll be holding to the keys to our new home with huge smiles on our faces, ready only to find ourselves bracing for the renovations.

So yes, in between that, I have been busy preparing our current home to welcome Eid ul-Fitr.

It's bittersweet as I clean out the nursery room, and the creativity room - this is after all going to be the last Eid ul-Fitr we're spending here. Our little home that we first purchased as a unit. The same one, we braved not-using-much-common sense "gah-men" officials over; horrible, bloodsucking contractors; (1) inconsiderate neighbour - or maybe 2 - 3 tops. 

But you know what? As much as I cannot wait to move to a new environment, I love living where we are now - the expanse view of the green fields where the Bangladeshi men would take every opportunity to play cricket, our neighbours' tolerance towards our furballs when we let them out on the corridors. Best of all, in our 3 years living here, I have heard Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English, Bengoli, Tagalog, Burmese and Thai being spoken in the lift landings and in the common corridors of our apartment building. It's a melting pot of cultures - I am sort of sad that Nadine will not be exposed much to that when we move.

Sure the building is more than 20 years old and we're still waiting for the same "gah-men" people to give our apartment building a fresh coat of paint, but inside it, the core of the building, the people - they are the essense of this 'burb.

So lest I forget, goodbye Yishun. I've had a good 21-year affair in this 'burb.

Chocolate Dreams

It's been a l.o.n.g week.

Thankfully, I am taking the day off tomorrow.

We're going interior designer/general contractor "shopping". I'm not exactly sure why we are shopping for an interior designer considering we do have somewhat of a hazy picture in our heads of what the interior of our new home will be. Maybe it's because I needed a fresh perspective. I need to get all excited again about our future new home.

I also hope to have an hour or so at midday tomorrow to see my nieces perform a ballet at China Square Central. Not a proper ballet recital. More of a fun kindergarden/nursery performance. I'm so proud of them. And all of the rest of my nieces and nephews.

Anyways - this is sounding like a boring report card entry - got to sign off. Better start packing the diaper bag. Our day will start at 9am tomorrow.

Maybe, before then, a piece of brownie I baked a few days ago is in order . . .

Or maybe I will dream of the souffle I tried my hand on a week ago, which obviously didn't look appetising as the ones those men (and women) in aprons whip up in their kitchens!

The Hunt

Today was the day we had an onslought of people coming over to view our flat.

9 separate groups of people, no less.

I am surprised that within the hour, we received 2 separate offers that met our minimum asking price. I am further surprised that Nadine was such a trooper through the afternoon chaos.

When it was our turn to apartment-hunt earlier this evening, I am thankful again that Nadine slept through it all in here.

Day 2 tomorrow.

Bring it on!

It's Coming Together

M and I met up with our real estate agent last Sunday. The same one who helped us secure our current apartment at a steal based on our very strict budget and criteria we laid on her.

Yes folks, M and I will officially be back in the real estate market in about 2 months. With Cookie in tow. It's crazy I know but we have good support in the form of family and friends, so I think we'll make it till the end together with our hair intact.

Initially, we really wanted to be somewhere near town for the convenience of work (we are - still - having an on-going debate about purchasing a car) but decided to stay in this part of the island largely due to our fur-children.

See, Stairway and Empress are still fed wet food once a day in the morning just before I leave for the office. And in the evenings, they get to go out and roam free for about 15 minutes along the corridors (which to them usually means either munch leaves or stalk/chase geckos). And since Empress is still a lil' wary of people, we don't want her further traumatised if we leave her in the care of a cat-sitter or the people at the pet hotel if we were ever to go on holidays.

Nothing beats family. So buh-bye city-living.

But on a bright side, I'm now all psyched with Cookie coming along in 3 weeks and ideas exploding in our heads for our new home with Stairway, Empress and Cookie's needs in mind.

Paddington to Darlinghurst

Day-dreaming (and lusting) again at lunch today.

Object of my day-dream/lust :

(Images courtesy of Real Estate Australia)

A Victorian terrace in the cradles of Paddington and Darlinghurst - my favourite 'burbs in Sydney. ~ Inspira

Island Home

Here's the thing.

When M and I first started our home hunt way back in May 2006, we knew that it was going to be temporary. We agreed that it was a stepping stone for a more permanent home, wherever that may be.

Because of the strict criteria we've laid out for ourselves, we knew that we had to start out with a smaller than usual budget for the purchase of the flat. Viewing after viewing. Locking our heads together. It was a joint purchase. After all the midnight discussions, weeklong arguments, we had the keys to our first home in August 2006.

The interior of our 1st home is purely experimental. It is a union of our own individual styles. Going through the renovation process together allowed us to stretch our imagination, capped only by our limited wallet size.

A year and a half later, we are still learning the ways of how each room in our home could and would work (and vice versa) to meet our habits and every needs.

At the end of the year, we will put in the paperwork to sell our current home and look for ourselves a new one. A permanent one. One that will work seamlessly for every single member of our family. Call it our Perpetual Island Home. ~ Inspira

Nesting (still)

Still nesting. Much to my friends' chagrin, I'm sure, who are reading this post. (I'm sorry - pleeease bear with me. . . .)

Exp, how about this one in Prahran (5 minutes walk to Chapel Street)?

M and I and the rest of the family can possibly just move into the house. Apart from the small(ish) kitchen and the lack of demarcation of the kitchen from the rest of the space, it's a pretty space to live in.

I even found one in Darlinghurst I am finding myself attracted to - in the eastern 'burbs of Sydney.

I love the Edwardian facade with the wrought iron rails. Although it looks small from outside, the interior seems spacious, flooded with sunlight. ~ Inspira

(All images from Real Estate Australia)

Victoria

My email conversation with Exp yesterday, has piqued my interest to re-look into Aussie's real estate. Victoria, specifically.

I love the suburban communities of Toorak and South Yarra. A tram-ride to cosmopolitan urban Chapel Street and a 20 minute drive to the artists' commune of St Kilda, Toorak and South Yarra are my choice residential areas to nest with the family.

I'm in love with this Toorak property. ~ Inspira

(Images from Real Estate Australia)

Temporarily Apart(ment)

This time tomorrow, M will be in London to be with his mom.

Me on the other hand? I've been trawling the silicon highway, on the prowl of a suitable temporary home.

This spacious apartment caught my eye - high ceilings, wrap-around windows. Terraces with a killer view of London. And located right smack between the city centre and my mom-in-law's. ~ Inspira

(Images courtesy of Urban Spaces)

marginal tax rate

so, it turned out that we can afford the {terrace} house that ranked high among the abodes we've seen so far - i've miscalculated my marginal tax rate to be 28% (i wonder how i got that figure). the mortgage payment is still on the high side; our LTV (loan-to-value) ratio is 70%. a call to the agent today revealed the house's new status: it's found a new owner. i'm not exactly crushed, it's at the other side of the island and i've lived and work on the other side. i am a little disappointed and 'blah' - E and I had enthused about how Cinnamon (our pooch) would run wild in the open space that extends from the backyard, we worried about ticks in such a humid climate, we talked about how we would have a TV-cove at the staircase landing. i secretly toyed with the idea of extending the newly renovated bathroom to include a teak tub and a powder room. i know how ridiculous this sounds - since we are not really ready to make an offer - but i'm disappointed. all that daydreaming does feel good but i do feel that i poured a lot of energy dreaming and scheming and calling up realtors and taking cabs.

okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. the search continues - when my energy finds me. for now, i'm going to enjoy Irene's weekend read. It's weird that I often and involuntarily conjure up images of bloggers I don't even know: I think Irene is super- sweet/thoughtful/clever. *giggles*

~exp~