Master plan for JB redevelopment soon

JOHOR BARU: Johor will unveil a master plan for the multi-billion ringgit Johor Baru city centre transformation project in the second quarter, which will be followed by work on the first component soon after.

Master plan for JB redevelopment soon

Kids Bike Racing

We met with a group of about 6-8 families who brought their children to race on mini bikes near East Ledang today.

This is one of the coolest thing I've ever seen here. Kids age from 6-9 (est) were practicing their runs on mini bikes.

Here are some pictures & videos we took:






The best part of the race is an 8 years old girl racer, nicknamed Baby. She's super adorable & fast!



Watch her in action:

For renovators: House renovation materials manufacturers in Skudai

Hi Everyone, sorry for being M.I.A for a while.

Yesterday we went to research on construction materials prices and availability. Through internet, we found the Taman Perindustrian JB Perdana and Taman Industri Jaya areas in Skudai. In these areas, you will see warehouses, glass manufacturers, timber manufacturers & more (including noodles & other food manufacturers).

We did not purchase any items yesterday, so I can't vouch for the quality of these items.

Here are some of the places we went to:

Yi Hong Tiling Sdn. Bhd.
No 10, 12 & 14, Jalan Satria 10

This shop has quite a selection of tiles. We asked about the Bali design stones and the prices given range from RM25 (for smallest piece) to RM250 for the bigger rectangle piece.



J.B Glass & Aluminium Sdn. Bhd
No 46, Jalan Satria 6

The quote we received for tempered glass (2 x 6 ft) for shower screen (incl installation) was RM 336. The price we've been quoted by an interior designer was RM1,100 per piece!



Seawin Trading S/B
This place sells reconstituted veneer sheets and teak sheet.
I forgot the actual street number :)

Estimated prices given:
Teak sheet RM63/sheet (natural finish)
Reconstituted veneer - RM70 to RM88
Moulding Teak - RM2.16/feet
Moulding Nyatoh - RM0.84/feet



Parkettmall
No 18, 19, 20, 21, Jalan Satria 7

Solid Wood flooring - Burmese teak est. RM70/psf for supply only and RM82/psf for supply & installation
Engineered Flooring Collection - Burmese teak est. RM26/psf + RM5/sf for installation

This company seems to be quite an established timber flooring specialist but prices are quite steep.



Hwa Yeap Hardware Sdn. Bhd
No 23, Jalan Satria 6

Dealer of furniture, hardware accessories and customized plastic moulding.

I like some of the kitchen cabinet accessories I saw, especially the one shown in the middle picture below, but the price is very expensive (est. RM8K) as cabinet system is a German imported product.



There were a few more warehouses we went into but we were not able to speak to the sales office assistants as they had left for the day.

Google Maps for Taman Perindustrian JB Perdana:


View Larger Map

1 last place that we visited was Taman Industri Jaya which was super difficult to find on our Garmin system.

We visited a stainless steel manufacturer, Wei Tat Stainless Industries who is located at No 4, Jalan Silat Harimau 21, Taman Industri Jaya. There is no logic to the streets numbering in this area, so I've tried to locate it in Google Maps here

We were not able to get any price estimation as the person hardly speaks English and could only quote based on estimated design. They fabricate many stainless steel items, ranging from gates to restaurants' conveyer belts.



Overall, it was a very productive trip and we now have a much better idea of materials costs which would allow us to prioritise and negotiate with interior designers better.

Good luck if you're planning to or are renovating too!

TM targets to provide more premises in Iskandar with HSBB

JOHOR BARU: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) plans to increase the number of premises which have access to its UniFi high-speed broadband (HSBB) service in Iskandar Malaysia this year.

Read rest of the article here

Legoland Malaysia targets 1.5 million visitors - Channel NewsAsia

Asia's first Legoland targets to attract 1.5 million visitors when it opens its doors at the end of 2012.

Located in Nusa Cermelang industrial park, within the Iskandar New Economic Region, the theme park will boast the tallest lego model in the world.

Legoland Malaysia targets 1.5 million visitors - Channel NewsAsia

Encouraging sales in second half of 2010 likely to continue, says Johor Rehda

“Iskandar Malaysia will continue to be the driving factor in boosting demand for properties in the southern-most part of Johor, especially the high end residential properties"

Encouraging sales in second half of 2010 likely to continue, says Johor Rehda

Fireworks

We took some pictures and a video of fireworks that our neighbours were playing in the weekend. It was a cool night, clear sky with stars, so it was a very nice evening. Enjoy!

Top British university to open Johor campus

Southampton University, noted for its engineering courses, will join Britain's Newcastle University and Marlborough College, and the Management Development Institute of Singapore.

Top British university to open Johor campus

Challenging times ahead for Iskandar

“The intensity of the competition is becoming greater and we have to prove our sceptics wrong that Iskandar is indeed taking shape as planned,'' Ismail said in an interview with StarBiz.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim

Challenging times ahead for Iskandar

Lawyer Lawyer Lawyer - Legal Process of Buying a House in Johor for Foreginers

For the purchase of our house in East Ledang, we used the service of Ms. Lau Lee Jan from Tay & Partners.

Since we were new to this whole process and area, we asked for contact of reliable lawyer from a neighbour.

Here's the rough legal process we went through (Bear in mind that we bought a sub-sale unit):
- Loan application (through UOB Malaysia)
- Offer to purchase
- Title deed search
- Quit rent and Assessment checks from vendor
- Confirmation of loan
- Sale & Purchase Agreement (SPA)
- State Authority Consent application - estimate time is 3 to 4 weeks earliest
- Transfer to be adjudicated by the stamp office (estimate time is 3 to 4 weeks earliest)
- SPA allowed us to complete purchase within 3 months from getting the Approval
- Once State Authority approved, complete loan discharge
- Vendor's existing loan to be discharged
- Exchange of keys
- Building inspection checklist

The entire process took est. 6 months due to many delays from the vendor. The legal fees (including Levy, lawyer fees etc) cost est. RM65K.

I'm super glad that this is over and am happy to be the legal owner of our house now :)

We're happy with the services provided by Tay Partners and we found them to be quick to respond and trustworthy.

Happy buying!

Happy Lunar New Year

新年快乐 to all those who are celebrating this Lunar New Year. May the new year brings you prosperity, health and happiness.

This is our first ever Lunar New Year in Johor. Since there were only 2 of us, we did not prepare for any decoration and celebration (did spend 4 hours cleaning the house though).

On Lunar NY Eve, we found a few restaurants which were opened in the Sutera area and decided to try the steamboat in Shi Ki (if I remember correctly - it's just in front of the Sutera mall). We ordered the drunken chicken, few types of vegies and prawns for the steamboat plus teriyaki pork belly.

The restaurant was packed with families enjoying their reunion dinners. Overall the meal was quite nice (I prefer Szechuan hot pot though). The meal cost around RM90, so it was rather expensive.

Here are some pictures we took of the area. There are lots of decorations and giant statues in front and near the mall. The "dong dong chiang" song was being played very loudly, so you could definitely feel the spirit of Lunar New Year.

For us, we're having a quiet Lunar NY this year. My family's finally arrived today and we are planning to drive to Melaka. I certainly miss having huge family reunion dinners, will keep that for next year indeed.

Happy Lunar New Year to all!