I recently took a flight from Senai Johor airport to KL airport. With 40 minutes ride from home to Senai, flying from Senai to KL is the fastest and most convenient way for us to go to KL. The airport is very straightforward, quite modern and comfortable. It is a bigger airport than what I had imagined. The airlines which fly to Senai airport are Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Air Asia.
Reading from the latest press release, international flights are to resume from Senai Airport as Firefly, the community airlines, has confirmed flying from Senai Airport to two Indonesian cities, Bandung and Surabaya, starting this August. I cannot wait for flight to be established between Jakarta & Senai as well. Fingers crossed.
Happy Sunday***
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Finally a supermarket near home
Good news for all local residents, Mydin supermarket has finally opened up and is now operating at 9-11pm on most days except for weekends and public holidays, during which the supermarket is open from 8.30 am.
We checked out the shop yesterday and were happy to see that it is quite complete, well except for non halal items. It is conveniently located at Anjung which is just next to entrance of East Ledang area. Good stuff! The place was filled with locals who I think are mostly from Gelang Patah. I've never seen Anjung filled with so many cars and people.
Again, this is great new addition to our booming neighbourhood. Check it out here.
P/s: this is my first post from my Android phone, so please excuse the typos - I blame it on the touch screen keyboard :)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Frustration in dealing with Interior Designers & contractors
I guess this is not a surprise to anyone who's built/renovated houses in Malaysia. With things constantly falling behind schedule and many many many things not being done properly, I am very close to a point of despair and our dream house design seems soooooo far away. Please please be super careful when selecting your interior designer(s).
I'm glad that we've not recommended our Interior designers to anyone. In fact, I'd strongly suggest to never engage services of Ray Mak & Alien (partners).
I am considering finding another contractor to finish the job, so if you know of any trustworthy and reliable contractors, please drop me a note. Thanks in advance!
Frustrated,
Erika
I'm glad that we've not recommended our Interior designers to anyone. In fact, I'd strongly suggest to never engage services of Ray Mak & Alien (partners).
I am considering finding another contractor to finish the job, so if you know of any trustworthy and reliable contractors, please drop me a note. Thanks in advance!
Frustrated,
Erika
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Grand Iskandar taking shape
One of this year's highlights will be the opening of the Johor Premium Outlet (JPO) in Kulai-jaya with Prime Minsiter Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak slated to attend the opening on Nov 11.
Shoppers will be able to buy branded items at factory discounts of 25% and above for famous brands including Gucci, Prada, Coach, Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren, Esprit and Calvin Klein.
Grand Iskandar taking shape
Shoppers will be able to buy branded items at factory discounts of 25% and above for famous brands including Gucci, Prada, Coach, Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren, Esprit and Calvin Klein.
Grand Iskandar taking shape
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Johor set to house region’s largest film-making complex
Johor is set to house the largest film complex in the region when Pinewood Studios Iskandar Malaysia (PSIM) opens its doors in 2013. Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios is a joint venture between Malaysia sovereign wealth fund Khazanah and Pinewood Shepperton, the British film studio behind the Batman and James Bond movies.
PSIM chief executive officer Michael Lake said the complex, on a 32.37ha site in Nusajaya, would offer state-of-the-art facilities for film production and related activities.
The complex will have five fully air-conditioned and sound-proofed film stages with floor areas of between 1,400 and 2,800 sq metres, and two high-definition television stages of 1,100 sq metres each.
Johor set to house region’s largest film-making complex
PSIM chief executive officer Michael Lake said the complex, on a 32.37ha site in Nusajaya, would offer state-of-the-art facilities for film production and related activities.
The complex will have five fully air-conditioned and sound-proofed film stages with floor areas of between 1,400 and 2,800 sq metres, and two high-definition television stages of 1,100 sq metres each.
Johor set to house region’s largest film-making complex
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Slightly different topic: Sharing on Google+ for digital enthusiasts
If you're into the digital space like me, you may have been following closely on the latest Google's product release: the Google+ project. I've had a chance to trial this and while it will take me some time to consider moving to Google+ completely, I must say that I like the concept of Circles (esp the dragging and dropping friends into your own defined Circles) and the hangout function (with multiple video chats streams etc).
Read more here if you are into social connection online and would like to find out more about this product.
Happy surfing!
Read more here if you are into social connection online and would like to find out more about this product.
Happy surfing!
Maxis sees big demand in Iskandar
Maxis' Chief operating officer Jean-Pascal van Overbeke stated that in the past 15 months, the company has added an additional 328 3G sites, bringing the total to 994 3G sites in the southern region.
Overbeke said Johor Baru received the lion’s share with a third of the total 3G site expansion in the region while more than 90% of the 365 sites in Johor Baru had been upgraded to support high speed broadband allowing maximum speeds of 21 Mbps.
He said the company was also the first service provider to surpass 5,000 3G sites nationwide and was able to deliver high speed wireless broadband and mobile data capabilities covering over 80% of the country’s population.
Good to hear this, here's the full article for your reading pleasure.
Overbeke said Johor Baru received the lion’s share with a third of the total 3G site expansion in the region while more than 90% of the 365 sites in Johor Baru had been upgraded to support high speed broadband allowing maximum speeds of 21 Mbps.
He said the company was also the first service provider to surpass 5,000 3G sites nationwide and was able to deliver high speed wireless broadband and mobile data capabilities covering over 80% of the country’s population.
Good to hear this, here's the full article for your reading pleasure.
Renovation renovation renovation - Quick update
Hi everyone, it's been a while since I did my last update and posting. Life has been very hectic with a couple of family emergencies to deal with. Hopefully things will be better for the 2nd half of 2011.
We've been progressing with our house renovation....slowly. Completion date has been postponed again due to some delays. Right now, we're aiming to move in between 3rd week of July to mid August. The house will nowhere be as completed as we hope to be, but by this time, we're just focusing on taking it to a stage at which we will be able to move in. Work will continue from there onwards.
Some of the major area being renovated are:
Ground floor living area
Yes, the wave ceiling :) A few of our neighbors have been following our progress. Thanks for all your encouragement and support :)
When we were brainstorming about the design of our living room, we decided to not split the room for now as we are still unsure about how we would like to use the space. We then decided to make our ceiling a feature in the ground floor area. We took an inspiration from one of my client's office in Bali (I love Balinese creativity & design). So the idea of the wave ceiling was born.
Since Ian's an ex engineer, he knew from start how he would build the ceiling, but communicating the idea to our interior designer and builders were never easy.
Big lesson learnt: interior designers & builders in Johor tend to have very narrow view and limited experience in designing/building something more than the usual Johor house designs. We've spent a ton of time explaining and taking on jobs by ourselves (esp. my husband) as our design concept is very specific and is definitely very different from local houses' interior designs. If you're after a more international/specific designs, best to design it yourself :)
Unfortunately, based on our experience, I definitely will not recommend our interior designer to any expats.
Framework of wave ceiling:
Boards being installed:
Ian has been busy working on the wave ceiling and we hope that it can be completed by next weekend. Fingers crossed! I cannot wait to see the completed ceiling, it would be super nice and cool.
Master bathroom:
We decided to redo our entire master bathroom and swap the toilet & shower areas.
The renovation is not completed yet, but at least the walls have been tiled. The bathroom should be 80% completed by end of this week. We're still waiting for our Bali furniture to arrive, hopefully that should arrive in about 3 weeks time.
These are the areas with the biggest work required. Once the bathroom is almost completed, we will be able to sand and darken the parquet floor. Once the wave ceiling is completed, TV and kitchen cabinets will be installed. With lights (mostly LEDs) and aircons installed, we will be able to move in...finally Yeay!
Please wish us luck for completing this renovation! If you're renovating your house, I wish you all the best too!
P/S: To my aunt who passed away this week, we love and miss you. I know that you're in a better place and your memories will always be cherished. Rest in peace auntie.
We've been progressing with our house renovation....slowly. Completion date has been postponed again due to some delays. Right now, we're aiming to move in between 3rd week of July to mid August. The house will nowhere be as completed as we hope to be, but by this time, we're just focusing on taking it to a stage at which we will be able to move in. Work will continue from there onwards.
Some of the major area being renovated are:
Ground floor living area
Yes, the wave ceiling :) A few of our neighbors have been following our progress. Thanks for all your encouragement and support :)
When we were brainstorming about the design of our living room, we decided to not split the room for now as we are still unsure about how we would like to use the space. We then decided to make our ceiling a feature in the ground floor area. We took an inspiration from one of my client's office in Bali (I love Balinese creativity & design). So the idea of the wave ceiling was born.
Since Ian's an ex engineer, he knew from start how he would build the ceiling, but communicating the idea to our interior designer and builders were never easy.
Big lesson learnt: interior designers & builders in Johor tend to have very narrow view and limited experience in designing/building something more than the usual Johor house designs. We've spent a ton of time explaining and taking on jobs by ourselves (esp. my husband) as our design concept is very specific and is definitely very different from local houses' interior designs. If you're after a more international/specific designs, best to design it yourself :)
Unfortunately, based on our experience, I definitely will not recommend our interior designer to any expats.
Framework of wave ceiling:
Boards being installed:
Ian has been busy working on the wave ceiling and we hope that it can be completed by next weekend. Fingers crossed! I cannot wait to see the completed ceiling, it would be super nice and cool.
Master bathroom:
We decided to redo our entire master bathroom and swap the toilet & shower areas.
The renovation is not completed yet, but at least the walls have been tiled. The bathroom should be 80% completed by end of this week. We're still waiting for our Bali furniture to arrive, hopefully that should arrive in about 3 weeks time.
These are the areas with the biggest work required. Once the bathroom is almost completed, we will be able to sand and darken the parquet floor. Once the wave ceiling is completed, TV and kitchen cabinets will be installed. With lights (mostly LEDs) and aircons installed, we will be able to move in...finally Yeay!
Please wish us luck for completing this renovation! If you're renovating your house, I wish you all the best too!
P/S: To my aunt who passed away this week, we love and miss you. I know that you're in a better place and your memories will always be cherished. Rest in peace auntie.
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