My sincere apologies for being M.I.A for quite a while. We were away for a long holiday and are kinda of back at home now :)
#1 Highlight of our trip - the beautiful snow mountains of Switzerland
Our renovation is unfortunately still ongoing and the house still looks like a construction site. As with 99.9% renovations, we experienced some delays so we're running behind initial plan. I'm hopeful that we can have majority of work done by mid Dec (this year :). I also apologise to our dear neighbours who have to bear with the ever lasting renovation, thank you so much for your patience & support!
Here are couple pictures of our mess:
Study Room extension:
Courtyard folding doors made by dear husband:
We are redoing a lot of things (or should I say poor design & mess) done in our 1st renovation by our 1st contractors. I hope no one will go through the same pain as we did.
Besides holidays & renovation, time seriously fly and without realising it, it's been 2 years since we packed our stuff and moved up north from Singapore to Johor.
Looking back at the past 2 years, here are my thoughts of highlights and low-lights of living in Johor:
Key highlights:
- Generally nice neighbours and community, some of whom are like families now. To think of it, we didn't even know our neighbours in our apartment back in Singapore. I think we're very lucky to have met such a group of wonderful people.
- Fresh air, I love winding down my windows on the drive home from Singapore or when we leave home in the morning to smell the fresh air.
- Think 50% off cost of living in general. Groceries, fuel, utilities bill, vet and more, all almost half price we paid in Singapore.
- As per Ian's words, more relaxing lifestyle, less rushing and more space.
Key low-lights:
- Malaysia Boleh but actually Tak Boleh standard, talk and lack of substance, e.g. UEM who's started to slack off in their maintenance and security standards, hence the forming of East Ledang Pro-tem committee. You'd often hear people say "arr it's Malaysia" when something goes wrong, e.g. TNB power shut down for hours, etc
I think Johor has a lot of potential, but I sincerely hope that mentality here would improve, skills will be upgraded and most importantly, more would take pride in their work.
- Lack of facilities still. There's still lack of more established, fine dining, expats options in Johor. Not much has changed since Medini lifestyle and Johor premium outlets open, let's hope that things will be more international in a year. Would be nice to have places like Arab Street, Bukit Bintang area of KL, etc in Johor.
- Of course, transport is always more inconvenient. Before going on this holiday, I was leaving for work at 6.30 am during carpooling days. There are times of course when I wish that I can get a 10 mins taxi ride to/from work, but it is what it is.
Overall, we still have no regrets moving here and are enjoying our space and lifestyle very much so. May the best of years still to come and we'll continue to enjoy our time here.
Have a good weekend everyone. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone who's celebrating, we had some nice turkey dinner and hope you had some too :)
Our renovation is unfortunately still ongoing and the house still looks like a construction site. As with 99.9% renovations, we experienced some delays so we're running behind initial plan. I'm hopeful that we can have majority of work done by mid Dec (this year :). I also apologise to our dear neighbours who have to bear with the ever lasting renovation, thank you so much for your patience & support!
Here are couple pictures of our mess:
Study Room extension:
Courtyard folding doors made by dear husband:
We are redoing a lot of things (or should I say poor design & mess) done in our 1st renovation by our 1st contractors. I hope no one will go through the same pain as we did.
Besides holidays & renovation, time seriously fly and without realising it, it's been 2 years since we packed our stuff and moved up north from Singapore to Johor.
Looking back at the past 2 years, here are my thoughts of highlights and low-lights of living in Johor:
Key highlights:
- Generally nice neighbours and community, some of whom are like families now. To think of it, we didn't even know our neighbours in our apartment back in Singapore. I think we're very lucky to have met such a group of wonderful people.
- Fresh air, I love winding down my windows on the drive home from Singapore or when we leave home in the morning to smell the fresh air.
- Think 50% off cost of living in general. Groceries, fuel, utilities bill, vet and more, all almost half price we paid in Singapore.
- As per Ian's words, more relaxing lifestyle, less rushing and more space.
Key low-lights:
- Malaysia Boleh but actually Tak Boleh standard, talk and lack of substance, e.g. UEM who's started to slack off in their maintenance and security standards, hence the forming of East Ledang Pro-tem committee. You'd often hear people say "arr it's Malaysia" when something goes wrong, e.g. TNB power shut down for hours, etc
I think Johor has a lot of potential, but I sincerely hope that mentality here would improve, skills will be upgraded and most importantly, more would take pride in their work.
- Lack of facilities still. There's still lack of more established, fine dining, expats options in Johor. Not much has changed since Medini lifestyle and Johor premium outlets open, let's hope that things will be more international in a year. Would be nice to have places like Arab Street, Bukit Bintang area of KL, etc in Johor.
- Of course, transport is always more inconvenient. Before going on this holiday, I was leaving for work at 6.30 am during carpooling days. There are times of course when I wish that I can get a 10 mins taxi ride to/from work, but it is what it is.
Overall, we still have no regrets moving here and are enjoying our space and lifestyle very much so. May the best of years still to come and we'll continue to enjoy our time here.
Have a good weekend everyone. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone who's celebrating, we had some nice turkey dinner and hope you had some too :)
