House Hunting in Alam Impian

The next day, we found ourselves yet on another house hunting trip. Albeit it being Hubby's birthday (sorry Sayang, we are soooo not romantic this year, can't believe we went house hunting on your birthday!!!) we managed to roll out of bed, dressed up and left for our first stop, Kinrara.

Kinrara is seriously overpriced. Sorry, let me rephrase that. Houses are so overpriced nowadays. I remember being this *shows tiny gap between thumb and index finger* close to buying a semi-d in Kinrara only to change our mind last minute to SPK. And now, a link house in Kinrara is as expensive, if not more, than that. My friend has been pushing me to buy a house in Kinrara. Being freehold and all that, he claims that if I invest +/- 700K now, in 2 years the link house would appreciate to about 900K. I like the prospect of a capital appreciation, but seriously, I cannot phantom the image of a 900K link house! I honestly pity the new graduates, how the heck are they ever going to buy a house with these obscene prices???

Besides checking out Bandar Kinrara, we also checked out Kinrara Residence, a mixed residential development with Super Links, Semi-Ds and Executive Bungalows (guarded and complete with clubhouse) by Mah Sing. Can you believe that despite it being leasehold, all the non-bumi lots are sold out??!! What is wrong with people nowadays? Too much money kah?

And then off we went to Alam Impian. Again. This time we were determined to check out the show house!

When will money ever start growing on trees? Because I want one of those babies!

The sales gallery was housed in one of their sold-out first phase semi-ds. It was packed full of people!

The verdict? Perfect built up for a semi-d which means minimal renovation, hugeeeee master bedroom, excellent finishing... and I love the solid timber flooring. I want!!!

The down side? Semi-d sold out. There were only 3 houses remaining of their latest launch of link houses (~540K, 24x80), with one being sold as we were standing in the sales gallery. Like hot cakes, I tell you!

Are you drooling yet?

Okay, maybe the Cahaya SPK lake is better looking (ayat sedapkan hati).

After that we ventured to the other side of Alam Impian, the TTDI Alam Impian to be exact. This one had a totally different strategy to it. Instead of sell and build, they build and then sell. So the Spira (link houses of 20x70 and 22x70) are built and ready and then sold off. Not a very good strategy for investors, because the house would not appreciate as much as if you wait 2 years (and of course, pay minimal interest until the house is ready in which you then get it off your hands). Of course, what else is new, it was sold out too. But since the show house was open, we decided to check it out for deco ideas!

The facade. This is the 20x70.

Living hall. I like the splatters of blue in the otherwise very neutral coloured room!

Dining hall. See the blue rimmed bowls?

Blue wall filled with white frames. Pretty!

The view from the master bedroom. Horseshoe concept, with the playground in the middle.

Out of all the rooms, I love this one the best. Must be because of the daring yellow. But Hubby would not let me replicate this in our own home. *sob*sob*

The master bedroom. Loving the yellow armchair!

Walk in closet.

See how simple shelves can transform a room?

Maybe I need to buy paintings for the various rooms first, and then paint the wall to match the painting?

This is the 22x70.

Dining hall. A bit too mature for me.

Can anybody tell me where I can get this book shelf?

Black and white master bedroom.

Full mirrored walk-in closet.

Hubby sibuk nak inter-frame.

Very neutral.

Definitely the cutest room.

By the way, those box shelves are expensive okay? We found the during the HomeDec but bila tengok price, no thank you lah!

And best of all, all the houses come complete with a horizontal pond that crosses across the living hall sliding door! Hubby loved it!

Hubby's Birthday Eve and House Hunting

It was the eve of Hubby's birthday and he was on his way back home! Even though it was only Thursday, but we were lucky because he had something to attend to in KL on Friday (his actual birthday) so he came home a day earlier.

Unfortunately his bus was soooooo slow, and I got soooooo engrossed watching TV that I missed the 12 o'clock mark by 5minutes. Alah okay la tuh, 12:05am. But he claimed that I was late by 12minutes. After a bit of a light banter on who's clock is more accurate, he finally arrived at 12:40am. After we picked him up, we went straight to the kopitiam in front of the house as he complained that he was hungry.

Look at his little boy, all bright eyed and cheeky at past 1 o'clock in the morning! Even the waiter commented "Tak tido lagi??"

Aiden: "Daddy, another one year to the big 3-0!!!"

Took Hubby's picture to mark him turning 29, but he prohibited me from uploading it into this blog, so we'll just have to settle with a picture of his scrumptious Nasi Goreng Chicken Chop.

This cheeky boy wanted to get out of his baby chair to chase after a stray cat.

Nasib baik la Bibik boleh lagi melayan kerenah Aiden kejar kucing bawah meja at 1am.

We finally got home close to 130am. Aiden was extremely grumpy because we extended his bedtime too late so with all the kicking and screaming until Daddy had to pindah and sleep on the floor to give him space, he finally slept at about 2am-ish.

The next morning I had to wake up earlier than usual because Hubby had to be at a certain place by 830am. Usually I leave the house at 830am! (I shudder whenever I think about the travel time from Shah Alam.) But it was a short day at work because I was on a half day leave. By 123opm Hubby had already picked me up and after his Friday prayers, we proceeded to our next agenda................... House Hunting!

You must be thinking, why the heck is she house hunting, again???

Since Hubby has turned 29, and I will be turning 28 in exactly one year, one month and one day, we decided that as proper adults, we should be investing our money smartly. Saving money in ASB isn't sufficient. At 8% interest per annum, it isn't as lucrative as buying and selling property. So this time we're house hunting for investment purposes. Have you noticed that 2 years back, (when we bought the Cahaya SPK house) 700K was the average price of a semi-d, but now when people say 700K for a link house, we don't even bat an eye lid? So yes, we're on the prowl for a 2-storey link house with a good location and a high investment value!

Guess where we went first. Klang.

Before you judge Klang the wrong way, this project is by Sime Darby! And Sime Darby has an excellent track record for developing housing projects like Bukit Jelutong, USJ Heights, Putra Heights, just to name a few. So we went to check it out with an open mind.

Presenting Sime's latest project, Fuego in Bukit Raja Klang.

I repeat. Sime.

They were only going to launch the project the next day, so they had a tent, balloons and all. They even have a playroom so that the toddlers can play while the adults contemplate investing their money in peace.

The facade of the sales gallery.

So how was it? Size wise, it was huge. 26x75! Link houses nowadays are rarely above 24. Usually they are 22, some even 20! Design wise, it was nice. Double volume dining hall, the guest room and maid's room each has a bathroom on their its own on the ground floor. Although I have to say the maid's room is a bit too small for my liking. Finishing was superb - each bathroom has a modern clear shower screen complete with a full size wall to wall mirror okay!

But then again, it IS Klang.

Oh, did I tell you that the Fuego development is planned to be around a man-made lake?

And on our way out of the sales gallery, I saw this. I have heard of this numerous times, but this is the first time i'm seeing it with my own two eyes. Yes, paid foreign workers, even students, camping outside the sales gallery gate to get a queue number for the payee to be able to jump the queue the next morning when the sale opens.

On our way to Klang we noticed the new LKSA highway heading to Alam Impian. A future neighbour of ours bought a house in Alam Impian after selling her SPK house, so I was quite familiar with the development. But I had never been there, so I asked Hubby whether he wanted to check it out.

And boy, oh boy, were we hooked! They have a lake just like SPK, access was a breeze since LKSA is right smack in between Kesas and Federal Highway (they even have their very own toll, just like Setia Alam) and the houses are so pretty!!!

Unfortunately the show house was closed. And it was slightly drizzling. Note that this is Alam Impian by I&P, not TTDI Alam Impian - they are both on the same plot of land but different developers.

The above mentioned lake.

And this is TTDI Alam Impian - Spira (you can see the first two letters of the name on the right side of the picture).

Again, also closed.

We left Alam Impian with a heavy heart, both silently pondering on why we didn't check out Alam Impian before buying Cahaya SPK. *sigh*

Officiating The New House!

Hubby decided to take an additional day off yesterday to resolve all issues with the house. As for me, I was ever the ready to use up my annual leave!

This time around, Hubby wanted to take his parents for a tour around the new house. As for me, I was more interested in offloading some of the items from the current house into the new home, as the current house feels really congested with boxes and boxes of stuff without a place to store them! Most of the items were things that we had slowly purchased throughout the years before the anticipated move - like the ceiling fan, lamps and blinds. Unfortunately, it wasn't safe to transfer the electrical stuff so the built-in oven and microwave had to stay.

We loaded Baby Beemer full to the brim, that even Aiden had to share his space at the back seat with table lamps!

Those are drawer handles. Don't ask me why we bought drawer handles (cos i'm still trying to justify the purchase to my husband)!

That's the ceiling fan (jet black), waste basket (yes I know, I am very well prepared), blinds and tikar and quilt for Aiden to golek around.

We made a transit stop in USJ to pick up Hubby's parents. And Aiden started complaining.

So he got a more comfy ride in my in-laws' car!

A bit cramped, but the porch could fit two cars. Although my current porch is bigger with more space for two vehicles! *iskh*

Look at the mess. I sooo cannot imagine the mess of unpacking when we move in!

After the tour of the house, everyone made use of Aiden's quilt and started to munch on the curry puffs my MIL had lovingly made and fried for the trip.

Dengan confident-nya we plugged in the fan to the socket point, only to find out that the fuse box wasn't connected!

That's my sister in law, screaming at the ice-cream man to stop so that we all could have some thirst quenching icy cold ice-cream.

After exploring every nook and cranny of the house, the in-laws finally left. Our next stop on the agenda was to actually visit Hubby's friend on Cyberjaya, but because of the hot hot weather, we decided to try out the master bathroom for a shower - hence officiating the house.

Aiden and the mess in the Master Bedroom.

Aiden- always the Mr Observant - found an ant crawling on the floor.

And started to follow it all around the room! I swear, he made nearly a 360deg turn just because of that ant!

After Mummy chased the ant away, Aiden started on his version of the "defects check".

Aiden: "Okay Mummy, this socket point passes my prying-fingers test."

Wow, it sure is hard checking for defects. Look at Aiden's lengan baju lipat. So adorable!

Next defect check. The jacuzzi drain.

Aiden: "Looks all right to me, Daddy!"

Jacuzzi defects check.

Aiden twisted that thing until it actually came off!

Okay Aiden, enough of this defects check. Time for a shower!

The water pressure was a bit low, but still bearable. The water was cool, just nice for the hot hot weather. It was Aiden's very few encounters with cold showers so he was shaking his body all throughout the shower, as if trying to indicate that he was cold. We laughed so hard at his antics! After a while his body adapted to the water and then he started smacking his palm on the floor making the water splash onto his body.

Aiden mandi cow-boy jer. No sabun, no towel. He had to share a towel with his parents.

No lotion, and worse still no hair brush. Thank god Bibik had packed a spare change of clothes and a change of diapers!

So Mummy had to use her fingers to comb Aiden's oh-so-soft hair.

Next stop! Cyberjaya...

Kota Warisan is quite a nice township, albeit the distance from the city.

Huge landsize, big houses and cheap prices. What more can you ask for?

Hubby's friend brought us for an early dinner at this restaurant which specializes in Mee Udang (Prawn Mee).

And it was really good! If you're ever in Kota Warisan, you absolutely have to try this. It comes in 3 sizes. Not calculated as the size of the plate, but actually the amount of prawns in your dish. *sigh* How can you ever say no to a sight like that??? *hungry*

Hubby's friend was kind enough to show us his new Semi-D.

That's Hubby's friend opening the front door.

His house is huge! The doors are strong and solid and guess what, the top floor uses solid timber instead of cheapo laminated flooring! The only issue I have with the house is the curved kerawang staircase and the flowery tiles in all the bathrooms. Which isn't really an issue if the concept of your house is English. But sorry, no pictures. Because by the time we got there it was close to Maghrib and the lighting was really bad.

That's it for now! Need to pack for this weekend.....