Are you satisfied? Resounding Yes.

After 5 weeks of waiting, I finally got the green light to move into my new house. The moment I walked in, I was very pleased with the works of the contractor. All the walls were given a new coat of paint, with beige for the major portion, marine bluish green for my room, light blue for the guest rooms, and light brown for the feature wall and dining hall.

The windows were switched to aluminium, instead of the rotting wooden frames. The lights were round, and bright, up above the ceiling; unlike the previous ones which were long and lengthy, hanging down from the ceiling, grayish, and flickering each time I switched on other electrical appliances. Most importantly, the parquet were finally replaced by white tiles! I was pleasantly surprised, to say the very least.

I moved in immediately on the very same day. Embarking on a cleaning frenzy once more.

It’s hard to come by any restaurants near my house. Hence, I decided to cook for my family. I bought bowls and chopsticks, meat and vegetables. While my mom cooked rice, I mixed the ingredients and happily cooked chicken stew soup for my brothers and I.

Surprisingly, whenever we have our meals in my new house, it seemed to taste so much better and nicer. As if all of us had an unsatiable appetite. The rice tasted sweeter, the vegetables more crunchy and the soup… provided tremendous and warm. We truly savoured every meal as if it was a gift from heaven; as if there could be nothing better than simple vegetables and soup. A simple meal filled with love.

When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonades Out Of It

So, what did I learn from this whole episode?

Lesson 1: When life hands you lemons, make lemonades out of it.
I purchased a really run-down house, and managed to turn it into a comfortable home!

Lesson 2: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
When the termites attacked all my furniture, I exterminated them, and took away their food, preventing them from attacking my house forever.

Lesson 3: Whatever problems that can be solved by money, is not a problem at all.
I used to laugh at this proverb, ridiculing it. However, when I saw the magical touches of the renovation works, I thought… perhaps this phrase is true after all. However, digging deep into my pockets, was like cutting out a piece of my heart. It hurts. Very, very much.

Lesson 4: Enjoying the fruits of our labour.
Instead of being a workaholic robot, I will start inviting friends over for lunch and dinner, to rekindle relationships. Loving, laughing, smiling with radiance, once more.

Lesson 5: Sharing is caring.
Whenever I am in my parents’ home, I treat most things as mine. However, when my family come, they use everything without asking me, moving things around. Initially, I was very annoyed. However, as time went by, I began to accept it as a way of life - family life.

Lesson 6: Quality time, not Quantity time.
When I am staying alone, all I care is about myself. My work, my time, my rules, my way. But, when I am staying with my family, all of us have to re-adjust our priorities and take turns taking care of each other's needs. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. No matter how busy we are, we still have to take the time to listen to the stories of our loved ones, and communicate with them as well. Taking time out to listen; conduct some simple activities together, are just some of them. We may not have much time to spare, but we must spend at least a few golden moments together each day.

In short, here's a summary on the main differences between solo life and family life:

Individuals: What's mine is mine, what's yours is also mine.

Sharing : What's yours is mine, what's mine is yours.

And, That, is what family is all about.

Animals , Insects in My New House

Moth - Upclose

First Times

The best part about having my own home, is getting to do a lot of fun stuff for the first time in the hearth of my home. It gets me so worked up, so excited, and leaves me smiling and laughing  to myself throughout the day! 

So, what have I loved doing for the first time in my own home?

1. Cooking stew for my mom on the kitchen stove for the very first time. 

Just the both of us. I cooked. We ate. I washed. 

Wow... gave me a real sense of feeling an adult in front of my mom for a change. 

2. Cleaning my own house for the first time. 

It was hard work, no doubt. Scrubbing the stains on the tiles, polishing the tiles, cleaning the windows, etc. Vacumming, mopping. All which required much effort. But at the end of the day, the whole house was sparkling. Even the tiles looked like the mirror, reflecting images of every corner of my house. Wow! I suddenly realize that I can clean really well, if I put lots of effort into it. 

3. Cooking for my brother for the first time. 

I am a bad cook. So, when my brother was out working, and I decided to cook up a dish for him, and it was of a funny taste, he persisted in finishing up everything, and even praised my cooking! Loved my brother for that! for finishing up all the food too! 

4. Purchasing a round dining table for the first time.

My whole family was against the idea of replacing the rectangular dining table with a round dining table. Yet, I was insistent. I love round tables. It makes me feel as if my family is united, and not split across the globe. I feel loved at this table. It reminds me of home. The best part is, this table fits perfectly in the dining hall and all of us can watch TV while having our meals! Yes! It's my wisest decision ever! 

5. Buying a TV, Surround sound system and to top it all up, a teak wood wooden TV table top.

Ever since I left home to study, and to work (that amounts to about 9 years), I have lived without watching television on a daily basis. That doesn't mean I don't watch TV, just demonstrates the fact that I don't watch TV regularly. And so, I couldn't understand how my family members felt when I voiced out the fact hat I won't be buying a TV for my new home. 

However, when my family members kicked up a fuss about being in my home all day long, with nothing to do, except cook and clean, reality set in. A TV is part of life's entertainment. It has become a necessity. So, my brother and I bought a TV, equiped with a surround sound system, that creates sound signals so strong that the cupboard glass doors vibrate along with it whenever it's on. Woah. Stunning!

And now, the TV is put on top of a cupboard/table top that's the height of my knees. Just the right height. at Eye level. I'm smiling to myself as I watch the TV... It feels real good! 

6. Inviting friends over to my own place for the first time.

My house is not completely furnished yet. But my friends, like me, are eager to see my new house. To see how it's set up, how comfortable and homely it is ( I presume?) . When I said that I'd invite them over once I bought a wardrobe, since it's the last piece of furniture to complete the house, they said, "No no! We'll come over this week. We'll cook. All you have to do is open up your house to us." 

With such enthusiastic friends, I eagerly nodded passionately.

Upon their arrival, there was such a hype and buzz of activities. First, there was the declined entry to visitors, because the guards did not receive mail about their arrival in advance. ( I informed the management a day earlier, but somehow mis communication occured... wah! such a tiresome task to argue with the guard and insist that I did inform). Thankfully, my friend cast a charm upon the guards, and they let him park his car at the visitor's parking lot after that. 

Then the manual, gas oven was not working, so we resorted to microwav-ing our food. It turned out pretty good! While waiting , another friend bought 'bing pi' moon cakes - my favourites! and rum, and chocolate, eggless, flourless cakes for tea! Wah! Another bonus! I love cakes! regardless of their ingredients! 

Ohhh... and the best part was, we, the four of us, sat there in the hall, after dinner, browsing through pictures, chatting throughout the afternoon, dawn, evening and night. Wow... heavenly! I love having friends over! It makes my home feel lively, boisterous and fun!

7. Having friends cooking for me in my own home for the first time.

My childhood friend, who just moved to KL, wanted desperately to cook spaghetti in my new home. She bought spaghetti noodles, canned tomato paste, button mushrooms, and minced meat. She cooked and served up a delicious dish of spaghetti for the both of us.

It was such an addictive activity, that the very next weekend, she came, and bought more ingredients, and concocted a delicious dish of fried, vermicelli (bee hoon)! She even decorated it with tomato omelettes and chillies! 

Perfect! Perfect! 

8. Cooking for friends who really, really appreciate it. 

I was cooking a nice dish of chicken+mushroom+ginger soup when my friend called to say, "I'm hungry." 

I said, "Why don't you come over? I've lots of food over here! enough to last for 2 days!" 

So, my friend came over, and gobbled up the dish that I cooked ( by then, my cullinary skills had improved tremendously over the past few months.) With ever mouthful she took, my friend kept praising me for cooking such tasty soup and noodles. "Mmm.. Mmm.. yummy! Thank you Jean! I'm so glad I called you today!"

Wow. That was sweet! It certainly made my day!Now I know how it feels to feed a batallion of hungry people. It makes me feel on top of the world! 

9. Having friends over who enjoy each other's company, even if my home is bare and void of furniture.

Before I furnished my home, I invited my interns (who are practically my friends by the end of their internship) to my new home. We ordered pizza, and chatted, and had pillow talk the whole night. It felt great 'coz I could introduce Winnie the Pooh, and his cousin, my Teddy Bear to them.

Few months later, I visited my intern's home to wish her and her family "Happy Hari Raya" , to taste lontong, rendang, and all the delicious cookies, her mom asked me, "When 's your turn to sleepover at my house?" haha.. I was pleasantly surprised! 

It's so inspiring! I'll definitely cook more, and invite more friends ove.! It is such a joyful feeling too!

10. Looking at the moon from my window on a clear, starry night.
I love looking at the moon every night. As I step into the room, it shines, brightly and cheerfully. I love it!