Mi Casa

Our apartment or Unit; as they call it here in Australia is finally getting the look of a real house.

When we moved in 2 weeks ago, we had almost nothing apart from a few electrical appliances that we brought from Malaysia. The house was very cold then. We didn't even have electricity.

It was Saturday, very late on Saturday in fact, so the electric company was apparently reluctant to do an emergency connection. They imposed several conditions that were impossible for us to comply. Eventually, we had to concede that the electricity will only be connected on Monday.

So, we had to stay with a family that we barely knew. Alhamdulillah, they welcomed us with open arms. I can't imagine what would had happened if they didn't help us. We were so desperate. If it was only my wife and I, we would probably stayed on, we would braze ourselves to fight the cold, but we couldn't-it would be unfair to Alif and Akif.

We stayed with Sabarul and Wan over the weekend. They were very nice. They too have children of the same ages as ours. Wawa and Adam. The kids clicked almost immediately.

While they were having fun, I was restless. My plan didn't go as I planned it and it was stressing me out. Ramadhan was around the corner, and our house was far from livable.

On Monday, we got the electricity connected. Quickly we went to the house and did some cleaning up. We had no furniture except for two thin mattresses, again, courtesy of Sabarul and Wan. It was sad, but at least we got the ball rolling.

The following day, our new fridge came, and then the heater and frying pan (yup, my wife ordered a frying pan. She said it was Tefal, and it was cheap). But still, the house looked empty.

Meanwhile, the boys were bored. They played a lot and were very noisy. They stomped the floor, they screamed, they cried etc etc. I was irritated by all these as I didn't want the neighbour to complain. The stress meter was consistently rising and I knew I had to do something, or they kids will face my wrath. It would be very unfair to them, since it was my decision to come here and it obviously disrupted their lives.

My wife found a cheap 2nd hand tv online-Aud50. I hesitated initially, because I'd prefer a new one and most importantly I didn't want to deal with the logistic problems :) Hey, don't blame me ok, it's a 28" tv, it's big and heavy!

But after a few nagging, I conceded, and went to buy the tv. I glad I did it. The house is much livelier now. And let me tell you, here, all the channels are digital. Even with our tv (which is quite old) the picture is sharp.

And finally, last Sunday, we finally completed the house. I went to Bankstown with a couple of friends and pick up some furniture from a very nice man called Abang Sahak. He gave mattresses, beds, sofas, plates, cups, blankets and a table. It was beyaond expectation. Now the only thing that we might need is a rug. But it's not urgent though. Pelan-pelan kayuh la. Hopefully, things will get better from now on. Insya Allah.

Here are some pics of our Unit:

Entrance to our Unit

The pool
The clubhouse




Front view