eidul fitri

The end of ramadhan is nearing.

I am already missing this ramadhan.

Despite the hardships that some have to endure during this ramadhan.

Our dear brothers and sisters are fighting for their lives in Palestine.

I can't stand to see the videos. The corpse. The death toll.

I can't stand to see myself clad in extravagant outfit for Eidul Fitri knowing that others are suffering.

It has been fated that we purchased our affordable raya clothes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are sticking to it with no extra "baju raya".

We do not see the point. We will be using them once. And no more. Why bother? Might as well donate the extra money to assist our brothers and sisters there.

I spoke to some of my students' parents and they told me how picky they are  about choosing raya clothes for their kids.

I chose a simple chiffon baju kurung for Reena which I found in the same shop I bought my plain abaya. It fitted her nicely and that was that.

Irman's was purchased at another shop selling adult and children's baju melayu.

Idros' was a steal at 2 for RM98.

I didn't get any shoes. (Just a longchamp handbag, but that was only because Bali was in Europe and the price was crazy good.)

And that is just about it. Not much. But it is meaningful to me as I managed to fast this year (I just gave birth the previous year).

And it felt great knowing we aren't spending much to celebrate eid.

Some of our future neighbours have received their HLE letters which means we will be collecting our keys soon.

And saving up for the house is far more important than splurging excessively for eid.

idros is 29

My husband is the Director of Veritrans Singapore.

He has set this company up 5 years back. He has a few staff under him and recently after a merge, he has two humble offices. One in changi air freight centre and the recent one in tannery lane.

It has never been an easy journey. He used to slog and work for years before earning the company and the title.

But seeing how he pushed himself further to achieve more than what he can ever imagined, is already rewarding for me.

29 years of age is just a figure for him.

Insya-Allah. In more years to come, better things will be waiting for him.

But as of today, happy 29th babe.

interior designers

After witnessing the development of our future residence, we didn't pause to wait for our next big move. Which was to find a suitable interior designer.

Initially, I had planned for the most affordable way one could think of. And that is to use every strength we have, in painting the house, purchasing furniture to compliment our bare house and doing minimal lightings and kitchen cupboards.

Until my husband told me, "I am not going to paint the house, we do not have time. Especially with 2 kids around."

And when the Director of Veritrans say something, he means it. There is absolutely no way around it.

I have been doing my fair of research. A lady that I have never met, but who happens to be in my friend list on facebook, posts the progress of her house in stages.

She did not engage any interior designer, she painted the house with her husband and had minimal renovations done. She enjoys purchasing furniture and she will be the one matching it with the house concept that she has in mind.

(Pictures are NOT associated with the lady mentioned above)

Some people have a knack for these. They can visualise what they want. Unfortunately for me, I can't.

That is when I totally agreed with my husband that we need help in that particular field.

Interior designing is tricky. Very tricky. The only thing I can design and conceptualise is a living preschool classroom. Therefore I would pass this challenging job to those who are much skillful in that area of expertise. Hence, we started to source out for interior designers.

Here are a list of interior designers we have enquired from :

1. Add Space Design
We happened to stumble upon them ages ago during a convention at The Singapore Expo. About 4 years back. I can't really recall why we didn't consider them. But yea, we didn't.

2.Sleek Interior Design
I personally went to their office at roxy square. It was a small and humble office. I spoke to the boss.  Their price are undeniably cheap, $14,000 for a full 4 room BTO inclusive of built-in wardrobe for all the rooms. One of my friend who received her keys way earlier than mine, asked me for an affordable contact and I recommended Sleek. They actually did okay for their price, when I went to view her renovated house by Sleek.

But then my friend showed me her kitchen and said they didn't do up one of the cabinets properly. She asked to create a small space for her to put in her microwave, but they instead, made a HUGE space. I can probably fit two microwaves or a mini fridge in that space. She also mentioned that the contractor was a blurry man. She needed to really push him to get things done as she had requested it to be.

And about a year later, I happen to pass by their office. They changed the name of the company. I did not enquire why. I just felt it was safer for me to skip theirs despite their "price-breaking" quotations.



3. Sky Creation Pte Ltd
My husband's auntie shared one of their promotional packages on her facebook wall. I must say I was impressed. It was exactly the kind of minimalist look that I wanted to have in my own residence. I found out that they will be promoting their services at the Singapore Expo. A lady named Jewel introduced herself as one of the designers. We explained the design that we had in mind. I showed her some pictures which were the designs of sky creations that I liked.

(Picture  from sky creations page)

She said she will write down a proposal and wishes to see us in a few weeks time in one of the showrooms that they have. We were eyeing the $16,000 package that entitled us to a free system 3 Mitsubishi Air conditioner. The thing that attracts you to Sky Creations is their generous number of establishments. They not only have huge showrooms and multiple offices but also a wide range of awards. This made me feel more confident to engage their services.

Their showroom was absolutely breathtaking. I swear. Jewel showed us around and showed us the number of achievements that their company has received so far. But the quotation was a let-down I must say.

Jewel quoted us close to $30,000. That was when I realised my mistake of not telling her our preferred budget.

We went home with a heavy heart. I emailed Jewel to tell her that her quotation was above our budget. We were looking at $20,000 or lower.

Jewel said she would make an adjustment by cutting off some things.

When the new quotation came, it was close to $24,000.

My husband said, "Scratch this. We can't afford to spend that much on renovations alone."




4. I-Bridge Design
Fate brought us again to Singapore Expo, this time, unintentionally. Reena ran in and played with a dog looking sculpture. My dad had to attend to her. We saw I-Bridge design's booth and saw their attractive packages. $7,000 package for a 4 room BTO.

Owen attended to us and I explained again what I wanted. He then explained what he can do and he did something that I only realised now what no other designers did. He injected his ideas with ours.

I asked for minimalist, Idros wanted classy.
Owen infused both ideas along with his into 1. He showed us one of the designs he had done for a condominium. I almost jumped out of my seat when my introverted husband, Idros said, "I love it!"
It was a European Modern Contemporary design.

We scheduled a meet-up at I-Bridge Office at Rangoon Road. Their office is also huge, a two-storey high unit. But perhaps that is the only one as compared to the number of offices Sky Creations have.

Owen showed us his ideas and collected all the information that we wanted for our house. He quoted us $30,000.

Again, silly us not stating our budget straight.

We "booked" him with a minimal deposit despite that, because we have a good feeling about Owen which shows in his sincerity and dedication. But we told him to amend the quotation.

After the European Modern Contemporary design layout was shown to us. We put our foot down and said that he needs to make amendments to his quotation.

This was something that he did. Our revised quote for now is around $16,000-$21,000. This includes built-in wardrobe for all rooms. A designer glass cut console. Kitchen cabinets. Lightings. 2 bathrooms (shower screen and vanity table for master bedroom. Vanity table only, for common bathroom). Headboards, lights, wallpaper and side tables in master bedroom. Paintings using ICI dulux for the entire house. The amendments to fit in the scale of $16,000 - $21,000 were minimal (like slight adjustments of wardrobe length).

That is why we like Owen, he doesn't say "no". Instead, he provides fantastic alternatives. Overall, we are pleased with his work.

Further preliminary investigations led me to this :

Good reviews on Owen. No bad ones so far. The only worry was that there are some reviews that say I-Bridge Design is expensive and has poor workmanship. But then again, there are more reviews that compliments I-Bridge design. I am guessing, it reflects on the designer that they were contracted with.


And so the countdown continues.

teacher

I have been a preschool teacher for about 8 years now.

I still remember the reason why I started it, I thought that the pay would be high. Trololol.

That showed how immature I was.

I started out by taking my certificate in preschool teaching full time for about 5 months. Fully sponsored by MERCU with allowance!

I looked for a job and got one at Sengkang. Being a fresh graduate, I literally, SUCKED. It is still fresh in my memory. One of the owner of the centre asked me to quieten the children's voices down, I looked at her straight in the face and replied, "I am new in the industry. I don't know what song to sing."

Oh hell yes. I was the type of "teacher" that most company would fire in a minute. I wasn't good at all.

I hated teaching back then. I dragged my feet to work and finally gave up the idea of ever being a teacher.

I worked as a customer service officer for 3 years.

In that 3 years, I wondered what I could've been if I had tried harder at being a teacher.

I came back to become an assistant teacher at a childcare centre at upper east coast road.

It was fun initially. I even took up my Diploma in Preschool Teaching which was funded by the company. Until they promoted me to become a form teacher.

I guess I wasn't ready. I didn't do a good job. I was demoralised when I was expected to do the things that I really do not know what or how to do. I wasn't strong in curriculum I wasn't strong in aesthetic set up. But that centre did teach me one thing, class management (and also toilet washing, I had to wash the toilet all the time, go figure)

The next step was when I changed as a teacher. I joined a private kindergarten as a lead teacher.

I learnt how to work as a team. I learnt how to delegate. I learnt to be expressive and creative in delivering the lesson through the lesson plans given. I felt like a real teacher. The only problem was, that centre emphasised on international students and it had no benefits for child of staff. (I found out I was pregnant then.)

I then took the biggest step in my entire career as a teacher. I joined an organisation that changed my life. This time it was back to childcare.

I was back to square one. I was not good. I could not keep up. I had to prepare lesson plans. I had to do up the environment. I had to plan an event and organise meetings for that event. I had to go through SPARKS. I was chased by principal, vice principal and senior teachers alike.

But I did not give up this time. The 1st year was very rocky. But what the principal said to me, changed how I perceived things.

"You reminded me of myself as a teacher. I used to be afraid. And i wasn't good too. But I worked hard to get to where I am now."

I promise you. She is one of the best principal I have ever worked with. No doubt she is strict but if your organisation have someone like her as your principal. Get ready to see miracles. That was what got me thinking. How can someone this amazing be like ME?

I took her words positively. I challenged myself. That was when I realised what I needed all these while. I needed MYSELF.

I pushed MYSELF further. I pacified MYSELF when there was too much work.

The year after, I took up whatever challenge I can get. I had a few difficult parents. Instead of treating them like a second-class citizen, I gave them the BEST service they can ever wished for. The kind of service where they can't even have that opportunity to pin-point MY mistake because I had everything covered.

I submitted childrens' documentations to parents WEEKLY with PICTURES. I submitted individual children's monthly update PROMPTLY. I submitted weekly curriculum updates PROMPTLY. I replied emails and calls in less than a day. I seldom took MC. I realised afterwards that this helped me focus. I know what I want, which inevitably helped me to plan out and deliver any lesson or environmental set up in the click of my fingers.

The principal praised on my achievements.

And I realised by the end of the year, I am ready to take on a bigger role. Not there. But elsewhere.

I left. But after I have proved to myself that i can be better. I can be a good teacher. It was all within me this whole time.

I am now a senior teacher. And I see myself, (just as how I used to be when i just started this journey), in some of the teachers I am mentoring.

I am glad, Allah guided me to go through so many channels so that I can gain those experience to make me a better person.

I am not harping on how good I am now. I still have yet much things to learn. But I am trying to make a point that people can be better, with a positive attitude in hand and strong determination.

For that, I would like to thank everyone, not just the principals but also my colleagues and course mates who have helped me in my learning journey in becoming a better teacher.