Updates @ 27 March

driveway completed

view of driveway and the house

view of the house from the junction

view of the driveway in the compound

Izzan Aaeeshah doing her rounds :)

Dining room washing corner

Wall lights enclosure

The main gate pillar

Suppliers

I have been asked by a few friends where to get this and that, and here goes. I hope it will also be useful for you AMAR:

• Architectural drawings - Fred C Design, a designer from KB. Main contact is Freddy Chew - Mobile no 673 8611220 or office no 673 3331185
• Construction contractor - Henry Ling Company (HLC), a local contractor. Main contact is Henry Ling - mobile no 673 8710242 (if you need him to quote, please sms first before you call)
  
• Tiles - We got it from Nordin Jaya (HLC's supplier)
  
• T&B (toilet & bath) stuffs - also from Nordin Jaya
• Windows - supplied by HLC from Singapore - but we specified the colour. Otherwise it will be in green colour (we asked for brown).
  
• Wooden Doors - made by HLC at their furniture shop - again we specified the design, and colour.
  
• PVC Doors - supplied by HLC, and sourced from a specialist shop in Bandar Seri Begawan - I forgot the name but its the only PVC shop in front of QAF Auto in Beribi. Again, we specified the design and glass colour.
  
• Cabinets - made by HLC at their furniture shop - although for the pantry we bought our own IKEA inserts (Rationalle line) and asked the furniture boss to work around it.
  
• Light Switches - supplied by HLC using the MK brand.
  
• Lights - we bought ourselves 98% from Singapore - along Belestier Road. I've promised to the suppliers to put up their business cards in my blog and I'll do that within this week. Meanwhile, 2% is local - to be supplied by HLC for the Family lounge ceiling.
  
• Curtains - we ordered in Miri at the Home Designer (located along the road behind Boulevard Supermarket). Contact person is Stella at 673 821112 0r 6012 8708386 (Malaysian number). Although based in Miri, she drives to Brunei twice a week and will measure your windows for a free quotation.

There. I hope it helps a bit. Please drop your comments for more info or email me at azmirazak@gmail.com if you need more detailed info. Have a good day.

Updates @ 20 March 08

These pics were taken during the Maulidurasul public holiday (Thursday).

our driveway being prepared linking to my bro's existing driveway

view from the top of the proposed driveway

something that needs fixing. The water from a neighbour's shed stained our fence - have spoken to them and agreed for us to cut the roof slightly. However, I wasn't convinced that it'll solve the problem so may well invest on a PVC gutter to solve the problem.

our water tank support being constructed

next to the water tank will be the water heater.

Updates @ 19 March 08

Updates? They're done now with getting more sand for the lawn - What's left now is to level it.

Ceilings have now been painted with the second coat - so that is done now. The walls will only be painted with second coat once we are ready to move in, as with the door I supposed.

New granites have been delivered (to replace two pieces contaminated with oil drops). Ah Guan had installed them in the dry kitchen (See pic below).

Driveway? Now that no truck is entering the compound, the foreman has prepared the layout of the driveway. Should be ready in less than 2 weeks I supposed - subject to weather of course!

Enjoy the pics then.

the lawn is clear now, rid of the staff toilets

they have prepared the driveway - 'packing' for the next step i.e. dig up the driveway, put in metal thingy and then, concrete.

the craftmanship put in to ensure the edges are very smooth

Another angle of the bench...

Sanding the edges of the ceiling design.

Granite finally installed at the dry kitchen

Updates @ 18 March 08

On the way home from work today, dropped by the house to see what they're up to. Here's what happened:

The area near the entrance, "planter box?", already had those colourful pebbles nicely stuck to the borders.

The bench top is installed with the same tile as the ground floor main tiles.

close up of the bench

first encounter with a lizard....

and a dragonfly... both in Iman's room

emergency lights installed today

downlights at the family hall...

downlights in the master suite

and the triple light under the big window in master suite

finally, the doors to the master suite... the left leads straight to the room, whilst the right is the 'service' door - it leads to the walk in closet - to allow the maid to refresh the laundry.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Updates @ 17 March

Stopped by the house as usual after work, and saw that they have begun to install the doors (not all) and completed installing the lights (except wall and hanging types). They had also begun installing the granite tops in the bathrooms, again not all. Here are some pics, taken with my trusty new mobile phone:

granite in master bathroom

sample of the door - this is Muhammad's

This is Muhammad's bathroom granite....

.... and this is his sink/bowl

Updates @ 15 March 08

Went to the house with the kids today, and only Aaeeshah was interested to venture in - Muhammad & Iman were distracted by the big lawn and the kato parked in the middle of the lawn.

Izzan Aaeeshah 'inspecting' the drawers... all seems to be fine huh?!

The lawn as viewed from the master bedroom. Kids love the clear area.

The lawn from a different angle, from the family lounge.

Iman & Aaeeshah's room: we've planned to make a bench on top of the middle 3 drawers. I can bet Aaeeshah will love to climb and jump off that, whilst Iman, being a 'princess' as she is, will love to simply lounge on that and reading her 'princess' books

Updates @ 12 March 08

Its been 9 months and 2 weeks since we started piling the foundations of the house.... so, how is it getting along? well, look at the pics below. The house has been buzzing with workers since Monday, so here's more updates.

• 98% of the tiles have been installed. Whats left is at the entrance foyer.
  
• Lights have partially been installed. Only half the ground floor have been installed.
• PVC doors have been installed, and they are really heavy but sturdy!
• Indoor doors are almost done - went to their factory yesterday in Seria to confirm the colours, and the doors have been sanded twice. Time for the first coat of paint and final coat will be put on once the doors have been installed.
• Cabinets? Another 2 - 3 weeks. We've just agreed on the colours.
  
• Main door? 2 - 3weeks.
• water tank? 1 - 2 weeks. currently under construction.
• main gates? 1 - 2 weeks. currently under construction in Miri.
• Astro and aerial installation - await quotes from the installer.
  
• lawn.... they've removed the staff quarters on Tuesday, and had begun to remove the old cement floors - the remains of an old workshop. So now they are levelling the lawn and maybe I have to think about grass.....
• stuffs from Singapore? They arrived last Wednesday and was delivered to our place on Saturday. I got my KEF baby!

About our contractor: Henry Ling is now very much in demand... I got a couple of friends wanting his service and wouldn't mine paying a bit of a premium - you pay for quality. So if any of you out there need him to quote, just pass him the full detailed drawings and lets hope he is available. Currently he have 4 on-going clients in Pandan area alone, 1 in Sungai Teraban and 1 in Lumut. SMS him at 8710242 and follow up with a call. Good luck. And now, enjoy the pics!

As usual, I start with the full pic, although this is from a different angle, now the staff house is gone.

view from the family lounge

now you see it....

..... now you don't!

the cute kato levelling the land

the last of the wall tiles, done!

another angle showing the completed wall tiles. Notice the bar table, still bare...

and the granite piece...

and the finished match - bar table + granite

another granite piece

and its final location at the wet kitchen

windows at the family lounge, just above the main entrance

can't wait to move in!