Sunday, August 21, 2011

What is in a maid

Having grown up with a maid throughout all of my life, I find that a maid is a cook, cleaner, helper, problem solver, lending ear, and much more all in one. Having a maid is much more than getting someone to clean and cook for the family; it's like having an additional member of the family; an older sister who's willing to lend an ear to your problems, a mother to comfort all your worries, a grandma filled with all sorts of traditional remedies; it's like knowing that there's always someone waiting at home for you when you come home.

The maid that stayed longest with us was Kak Gedu. She was with us for ten years, having literally watch me grow up from my high school years, then all through my university days up until my first few years of working. She taught me so many things about life and shared her life stories, so much so that I felt as if I know her all my life. Unfortunately she left right after being with us for ten years. I don't blame her though, we are not an easy brood to take care of.

She passed away in Indonesia just yesterday. I wish that I could just drive up to her home and visit her family but unfortunately I have to leave for Shah Alam tomorrow. I felt a deep sadness and grief for her passing and I know that Allah loves her more.

A maid is so much more than just a cleaner and a cook. They're family too =)

Al-Fatihah.


xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Saturday, August 13, 2011

The room where most of the action happens

Preparing the bridal suite in preparation for this wedding is no easy feat. There's color selections, color schemes, matching your color schemes, bedroom design, making sure the bed is not too big for the bedroom and the most important thing, making sure you do not exceed your budget. After much discussing, arguing, window shopping and googling, this is what we finally decided on:

1. The bedroom furniture

My fiancé earlier on had decided on a king-size bed. I wanted white English-style furniture. What we bought - white furniture and a king-size bed. What we didn't get: the English-style, and the headboard is a dark brown color. We decided to compromise on the style to make way for the huge wardrobe, an 11-feet wardrobe to be exact. Why the compromise? Well, getting married does not only mean that you'll be living with your future husband, but you'll also be sharing your wardrobe with him. So, make sure the wardrobe is big enough to fit both your clothes. Our budget: RM4k. Our price: RM4.5k. An excess of RM500 is acceptable to us as we got the whole furniture at a 50% discount. So, paying RM4500 for a RM9000 bedroom furniture is definitely a steal *happy grin*.

2. The quilt cover, bed sheet and pillow cases

This time we did not know what we wanted. We decided to do lot of window shopping and finally settled on a quilt cover set (with two pillow covers) at Aussino at tHe Spring. Price: RM250 (after 50% discount).

It was after this purchase that we decided that comfort is the most important thing to us in getting the best quilt, bed sheet and later the mattress.


After much googling and information searching, we settled on a microfibre quilt by Elle Deco at Parkson, tHe Spring, complete with a mattress protector, also by Elle Deco. Total price: RM420 (after 20% discount).

Why a microfibre quilt? As we are most probably going to use the quilt for the next 10 years (more or less) we decided on getting a soft, cushy, cool, comfy and breathable material, and after googling on quilts, we found out that microfibre quilts are highly recommendable as compared to cotton quilts. For the bed sheet, we settled on a cream colored cotton sateen bed sheet by Friven with a cotton thread count of about 450. Initially we wanted to get just any cotton bed sheet but after running our hands over the many different bed sheets offered by Parkson, and comparing between 250 thread count and 450 thread count, the latter one certainly is softer and cooler to the touch. Price: RM220 (after 40% discount). So, total price: RM250 + RM420 + RM220 = RM890. We haven't gotten our pillows yet but most probably we'll settle for Elle Deco's microfibre pillows (which is super soft, cushy and cool to the touch).

3. The Mattress

As this is most probably where most of the action happens, getting the right mattress is very, very important to us. I decided to google and ask friends on how best to buy one. It was later that I found out that you have to literally lie on the mattress and test it to see whether it's the best one for you. Preferably lie with your partner on the bed and test it by getting your partner (or you) to get in and out of the bed. After much lying around, we finally decided on Professional Star Pocket Mattress from Town Furniture which supports your back, with memory spring latex. The salesgirl even told us that the mattress is used in space by NASA and is currently the best selling mattress in Hong Kong. Our price: RM1700 (after a 50% discount).

Am glad to say that our search in preparation for our bridal suite is almost over. Will only be posting photos once the whole bedroom is fully set up. The only things that I haven't gotten are:

1. Day and Night Curtains (haven't decided on the color and the style yet)
2. Pillows (methinks it's going to be between two or four microfibre pillows)
3. Bedside lamps (I've found the perfect two yellow bedside lamps that matches the color of our wall)
4. Other decoration (framed photographs of us, a clock, maybe some flowers etc).

What did I discover from the whole experience?

1. Having a budget is important. Although we busted all our budgets, but it did let us know what we can afford and what we cannot afford.
2. Compromising on price might mean that we compromise on quality. Although we've gone over the roof on all our budgets, we decided to focus on the long term and look at it as an investment. We're looking at using the bed and furniture for at least 10 years so we'd better make the right purchases now (rather than regret on any compromise that we make today for the next 10 years).
3. Shopping around for the best price is very, very important. Prices vary between one store to another, so you might as well stretch your money by making sure you've found the best bargain.

So far, total expenditure for the bedroom: RM7,090. I'm looking to spend another RM1,000 for the pillows, curtains and bedroom decoration. Initial budget for the bedroom furniture is RM4,000 and decoration is RM1,000. I am definitely running out of budget *sigh*.

Til my next frazzled bridezilla entry, have a great weekend peeps!


xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo