The House That Akbar Built - After

Ahh... now the house is ready. After nearly a year of renovating. The wife is happy as a clam..... for a couple of days at least. Got an sms message from her (thanking me for the house) which i am keeping to remind her in case she forgets. (remember the strategic memory loss?). I am learning, I am learning. I not stupid, just slow. Now since the house was ready, the next item on our agenda was moving our furniture from the Klang house to Shah Alam house. And let me tell you, i did it myself ... err, with a bit of help from the mice (6 of them) who are going to live in the house that Akbar built. Borrowed my brother's pick up truck and carted the stuff during weekends. That's when i really, really realised that i don't have much furniture. So the children were sleeping on mattresses on the floor for a couple of months before I caved in .... again. Parental love overcame financial prudence. So we went to IKEA to buy furniture. (PARENTAL WARNING: Proceed with real caution with children in IKEA who haven't really understood the concept of "no interest plans" and the seductive powers of an IKEA credit card. It is going to take about 2 years to stabilize the house before we can call it really comfortable. And me? I still smiling.

The House That Akbar Built - Before

Buying this house also had a story. One day, my good friend Ravi called and said he bought his second house. That got me thinking. Hey, it's a good idea to buy a second house too. (Ravi - thanks). So the house hunting started with the wife and me. What i liked, she didn't. But let me tell you something about my wife. I have great faith in her intuition. But putting aside the intuition bit, it can become frustrating sometimes when she can't explain why she doesn't like a particular house. Anyway, we come to this house in Shah Alam, the older part of section 8 and it is one of the few housing areas where the road is in a horse-shoe (with a small playground in the center). The great thing about houses in a horse-shoe is that when you open your back door, you don't see your neighbour's back door. (i think my behind looks great but that does not necessarily mean i like to see my neighbour's behind, heex3). The house was not good looking but you could see that the owner had renovated it in stages. I saw potential in the house and lo behold, my wife also liked the house. Looking back at the all the other houses which we viewed, i think we pretty much made the right decision. Sometimes, i wonder why i born so smart.

The House That Akbar Built - Building Phase

My house in Shah Alam. It started when the wife said, "i never have anything nice. At least let me have a nice house". My wife, like most women, has a strategic short term memory. (you know lah, today nice house, tomorrow nice car ... ) I didn't want to renovate the house which was in a pretty bad condition. You know the usual -- bathrooms that leak, electrical wires running all over the walls etc etc. Hey, money does not grow on trees, I said.

I caved in after 3 days .... Self-preservation became more important than financial prudence.

Anyway it wasn't a decision i regretted. After renovating the house, the cost of materials have gone up like some 30%. (hey guys, it pays to listen to your wife). Now i smiling all the way to the bank.