NEW HOME IMPROVEMENT

More Nice Cozy Feel

Once again,another year had arrived.Yes,now it's 2015.The year of the goat.Mek!Mek!Mek!.We here, in Malaysia are celebrating another Chinese New Year.Today marked the eighth day of the Lunar New Year in the chinese Calendar.The chinese has fifteen days to celebrate Chinese New Year and the last day is known as Chap Goh Meh.As usual,every year we got big cleaning to do before the actual day.Not to mention,I did bits and bits of touch-up to the house almost every year.The house was repainted,from the inside to the outside.The curtain changed.

And the old dining table table was replaced with a new one.

I've always wanted to throw away the old table but decided to put it outside the front house for party use.It was worn out a bit,but with cover on,still looks good.Just imagine,I've been using it for thirteen long years since the day I moved into this house.It was given as a gift from a friend for my house warming party.

Home is where your heart is.I want to come home with a nice looking home that welcomes me.Home is a home if you keep it clean,neat and tidy!What's the use of a home if you just arranged it in style,but looking dirty and messy?You want to be in the comfort of your own home,don't you?People spend thousands and thousands of money to have designers style their home,but I DIY.That's me!

HOME IMPROVEMENT-THE LIVING ROOM

The Cozy Feel

Nice cozy,warm house

Chinese New Year 2013
 

2014

 



 

 

HOME IMPROVEMENT-THE WET KITCHEN

Time for home improvement.

The greasy feel

The unfinished extended kitchen

2013

Before the blocking of walls

Yipee! Our wet kitchen is finally done.It is now open for cooking.

 2014

This kitchen is mainly use  for cooking and washing.There's only just a sink and a gas stove.Very simple but great enough for cooking oily food and not ever to oil my beautiful and expensive cabinets Waters will also not spilled everywhere to wet and damaged the cabinets.So,in other words,the dry kitchen is for dining and storing food.A warm place to relax in the afternoon for a hot/cold tea/ coffee.Why in the world need two kitchen when you already have one to use?You may have wonder.Mostly in Malaysia,we had two kitchen.It's because we tend to cook oily food more often.Frying fish is an example.Now,I tell you why I need two.In recent years,I've difficulty trying to clean the greasy yakki thing(very oily) off my kitchen cabinets.Oil splashed everywhere on the floor and I can't wash the floor which make the greasy feeling when your feet touch on it when you wallked.Mopping the floor won't be as clean as washing the floor with a detergent.With the  now outside kitchen next to it,I can now wash the floor after my cooking is done.(of couse not everyday,only when it gets too oily)Besides that,with the oven shifted outside,I can easily baked and grilled chicken without feeling hot and greasy inside the living room.Malaysia is already a hot and humid place.Between the living room and the kitchen,there are no walls to cover.

See here?This is the divider between the dry kitchen and the wet kitchen

 

Actually,when I first moved in this house,I used to cook outside the kitchen, but it so happen that there are sometimes rats,cats and even dogs coming in from the backyard.Because of this,I have to move in to the inside to cook.This led to my poor cabinets being dirty and the base is now spoilt a little bit from getting damp.Most people here in Malaysia have two kitchens,so I persuade my hubby to make one for me.Hmmm......he do it all by himself to save cost.He took so long though,about six months,but just in time for the Chinese New Year celebration.



The living room leading to the kitchen
2013

2014 

 

 

Next,the living room improvement on my next post 

 

 

The Wet Kitchen

My husband is expanding our back kitchen.It will take some time to finished because he is doing the work all by himself.No hurry cos we still got a dry kitchen.While he is busy with the renovation,I ,on the other hand is cooking for dinner.

What did I cook?Here is what I've cooked.Nothing special.

Brinjal

Kachangma with rice

Mix Vegetable Tofu

It was a lazy Sunday evening,but I cooked my dinner well!

Floor lamp

DIY Floor Lamp

Ooh!I can never stop doing something.I can never let myself be free.I just cannot just sit down and doing nothing.I'll get bored to death,and then what?I'll get stress,stress,stress..My life just keeps going.
One free afternoon,as I had already finished cleaning my room,I made this wooden floor lamp.It was made from an old planks taken out from an unused old Tv cabinet.I've kept it for months in my room,not wanting to waste it away.I tried to figure out of what to make later.
So,for this one,I try imitating the Japanese floor lamp.My husband helped me with the wired things and bulb.It was very bright.I think I'll have to change the bulb lighter soon.It hurt my eyes.

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My New Oven

I bought a new oven  today.I'm so excited about my new oven.My craze for making kek lapis goes
on............My intention of buying this new oven is to make kek lapis.I didn't know that this type of oven exist.It is a convection oven with a turbo fan and has a top,bottom and both top and bottom heating.My other old oven is a conventional oven that I have been using for years.At that time,I don't understand what the author of the recipe meant" by top grilling only".Somehow,I thought maybe they said using the bbq equipment for grilling.Ha!Ha!Now,I understood.So,I bought this oven loh!

You see,the thought of buying electric oven never come to my mind.The thought of paying too much electrical bills scared me.The conventional oven is enough to bake a perfect cake anytime.any day,above all can roast a chicken, but no to a kek lapis.Before that,I try to make kek lapis using the conventional oven but it got burnt baking layer by layer.By the time the layers were finished,the bottom of the caked burnt like charcoal and has to be thrown away.

Kek Lapis can either be grill or steamed.I often make the steamed type.It was easier,less time and colourful,whereas,I've heard grilling layers by layers took a longer process like three to four hours.Whether I can make it or not,I will tell you all in my next blog.So,wait!He!He!

Blondal Sewing Machine

Blondal Sewing Machine

Have you ever heard of Blondal Sewing Machine?I only heard of Singer brand.

Hmmn.....Let's talk something about it.I bought this from my brother a few days ago at a very cheap price.Seventy-five percent of the price that he bought originally.He bought for his wife to learn sewing but his wife wasn't interested.I 've never use an electronic sewing machine before nor am I interested.All I have is this old simple sewing machine:

I've been using this for years.It is very simple and reliable.Not that I knew sewing very well or know how to sew clothes but a sewing machine even old fashioned, can comes in handy.There are times when my children uniforms zipper got spoilt,their pants torn  apart and sometimes the new long pants need altering.I can even sew a simple curtains for my home and make handbags.As to say,I do not mind even if I don't have a modern type of sewing machine,except for one thing,that is,it needed space and I don't have enough space to put it that I've to squeeze it in my room.
Now,what am I to do with two sewing machines at home?Shall I sell one away?Which one shall I sell?Let's see!If I sell the old one,I can save space and make my room more spacious.If I sell the new one,I can get in profit.Undecided,I kept both until time will tell whether I want to sell or not to sell.

Back to the Blondal Sewing machine
I've no idea of how to thread this sewing machine.It has no instructions book to follow.Searching the internet doesn't help much as most people would only talk about their new sewing machines rather than give instructions.After days of searching and trying I finally found on youtube something similar to my one.Thanks to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cNgJLya1Mhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cNgJLya1M,now I finally knew how to thread the sewing machine.I'm now on my way to sewing new curtains.At the moment,is only the basic seam cos I still got a lot to learn about the different types of stitches.