LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

We went to Monika's Doggie Rescue today to meet the short-listed dogs. It was so nerve wrecking for both of us. How do you choose one dog out of a few? How can you reject any dog? We knew that the process was not going to be easy for the two of us.

Monika brought out Gorgeous first - a gentle, timid little gal. She told us to bring Bheemar and Gorgeous for a short walk. It is supposed to help us see if the doggies warm up and get along with each other.

:) It was a disaster from the start. As usual Bheemar got excited and tried to play with Gorgeous. She did not enjoy the bouncy bubbly Bheemar at all. He was too much a pain for her and she was too dainty for him. She snapped at him almost immediately and they kept their distance from each other for the rest of the walk. Sigh!

Monika listened carefully to our observation and suggested another doggie called Homer. Homer? Why Homer? All I could think of was the very annoying and disgusting Homer Simpson.

Anyway, Monika left with Gorgeous and returned with a scruffy brown doggie with bright brown eyes and a tail that wagged non-stop. He was a little timid initially but Bheemar and Homer hit it off almost instantly! Yippee!!!!!

By the time we were back from the walk, we knew he was the one and we were ready to settle the paperwork and whisk him home. We paid up and completed the paperwork but unfortunately, Monika told us that we'll have to wait to take him home. We had to first obtain a written permission from the Strata of the townhouse that we'll be moving to. How sad!!!!

Oh well! It was just our luck that the Strata has been taking it's own sweet time to provide us with that letter. It was requested for on the 21st of July and it has almost been about two weeks now! The take it EZ policy in OZ! Grrrr.....

So we left the place, leaving the fella behind. I'm still not sure when we'll be able to bring him home and he's already being missed very much by us...

Oh and...I'm definitely changing his name! Anyway, he doesn't exactly respond to Homer. He's been at Doggie Rescue for about two months now and it must be a new name that he's not used to yet. So....what should the new name be........

SHIOK COMPANY

Since coming to OZ, I've often reflected on how I should have spent more quality time with my family and friends in S'pore. I was always too busy working or too tired to make time for those very important people. It was only when I no longer had the luxury of catching up with them as and when I wish did I realize that my priorities were a little screwed.

Thanks to the lessons taught by months of separation, I no longer take such time with loved ones for granted. Hence it is no wonder that when Krishna & Ranjini decided to visit us for a couple of days, I was so over the moon! Hehehe!

Krishna is Mohan's friend from SP and is living with his wife Ranjini in Wollongong about a 2-hour drive away from our place. Although I've known both of them only for a few months now, I've grown pretty close to them. A lovely couple who are calm, sincere, well-spoken and very helpful. It is just so nice to have such people in the world.

Of course, there is yet another added bonus - this couple likes dogs! Hahaha! They put up with Bheemar and treat him real good.....well, like a baby too.

As I was saying, they came over on Thursday. Just having them around to chit chat and laugh with was such a blessing. It was also good to see Mohan having some fun besides work and TV. Ranjini & I stayed up all of Thursday night talking while the boys slept...well, in different rooms.
Having a girlfriend close by is an absolute bliss =)

Saturday night was spent playing mindless hangman games. Honestly, mindless...the boys came up with 'International Slogan' such as Malaysia boleh and names of actresses such as Disco Shanti. Sigh! Yet, it was a night of laughter. It was definitely a night to remember.

Krishna & Ranjini - Such shiok company! Thanks guys!

EXPANDING THE FAMILY

Now that the search for a home has almost come to an end, Mohan & I have decided that it is time for a new addition to the family. Yes! It is the perfect time to get us another doggie!
I should be starting on courses mid-September and Bheemar will be left all alone in the house for hours on weekdays. He's the sort to require company and will wither if we leave him alone for so long. Although we have been training him to stay alone at home for a few hours each day & his separation anxiety has gotten better over time, we believe he doesn't deserve to be left alone. Hence, we have agreed that a new doggie to keep him company and for us to love is exactly what we need at this stage of our lives.

Monika's Doggie Rescue was our first choice when it came to adopting a dog. I've read about this organisation and am honestly impressed with their work. They give neglected, abused and abandoned dogs waiting to be put down in Sydney pounds a second chance. They rescue these dogs from death row and try to find them a loving, forever home.

We contacted them and filled in their adoption form - prety long & detailed, I must say. Based on our needs and concerns, Monika will be short listing a few dogs for us to meet soon.

We desperately want Bheemar and the dog we adopt to get along. Bheemar loves dogs and can be a little boisterous when playing with them. Most dogs, especially the smaller sized ones, don't like such play. He has tamed down a little recently but still needs a lot more work.

Also being the kiasu parents that we are, we want a dog that would not try to dominate Bheemar. It probably sounds silly but he has been the baby in the house and it'll break our hearts to see anyone or any dog try to bully or dominate him. Knowing Bheemar, despite his boisterous play, he'll never bully another dog. All he'd want to do is to lick non-stop or play catch, not to dominate.

Lastly, the dog must be small sized and have no barking problem as we are moving to a townhouse.

We'll be going down to Doggie Rescue soon to meet the short-listed few dogs and adopt one of them. Of course Mohan and I have no say in this matter. It is entirely up to Bheemar to choose his best buddy.

Honestly, I'm nervous. Training a dog can be so much work, especially one that is older. Life will change...but I choose to believe that it'll be for the better :)

BLESSED :)

Living miles away from your loved ones, your family and friends, is no easy feat. There are times when the heart aches for their hugs, their laughter, their silly antics and even their annoying foibles. There are times when you just feel so far away from them, so cut off from everything that means so much to you and so alone. And there are times when you can do nothing but to curl up and cry...

Recently, faced with the probability of losing our rental home, I had mailed my closest family and friends what I was going thru emotionally as well as my decision to buy a property. It was simply to keep them updated on the more significant events in my life. I totally didn't expect the response that came over the next few days.

Msgs, emails and calls flooded in with so much empathy, encouragement, support and love. My, am I blessed!!!!! Love is and shd be da most impt thing in life. And I have such an abundance of it.

To all the wonderful people in my life:
Thank you for your advice, your encouragement, your thoughts, your prayers and most of all, your love. You really are my strength. No doubt I'm missin you more than ever but I know u'll always be there for me. There's no distance that can't be bridged by love.

TYPES OF PROPERTIES

Ok...choices of properties available here in Australia are different from S'pore. I've been learning slowly over the past two weeks and here is a brief description of the four types that we are looking into. Of coz, there are way more than the following 4 types of dwelling available in this huge country.

House

• Stands alone.
• Doesn’t share any wall with any other house.
• Can extend part of the house if you want.
• Can tear down the house & rebuilt if you want coz the land basically belongs to you.
• However, if anything goes wrong in the house (eg. termites attack, roof tile need repair, plumbing problems), you will have to deal with it & pay for it yourselves.
• Probably the best resale value.

Duplex

• 2 houses are built on one piece of land
  
• If you like the design and condition of the duplex, it is a good buy.
• Otherwise it may not be such a gd buy coz u can’t tear down the house or rebuild your part of the house.
• Anything major change you want to do with your house must be approved by your neighbour leaving in the 2^nd house.

Townhouse

• Is similar to a condo concept
  
• A cluster of 2 or 3 storey houses built in a compound
• Number of houses in compound varies
• Sometimes will come with security gate, pool, gym and tennis courts
• Must pay Strata quarterly – range between $250 to $750 – for upkeep of the place. Hence any repairs required to be made will be Strata’s responsibility.

Villa

• Similar to townhouse in everyway except that it is single storey.
• May stand alone or share one or two walls with another villa

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS!

Been thinking a lot... as usual...

We have decided to scrap the idea of spending $410k on any place for now. We have agreed that one of our main concerns is the loan and we want it to be as little as possible.

We have also concluded that this property we buy is going to be an investment property, meaning we should be able to purchase another home to live in later and rent out this property. The rent should be sufficient to service the 1st loan for a couple of years and eventually, provide us with some passive income.

In order for the property to yield good rental returns, it must meet the following requirements:

• Must be safe
• Must be near transport
• Must require little work to upkeep
• Must be near amenities such as supermarket etc.
• Must be in a suburb that has high demand for rental properties

In case selling it in the future becomes a better option, we also need to study the resale potential of the property. If property boom had already hit the suburb in which we purchase our property, not only will we be buying at a higher price but we also may not be able to make much money by selling the property seven years later since prices may not rise much.

Thank god for the following websites that provide invaluable advice and information about suburbs, growth and crime statistics for free:

http://www.investsmart.com.au/property/search.asp
http://www.homepriceguide.com.au/snapshot/
http://money.ninemsn.com.au/property/
http://myboot.com.au/

Since the property we are looking for is a short term home, a stepping stone to another property & we are looking to make money out of it, we don't have to worry too much about whether the design of the house is ideal or perfect for us. A property that is in good condition which we can move into without spending a cent on renovation will be perfect.

The search continues.....

OFFICIALLY FOR SALE

We just saw our rental home put up for sale in one of the major real estate websites. A little heart pain, I must say....

Here's da pic of our current rental place. Check out the advert on the website by clicking here.

The pics were taken b4 we moved in. The excellent tenants mentioned in the description refer to da 3 of us! Hahaha!

WE BIT THE BULLET

Yes! We've looked into loans! We've accepted that it is part & parcel of an adult life and what matters is that we handle it right. We r finally growing up!

Since we are a lil wet behind the ears when it comes to the loans, interests and the whole system, we decided to consult an agent from Mortgage Choice.

The agent, Bianca, came over to our place in the evening and very patiently explained the various types of mortgages, pitfalls, pros, cons and much more to both of us. She made the whole lot of information pretty digestible and answered every one of our questions. She was GOOD!!!!!

The best part however, was that she was completely in love with Bheemar & he was in her. Hehehe! Her doggie, Missy, is also a Pug cross. Saw her pic and she looked so much like Bheemar :)

Bianca let Bheemar do whatever he wanted - hug, jump, kiss & even sniff the contents of her handbag. It is no wonder that he got pretty attached to her in minutes, right? Quite a bit of the time was spent discussing dogs. Well, beta dogs than loans!

THE SEARCH BEGINS

We've began viewing properties whenever we get the time. I must say, it's quite a tedious process.

Much time is spent searching for properties for sale on both www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au. Trust me - it is no easy feat considering the size of sydney and the range of properties available.

Once we've identified properties that seem to meet our requirements, I've to call up the agents, make appointments and inspect the property personally with Mohan & Bheemar.

Recently, we saw this house for $340k at Glendenning. I was so happy it was cheap. Number was 6. 3 bedder. However, it was quite far from Mohan's work place and from the city. Abt 40 min away. That means if there is a jam (which is very common), he could be driving for 1.5 hours easily. (Yes, hav I told u traffic in Sydney can be a killer?!) Plus, it wasn't very safe. The pple living there belong to the lower income bracket and are quite the 'rough' crowd.

We have also seen something we like in Prospect (pic below). House number is 41, so it adds up to 5. 3 bedder. 23 min drive to Mohan's office. Right beside the motorway (expressway). So dun hav to worry so much abt jam. Supermarket within walking distance. Yes! WALKING distance!!!!!! That such a rarity! Abt 15 min away from Mohan's bro's place.

The land space is about 550sq metres. Quite a small lawn actually. So our 2nd dog cannot be big...I was hoping to get a huge scary dog like a Rottweiler or a Mastiff so that I'll feel safer during evening walks or when home alone. But there's no way I wanna put a huge dog in a tiny lawn. Jus not fair. So...I'll have to get a teeny weeny one.

As for safety...it gets a lil tricky...50% of the suburb is surrounded by unsafe suburbs. I think even half the suburb may not be so safe. Rougher crowd. But the part that we are looking at has more beautiful houses (which is usually an indication of safe suburbs). The pple look more educated, wealthy and basically 'safe'. The two parts are separated by a huge park and a busy road leading to the motorway. Hopefully, we'll be safe if we get the house.

The house we are looking at was built in the 70s. So it's kinda old. But the current owners have done a lot of work on it so it looks alright. However, we will have to hire someone to do some foundation, plumbing, wiring and termites check .

We r thinking of making a bid for the house. Once the checks r finished and the reports come out fine, the house will be ours. However, if anyone else makes a higher bid, then we'll have to look for another coz I'm jus not willing to offer anymore for the house.

It’ll cost us a bomb tho. $410k. And we'll be abt $350,000 in loan aft making a deposit of $64,000!!!!! Grrr.....$350,000!!!!!! We r so uncomfy wid de idea. As mentioned earlier, it is jus so scary to take a loan for that much! We didn’t even buy anything in installment since moving here. Honestly, the feeling of being loan free is absolutely blissful and ADDICTIVE.

A part of me wishes that the deal won't get thru so that I can look for houses at lower costs. At the same time, I'm also hoping for it to be settled asap so that I'll have a place to move to in case my current owner finds a buyer. I'm jus so tired of looking for a place! And it's only been abt two weeks.....

WISH LIST

As advised, the first thing we did before starting on our search for a property was to come up with a wish list. This wish list encompasses the desired features that we hope to find in our 1st home. It is supposed to help provide direction and ensure that we stay on course, esp if tempted by the look of a property (which does happen with me).

• 3 bedder
• Safe suburb
• Within budget of $330k to $400k
• Good condition and require no renovation
• Traveling time to Mohan's office and city to be less than an hour
• Yard big enuf for at least two small to medium sized dogs to run around
• Number of property to add up to 5 or 6 numerologically (Yes, I believe in numerology :P)

However, it has been a little challenging to get a nice 3 room house in a safe place nearer to Mohan's workplace within that budget. Safety is of paramount importance. This city can be quite scary...at least for someone from S'pore. Drive-by shootings, house break-ins, robbery, murder, etc. Must be careful of the suburb we choose.

The first suburb we lived in was Castle Hill - safest in Western part of Sydney. Now we are living in Kings Langley which is also pretty safe. However, properties in the safer suburbs are expensive. The houses are usually $400k and above. And for $400k in safe suburbs, u only get old, not-so-gd looking houses. They usually require more work or repair.

It is also very difficult to get a house that suits us numerologically. SO DIFFICULT! It jus drastically cuts down our options. Only two numbers are gd for us - 5 & 6. Wish we could have more options.

It has been such a dilemma! If one requirement is met, another goes wrong. And the worst thing....or mayb the best thing.... I really dunno...is the fact that every person Mohan talks to has such different advice & opinions. Have gotten confused terribly :S

It is pretty obvious that some compromises need to be made with the items in the wish lists Well, I doubt there'll be a perfect home that'll satisfy every one of our expectations............or is there?????