Fixing the flag pole

23rd December 2010

A couple of weeks back, the flag that I had put up fell to the ground. It was first noticed by my brother-in-law who was at home at that time to help prepare for my daughter's birthday party. Apparently, the rope fell off from the tip of the pole and the only way to fix it is by calling in some help.

Soursop planting

19th December 2010

I've been doing some more planting lately. I learnt from my mistake about 2 years ago and made sure that from now on, I'll plant the right way. Before putting in the plants, I dug some holes and put in some fertiliser (chicken poo, to be exact). After a week or so, the soil has become more fertile and it will be easy for the small saplings to thrive and grow.

My son however is not fond of the smell and stopped after just one sapling. My daughter, on the other hand, loves to get her hands dirty... just like daddy and mummy, I suppose.

Hope the soursop saplings yield lots of fruits in the future!

Fruits of success

3rd November 2010

Gardening creates a sort of addiction to it. Apart from decorative plants and flowers, my wife and I has developed an interest in growing fruits and vegetables. Some tease us saying that there's no need for us to go down that road since we can easily get our supply from the wholesale market right next door.

However, we see this as a way to be close to nature itself, and it's a way to teach our children not to depend too much on the buying power of money when there's another way available as an alternative.

From our recent trip to Brisbane, I came across a nursery which sells saplings. We decided to buy two small pots of strawberries and brought it back to Brunei. We have had three ripe ones so far, and they taste good.

We have also planted chilli, tomatoes, papaya, soursop, kalamansi (limau kasturi) and a few others. The tomatoes are grown from seeds and it doesn't take a long time to grow. Yesterday, we noticed two small tomatoes has popped up and hopefully there will be lots more.

We are also lucky that our maid is interested in gardening as well. In her spare time, she will look after the plants and recently she has planted rows of tomatoes, papaya and chilli.

To ensure that our plants are healthy and free from pests, I spray pesticides once in a while. It proves to be a good work out for me too since the tank is really heavy!

Soon, we will start planting some other types of vegetables. My wife and I have collected seeds from Australia as well as Brunei (imported from Malaysia) and on our list are cucumber, zuchhini, salad, bittergourd, lady fingers (okra), choy sim as well as herbs such as basil, parsley and mint.

Let's hope for more success! Hehehe...

33 and counting

Celebrating 33 years of...

ME!

Hehehe... Yes, I'm 33 years old today
Alhamdulillah!

Bring the rain

31st October 2010

It was raining heavily last night. The news today even report that a few places were hit by flash floods. However, we never thought that the bad weather would have effect on us as well.

The story began when my wife was about to take her shower. She then heard a dripping sound and she began checking for loose taps but to no avail. She looked closer and noticed that the sink counter was wet. She looked up - and to her horror, the dripping sound actually comes from the ceiling!

She immediately called me; I was just about to finish up dinner with the kids downstairs. I ran upstairs and was surprised by what I saw. We began to wonder, is there a hole in the roof? Then my wife went into the study room and saw the water was dripping there as well.

Okay, we thought. Two holes in the roof is unlikely... there must be another reason.

While we were trying to figure out the house plan - trying to check out the plumbing connections, etc. - my maid informed that there was also water dripping downstairs outside the kitchen area.

Then it struck me. Above that is our first floor balcony. I immediately opened the door and was alarmed after seeing a mini pool. Apparently the drain hole was covered by debris (it's amazing how a thin piece of plastic can almost halt the water flow). After clearing it up, I realise something else; the drain hole is the same as the ones installed at our concrete gutter. Our logical conclusion: the gutter is blocked and the heavy rain worsens the problem even more.

To check on the problem, I called my contractor this morning and he sent his "roof man" to the rescue. Our theory was right, the drain pipe was covered with debris. It took the single worker almost 2 hours to finish up cleaning and thankfully the gutter is now good as new.

Check out the before & after picture below. Notice the drain hole?

We learned a lesson. Have the gutter checked, at least twice a year. I'll put that in my reminder, definitely!

Our new garden

30th August 2010

We have been struck with good luck. A close friend of mine, Zahreen, told me that his father decided to give away a couple of old flower stands. I straight away took the offer and hired a pick up truck to transport the flower stands all the way from Berakas.

It took us about a week to beautify them. We painted it black and gold and slowly added flower pots, mostly courtesy of my mother-in-law. I have also recently bought some hanging pots and the end result is really beautiful.

In addition, we have also bought and planted some fruit saplings. What's left now is to find suitable places to plant them permanently.

Lesson well learned

28th August 2010

Sometimes it makes you wonder ~ does practice really make perfect?

Today, something strange and sudden happened. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would have such an experience.

Everyday (I repeat: everyday) when arriving home, I would park my car in reverse. In order to do that, I have to drive towards the pond adjacent to our home and then reverse the car. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry this morning when I arrived home at around 11 am and out of the blue, I find my car stopping a bit awkward.

Apparently I overdid it ~ I drove a bit further than the concrete driveway! My wife noticed as well as she was outside the home waiting for me to arrive. We were a bit shocked but thankfully everything is alright. I had to call in a towing service to assist with the car, and $50 flew away just like that!

I really learned my lesson!

Ramadan Ya Ramadan

1 Ramadan 1431 AH

Wishing all Muslims a blessed month full of Ibadah
Let's take this opportunity to be better in everything that we do especially our prayers (solat), speech and behaviour

From all of us at
syafisafiya.blogspot.com
syafisafiya-house.blogspot.com

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik

15th July 2010

The long awaited yearly celebration is here...

Happy Birthday to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei
who turns 64 today

Daulat Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik

A challenging task

28th June 2010

Nope, I am not talking about our new baby boy. He is definitely an easy-going baby with minimal tantrum episodes - he only cries when he is sleepy, hungry or uncomfortable. His picture is put here because he also witnessed the task that I'm going to tell you about.

So what do I mean by a challenging task? It's this...

About a week ago, my elder children were playing with balls. They were tossing them down from above the stairs, and one green ball landed right inside our huge chandelier - way up high!

Finally just a day before Syafi's birthday, I decided that the ball must go. Equipped with a tall ladder on top of four tables (with the assistance of our maids holding the ladder), I managed to push the ball up so as not to be so entangled in between the small metal parts within the chandelier. Then, from above, I put some sticky tape on a long pole and managed to pull out the ball.

It was definitely not easy, coupled by the fact that standing at such an altitude made me prone to danger. Thankfully, my sweat was worth it in the end.

This is definitely a down side of having a chandelier hanging from a high ceiling - but hey, these things doesn't happen everyday, right?

Happy birthday son!

26th June 2010

A big hug for our son, Syafi, who turns 6 today. Time really flies since it seems like it was not long ago that my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our first child. At 6 years old, Syafi is a good, bright, friendly and creative boy.

Happy birthday son!

Love always from daddy, mummy, Safiya & Safwan

One year anniversary

25th June 2010

Today, it's officially one year after we moved in. It has been a fun and memorable year, but we are still far from over in decorating our home. We do believe that it's a never-ending process, and making a perfect home does not happen overnight. However, we will definitely enjoy every moment doing that!

On our checklist for years to come
(just to name a few):

- Perimeter fencing
- TV sets in the bedrooms
- Carpets for our formal living area
- Display cabinet(s) in the living / dining room
- Guard post and outdoor storage room
- Swimming pool and leisure area

That's a long way to go!

Killer plant

9th June 2010

We received an email about a dangerous plant that can cause fatality. It actually looks very familiar and is common to be seen anywhere in Brunei. I'll definitely be cautious the next time we go shopping for plants. Just thought of sharing this with all of you. Thanks to my sister, Liza, for sharing the information. Here's the extract of the email:

"Dear all, Please read below. The message is true. I almost lost my daughter who put a piece of the leaf of this plant in her mouth and her tongue swelled to the point of suffocation. This is one plant but there are others with the same characteristics of coloring. Those are also poisonous and we should get rid of them. Please watch out for our children. As we all leave our children home in the hands of the helpers, we should give them a safe environment where they can play".

This plant that we have in our homes and offices is extremely dangerous!

It is a deadly poison, mainly for the children. It can kill a kid in less than a minute and an adult in 15 minutes. It should be uprooted from gardens and taken out of offices. If touched, one should never touch ones eyes; it can cause partial or permanent blindness. Please alert your buddies.

Gardening in action

6th June 2010

My wife took some pictures of me whilst I was busy gardening outside. I didn't know about it though. I was actually originally accompanied by her and our lovely kids, but they stopped earlier since we had to get ready for a wedding invitation. A great workout and a good way of spending time with the family too!

Culprit identified

30th May 2010

As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, the road leading to our home is not in a good shape. It gets worse every time it rains. After a couple of times patching the puddles with free gravel (courtesy of our neighbour), the road simply wouldn't be fixed, especially the area exactly in front of the house. I became more puzzled when the road continues to be muddy even though it has not rained.

Curious, my neighbour and I decided to figure out the problem. After a scrutiny, it turned out that the actual culprit is a broken water pipe underneath the ground. Since it was already dusk when we found out about it, the plumbers decided to check it out the next day.

Thankfully, the problem has been fixed. An advantage which came out from this, my good neighbour now has his new water meter fixed. Currently, our road is better but certainly asphalt would be much more nicer.