Welcome to Louvelle

Finally, our home is open for visit (call first!). 

Last Sunday, we finally did our housewarming. 

Not much to write. Just sharing with you the moments here :)

It was a buffet style. What do you expect? ahaha..

First menu: Chicken rice.

2nd menu: Meatball spaghetti.

Dessert: Seri muka and ichigo.

All were made from scratch and promised to be as organic as possible! 

All eyes are on the star-of-the-day

Thank you for coming everyone! Sedih kan??Ni je warga Malaysia di Hiroshima City. Many are them are residing in the countryside where the main campus of Hiroshima University is located. 

The happiest guest of the day!
Unfortunately 'this' is not edible..haha. tahan jela geram tu you ols >,<

The building where we live is named Louvelle. Like seriously guys..

Maybe it is strict for lovebirds like us!ahaha..

Toodles!

Hiroshima Big Family

I didn't know that husband has been living around Hiroshima prefecture for 3 years before! It was the second state he had been living in after living in Tokyo for his preparation course. That was long time ago. During our "zaman bercinta" I never asked. Or he did tell, but I just couldn't care less. When we arrived to Hiroshima for the first time, that was in the late of 2010, I was feeling so weird because he knows very much about the city. He knows where to find the city hall, the government office, etc. My tutor was pretty much not functioning as he has taken care of everything necessary. I thought he was doing it with GPS or something. Then whenever he came visit, we go jalan-jalan he started telling me stories what happened years ago around the place and how the places we passed by was significant to him. Then I started to catch up. haha..

The point is, he never have thought he will come back to the city where everything started for him. Will this city being the last for him living in Japan, only Allah s.w.t knows. 

So, it is not "Welcome to Hiroshima" for him, but instead, "Welcome back to Hiroshima!".

Since we arrived around the time where sakura was at the peak, it was only right to bring him to Malaysians' hanami where he can mingle with other Malaysians. This is a good time to introduce him to others. For us living abroad, catching up among other Malaysians is important as they are considered the nearest family we have. Although most of them living far away from us. haha. 

I thought he needed introduction. I was wrong again. Turn out, many of them knows each other already. Sigh..

Well, doakan our rezeki to one day being able to push our baby like this :')

Hiroshima City family. I know..very small. ahaha.But we are good:)
FYI, most Malaysians (in fact, most foreigners) live in Saijou. The countryside of Hiroshima, where the main campus is located. 

I shall thank Aimi, if it wasn't because of her, there were only us 4. Aimi produced another one. A big contribution to the population. Introducing..Adam :)

Us, Malaysians in Hiroshima, 2014.

Last remaining hours in Toyohashi, Aichi-ken

I have been living in Japan for 3 and a half years, and I have moved to 3 different houses (including the recent one). Even thinking about it makes me feel tired. Sigh..So, in average I moved once a year T_T

Although I have moved twice before, but it is nothing compared to the recent one, the intercity move, I would say.

Anyway, this time around it was totally different and 100 times harder for me. There are so many things to pack given that apparently, a guy has a lot more things than us girls (if apparels are not in the list). Last time I moved, I cannot remember packing up TVs, so many cubes of speakers in many sizes and shapes which I'm not sure for which devices. Don't make me start with all the bulky desktop with alien-looking CPU. sigh..that has to wait for him. And to make things worse, he still went to work until the last hour we were in Toyohashi. "So Japanese".

To tell you the truth, I really want to call for the movers to do all the packing and delivering. It was just full of headache with the packing alone. Haha. Unfortunately, all movers were fully booked! I just couldn't believe this. The best option for us was to pack our own things and call for the door-to-door courier company. If we book the slot a few more hours later, I heard, they were also fully booked. Thank God we had a slot. Phew..Those who couldn't get, they had to rent a lorry and drive the stuff themselves to the later home. If the distance involved 300km, maybe we could. But ours will be about 750km T_T How can we go back and forth T_T 

We have so many things to throw away especially the bulky things like the bedframe, the refrigerator, stove, etc. This is not Malaysia where you can just dump them in front of your house and the next hour there will be no shadow of the anymore. In here, you have to plan everything even your garbage. We could too, if we have more time. Husband and me just arrived 2 weeks before our moving day from different continents, so, garbage planning was at the bottom of the list. That time, we didn't even booked a house at Hiroshima. But we already started pack things up. Yes, without the latter address. Hahaha..

A day before we moved. Waiting for the courier company. And husband is calculating all the cost on the only furniture left. bahaha xp 

Low tolerant to waiting..made him this. Angkat sendiri sampai bawah. Wasting upah tau this guy.

Initially he just wanted to get a few stuff down while waiting for the lorry. Pastu angkat sampai habis. bahaha. Me??Then who gonna take this picture?

The courier company at the crime scene. Pasti gembira melihat layanan customer serupa ini. Takyah susah-susah gitu T_T

Our breakfast spot almost everyday for the last few days. I would consider to review about this awesome cafe in the future. Cantik sangat!

The labels. Because I don't want strangers to know the content #bimbomoment.
This was before husband said "just write it in Bahasa Malaysia". Yea, he only gave me the idea after box 23. and we had 25 boxes. Penat tau lukis T_T

Our last stop before exiting Nagoya was, Toyohashi University. Because I forced him to take his photo here for memory. Sigh..
Look!the fully bloomed sakura behind me. We had to miss all of them though. Then we left for Kobe...

To be continued...

Say NO to plastic bag!

A new rule has been implemented in Selangor about 4 years ago (if I'm not mistaken), is the 'No plastic bag on Saturday'. Well I think "rule" is not appropriate here. A "campaign" is much more appropriate. When I first hear this, I was so delighted to give my full cooperation! I can't believe finally our country (or is it just in Selangor) would really do such a thing. I strongly recommend this campaign to be done everyday. Why only Saturday? It's like more cheat days in diet! (or am I too exaggerating?). But of course I understand, the state government is trying not to be so mean, so they start small first. I hope. 

Anyway, I'm not saying that I am good at this though. I cursed sometimes for the time I forgot that it is Saturday and I went shopping just with my fancy handbag which could only accommodate my purse and phone. So..yes, I am also 'manusia biasa' although deep down I know the campaign is for a good cause. The thing is, I forgot to carry bags almost on all Saturday -_-". 

Although the state government trying to be nice by implementing the rule just for a day (for the purpose of education), I think I know how this can get better for the citizen. Shall we?

Make it not as just a campaign. It has to be everyday, for every person. If it is not for all supermarkets or department stores, make it for most of the stores. Like in Japan, when this is known to everybody, we are forced to carry shopping bags. This has made me a well-planned person in shopping occasion. heh. 

I think this is going to be easier for everybody to get used to when it is done everyday rather than just on one day. When it is done everyday, people will get used to it much faster. Just like what happened to me here. It is much easier to get myself used to this culture when it is for everyday.

Doing abrupt shopping and did not bring own shopping bags??

No worries..

Supermarkets here are providing small boxes for those who did not carry own shopping bags :') complete with the cellotape.

Fold the box of your choice and pack up your shopping stuff! 

Well, it is Japan. Their hospitality towards customer is totally on a very different level with us. But they just show that some things are not just imaginary. It is doable, as long as there are reciprocity between customers and sellers. Let's copy what we can of them. hihi.

The real first home

I love my new house. It is specially designed to protect our privacy. A good excuse for me to choose a unit at the ground floor (here, they refer it as the first floor). Previously, husband does not fancy living at the ground floor to protect my aurah. I love open window and open everything, hence, ground floor is not an option. So, when he found a house designed to protect privacy, what else left to do, hit yes button!

I'm sorry, I lied! We didn't even consider things like that when we looked for this house. 

Only one factor we mentioned to the agent.

      "Find us a newly built house".

Husband who is so particular about..houses, cars..emm..wait, everything! (except a wife?) chose a house which will be done just a week before we arrived. So, during the booking, we only have a floor plan with us. Had no idea whatsoever how it'll look like and the top floor has been all booked T_T That' how we were left for the ground floor (which I secretly fancied).

When we get the photos (two days before our departure to Hiroshima), we were surprised to see how nice it is although smaller than my imagination (because the price is just too absurd!). It has balcony that allows you to be all uncovered (I'm talking about my hair). Basically, it is design to protect your privacy. It has a little gate, a little garden and an island kitchen which is..so yey!

We are at our "real first home"

After years going against me for a ground floor home, now he can't get over how convenient it is living without the need to panjat tangga everyday. Especially when dealing with my shopping stuff, he will just dump everything through that window behind me (in the picture) -_-"

He must have totally forgotten (or pretend to forgot) on how he has been against the idea of living on the ground floor for the previous 29 years of his life. Now he insisted on how brilliant he is choosing the ground floor whenever we wanted to step into the house -_-"

By the way, how do you remind your husband of his oldself?

Oh Allah, show us the way..

It is April already? Oh my..and I just updated March for one blogpost?? So much of not wanting to miss good things left unwritten.

First of all, check out the video..

Teehehe..yeay!!Finally we moved together to Hiroshima, city of love (because we live there) and..rivers (just so many of them, every houses here is practically 'by the river')..and mountains (why we have so many snows despite of located southward of Japan) and..less likely to be hit by tsunami (nauzubillah!). Hiroshima wasn't our first choice though. But, since I got a job here, this place left as our only choice. Nevertheless, we are grateful and at the same time so nervous! It can be said this step is a huge one and very BOLD! I left KL, which has been my comfort zone and boldly step into the working world that we know how hard in can be in this country. And please be reminded how low my stress tolerance is. May Allah s.w.t grant me with so much more strength. 

Forget about me, husband is the one we should put the spotlight on. He left Suzuki Corp. while he is on the top of the hierarchy to be able to start a new life with me. It is just the right thing to do in a way here because we have been contemplating it ever since day 1 of marriage. I think we were just too scared to leave each other's nest. Now he has achieved what a man at 30 should have been achieved (minus one I think, children, yes, plural), it is okay to move on and try new things by now. So, he left his first job, for about 5 years without any hesitation. 

But who I'm kidding here, I feel so nervous if we are actually doing the wrong move. So many possibilities to think of. What if he couldn't get a nicer job? What if he couldn't get a job at all? I'm so scared T_T I just can't see myself doing serious job here..because I never did T_T Again, may Allah s.w.t show us the way.