Forget regret or Life is yours to miss

Since I have been blogging for 2 days, friends had been advising that the best way to go is to post more pictures as a picture is worth... about $0.17 at Costco. That shows how cheap our thousand words are.

One of the things I am looking forward nowadays is to one day move into my own house. A place where I can truly call home. Up till now, I feel like a nomadic leaf, travelling aimlessly wherever the wind blows. Ever since leaving Ipoh at the age of 17, I have never stayed put in a place for more than 2 years - KL, London, Kulim, Penang, Folsom (California) and Hillsboro (Oregon). Why did I choose to finally settle down in Arizona? Wife, job, cheaper housing, nice chinese church, nice weather 7 months of the year (not the 5 hot 120'F summer months), people our age, accessibility to malls/restaurants, night life and IKEA.


The picture above was taken 2 months ago whereas the one on the left was 2 weeks ago. The builders here are quite efficient and they can finish a house in less than a year. I just regret not buying the house earlier when I had the opportunity. I finally made the decision 3 weeks later and it cost me an extra $12000. The property market during the summer was crazy with huge waiting lists and lotteries. According to reports recently, houses in the Phoenix area increased 45% in value from last year. Unfortunately the property market now has kinda cooled off due to higher interest rates and more homes availability. I really really wish that my house price would continue to increase meteorically but anyway, I should be contented that it is $20000 higher now after 6 months.


Here is da 'hood where our new house will be. It is in a community called Maricopa Meadows in a small sleepy hollow town called Maricopa. This city was incorporated in 2003 and population was around 1000 then. Not sure what the number it is now, probably around 5000 people I guess. Yeah, to put it Malaysian perspective - Maricopa is much smaller than Kulim. It is around 20 miles (20 minutes to Chandler) so we do get a mixture of small town and big city living. Ahh... then I do get to spend some private time alone driving to work with my second wife, my Toyota Camry. :)

The picture here is how our house will look like when it is completed (Snapped a neighboring house to give you an idea). Our color will be a coconut husk color and will have 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with 3212 square feet of space. It will always be open for visitors who wants to stay with us. It is such a blessing that next Feb/March we will be able to move in. Ever since I was a child, I had stayed in small rented homes and also in a small house. So this is a dream come true, thanks to God.



In the meantime, I'll just be contented staying in our rented apartment with our IKEA furniture... and with my wife. (She has been such a blessing to me, cooking and cleaning and doing all the things wives are supposed to do ;) )