Tio's Little Ones: August 2011

Sigh. It's been a rather challenging couple of weeks lately.
Very challenging.

First, my gastric problems paid me an unwelcomed visit.
Then, yours truly suffered from bloating and flatulence. Big time.
Started popping my Histac pills, chewing Maalox and ingesting good bacteria to get my gastro-intestinal tract in good working order. At one point, my stomach was so bloated that my eldest girl literally blew me away when she questioned me recently:
"Mummy, do you still want another baby?!"
The immediate response was" Arghhhhh....No! I am already blessed with four. It's enough! Thanks."
And her response...."Oh.....okay. I was just wondering because your stomach is like so big!"

Sob. Sob.
(I do prefer Mr T's kinder words...his moniker for the extra bulge and stretched skin is "your badges of honour"!)

Just as I was back in good working order, our investment at Solaris Dutamas decided to cause us further major headaches and heartaches.The perennial bathroom leaks that I lamented in one of my earlier postings appears to have since been solved (fingers crossed). Our agent had already warned us of the possibility of the floor and wall tiles popping up in the unit as several of her clients had experienced the problems. Apparently, the tiles pop up as a result of insufficient cement being used when laying the tiles. We were hoping to be spared of the problem as we already had more than our fair share of problems at the condominium in the last year. Apart from the bathroom ceiling leaks, we've also had problems with the washing machine, the air-conditioning system.
It was more than enough.
Or so I thought.

Alas, that was not to be.
Initially, it looked as though it was just 8 kitchen floor tiles that had popped up.
As I stood in the kitchen staring blankly at the wall tiles wondering "WHY US?", a continuous crack of about 50cm stared back at me from the edge of the wall. An instant reflux reaction saw my knuckles automatically knocking on the wall tiles. What greeted me was a horrifying hollow sound that has since seen Mr T and I gone through a very draining 2 weeks.

A thorough check revealed the following defects:
1. Kitchen: 75% of the wall tiles were hollow i.e. insufficient cement underneath the tile i.e. high possibility of the tiles popping up in the future.
2. Utility room: 80% the wall tiles needed replacement.
3. Guest Bathroom: 90% of the wall tiles needed replacement.
4. Master Bathroom: 15 of the wall tiles were hollow.
5. Living Room and entrance: 8 floor tiles needed replacement.

There is apparently no impending warning of when the tiles may pop. The only way one can tell if the tile was poorly laid is if you hear a very distinct hollow sound when you knock on the tile with a steel instrument. Before our nightmare began, our agent had warned us of the potential problem as one of her tenant had recently returned home from work and was unable to open his front door. When the door was forced open, the tenant was greeted by 50 pieces of floor tiles in his living room that had popped up whilst he was at work, causing the front door to be jammed!

That Friday, 5th August 2011, was a black, black friday for Mr T and I.
The anger, frustration and disappointment that I felt towards the developer, who we had believed to be a reputable developer that would deliver top quality products had failed us miserably, reached boiling point. The days that followed on were equally dark days as we had to deal with a couple of ***holes along the way. Obviously, love letters were written by yours truly to the developer with threats to publish their poor quality and service to the newspapers if immediate rectification works were not taken. Such was my anger and disappointment.

To add to our woes, we then had to break the news to our tenant who needless to say, was not too pleased with having to move himself and his belongings out. A long and painful story cut short, the developer agreed to offer our tenant alternative accomodation in the form of a serviced apartment in the same vicinity.

Guess what!? As if to prove us and our tenant right that the quality of the developer's work was truly questionable, even the serviced apartment had its own problems. The brand new washing machine leaked out water on its maiden adventure! An extremely unhappy tenant was adamant in moving out and straight into a hotel...at our expense. It was basically a ransom case of "pay for my hotel and laundry bills or I'm terminating the tenancy with immediate effect". The nightmare just worsened.

As the tiles were ripped off, the walls hacked and the sound of constant drilling filled the atmosphere, I felt suffocated. The sheer volume of dust and debris that filled the entire atmosphere just threw me further into despair. Aside from my daily routines, my days were filled with sprinting over to the condo to check on the works to ensure that they could deliver the unit back to us on time, as well as doing major PR work with our tenant. There were exceptional trying times when I had to deal with certain individuals who were just plain ***holes! Excuse my language, but there just is no other polite way to describe such individuals. The workers appeared to emphatise with me and have more sympathy for us after witnessing my bust-up with that particular ***hole. It is sad to see that the higher one has climbed the corporate ladder, the bigger the err-hem...hole!

There were days when I struggled to balance myself rather precariously on the edge of an enormous pithole that had a long and dark tunnel. I made a conscious effort to constantly remind myself that I could not afford to fall into that deep and dark hole. On many days, I was totally drained out...both emotionally and physically.
So was Mr T.
His facial expressions and body language spoke volumes. When he was down and busy balancing himself on the edge of that enormous pithole, I somehow managed to keep my spirits up; likewise when I was doing my damnest to balance myself on the edge of that deep, dark hole, he would be the one helping me to balance and stay off the edge of that deep, dark hole.

The one thing that did manage to keep me sane and put a much needed smile on my face was our little bambinoes! They would somehow know if I had a particular bad day and would shower me endlessly with their kisses and wrap their little arms around me. The Little Genius was particularly sweet when I came home all upset on that black, black friday. She told me she had a surprise for me and enthusiastically asked me to close my eyes. I did as I was told. As I closed my eyes, I felt her soft little butterfly kisses all over my face as she showered me with her love.
That did great wonders in lifting my spirits up that day!

This entire nightmarish experience has left me wondering whether business people have any conscience as it is apparent that the issue of cost takes priority over quality and service. It makes me wonder even more that if this is a high-end development, what happens to those in low-cost housing? What happens to innocent buyers who use their hard-earned money to invest in a roof over their heads only to be cheated by unscrupulous businessmen who are out there to make a quick buck? Who cares for them when their walls come crashing down on them ... when what was supposed to be their safe haven becomes a nightmare...

Where it the fairness of it all?

Flashbacks of our nightmare.....