ma passion dans tout je fais: Welcome Home Ruby

ma passion dans tout je fais: Welcome Home Ruby: "We imported a second hand car into Malaysia recently and I felt that the waiting and the process of giving it a Msian 'birth certificate' to..."

Welcome Home Ruby

We imported a second hand car into Malaysia recently and I felt that the waiting and the process of giving it a Msian "birth certificate" to be rather tiring. Not to mention, the amount you have to fork out from your savings. Thank god, we have our savings which have already depreciated as a result of this.

Let's see, when importing a car, you need to find an agent from where you resided. I contacted Dean's Freight who charged me NZD3k for a container to be shipped from Auckland to PTP. Before your vehicle and personal effects reached the port, you need to find a local agent who will liase all documentations and other work related things. I paid Nasir, the local agent RM2700. Different agent will actually charge you differently. In my case, what I paid include the cost of storing my personal items in the warehouse, parking fee for 6 weeks, transportation charges from PTP to my kampung, labour fee etc etc etc.

My personal items were sent to my kampung a few days after they landed here. Nasir preferred that I declared my electrical goods at the Suruhajaya something. I just signed the form and Nasir did the rest of the work.

Off to MITI in KL I went to apply for an AP. You have to fill up the JK69 form which you can purchase from the counter for 60 cents or you can get it from a local Indian shop for RM1 somewhere in Block 8 (Have to double check...I have short term memory) Please fill up the form very accurately...there shouldn't be any error. In my case, we filled up the form 4 times!

Wait for MITI to call you. In some cases, they might want to interview you! In my case, I told them "nothing but the truth!", so in 20 days, my AP was granted. Off to KL again, collect the signed AP and off to Menara Kastam in Larkin to get a quote for the tax.

They quoted me RM23k over. It took 2 weeks for them to answer to my appeal. It was such a disappointment and such a long wait....My appeal to the Director was rejected as according to them, that was the exact tax. I did learn some calculations from them and I'm happy to share it with my readers. After making a bank draft of the tax, off we went to PTP customs. Nasir handled from here. They made some checks on the chasis and engine number, once the cheque was accepted, they updated the system.

Off to Puspakom for an inspection. Puspakom charged RM25. Cheap huh. We took Ruby to Puspakom Saturday morning, and after 30minutes, opps..."no. chasis encik salah" Aikkkk???

On Monday, we rushed back to Customs at PTP asking them to amend the Custom form. The officer amended the form, yes...but not in the system. When I registered the E-daftar (another RM50 for this service), I was told that the numbers didnt match. Nooooohhhh!!! It took us another 3 days to get everything in order. When Drostech emailed me telling me that I can finally register Ruby at JPJ, I was so relieved.

Off we went to JPJ. "Opps...Puan...error...Borang AP ni masih no. chasis lama....!"

What the hell!! I demand to see the Pengarah....!!! Eh eh eh...that did not happen...! This happened. "Errr saya dah penat la, dah tak larat dah, ni cuma AP aje...yg lain2 sume sama ni. System pun kata OK....ni human factor, bole dibaiki aje..." So, we walked into the Timbalan Pengarah's office, no questions, nothing. He just signed and let us register Ruby. What a relief!

Ok...Yeay...Ruby is ours now. But, "Puan...insuran tak ada la..." Another RM2k for insurance. And RM300 for Pendaftaran Kereta Import, RM210 for Pendaftaran Plate Number, another RM633 for a one year Road Tax.

Ruby, Ruby...as I am writing, Ruby is already at a workshop. Hubby has sent it for a makeover. First it was this, than it was that...then this that this that....We have spent a FORTUNE on Ruby!

Evil Thoughts

Why or why?

Why what?

Why haven't you started working??

Oh...I don't have a workstation!

What do you mean?

I mean, I haven't bought a working desk, YET!

Why do you need that for?

Working!

Ok, ok...I know I'm supposed to do what I'm supposed to do....I can't make myself doing IT!

Is procastination that EVIL??????????

Meridian & Makan....

Nasri finally came back to spend his weekend with us. We fetched him Thurs night at the Skudai Toll, when later we were told that he left his static book in the bus....Hubby wasn't too keen about chasing the bus, but I pushed him to do so, so we drove right to Larkin Bus Station. We went frantic looking for the bus. Too many buses, too many people, too hot...and sweating like hell....

I went to the counter and asked for the driver's number, and after making some phone calls, we managed to get hold of the book....

After the chase, we decided to have dinner at Singgah Selalu by Danga Bay. The last time I was there was in 2007. There are lots of kiosks being put up around the area, which reminds me of Lucky Garden. Whilst at Singgah Selalu, I bumped into M.Nasir's (that popular song composer....) family, his brothers and parents. Since we grew up in the same vicinity in Singapore, we had a long chat about our family etc etc etc. It's good to see En. Mat Syam & Cik Esah still doing well, when my dad is quite weak and is bedridden.

Dinner at Singgah Selalu cost us RM46...Let's see...Along had Yee Mee & Bandung Soda, Ain had Beef Burger & Lychee Juice, Anga had Claypot Mee & Honeydew Juice, Zul & I shared ABC special. He had Fried Rice with Blackpepper Beef and I had Tahu Bakar.....

An unfortunate day for a leave

Hubby took his leave today, thinking that we can finally clear our Ruby from PTP Port, but looks like our hopes drown in the drain...of which drains?? I don't know.

Let me do some recap of some events that have happened since we took Ruby home. Ruby was deported home some months ago...let's see 13th April..that was the date. She reached PTP Port on the 28th April. Nasir did the clearance for our personal effects, and we took a short ride (about 40mins drive to PTP), to check that Ruby and all our items were alright before Nasir docked them in the warehouse. We paid RM175 a week for storage. After a week, Nasir sent my goods to Pontian. I submitted my application for an AP permit 2 weeks after we landed, that was on the 25th April, and the AP was approved in 19 days. It was a joyful moment for me, and we headed to the Customs office in Larkin for a quote. We were quoted RM50k at first and we were so stunned that I nearly fell off the chair that I was sitting on. I felt that the world was coming down on me. 50K?? We asked the officers to recalculate, saying there must be an error somewhere. True enough, the second quote we got was 23k. I told the officer I wanted to appeal, but I was discouraged. But I proceeded with this appeal and we waited for another 2 weeks when we learnt that it was not approve. Hubby told me to accept "what has been written", but me being me, was still unsatisfied over this. I called up the Dato' Pengarah, but it was just too bad he was held up in a meeting. I called up the Timb. Pengarah but was informed that he was on a week long course. Hmmm...so we just made a bank draft of 23k, went to PTP Port hoping that Ruby can finally be taken home.

Opps...the customs took almost half a day trying to release Ruby, but the system with MITI and Customs had some errors. So we finally went home empty handed.

This morning, we thought we could settle everything. Hubby took a day leave, we drove to RTD, and bought a birth cert.for Ruby. Nasir called us when we were in RTD. Another error. Customs PTP could not link the system, and they have to wait for another 3 days...Ouch!!!! At the moment I'm writing, we (both hubby and i) are just staring at the four walls in the house. Ruby is still at PTP, the car that was loaned to us was in the workshop for engine failure since yesterday, and the other car we have is just too small for the 4 of us to drive around. We were just too distraught with what we had to encounter.

Electricity Bill & the new tariff

My 1st month electricity bill since we got home last month. It's rather difficult for us to adjust with the heat here when we just returned from a country with 4 seasons. And when we left, it was autumn, and it was rather cool and breezy compared to the humid and blaring heat here. I have 5 airconds in the house, since we spent so much time in the living area, the one in the living room is always on 24/7. And everyone in the house sleeps with the aircond on. When I got the bill, I was stunned but this was expected. I wonder how our bill will fare us next month with the new tariff....I wonder???