I saw several pieces of furniture that I liked. I asked an Indian lady who seems to be the one in charge and she tells me that she is in the midst of clearing the shop as she wants to use it. In the lorry I saw the shop's old sign board. I asked if she wanted it and she said no. I took it home for a princely sum of RM10. I also managed to get a stack of old letters which seemed to be correspondences between the shop owner and his relatives in China. I saved these and took them home.
The 90 year old sign board having a pride of place on top of my bookcase. One day (when the tenant gives back the shop to me) I will return this piece of history back to its original place.
I thought nothing further of the shop although I did tell my wife that the shop looked very nice and it had an in built loft. The next day I left for a work assignment.
A week later I passed by the same shop and saw a 'FOR SALE' sign. I immediately contacted the lady (I had earlier learnt that she had a shop a few doors away - MALAR TRADING).
She tells me that she badly needed money and wanted to sell the shop. I asked to inspect the shop. The condition inside was quite bad but the passion burning in me made me blind to these shortcomings.
I took a few photos and went home.
The inbuilt shelves on the ground floor are one of the many factors that made me decide to buy the shop.
View of the ground floor (front section of the shop) - the floor is just plain cement. Note the blue sunshade which must have once hung in front of the shop. I decide not to reinstall the shades as the shop is in a north-south orientation and does not get much direct sunlight.
The first floor is full of wooden shelves. The previous owner used this place to store his goods. The stairs on the right leads up to the loft.
Stairs leading up to the first floor (photo taken as I stand at the foot of the stairs on the ground floor)
Stairs leading up to the loft. The light at the back section is coming from the cooking area used by the previous owner.
Windows seen from the inside (first floor). A piece is already missing. This saddens me as I know that it will be very difficult to find a replacement (Until today I have not found one but I have used another set to replace the missing part). The window frames are also badly eaten by termites. Fortunately the termites are gone. The previous owner must have used chemicals to remove them.
Again, I turn a blind eye on the poor condition of the shop and still intend to acquire it.
My next step before signing on the dotted line is to get a contractor to have a look and estimate the costs. I was introduced to Ah Keong. He came highly recommended. I called him and told him to meet me at the shop. I do remember telling him the shop was at Jalan Langgar.
The next morning I waited for him at the stipulated time but Ah Keong was no where in sight. I called him and he said he had arrived and was waiting for me. It took me a few mor phone calls to him to realise that he was waiting at Pekan Langgar (a small town some 9 km from Alor Star).
I had to wait for another half an hour for him to appear.
View of the stairs leading up to the first floor in original condition. The little blue window used to connect the shop with its neighbour coffee shop. The workers used to slide the wooden panel and shout orders which would then be brought via the main entrance.
Work started in earnest during early December 2014 as Mat Kelantan urgently wanted to move in after being evicted from Pekan Rabu (Pekan Rabu was demolished on 10 December 2014 after the electrical supply was shut off on 3 December 2014 - the tenants simply refused to move out)
The following photos show my trusty contractor Ah Keong and his team (Saiful and Ah Keong;s son) installing the new beam on 2 December 2014. I had no choice but to replace the wooden one with reinforced concrete as there the 10 inch by 8 inch chengal batu is simpl;y impossible to get and repairs were urgent to prevent the entire facade from crumbling (This fact did not matter to me when I decided to buy this place - as I mentioned...the heart over ruled the mind)
Ah Keong straining to lift the 200 kg concrete mould
Ah Keong's son putting the mould into position
Mohd Saiful at the end of his task to pack the mould with concrete (this was done on the second day - reinforced steel bars have been placed in the mould during installation). However until this very day I wish I have used the original chengal batu wood....regrets? Perhaps but there was no stock
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