How It All Started
I’ve never thought we would be in this predicament, getting ourselves into short term rental woes. This is how it all started. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and checked ourselves into an AirBnB studio apartment close to Helen’s house. We managed to get all our four big luggage and two hand carry into the unit after a maze of instructions. My 11 year old niece helped so it was manageable. The studio unit was pleasant and spacious. It was close to midnight before we passed out on the not so comfortable bed. By then, we were too tired to fuss about it.
AirBnB in Malaysia
There are many AirBnB in Malaysia offering rooms, apartments and houses that fit your budget. I forgot to check the studio apartment if it was facing a mosque when I booked it. We were jolted awake by the Muslim call for prayer just after 5 in the morning. Malaysia is a multi religious country, whose official religion is Islam. There are about 6850 mosques registered in Malaysia with at least two in each neighborhood. Be aware that there are 5 times call for prayer throughout the day and night. Inquire from your AirBnB host if the rental is facing the mosque before you book one. Nonetheless, we got used to the prayers by our 4th day stay.
Short Term Rental Woes
This trip to Malaysia was to make my grandparents’ house in Melaka our second home. It has been left vacant for several years. Unfortunately, during our examination we found structural damage to the house. The total cost for repair was not feasible for us. I didn’t have a backup plan for lodging so we contacted a real estate agent as soon as we returned to Kuala Lumpur. She found a similar AirBnB unit just a floor below. The interior was substandard but we accepted it because I haven’t been able to find other alternatives. Shane walked into the bathroom at night to find a flurry of cockroaches on the floor! Ants were everywhere on the kitchen counter. The bed was thin and hurt Shane’s back. By the 5th day, we called it quit and moved in to Helen’s house. Our short term rental woes just started!
Back to Our Old Rental Unit
We had an appointment to see a fully furnished apartment at Main Place Residence near to Helen’s. It looked promising and the apartment is above a mall. It is most convenient for us especially since we rely on Grab Car (car hailing service) for our transportation. The shopping area was superb. However, as soon as we entered the residence floor, we were surprised at how dodgy everything looked. The furnishing in the apartment has seen better days. To make matter worst, we have to walk by an open garbage collection area to access the residence entrance on the ground level. A firm NO from us. I decided to call our former landlady out of desperation. We are going back to our old rental unit in Klang. It is a fully furnished master bedroom with attached bathroom. At least we know what to expect there, or so we thought.
Capricious Characters
I don’t want to be mean and describe the landlady as a person with capricious characters but she is close. She was going to move her belongings from the master bedroom to a smaller room. Friday was moving day. She messaged to postpone moving day to Saturday morning because she hasn’t had the time to clear her stuffs. Helen transported our ever growing possessions into her car for the 30 minutes drive to Klang. A new mattress topper we ordered for the bed was already there. Her instruction said to ring the door bell for a tenant to let us in. We rang repeatedly and waited under the hot sun for over 10 minutes before someone opened the door. He wasn’t aware we were moving in and called the landlady. We were annoyed but it wasn’t his fault. In fact he was gracious to help us with our luggage.
Double Whammy Surprise!
Boy! Were we in for a double whammy surprise! The clean and orderly living room that we remembered now looked like a warehouse. A motorbike was parked in the middle with boxes and opened bags strewn all over the place! This mess extended to the dining and kitchen area. Upstairs, we found a messy hall and the master bedroom door locked! I called the landlady. She was still out of town but will be back in the afternoon to clear out. We remained calm and took a Grab to wait at Helen’s house. She wasn’t back when I called her after 5 pm and suggested we use the second room for the night. It was crazy but we went back to reluctantly cleared the second room and changed the bedsheet. Shane told me to avoid using the shared attached bathroom. I held on to my pee until I couldn’t anymore.
Sleepless Night
I thought I have experienced it all when we stayed in a messy house during our volunteer work. This was similar. The shared bathroom was filthy. Another tenant came back to his room next to us around 2 am. He was talking loudly over the phone. We slept fitfully, our ears listening for the arrival of the landlady who again promised she would be back at midnight. Our sleepless night continued with the tenant using the bathroom and listening to music. Phone rang and loud conversations went on throughout the night. Somewhere in the midst of it we have had enough and decided we will move out in the morning. This time we had to get a Grab Car to transport our extra belongings while Helen drove back with our luggage and mattress topper. We were tired and missing our peaceful and orderly home in Spokane.
Silver Lining
When everything looks bleak, there is always a silver lining. Helen mentioned our short term rental woes to a good friend and she offered a studio apartment for our use! It is a serviced apartment located in Ara Damansara with full condominium facilities like the gym and swimming pool. Helen’s friend rents the unit out on a trust basis and didn’t charge us extra for our short stay. We have had real estate agents telling us the minimum rental term is one year. Other agents hiked up the monthly rental to almost double the amount for short term rentals. Some who offered short term rentals only have hotel-like rooms. For all the woes we were subjected to, we are extremely grateful to Helen’s friend. She went above and beyond to ensure our stay is pleasant.
Building Better Relationship
We scrapped off my plans of having mum stay with us because we don’t have an extra bed. Mum has early Alzheimer and she was so confused when she came here. We decided the best option is for me to stay with her at Helen’s house. It has so far work very well for all of us and best of all, I feel I am building a better relationship with my sister. I have never stayed over her house and as often as I am doing now. Everything happens for a reason and eventually all things fall into place. We are getting our rhythms back, going to the gym regularly and planning trips. We have a better knowledge of what we want as far as having a second home is concerned. As for now, living in the moments is our only mantra.