Jiran saya..

Good things come with a cost. Despite having 'a spacious yet affordable' apartment in a very strategic area, there is one problem with the place.

NOISE! EXCESSIVE NOISE....at midnight!!!

Excessive noise which does not only wake me up from my slumber....but it also makes me unable to continue sleeping...for hours afterwards. And when I managed to sleep.....i ended up with nightmares. Bad dreams, in which either :
a) I am quarelling with the neighbours
b) the neighbours are harassing us, knocking at the door, shouting, cursing etc
c) I am struggling to escape from the bad neighbours, who are shooting at the doors. Quite a struggle, because I am with Adelia and our apartment is on the third level. I have to tie bedsheets so it is long enough to reach the ground....hahaha...(a skill acquired when i was a kid....remember cik Asmahani??).

But that never happens in real life. Whenever they make noises, I can only pray that they stop soon. Do I dare to tell them to shut up??? OF COURSE NOT!!

These particular neighbours are :
1) people who have to release their tension from working so hard (i said work so hard ni sbb mmg diorang jarang ada kat rumah, so i guess they must be working berbelas2 jam sehari)
2) students who are enjoying the hols...before the semester starts
3) married couple who quarrel a lot.

Eventhough they are from different backgrounds, they shared one thing in common. MABUK! That's why I don't dare to tell them to shut up. In such a state of mind, worse things can happen to me if I care to give a piece of advice to them. I don't even dare to peek lama2 from my windows....takut......bukan boleh buat kira kalau dah mabuk...kan.

So, how to deal with this?
a) Orang Jahat No 1, the working people - There's one night...weekdays...they invited about 7-8 friends. At 11.30, they started to play a game. I guess it's mahjung because I heard them shaking something...and sound of things being thrown on the table. The game itself was noisy.....they added more noise with excessive laughing, cursing, talking. Sorang minah ni....SHRIEKING sepanjang game tu.
> So the next day, I send an email to the building manager. Telling him how disrespectful they are. Actually, there's a rule in the apartment, that people can't make things that can disturb other people. They sort of broke the rule, so I guess the building manager warned them that they can be forced to vacate the house if they continue to do so. No more problem from Orang Jahat No 1 after the email.

b) Orang Jahat No 2, the riang-ria students - It happened last night, around 12.30. I think they invites a few friends to come over too. Seriously, they are just talking. But, being mabuk.....they talked so loud. Sometimes around 12.45, they started to play some loud music from their player. Suddenly these guys turned off their radio, stopped talking, moved into the house and closed the door. Then someone knocked on their door and here are what I managed to hear :

Unknown : XXCadgagfafhas
Orang Jahat : HOW MUCH?????
Unknown : ndaksjhdasf
Orang Jahat : H**y S**t. That's a lot!!!
Unknown : dahfdascccdf
Orang Jahat : Okay....okay..we are sorry!

I think 'unknown' tu is either police or officer from Auckland City Council. In NZ, ada noise control officer. I guess the officer is telling the Orang Jahat how much they have to pay if they continue making noises. That's why mamat tu terkujat dan insaf!! I think one of my neighbours called the noise control office. Read more about the procedure here :
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/services/noise/default.asp

c) Orang Jahat 3, the married couple - This happened last month. The couple invited some friends to come over. At first, they are sooooo happy (My friend came out from my house around 9.30 and saw this couple happily recording whatever they do with a video cam). Around 10.00, I heard them shouting to each other. The couple, the friends. I peek through the window, and I saw one of them cekik leher the other one...then smack...then mcm2 lagi la. Then sound of things being trashed. Then sound of broken glasses. I went to the lounge, to be with Adelia. Anyway, we can't hear anything from the lounge, so Adelia tak sedar pun.
> I am hanging my clothes at the balcony when I heard the siren. Police officers came to save the day!!! I think my other neighbours called them. By this time, Orang Jahat 3 is on the way out from the apartment. The police stumbled upon them at the front door. So, the police didn't really see what's going on. And by this time, semua dah agak tenang. I don't know what happened because I am too scared to see. Adelia is all excited to see the police, but I closed the balcony door and stayed inside. I think the police just talked to them etc. Nothing much. But it works! Orang Jahat no 3, no longer cause any trouble.

Alhamdulillah.....Orang Jahat semua telah menerima balasannya. Actually, I understand that they love to enjoy themselves etc. But if only they do it before midnight....I can still consider la. If they do it within their closed door pun, tak dgr apa2 pun. Ni, they choose to open their doors widely.....mmg la bergema2 bising tu sampai. Anyway, if they are in a clear state of mind, it won't happen as well. So....it's not only the drinking...but the drink as well!!