What a blur this week has been...

It started in our friend's place by the riverside:





And it finished in our new flat. We signed the agreement on Thursday, and moved in on Saturday. Our stored goods arrive tomorrow, which -- because I'm late with the blog post again -- is Tuesday.

There has been lots of shopping to do, for things we KNOW we don't have (eg toilet brush holders, and bedding for a king-size bed...), and things we know we HAVE, but can't access yet because they're still in store (eg coathangers for hanging washing, coasters, and scissors...). We've tried to keep these emergency acquisitions to a minimum, so for the moment we're pratting around with plastic forks and spoons, and four mugs that have to serve for all types of drinks. It's like camping, but without the fun.

There have also been some major purchases. For example, a new vacuum cleaner (hoover to you and me, but Nigel insists that Dyson can't, by definition, be a hoover):


And noise-cancelling headphones.

Wait -- what again?

Yes. Noise-cancelling headphones. When we went over on Thursday to do the formalities, we were told that the people in the flat opposite were starting a major reno. It would be loud. They'd started that day, actually, and it already WAS loud.

We already knew that there would be renovations happening on one of the upper floors until the end of April, but we're further down the tower, so we thought they wouldn't be too troublesome. But the guys right opposite...? The occupant wrote us a nice little note, apologizing for the poor timing. And it turns out that a couple more units further up the tower are also scheduled to do stuff, albeit in a more restrained kind of way (these are primarily what the noise-cancelling headphones are for).

Thursday morning was a low moment, to be honest. If there's one thing I really want from the place I live, it's peace and quiet. And there are only 28 units in the whole complex, so the number of current or scheduled renovations feels wholly disproportionate.

But what do you do? People have the right to renovate. And we don't have a lot of choices. We need to vacate our current accommodation; our stuff is due to be delivered next week; and neither of us really has the stomach for more flat-hunting. So we have to grin and bear it.

No piece of equipment known to man cancels out the dulcet tones of tiles being drilled through, and walls being knocked down, so while the heavy work is ongoing just across the corridor, we'll need to be out of the building from 0900 to 1700. (I'm writing this in one of our favourite cafes, Indah, where we've worked our way through a morning drink, lunch, and after-lunch coffee -- I did negotiate a bit off the rent for the first couple of months. For coffee money...)

Aside from that (admittedly major) disadvantage, the flat is lovely. We're on the top of a little hill (Ghost Hill, actually...), so we get good views and nice breezes:





We're loving the extra space, as we'd increasingly been finding our old place a little cramped. The rooms are big here; there are plenty of storage facilities; we have a nice big office that doesn't have to double as a bedroom; and I finally have a kitchen with a door on it (a privilege I've not enjoyed since our first house in New Zealand)...

What I especially appreciate is that we've not had to use the air-con at all since we moved in on Saturday. You open up the big windows, turn the ceiling-fans on, and you're naturally cooled. This state of affairs probably won't last all the way through to the hot season, but it's lovely while it does. During the day in our old place, whatever the time of year, there was no question of not turning the air-con on.

So, the plague of renovation that's broken out is a major inconvenience. But, otherwise, we're liking our move a lot.

What else? Well, the temple procession was great. And we've tried out another of Jalan Padungan's new eateries:



Onwards and upwards...