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 found out that the folks in the flat opposite were starting a major reno. It would be loud. They'd started that day, actually, and it already WAS loud. They were very apologetic about the unfortunate timing, but what do you do? No timing is ever right for everyone, and people have the right to renovate...

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. But no piece of equipment known to man cancels out the heavy work, so while that's ongoing, we'll need to be out of the building during the day. (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 (considerable but temporary) 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 renovation that's broken out is something of an 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...