LOL! It’s the first thing that came to mind, that title. Haha!
So I am now typing this post while sitting on my new second-hand sofa bed that I bought from my cousin (still haven’t paid it though). I am not yet done with all the unpacking, because until now, I am in awe at how much stuff I have accumulated over the years. I forgot to take a photo of all my stuff stashed inside the truck before they closed it. But to say that it was full was an understatement. I used to live in a very tiny apartment and yet all my stuff filled up the entire truck!
Last May 1, Labor Day in this side of the world, was not necessarily a holiday for me. It was a day of manual labor to say the least. I moved out from what I called home for the past 5 years and moved into my new residence.
I got up at 6AM (after only 2hours of sleep) and started bringing the light weight stuff from the 5th floor down to the ground floor. Take note, there’s no elevators in my old apartment building. I think I went back and forth four times. My knees were shaking from the descent and the climb and I was just so grateful when the movers arrived at around quarter to 9 in the morning. There were two men and a driver who helped carried all my things down to the ground floor. My friend also came to help monitor the move.
By 10:30AM, the old apartment was empty. I turned over the keys to the building guard then made one last look before closing the door of unit 512. It was a bittersweet moment. It was time to let go and move on, so to speak. 😛
I gave the building guard a goodbye wave, climbed the truck then off we went to the new site just less than 5 minutes away. LOL! We were able to bring all my things inside the new place within almost an hour. Thank God for elevators! Hahaha!
This new area is actually not so new to me. I used to live somewhere nearby before I moved several years ago. Now, I am back but a lot of things have already changed. I rarely pass by this area so I really didn’t know what happened after I left. So I am once again trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings.
Anyway, after the movers left, my friend and I took a quick lunch before she went home. I came back and started with the inspection before I started unpacking. I was targeting to finish unpacking by midnight but my OC mode kicked in to high gear.
Let me backtrack here a moment. Before I signed the lease contract for this place, I have already requested the unit owner to make some repairs and clean up of the place before I move in. The unit owner agreed. However, I was dismayed to have found the toilet bowl unflushed and reeking of pee. Yuck! The floors were not even mopped and the kitchen counter was not cleaned as well as the cabinets.
So instead of going back to the unit owner to complain (for fear of getting kicked out before I have even lived here), my OC mode kicked in to high gear and I started cleaning. First box to be opened was the cleaning materials. Good thing I have thought to boxing all those items together as it made it easier for me to find what I needed.
Wooden floors are great. I love wood floors. But when it is light colored and hasn’t been cleaned, it looks ugly. I planned on sweeping the floor and mopping it before setting up the furniture as I go along. However, the dirt could not be removed by just merely wiping it with a damp cloth. I had to scrub it with soapy water and wipe it clean. I was only able to finish about a third of the living room before I decided to start with the bedroom floor.
Coming from a mere 20-square meter (more or less) apartment, this place is HUGE! Floor area is about 46-square meters and having only myself to do all the cleaning and unpacking, my target completion time was not realistic. At the end of the day, this was the only thing that I have been able to do. Well, apart from partial clean up of the bedroom so I could set up the bed for the night.
By the end of the day, my body was sore from all the scrubbing, unpacking and moving of stuff to have some sort of semblance in my new residence. But the fact that I was able to do a lot of things within the day with only two hours of sleep, I could say that I had accomplished a lot. I was able to scrub half of the living room floor and the bedroom, mopped the kitchen floor, scrubbed the kitchen counter, install the bed frame and partially cleaned the bathroom. And I did it all by myself! 😀
Like I said, I am not yet done with the unpacking. My floors have already been scrubbed with soap, wiped with floor cleaner, waxed and applied candle wax prior to scrubbing, bathroom is already clean and smelling fresh (but I still have to call maintenance to fix the flush). One of the kitchen cabinets now houses the big dish rack and my pots and pans. Well, the bedroom is still a mess because there’s no built-in closet and I am still looking for a cheap and durable closet that I could purchase. I still have to figure out where to place all my things that are still in boxes and I still have to clean up the laundry area, too. Hopefully by next week, everything will be in their rightful places. 😀
One week of living here has not been so bad. Except for the fact that I’ve got this huge place and when I come home, nobody else is here to greet me. *sigh*. I am still in the adjustment phase I guess. Maybe after all the cleaning and unpacking and I get my internet connection back and have cable connected as well, I think I will be able to easily settle in. 😛
Okay, I am starting to get emotional so let me end this here for now. I will post a few photos soon, too. 😀
