For the love of spreadsheets

I felt so much better today compared to yesterday. I must’ve just needed to rest and give myself a bit of a break from all things to do with this move.

N found this spreadsheet of mine that itemised all our items for when we moved to SG. I LOVE the spreadsheet!! 😂 I completely forgot I created it. It’s so neat and organised. Why aren’t I as organised with this move as I was back then?! My current inventory is handwritten and is nowhere near as detailed. I feel so unorganised in comparison to the old me. Where is she now?? I need her to come back! 😆

But now that he reminded me of this spreadsheet, I’m using it as a basis for this next move. I’m so pumped to update it now! 🤓 In fact, once it’s updated, I’m going to try and maintain it on a more regular basis, so that we have a consistent inventory list for future moves. And perhaps also use it to start working towards an “ideal” list: a list of what we consider to be an ideal amount of “stuff” in our lives to lead the minimalist life that we currently aspire to lead. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re working on it 😊

N has taken tomorrow off to continue this culling / packing, so I’m even more pumped now. I’m expecting us to get through almost everything tomorrow, and I’ll finally feel in control once again. Fingers crossed the finish line will be pretty darn close by the end of the day… 🤞

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Crashing down

I felt like I was crashing down from the adrenalin high that I’ve been living on the past few days. I felt really tired, lethargic, and had a mild headache the entire day. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping. A family friend is actually in town for work and we were supposed to catch up tonight, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it, so I had to take a rain check. We may have to catch up next time she’s in HK! 😲

I did manage to track a friend’s flight though, from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore, on his way back to Brisbane. He’s spent the last four years in Vietnam, and is now on his way back home to pursue a new business venture. He too is starting a new chapter in his book of life. He came over to Asia just before we did, and now he’s going back to Oz. While we are just starting a new Asian chapter. It’s all happening.

Today is T minus 27, and for N, it is T minus 6 😲 I don’t feel like we’re anywhere near ready for the move 😔

TV, shopping and culling

It was one of those rare days where we had nothing whatsoever scheduled. Gotta love those days! 😆

We started the day watching a new tv show that N discovered: Titans. It’s so good! There’s only been two episodes released so far, but according to IMDb, there is another ten episodes scheduled to be released before the end of 2018. So that’ll be something to look forward to as the year comes to an end, as well as a welcome diversion as we work our way through this move overseas 😊

By the time we left the house to go buy some new work shoes for N, it was past 4pm 😂 This is one thing that I love about Asia: shopping malls are open until late every single day. Unlike in Oz where malls close at 6pm on most evenings. I know it’s changing in the cities, but it’s still not quite the same. Here it doesn’t matter if you’ve had to work back late or if you need a last-minute gift for a party, you know that you can just drop by and pick up something at 8pm, whether it be a bottle of wine or a new dress or just a quick dinner 👍 And for those who are not morning people (like us) and it’s afternoon by the time you leave the house, then the later opening and closing times is just perfect 👌

We then just went home and then continued our culling. It seems like I’ve culled quite a fair bit, but I think that I’m still holding on to a few things that I really shouldn’t be. HK will be a good test of my ambition to be truly minimal. With the lack of space in that country, you really can’t afford to hoard – literally! 😂 I still have a few weeks left (today is T minus 28), so I’m sure I can still cull some more items during that time.

And then we finished the day with another new show: New Amsterdam. They’ve only made four episodes so far, so along with Titans, this show will also keep me distracted from all the stress of the move. Perfect timing to have found these two shows 👍

Our last comp for 2018

I got up at 6:15am today 😲 I actually wanted to get up at 6am, but I’m still somewhat happy with my effort. It did mean that I missed out on eating breakfast, as the comp today officially starts at 8am and our first event was pretty early in the program. We got to the venue at 8am, and the music wasn’t even on yet, so obviously official proceedings hadn’t even started yet. But the late start meant that they ran behind schedule for the rest of the day, finishing more than two hours late by the end of the day session.

So that meant a lot of waiting. We actually didn’t dance too much today: we either danced a straight out final for events with fewer people; or we didn’t make it to the final for those with more competitors. Plus for each event, I don’t think they played the music for too long as they were running so far behind. I’m not sure if I pushed myself hard enough on the dance floor today, or if I’m just getting fitter, but I didn’t feel like I was completely spent at the end of the day like I normally do. The former might have contributed to the mediocre results today. Not to mention the lack of regular training these past few months, since we’ve been flying to and from HK to organise this move! 😂

We went and grabbed burgers for dinner after the comp – our first proper meal of the day at 6:30pm 😲 I needed something sinful. We’d just been surviving on fruit, chocolate and energy gels the rest of the day! And my BFF these past few days: adrenalin 😆

So we’re done with comps for the year. And when we resume sometime next year, we’ll be doing HK comps, and perhaps more comps in North Asia. Wow. New dance experiences around the corner. That’ll be fun!

Oh and this morning, as I was watching some random event at the comp, someone came up to me and tapped on the shoulder. It was the dancing doctor! She just came around to tell me that my test results were ok 😅 That was very nice of her. She didn’t have to do that, as I’m seeing her on Monday anyway, but I appreciated it nonetheless. But she slunk away straight after she told me, as I think she was so embarrassed being seen in her dance costume. I completely understand. It’s very surreal when two of your very separate worlds collide! 🤪

Surviving on adrenalin

I have been running on adrenalin these last two days now, and I will continue to do so tomorrow at the comp. So come Sunday, I’m just going to crash and not get out of bed until sometime in the afternoon 😂

Two people actually followed through on their transactions on my listings on Carousell, the local online marketplace. I’m now pleasantly surprised when someone is honest on there. I don’t know why people say one thing and then don’t follow it up with action. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. So I’m grateful for these honest people, as they give me hope that there are more decent people out there 😊

I was primping today, oh so exciting – NOT 😂 My nails are all done now, and I’m all Oompa Loompa’d up – ie fake tan applied. I am so fake orange that I feel like a real-life Oompa Loompa, hence the name I’ve given it 😂

We’ve been so busy going in between HK and SG these past few months – and now with the pending move there – that our training has been severely disrupted, so we don’t feel anywhere near ready for what is perhaps the largest comp in SG for the year. But it’ll be our last comp in the country before we move, so it’ll still be a memorable one, even if our results probably won’t be that great 😆

Inventory taking

I did a ton of HK prepping today. I fielded queries all day from people about all the items I’m selling on Carousell, the popular online marketplace here in SG, while also continuing to upload more items, and cleaning items for sale so I can pass them on in good condition to their new owners.

One guy asked me to reserve an item for him, but then when I went back to him today, he is now umming and ahhing about it. Seriously?! If you hadn’t made up your mind about buying it, why ask me to effectively take it out of the marketplace while we negotiate collection and payment?? I was not happy. So it’s now back on the market. I’d rather that someone else make an offer for it now.

I also continued with my inventory taking of all the items that we are shipping over to HK. The moving company wants estimated replacement values for all items being shipped! 😱 And they also want a list of all electrical items, brand and model, their serial numbers and year of purchase 😲 So I am itemising virtually everything. The only thing that I have really aggregated is clothes. Everything else has an estimated price tag attached to it. Hence the selling of as many items as I can! 😂 And I am only halfway done! 😫

So you can imagine just how drained I am feeling right now…! 😓

N’s countdown: T minus 9 😱

My countdown: T minus 30. That is exactly one month from today 😔

My ever shrinking world

A colleague from N’s work gave him the details of a property agent in HK named Ben. His colleague recommended Ben because he didn’t mind him, as he was quite transparent and didn’t have the usual property agent BS. I half jokingly said “I wonder if it’s that jerk stick guy who I went with to go see a property last time we were in HK”. N quickly dismissed the possibility, as a normal person would, since there are a bajillion agents in HK. But after the dancing doctor yesterday – which I am still floored about, btw 😱 – I am much more prepared for things with a very low likelihood to actually occur 😂 So I asked N to give me Ben’s number just to double check that we’re not liaising with the same person. And O-M-G, WE ARE ACTUALLY TALKING TO THE SAME PERSON. Seriously?! How is this happening?! My world is getting smaller and smaller!! 🤪🤪 So maybe I will be giving this guy a second chance after all 😊

Kitty has been very restless in the mornings, scratching numerous times around dawn, waking me up each time. Today I picked her up and sat with her on the couch, and she had her tail wrapped around my arm. She’s never done that before, and I thought that was really sweet. I would’ve taken a photo of it if I wasn’t so catatonic and hadn’t just been woken up for the third time in two hours in the middle of the night 😂

I spent the day continuing to prepare for this lovely move. I’ve posted online all the furniture that we want to sell, and two people have already expressed interest. I’m working with N’s countdown, and today is T minus 10 😱 We will be in single digits tomorrow! My own countdown is T minus 31, but I’ll be going back and forth between SG and HK during November as well, so I don’t actually have that many days to get everything sorted. Wahhh… It’s oh so close now! 😩

We had our last Ballroom lesson with our teacher today. That’s so sad. And then we had our last Latin practice too, as I don’t think we’ll be practising next week after the comp. We’ll probably just spend the evenings doing more culling and packing, and closing down accounts etc etc.

I must keep telling myself that this is all very exciting, a new chapter in our lives, a new adventure begins. Coz I still feel quite sad about it all 😔