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 😔

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Today, focus on the positive

The countdown to HK continues. It is officially T minus 33, so just over a month away. But N actually needs to be in HK pretty much from 1 November, so his countdown is actually T minus 12! 😲 And he’ll come back for the last 5 days to clean and pack up the apartment, just before we hand over the keys to the agent. I’ll be flying back and forth for the weekends, as we hope to see some properties together. I am really hoping that we can find something semi-decent relatively quickly… 🤞

I met up with the pet transportation company today to arrange Kitty’s flight to HK. And to pay. The cost for her to fly over is basically the cost of a business class ticket 😲 Crazyyyy… But he’s been flying pets around the world for over 20 years, and our vet recommends them, so I’m confident that Kitty is in good hands. He was telling me some crazy stories about having to fly pets to certain countries that make it mega difficult to bring animals into their country. Maybe he was trying to reassure me that flying Kitty to HK is relatively straightforward in comparison!

I then went to go and get my results from my medical check-up a few weeks ago. It was all relatively ok, but there’s one gynaecological issue that I need to go get checked by a specialist 😖 And as with all things medical or dental, I’m currently freaking out. The GP wasn’t overly concerned, so I’m trying to not freak out either, but that’s easier said than done. I’m going to call the specialist tomorrow and see if I can get an appointment later this week, to get their opinion. It’s just fantastic timing since HK is just around the corner… 😩 And it’s not just the move, but it’s also the insurance cover. And there’ll be a point where our insurance ceases in SG and commences in HK, so the management of my medical treatment and just general monitoring is just going to be disrupted by moving countries regardless 😔

So with the HK move sneaking up on us so quickly; paying an arm and a leg for Kitty’s flight to HK; and then having to go see a gynaecologist for some dodgy test results…. I did not have a good day 😔 I can’t muster up any excitement today whatsoever, no matter how hard I try 😞

I saw this on FB, though, so here’s my attempt:

1. Despite my gynaecological anomaly result, I had good results on almost everything else, especially on everything that people mostly worry about, like blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure;
2. I had a nice lunch at Paragon today, discovering Shimbashi Soba and their late afternoon mini lunch set for S$8.80++, which is a perfect size for people like me who don’t eat much at all 😊;
3. I discovered this new tv show A Million Little Things, which I’m really enjoying. It’s challenging the Korean dramas! Well not quite, but it’s pretty good 😂

OK, I’m glad I did that. I needed to do that, especially today. I feel that little bit better now 😊

Aircon, Kitty and parents

The aircon guys came again today. The aircon unit in our bedroom started leaking on Friday, and then again on Saturday, so we slept without the aircon on both nights. But we tried again last night, and it didn’t leak, so I felt like I’d be crying wolf today. But surely there is a problem, since we had two days where it was leaking, so hopefully they’ll find the root cause…

They actually didn’t find anything specific, but they’ve cleaned it out as best they could, they said. They were working on it for two hours, so they certainly did a thorough job! They even checked the outdoor component of the unit – no one has done that before! It involves jumping out of the bathroom window, which is where the outdoor units are. There is no other way to get to them! Total dedication to the job. Love their work 👍 So hopefully there won’t be any more issues with that aircon unit for the next few weeks! 🤞

We got Kitty’s vaccinations for HK today. You’d think she’d be used to going to the vet by now, but no, she still hates it. We also need to find a cattery for her to stay for the first few weeks that we’re in HK, as there is no pet-friendly serviced apartment available. I don’t like leaving her in a cattery for too long, as she gets very sad when she’s away from us for too long. So I’ll have to see if we can find one where I can come and visit her on a regular basis.

I messaged a cattery in Hong Kong, and the guy rattled off a whole heap of Chinese. So I asked if he spoke English – in Chinese. But in any case, I figured this was as good a time as any to practise my Chinese, and since my reading and writing isn’t too bad, I can fumble my way through it 😂

And I did! I was so happy! So with his limited English and my limited Chinese, we communicated. Sooo good!

But then, as our conversation progressed, I soon find out that he looks after a different branch to the one that we want to use, one that is closer to our proposed neighbourhood area. Awww.. So he then had to give me his colleague’s details, and I had to start the enquiry all over again. But I didn’t mind, as I got to practise my Chinese 😊 But the rooms at his cattery were sooo cuuute! Shame it wasn’t the branch that we wanted to use 😔

And my parents safely arrived in SG. I tracked the flight, as per usual, but missed their takeoff as I was so preoccupied sorting things out for HK! 😫 Grrr!

We’re going to Gardens by the Bay tomorrow – YEAH! My dad’s suggestion, not mine, believe it or not 😊 Just because it’s one of my favourite places in SG doesn’t mean others also want to go there as frequently as I do…! 😆 I just let people decide where they want to go – and I am secretly glad when they suggest we go there 😊 It may be the last time I go there for a while, so I’m going to make the most of it…!

The conversion begins…

I continued to run around like a headless chicken again this morning, making sure I ticked off everything on my imaginary checklist before I flew out this afternoon. I took Kitty to the vet again this morning, and as soon as we got back home, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to ask for a new batch of anti-vomit medicine for her 😱 Since we were going to be away for one whole week, I couldn’t do without it, since I can’t have her vomiting while we’re away 🤮 So I had no choice but to go back, adding to my stress of making sure I get everything done this morning.

But somehow I managed to do everything I wanted to get done. I don’t know why I stress out about it. It would be so much better for me if I just calmly worked my way through my imaginary checklist 😊

I flew Cathay Pacific today. The switch from everything SG to HK begins… 😱 Cathay Pacific flies in and out of Terminal 4 at Changi Airport, so it was my first time in the brand new terminal. And because it was new, everything was clean and purteee 😊 It was very quiet when I was there, very few planes must’ve been flying at the time, so I got to soak in the surrounds in peace. Although Changi generally is very peaceful and calm anyway, despite the thousands of people transiting through the airport each and every day. Ah Changi. I’m going to miss you as my home base airport 😔

Everything in the terminal is electronic, I barely had to talk to any airport personnel. Even boarding was electronic! It was all so high-tech. The conveyor belt in the customs area was pretty funky too. After each tray was scanned, it would stop at a fork in the “conveyor belt” road and the person scanning would determine which road a particular tray will take: the “ok” road, where you can just go and take your luggage and off you go; or the “needs manual intervention” road, where a customs officer will need to go through whatever suspicious things there are in your luggage. It is so cool! Although probably not so cool if your luggage gets stuck in the “manual intervention” queue 😳

I got a brand new plane ✈️ So exciting! Singapore Airlines always uses old planes to fly the SG-HK route – well, I always seem to get the old planes! So being on a brand spanking new plane was awesome 😊 The food was really good too, I was very pleasantly surprised.

I watched a Japanese anime on board: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女). I like time travel shows, so as soon as I read the storyline of this movie, I just had to watch it. They had both Chinese and English subtitles, which was PERFECT for me, so I could listen in Japanese, and read in both Chinese and English. The dialogue was very conversational too, so it’s the perfect type of movie to watch for language learning. Problem is, it’s hard to find a movie where the subtitles are in two languages like that. And is it even possible?? It was a good learning opportunity anyhow. I wish I could do that more often.

And then when I finally made it to the serviced apartment, I started looking online for apartments that I wanted to have a look at over the next few days while I’m here. Even if we don’t like any of them, at least we can get in touch with a few property agents and hopefully start getting to see some other places that they may have on their books, which they may not have listed online yet. Fingers crossed we can find something half decent and at an ok price…! 🤞 I’ve emailed a few agents, so let’s see if any of them come back to me tomorrow…

Headless chicken routine

As per usual, I did my headless chicken routine just before I’m about to go overseas, where I have to clean out the fridge, sort through the mail and tidy up the house. Why do I torment myself like this each and every time?? Not that I work my way through it all in the days leading up to my flying – nooo, that would just be too sensible. I have to leave it until the day before. Which means staying up til 2am to get it all done. Sighhh… 😔 And it’s still not all done! I haven’t even packed yet, and I haven’t organised Kitty’s stuff yet either. Whyyy can’t I get myself more organised?! I don’t even have a checklist, can you believe it?? You’d think I’d have a checklist. I should write one out when I’m in flight 😂

And then I was also trying to get documents collated for our visas for HK. University certificates, passport photos, ordinary photos… argh!! 😫

On a more positive note, my new blog, My Non-Foodie Life, is now up-to-date! 👏 I’m still so excited about it. And in a way, I’m actually a bit disappointed that I didn’t start it when we first arrived in SG, because we’ve been to so many places in the last four years that we’ve been here. But at least the blog is now in place for when we move to HK, so it’ll capture our time in that country, at least, however long that may be.

Hopefully I’ll rest well tonight, since I still have a ton of things to finish off tomorrow before I head to the airport 😩

Achieving some goals

It rained all day today. There were moments of respite, but by and large, the skies stayed open all day. It was nice coz it kept the place cool, but not so nice when Kitty and I need to go to the vet. She already doesn’t like leaving the house, but then having to endure the noise of the rain and thunder on top of it all must’ve just added even more unnecessary stress for her. Poor thing.

I reviewed my goals today, as I always do at the end of each month. I’m actually a bit late, since we’re already one week into September 😲 This review is a nice habit that I’ve gotten into this year, forcing me to look back on what I have accomplished in the past month, and looking at what I need to do to move further with my goals for the coming month. I get bogged down in the detail of the day to day, so this review at the end of each month lets me take a step back and look at the bigger picture. It can be depressing at times, when I force myself to realise that I haven’t moved much on some of my goals; but for others, it’s nice to reflect on the fact that I have indeed progressed quite nicely with them. It’s a good feeling to be able to give yourself a pat on the back every now and then 😊

I chose not to binge watch my Korean drama again tonight 😂 I made sure I went to the gym, since I skipped going last night, and I didn’t want the same thing to happen again today. But the show is just sooo addictive! I’m glad there are only 20 episodes to this one. My life will return to normal soon! 😆

Back to normality – except for one thing

Back home, back to normality. Back to the vet, trading and the gym. A stock standard day.

Except for one thing: we may be moving to HK! OMG! N’s been working with their HK office lately – hence why we’ve been over there quite a few times these past few months – to the point where they are now considering moving us over there on a more permanent basis. Well, as permanent as an expat can be…! So I may have to say farewell to this little nation very soon 😔 I will keep you posted on what’s happening when I have more info, but at the moment, it’s looking quite likely that it’s going to happen… New experiences, yes, but yet again, we will be uprooting our little family and plonking ourselves in new surrounds and starting all over again – and leaving friends that we’ve made while we’ve been here. It’s never easy.

I posted this article on FB a few years ago when I stumbled across it, coincidentally around the same time we had just moved to SG. I like to read it every now and then, even if I don’t quite agree with everything in the article. It just makes me ponder on life, on moving overseas and our decision to be expats. Do I regret the decision to move overseas? Not in a million years. I have grown as a person, learnt more about myself in the past few years than I ever did back in Oz, and learnt more about people in general. But I miss family and friends. I miss just being able to hang out with them on the weekends or after work. That’s the toughest thing for me.