Moving House

Moving house is never easy however for me it was not hard. The rent was up on the place we called a house. The house which was burgled, ran out of water, was built on top of an ants nest, had water running out of the walls and was never really that great, but it was our first home and finally it was empty again as the rent was up and we had no desire to stay another year.

Back in October we put a deposit down on a house further into Mampang. It was still being built and it will be ideal for the baby which will be arriving in May. 

Unfortunately I had to work away upto Friday and so the majority of the packing was left to my wife and the maid. Also we had to pay the money to the landlady upfront before Saturday and so by the time I arrived home from the conference and we got to the bank, we were unable to transfer it electronically but took the cash instead and popped round to pay and get the keys.

After walking through our new house, we notice the roof was leaking and a few other issues which left me a little miffed but the landlady lives next door and has stated she will sort out all the problems and she is being good to her word. So we left to go back to finish the packing.

Goodbye to that

Hello to this

Saturday morning came and by 8.30am we were ready and all we needed to do was wait for the truck and the men we had hired to do the dirty work.

They arrived and 3 trips later all was moved and the old place was locked and the very unenjoyable task of unpacking began. First thing first, fridge on and beer back in! priorities. 

Then some cleaning and sort the bedroom out. After a good few hours, It was all clean, done and put away. All we needed then was Indovision to come and reinstall the TV and it was like we always had been there.

During the day, workmen were on the roof sorting that out, and they have assured me it wont leak again. It is raining hard now so its a good time to check. One of the ACs was leaking and they have fixed that, and now they need to come back and do some painting. 

Sunday saw us going Ace at Tebet Green to get some bits and pieces for the house. So we choose the furniture and other things we needed. We asked for delivery and they said Wednesday at the earliest. They then asked us if we were member and we said no and so they said no to delivering the things we wanted to buy. After more discussion they then said that they could deliver but it would cost us 150,000 idr or 10% of the purchase and still Wednesday. After asking if I could pay with my Permata debit card and they then saying no, I left. No deal, left the things on the counter. Walked out vowing never to return.

The wife then called her neighbour who's truck we used on Saturday and got him to take us to Ace at Pejaten. This time, armed with credit cards and a truck we bought more there than we would have and had no issues with service or anything and was done within an hour. The cost of the truck was 2 pizzas for him and his family. A far nicer delivery charge.

So now we have more furniture and the place is coming together nicely.

The balcony, my favourite place

Tuesday we woke at 4am to the notion that there was a power cut only to find it was just our house which had no power. After 8am we spoke to the landlady who told us the house used Pulsa top up for electricity so off we went to buy some and then typed in the code in the meter and the lights came on and the water ran. Now that we know, we can budget the electricity and spend our time sat in the dark saving money. 

And finally, Indovision came and erected the satellite dish and we have HBO and rubbish TV again. Joy. 

So its taken a week and few stresses to get in and settled but we are. It is a lovely house with a great view, big rooms and space to put things. It is modern and new. It has big gates at the front and is in a far safer area than the last house.  There is a Padang restaurant around the corner and a coconut store opposite as well as everything else within walking distance including an ATM so it is better located. Taxis will have to be booked  but at least they will come. The local mosque does scream a bit during call to prayer but it cant be heard in the bedroom and after this long it liiving in Indonesia the call becomes more background noise than anything else.

Some panoramic views

We still have to get more things for the house and also start getting things for the baby so I guess by this time next year we will have got it all sorted. I am hoping we wont have to move again for a good couple of years. Whilst not that stressful, I can think of better things to do over a weekend.