The Move Part 3

We were blessed with beautiful weather on the day we moved... that was last Sunday. After church, Cindy brought our most valued helpers, Richard and Toby to our place and the move began in earnest...

One by one, our belongings were taken out of the apartment...

into a 3-tonne truck, paid for by a really kind anonymous mystery person (we think we know who she/he is though)! 

Then, we sat at the lawn next to the apartment for some lunch to replenish our energy...

 With that, we were ready to rock and roll! Behind the wheels of the truck was none other than Cindy, the trucker (who also happens to be our church minister!).

Before long, all the stuff were unloaded from the truck into our new place...  

We joined Richard and Toby for some milk/ thickshakes and shortly returned to work on the next part of the move... unpacking!

The Move Part 2

It began with... Kevin taking books, toiletries, CDs etc out from their shelves,

(while Agnes sat around blowing her nose as she had the flu)

loading some of them into the car...

and sending them to the new house.

Kevin spent the rest of that Saturday after we came back from the baby expo to pack everything else into suitcases, boxes, paper bags, shopping bags and anything else he could use... And then we were finally ready.... TO MOVE!

But we also found some time for some nice curry laksa and fish slice mee hoon soup at Ipoh Garden! ;)

Baby Expo

Last Saturday, we made our way to the pregnancy, babies and children's expo at the Claremont Showgrounds - to find that it was over-crowded with expecting moms, parents and children. The good thing was there were lots of freebies! 

There were so many booths and stalls that we initially felt so overwhelmed! But after walking for a while, we realized a lot of them had kind of the same stuff, and most of the stuff didn't interest us anyway. 

We did end up buying a baby cot though, as it was good value for money, and one of the cheapest we'd seen here in Perth (but still way more expensive than what you can get back in Malaysia!). Also, Agnes' sister Stacey offered to pay for it! :) We were so touched, of course!

The Move Part 1

We've been on the lookout for a new place to move into for awhile. The system here in Perth makes it a little bit more difficult, mainly because you have to view a place only when there is a house open (usually during office hours!), and then apply for it if you like it. There are usually more than one applicant, so the owner gets to choose who to lease the house to, so you may not get the place even if you like it. And then there's this fee you have to pay when you apply, which, should you choose not to take the unit if your application is successful, will be forfeited. This means you cannot apply for more than one place at a time (unless you have a lot of money to burn of course, or hope that you're not successful in all applications). Add to that the fact that rented property seems to get snapped up so quickly here, so there's always not much time to wait around for more options. And then there are the conditions that we had for the next place we wanted to rent:

1. It should have two bedrooms, so we can fit more people when friends and family arrive.

2. It must be < $260 per week (thought to be almost impossible for a 2 bedroom unit!), considering we'll be surviving only on Kevin's scholarship allowance once the baby is born.

3. It should be on the ground floor, as Agnes is into her 27th week now, and with strollers and all in the future, it will be more convenient.

4. There should be public transport to university and the city

5. There should be shops nearby for groceries and food

6. There should be a place in the house for a washing machine so we don't have to go to the laundry (think baby clothes!)

Of course, there's no such thing as a perfect place... but we managed to find a place we really liked, and it cost only $250 per week for a 2 bedroom unit! It all happened rather quickly, and we'll be moving sometime next week. We still have to give 21 days notice to vacate our current place, which means we have to pay the rent for both places for the next three weeks.

We got our keys yesterday, and decided to do some cleaning today. Understandably, Kevin did most (99%) of the cleaning, while Agnes took care of the crucial task of checking through the pages of the property condition report - mainly to note all defects in the house and take pictures of them - so we don't get blamed for something we didn't do when we leave.

Attempting to vacuum the entire house with the tiniest vacuum cleaner ever.

Cleaning the kitchen...

Cheeeeese

It's cheaper to buy a block of cheese than grated cheese or cheese in cubes. So, Kevin did the necessary and Agnes gave the moral support! ;)

Week 26

Apparently, this week, baby is starting to follow Kevin's footsteps... both are into Astro Physics! Hahaha...

image scanned from Kaz Cooke's "The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth"

Return to Sir James Mitchell Park

A clear, sunny day provided a nice break from the winter showers. Well, it hasn't rained that much this winter anyway. It was still a cool 22 degrees Celcius, but it was a great day to get out for some sunshine. We decided to put our new picnic mat to the test. We bought two of them at a real cheap price awhile ago.

It's back to Sir James Mitchell Park!

Agnes had a snooze, while Kevin spent most of the time reading. We even brought some snacks along so it feels like a real picnic!