In January, Kel commented that we seemed to be moving or looking forward to moving all the time - from Holland to BP and now to Holland again.
I found drafts of us wanting to move to BP and settling into BP dated July 2017 and May 2020. Sorted out the key points and added on...
So we bought the condo in March 2013. TOP happened only in 2H 2017. During the wait, we had two more kids and hired a helper. It was a long and difficult wait...
Don't get me wrong. We loved our little three-room flat in Holland back then, which, btw, was no longer ours - we transferred it to Mum and Dad on in November 2013 in order to claim back the additional buyer stamp duty. But this little place was really little.
- My biggest beef was about sharing the one and only toilet with our domestic helper. I really cannot stand sharing toilet with someone other than Sito. Even the kids now that I'm washing their toilets 🤮 Anyway, the toilet floor was always wet coz of handwashing even though I offered use of the washing machine. With so much splash, the toilet seat was always wet too, sighs.
- Then Kai and Yang were also using the same toilet. It was bad enough having only one toilet to five users but if we didn't move soon, Yu would join the troop, making it one to six *.*
- We had our daily bags hanging off the shoe cabinet, and resting on the sofa arm rest and the TV bench.
- The kids' ever-growing amount and size of clothes were all in our wardrobe originally meant for two persons.
- There was no proper study area with only one desk - thank goodness this was pre-COVID and the kids were still in preschool!
When we finally moved to BP in March 2018, the house often felt like it was falling apart.
- Electrical trip on our first day :(
- All our water issues from two weeks in all the way to April this year - Kai's room wall, Yang's windows and floor, kids' toilet door frames, rainwater splashing through the narrow balcony into bedrooms when we forgot to close the balcony doors
- A tile near the ceiling of our bathroom was a bit - how to describe? - not flushed with the adjacent tile on the tangential wall, as in there was a slight gap between the tiles. That was after only two years of stay; no such thing in our old flat.
- Tile grouts were also coming off. I had to buy a tube of filler to fill in the grouts.
- In the last two years, we also found cracks in two tiles.
- Many walls have crack lines at the part where concrete and fake walls joined and this started within weeks of moving in.
These were troublesome but could be resolved or ignored. What could not be resolved or ignored was the lack of space for kids to have their own desk in their room - necessary eventually - and the wind. I remember Sito went out of town shortly after we moved. It started howling one night. HOWLING leh. I closed the balcony doors but they continued to rattle madly! I was so scared! I think I went to sleep with the kids.
We also found that if we sleep without aircon on windy - not howling type - nights, we would fall sick. We call it 毒风 haha! Actually, I fell sick a lot at BP. As early as January 2019, I got frequent colds and this persisted all the way. I had to take Berocca in the last few weeks to sustain myself through the move!
And the strong winds tore two magnetic door stoppers early on. We had our door and the adjacent door slam a number of times. The door frames shook so bad that paint or plaster flaks came off the walls next to the door frames! Had to use those horseshoe child-safe thingies to supplement the door stoppers.
But I liked that house, our home. I liked the space it offered. I tried to keep things minimal so that the kids had enough running space. That turned out well in view of COVID! Even then, the boys could still somehow turn and knock themselves on some wall or edge or corner *.*
So it was early that we knew we had to move at some point.
But I liked that house, our home. I liked the space it offered. I tried to keep things minimal so that the kids had enough running space. That turned out well in view of COVID! Even then, the boys could still somehow turn and knock themselves on some wall or edge or corner *.*
So it was early that we knew we had to move at some point.
Now, we get nice winds but nothing scary and no 毒风 so far. There are some issues with the renovations. Just had the painter come in to rectify waste pipe paint, for example. Have I mentioned the four lizards so far? :p But it's been a very nice two months in our new home. We know we are in our forever home now :)
