found-my studio!

We found a studio flat about 15 minutes away from my new office. :)

I could walk there , when it is not too cold, and I am not too scared of the dark. So, my schedule will go like this

7.45: alarm rings.... snooze snooze snooze... put on my massage belt, and sleep again.

8:05 wash face, quick shower

8.15: change, do my facial stuff

8.20: drink coffee

8.25: walk to work

8.40: arrive at work, make coffee... read papers

9.00 start work.

When I get reallly lazy:

12.30: take bus home

12:40: sleep

1:05 eat sandwich

1:20: go back to work

13:00 work

5:00 walk home

5:15: sleep

Yay!!!! :D But poor hubby needs to travel for more than 1.5 hours each way to his office :(. Well, at least he is stronger than me.

Ok, lets see what I got for £525 exc bills in Zone 6 London.

Location wise, not super good, cos there is only one bus, but it is only a 10 min bus ride to reach towncentre and the Tube. But the area seems safe and populated with students/academics/professionals. If we got a car, it will be superconvenient to go everywhere!

The studio is really small, but much bigger than most we have seen. I get a proper kitchen, which will have ovens and stuff like that, and I don't have to share!!! Kitchen is small, but big enough for me to put all the sauces that I want to. The only bad thing about it is i dont think it is big enough for us to eat there, and no extractor to take out the smell of my sambal belacan.

The stove is those electric hot plate type, so I got to get a new wok. My cheap and super convenient £5 something wok from See Woo has a round base, and cant be used anymore. Sob sob..... There goes the yummiest fried rice. I swear that this wok is so perfect with fried rice and stir fried vege, that it taste better than those Tefal stuff. I think I got to give the wok away. Sigh......

Because of the new stove, I will need to buy a new wok, and also a set of pots and pans. Place is not new, and not that furnished, so I will need some curtains (it faces a busy road), a new set of cutlery, bowls and plates. Might also need to buy some appliances if the landlord does not give them to us. Got to buy a new kettle, and maybe a toaster. Luckily these stuff can be bought a around £5 each from Sainsbury or Tesco. There goes my first pay cheque.

The bathroom got a bathtub. Quiet big, but no proper ventilation. The whole place is not that new, so we really got to clean it up before moving in. I hate yellowish sinks and tubs. Yucks! I am gonna BLEACH them white, sparkling white and put on new shower curtains. Yellowish, moldy curtains are just so yucks, and really bad for your health.

The "room" is carpeted. So, hubby will have to do that vacumm thingy. I dont know how to clean carpets, and now trying to find out which solutions blah blah blah to clean it. I dont want dustmites in my house. That means I will spend $$, er ££££ buying stuff to clean that carpet thing. Sigh.....

I remember coughing my lungs out when my hubby did not put on proper protective sheet over the current bed when I arrived last November. I had to practically stripped the whole bed, open the windows to expose it to the sun, washed everything in 60C++ water and tumbled dried them at the highest heat level. My cough improved after that.

Hmmm.. I am also wondering how is it like to sleep on a sofa bed everyday. Is it good for my back? Dont know, lets see.

All in all, I am a happy gal now. :D No need to live in a "da zha yuan" and make my kong kong getting worried about me in Heaven. Third floor flat with a security phone lock at the entrance, means no one but the people in my same block could even reach my doorstep. Safe! Secured. No one can climb in through the window too. Plus, we liked the resort like layout of the flats in the area. It is just like those layout you will see in the seaside resorts. Relaxed. Oh, did i tell you the buildings were in those "red brick" colour? Loved it. :)

Bills will be scary when you dont share. Broadband and phone will come up to around £25, at least, cos we need to rent BT phone line for £11 to get a broadband. If we want a TV, the problem is not in buying a TV (cheap, can get for about £60 or less), but paying TV license of £120!!!! OK, BBC produces good documentary, so no complains about paying £10 per month to watch them, but it is £120 up front! If we move in 6 months, we waste £60- the cost of a coat which I liked. The winter bills for electricity will be scary, esp when we use convection stove. No more slow cooked soup-only pan fried egg and ham ha...haa..... And I think we got to buy a microwave oven for heating food. Heating food with electric hot plate is damn ineffecient use of energy. We also got to pay for the gas for the central heating!!! Ops, almost forgot that the council tax will come up to almost £90 per month!

So, cleaning stuff to buy:

Kitchen spray- Mrs Muscles- Lemon flavour
Toilet cleaner-Harpic/Duck
Carpet cleaner-????
Descaler-for kitchen and tubs