Today was the day to do our shopping at IKEA. We ended up changing our mind last minute about some of the furniture as we got a few new ideas about furnishing our apartment. We still need to get a sofa and a TV stand, but the bed, computer desk and chest of drawers are on the way. Some deliveries are due tomorrow and some on Monday.
We found a really nice kitchen table, but the delivery will take seven weeks! Yes, that is a long time to go without a kitchen table. I saw a nice patio set at Bunnings (Home Depot equivalent) so that will serve as our kitchen table for the foreseeable future.
While shopping at IKEA, we picked out all these kitchen items but then realized that IKEA does not deliver small/breakable items. So we ended up leaving a cart full of things that we like, because we could not take it home. We will rent a car in a week or so and go to IKEA for our second trip to get everything else we need.
We are moving to the new apartment tomorrow morning, 7 am! I will take two suitcases and take the bus/train to the new apartment while Carla takes the rest of our things with our host in their SUV. We are VERY excited to be moving. The only important thing lacking at the new place will be a working Internet connection. They told me that it will take several weeks to get the connection going (as I am getting a specific type of a connection), but I hope that that is the worst case scenario. I'm sure I will figure something out in the mean time. :-)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tiny beds
For the past six weeks, Carla and I have been sleeping together on a single bed. I don't mean ONE bed, but a SINGLE bed. As in, big enough for only person! As you can imagine, I have not been having great sleeps, though they are better than when each of us slept on a separate single bed.
There are several reasons for my bad sleeps, not all of them due to the bed. For one, this neighborhood is really noisy. Nearby grocery store gets deliveries at wee hours, trains pass by in the middle of the night and create an incredibly jarring noise. Then there are the birds, the roommates (one of which was banging a ball against the floor at 2:30am!), and the construction on the street.
The part where the size of the bed comes into play is that there is no room to move. When one of us tries to turn, the other one has to turn too. I have woken up in the middle of the night quite a few times to find myself right on the edge of the bed. If there was a fan on in the room, it probably would have tipped me over and I would have landed on the floor! Dangerous! :-)
Still, even with all these troubles, it is still better to share a bed than sleep by yourself. In a couple of days, we will be sharing a double bed in our new apartment. I am looking forward to that!
There are several reasons for my bad sleeps, not all of them due to the bed. For one, this neighborhood is really noisy. Nearby grocery store gets deliveries at wee hours, trains pass by in the middle of the night and create an incredibly jarring noise. Then there are the birds, the roommates (one of which was banging a ball against the floor at 2:30am!), and the construction on the street.
The part where the size of the bed comes into play is that there is no room to move. When one of us tries to turn, the other one has to turn too. I have woken up in the middle of the night quite a few times to find myself right on the edge of the bed. If there was a fan on in the room, it probably would have tipped me over and I would have landed on the floor! Dangerous! :-)
Still, even with all these troubles, it is still better to share a bed than sleep by yourself. In a couple of days, we will be sharing a double bed in our new apartment. I am looking forward to that!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Life's a beach, and then it ...
Continuing from the previous post where I said that thou shalt enjoy every day, the weather on Sunday was a sunny 25 C. I thought the weather was great, but decided to go to the beach the following day as Monday's forecast called for 27 C.
Monday came around and the early morning was beautiful. It took me a bit to get ready for the commute to the beach and by the time I showed up at Bondi Beach the sky was overcast. "The clouds are not going to stop me", I thought to myself and plunked myself on the sandy beach. Not long after, a strong wind started blowing and had I continued lying on the beach, within several hours I would have looked like a sand dune. Just another bump on the beach.
To avoid all this sand flying around me and getting into every pore of my body (and into my phone, my poor phone), I moved to the grassy part of the beach. "Ha, now I can enjoy the view of the beach without getting harassed by sand in my eyes", I thought to myself. That lasted for about 10 minutes and then it started to rain. Sheesh! I have been going full force and working on getting us setup for the last month without taking any breaks, and now when I take one day off for myself, it starts raining. At any other time in my life I would have been seriously peeved about the situation, but this time was different. I realized that I can come to the beach 365 days of the year. In the past, I could do that only when I was on vacation. Now, I have at least 30 beaches within an hour bus/train ride or car ride from home. Ahhh, life is good!
Monday came around and the early morning was beautiful. It took me a bit to get ready for the commute to the beach and by the time I showed up at Bondi Beach the sky was overcast. "The clouds are not going to stop me", I thought to myself and plunked myself on the sandy beach. Not long after, a strong wind started blowing and had I continued lying on the beach, within several hours I would have looked like a sand dune. Just another bump on the beach.
To avoid all this sand flying around me and getting into every pore of my body (and into my phone, my poor phone), I moved to the grassy part of the beach. "Ha, now I can enjoy the view of the beach without getting harassed by sand in my eyes", I thought to myself. That lasted for about 10 minutes and then it started to rain. Sheesh! I have been going full force and working on getting us setup for the last month without taking any breaks, and now when I take one day off for myself, it starts raining. At any other time in my life I would have been seriously peeved about the situation, but this time was different. I realized that I can come to the beach 365 days of the year. In the past, I could do that only when I was on vacation. Now, I have at least 30 beaches within an hour bus/train ride or car ride from home. Ahhh, life is good!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A successful day
The big and expensive part of shopping for our new apartment is almost over. Today we bought a TV, fridge and a washing machine. In Australia, you have to bring your own washing machine and fridge when you rent a place. Local custom, I guess.
We decided to get a bottom freezer fridge, as this is something we had in Canada and had really liked it. It just makes sense to have the fridge part on top since you use the fridge side most of the time. The freezer is on the bottom, so there is a lot less daily bending over. When you are 6 feet tall (183 cm) you want to minimize how often you have to bend over. It is really not good for my back.
The second expensive shopping trip will take place this Saturday. We will go to IKEA and buy a bed, sofa, chest of drawers, and a few other things. I found several nice furniture stores in Sydney so we are debating whether to go cheap and buy IKEA furniture or to spend a bit more and buy quality items. I think we will end up buying most of the items at IKEA, but select few will be purchased elsewhere.
I am having a heck of a time finding cutlery that we like. Cutlery sets are really different here. Most cutlery sets that I have seen here have 8 different serving items. Three forks, three spoons and two knives. There is a dessert fork, a dinner fork and a fruit fork, then dessert and dinner knives, and three more spoons of varying sizes! I did find a few sets with only a spoon, fork, knife and teaspoon, but the fork and a spoon were way too big. For some reason, standard cutlery size here is HUGE. I am going to a specialty cutlery/dishes/pots store tomorrow with hope that I will find something more to our liking.
I know, I know. It seems that I have been really picky choosing not just cutlery, but most of the items for the house. I think I am being so picky because I finally know what IS and what IS NOT important to us. I also know what I like and don't like. This time around, I want to setup our place as close as possible to what we want (within the budget, of course).
I do think that we will stay in Sydney/Australia for a while and I want that experience to be enjoyable. Life is too short not to enjoy every day.
We decided to get a bottom freezer fridge, as this is something we had in Canada and had really liked it. It just makes sense to have the fridge part on top since you use the fridge side most of the time. The freezer is on the bottom, so there is a lot less daily bending over. When you are 6 feet tall (183 cm) you want to minimize how often you have to bend over. It is really not good for my back.
The second expensive shopping trip will take place this Saturday. We will go to IKEA and buy a bed, sofa, chest of drawers, and a few other things. I found several nice furniture stores in Sydney so we are debating whether to go cheap and buy IKEA furniture or to spend a bit more and buy quality items. I think we will end up buying most of the items at IKEA, but select few will be purchased elsewhere.
I am having a heck of a time finding cutlery that we like. Cutlery sets are really different here. Most cutlery sets that I have seen here have 8 different serving items. Three forks, three spoons and two knives. There is a dessert fork, a dinner fork and a fruit fork, then dessert and dinner knives, and three more spoons of varying sizes! I did find a few sets with only a spoon, fork, knife and teaspoon, but the fork and a spoon were way too big. For some reason, standard cutlery size here is HUGE. I am going to a specialty cutlery/dishes/pots store tomorrow with hope that I will find something more to our liking.
I know, I know. It seems that I have been really picky choosing not just cutlery, but most of the items for the house. I think I am being so picky because I finally know what IS and what IS NOT important to us. I also know what I like and don't like. This time around, I want to setup our place as close as possible to what we want (within the budget, of course).
I do think that we will stay in Sydney/Australia for a while and I want that experience to be enjoyable. Life is too short not to enjoy every day.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Shopping - where the deals are
You know you are an expert shopper when you can advise locals on where to find deals in Sydney! I have been running around and looking for deals that now I know all (or almost all) the places to find good, inexpensive items.
I have found the best place for cutlery, knives, and other kitchen necessities. Peter's of Kensington http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Home/ has the lowest online prices in Australia, and is located in a suburb of Sydney. I will pay them a visit next week and load up on some cutlery and knives.
Kmart and Target are good bets for buying any household products. MYER and David Jones (the local department stores) are too pricey. Bing Lee and Harvey Norman are the equivalent of FutureShop or Visions in Canada. You can buy your computers and kitchen appliances there, but the prices are still not that great. Wait for a sale, or even better, negotiate. It seems that all these stores will negotiate the price of any electronic item. I've even had them offer to lower the price without me even asking. Nice!
The places for deals in Australia are what they call 'Seconds' stores. These stores sell appliances, and electronics that have been lightly cosmetically damaged, have been discontinued, or have had the packaging damaged during transportation. I found quite a few deals in one of these stores and will be purchasing a washer and a fridge there. Shopping in a store like that will save us $300-$500. Works for me!
Grocery stores are pretty much dominated by Coles and Woolworth's. Coles has better prices, and is much closer to our new home so that is where we will be doing all our shopping. There is an ALDI (German grocery store) nearby. ALDI has some amazing prices on food items, but it is touch and go, so you always have to finish your shopping with a trip to Coles.
We bough one of those 'old-lady grocery carts' as that seems to be the thing here. We will be walking a lot, and not having a car, all these groceries have to get delivered to our place somehow.
I have found the best place for cutlery, knives, and other kitchen necessities. Peter's of Kensington http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Home/ has the lowest online prices in Australia, and is located in a suburb of Sydney. I will pay them a visit next week and load up on some cutlery and knives.
Kmart and Target are good bets for buying any household products. MYER and David Jones (the local department stores) are too pricey. Bing Lee and Harvey Norman are the equivalent of FutureShop or Visions in Canada. You can buy your computers and kitchen appliances there, but the prices are still not that great. Wait for a sale, or even better, negotiate. It seems that all these stores will negotiate the price of any electronic item. I've even had them offer to lower the price without me even asking. Nice!
The places for deals in Australia are what they call 'Seconds' stores. These stores sell appliances, and electronics that have been lightly cosmetically damaged, have been discontinued, or have had the packaging damaged during transportation. I found quite a few deals in one of these stores and will be purchasing a washer and a fridge there. Shopping in a store like that will save us $300-$500. Works for me!
Grocery stores are pretty much dominated by Coles and Woolworth's. Coles has better prices, and is much closer to our new home so that is where we will be doing all our shopping. There is an ALDI (German grocery store) nearby. ALDI has some amazing prices on food items, but it is touch and go, so you always have to finish your shopping with a trip to Coles.
We bough one of those 'old-lady grocery carts' as that seems to be the thing here. We will be walking a lot, and not having a car, all these groceries have to get delivered to our place somehow.
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