Home.. The first look

And these are only the views from all sides, because I have fallen in love again!

What we will see when we cook and do the laundry and the dishes in the kitchen and the balcony outside. This might just be the start of long days of slow, perfect housekeeping days because boy I can spend hours just looking outside waiting for the clothes to wash themselves and the food to cook itself :p

And what I see from the living room balcony

Here is a bit of trivia. When we were planning to move to KL, all I wanted was a house where I could wake up or read to the sight of the Petronas, also because that is pretty much all I knew about the city. Country, even. But we live in Petaling Jaya, a suburb about 15 minutes from KLCC and the Petronas. So finding a house that overlooks the Twin Towers, even from a distance, was not looking possible. I quickly made peace with it because the things that I could see from the apartments I checked out here did not look too bad. And there is more to life than the balcony and the view. Like budgets, proximity to all things important etc was the faff I was trying to convince myself with. Quietly sad and running out of hope. (KL/ PJ have the potential for pretty sad living conditions no matter how brilliant the condos look from outside - trust me it is not as "awesomely foreign" as the middle class me would have hoped for when I decided to give up everything I thought I stood for and move.) We signed the lease last evening and moved in, and a little after dusk, just as we were doing a final round of check before going grocery shopping, I saw the lights at the Twin Tower turning on in the distance and shrieked :D Because it may be in the distance, and I might see it from the kitchen area, but I COULD SEE IT!

This house is not quite my dream house because I don't believe in tasteful, perfect upholstery and furnishing. In my head, I am still pretty young and I want my cane chairs and oranges and yellows and bamboo lamps. This house on the other hand, is pretty perfect. Straight lines, classy furniture, pretty, pretty lamps, the works. This feels like a house where you would be afraid to walk around in slippers because it is just so perfect in such subtle ways. It will be some time before it becomes a good mix of the super sweet, very sophisticated first generation Indian-Malay family whose house we are renting, and us. But until then, it works. And how! So for now, this is home. And it may not have the orange walls, but it has "aging gracefully" written all over it, and if I remember correctly, I have rambled on quite a bit about 2012 being the year to do just that. We are just getting started!

Now that we have the house, and R is at work already,  I need to be ready to plunge into the reality of everyday survival. Figuring out internet, permanent phone connections, job, utility bills, maid, and mustard oil - that will be the real challenge. Selling stuff, clearing customs, and living in a hotel room was not. What helps is that Chinese New Year celebration starts next week, so there is no point sending out resumes, making appointments, or worrying too much over such non issues. Because it is time for holiday cheer here. My vacation is not over yet. But then again in my head, it seldom does.

Life is good, getting better!