There are times when an acquaintance offers you just what you need at the precise moment that you instantly embrace her as a friend.

I guess I remember help provided best when it’s given in the form of food. Today, close to 2am, just when I was starving and trying to think what I can possibly eat when my food stock is close to depletion due to my impending departure, my housemate knocks on my door and serves me a rice bowl with teriyaki chicken.

Succulent skinless thigh meat atop 2 spoons of cooked chinese rice garnished with her parents’ restaurant’s teriyaki sauce. Just the way I like it:

1) chicken thigh meat, with

2) lesser rice than meat.

(I would have said 3) skinless, but I love chicken skin. She removed it for my cholesterol’s sake :S)

She has just proven that she knows me better than friends who know me for eons. And that I haven’t been as keen an observer/carer as her.

I was touched by a simple gesture tonight.

Add 24 hours with 16 hours time difference from your home country, and you get 40 hours on your birthday! That’s if you count your birthday starting from midnight of the day according to your birth country, and then only ending after midnight of the country you’re in! Haha

I had a very healthy birthday cake this year! Carrot cake! And it was very yummy!

Wah I think my arms are going to be as big as thighs.

The cake was baked by 2 of my lovely housemates! Thank you Alison (left 1st row) and Allison (centre 2nd row)!

And thanks to my Singaporean friends who were also present at the cake-cutting and sang the Chinese birthday song!

You have to admit that the cake is really special! Sorry for the exclamation marks throughout this post. I’m just very touched and thankful! Haha. And it’s the first time I had a carrot cake for my birthday! And it looks like a big donut! Haha…

But of course the most unique (and loveable) birthday cake I ever had was last year, my 21st’s. Made of jelly. Made by her.

And thank you all happy-birthday-wishers!

This year I have had an excessive number of people who otherwise wouldn’t be aware of my birthday wishing me a Happy Birthday via Facebook. Hmm.

Have I already boasted here that I joined Karate?

Well, now you know!

And I received my gi (aka karate uniform) today!

If you thought I was eccentric….think again.

Presenting to you, my comical housemates (who I rely on for insight into Canadian culture?)(my gi was borrowed for the following purpose):

“Connie has karate chopped Alison” (Facebook joke)

Hmm…

I have lovely housemates, a reasonably cosy room, and a magnificent window view. So there’s nothing to complain about. After the first few days of solitude here, the unit has definitely been spruced up by my housemates.

Along with their cheerfulness and enthusiasm, they brought plenty of utensils for all to share, and a myriad of food as you can see.

Spice Rack

However, there are new habits I have to adapt to. Such as, separating my trash.

Recyclables; Compost (organic matter that will decompose (e.g. veggies)); and other trash.

A couple of housemates are very eco-friendly and have requested we buy only environment-friendly soap, dishwashing liquid, etc.

It’s all good, but requires some getting used to. Especially the trash part. I also pay extra to the supermarket when I purchase plastic bottled stuff, and will only get back the money if I return it to a recycling centre.

Lastly, what better way to end this post by showing all those interested (Shaina) an update on my secret stash!

This is how my 2 years’ worth of barang barang looks like, packed.

Every year for the past 2 years, I have had to pack up all my belongings and move them out of where I reside. Last year, I moved from the Foreign Students’ Dormitory to my present One-Bedroom Apartment a.k.a. Bachelorette Pad. Now, I’m moving all my belongings to my friend’s place for temporary storage until I get back here after UBC and the holidays.

Thanks Grace, for allowing me to keep stuff at your place and helping me move, tiring ourselves out near midnight.

CG, I trust that my keyboard and other stuff are safe in your hands! Thanks loads! Haha, are you glad you didn’t have to move these things with us near midnight? My back aching…haha…Guess who I’ll be asking for help when I need to move these things again after I’m back?

During this period last year I was really vexed running around house hunting in the vicinity of school, going to agent after agent, viewing house after house. Out of the many places I saw, I fell for my current one-bedroom apartment. Maybe in more than one sense of the phrase.

There were cheaper alternatives, but there was something about this place that I felt at one with, and so I signed for it, despite certain disagreements with the landlords (husband and wife) before the writing up of the contract. Sometimes I have silent resentment towards my landlords — providing me with cheapskate furniture, making me pay for telephone line and internet cable installation, and there is always renovation going on, so staying at a newly-built place entails this major bane. However, credit must be given to my landlords for running over when something is wrong, and for keeping their word for various stuff. They probably accumulated good karma for that, and have been blessed with a baby girl.

Moving was a laborious undertaking, and I have friends to thank for making it undaunting. Thanks CG! It wasn’t a one-off thing though, I made many trips to and fro before everything was over at the new place.

This was only the first batch.
Here’s how my single-room dormitory looked like:

The move: from Fudan University’s Foreign Students’ Dormitory to a one-bedroom apartment (my current bachelorette pad) in 怡福苑.

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Unpacking was onerous, but I have to thank Sam for making the task easy. It was overwhelming though, it took us an entire day to set the apartment in place. And the toilet choked. It was an experience I hope I will never have to endure ever again in my lifetime, one that I will not elaborate here, but I’ll disclose that it involved hands in plastic bags.

From zero to hello:

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For the past year, this apartment has housed people of different nationalities! One Malaysian, one Italian, one German, four Singaporeans (soon to be five). Close friends, acquaintances, parents, and strangers have all paid a visit to my humble abode for the past year, and now it is time to say farewell.

Come tomorrow, potential tenants will be viewing this place, inspecting and considering whether to occupy the space that has been my sanctuary for the past year.

I’m housing 2 guests (an acquaintance and her sister) from tomorrow till Tuesday, and for that I have been cleaning my place for the past 2 days.

I do not exaggerate when I say my house floor is filthy, because the last time it was mopped was when my parents were here. I use the vacuum cleaner on my floor once in a while (more like once a month), but the idea of dipping a mop into water with floor detergent and then having to squeeze the mop numerous times is too much to even think about, let alone act on. I’m usually satisfied if I simply vacuum the floor when the dirt gets too much, which is rare since I let dirt stay in their cosy little corners and build their family there.

So I’ve been tidying up the place a little, and even vacuumed and mopped the place twice.
Here’s a look at before and after shots:

Living Room:

Before                                                                     After

Before                                                                                 After

Bedroom:

Before                                                                 Before                                 After

I guess it’s good that their impending appearance has pushed me to do things I have been procrastinating for weeks to do. My arms are aching and I’m really tired from all the clearing up of my mess accumulation. I have learnt that it is imperative to keep stuff you no longer need as soon as possible before it decides to make friends with dust. That friendship causes double work for me. I’ve finally kept away all my winter stuff, including winter clothing. I even vacuum packed it and stuffed it in one of those plastic containers. Okay I shan’t continue to bore you with the details of my way of sweating it out with dust (I was about to talk about cleaning the toilet so you should be glad I’m going to place a full-stop soon), but friends of mine, this is to show you the extent I go to house others, which I will not do so for you. Haha. You’re definitely welcome to crash at my place, but you shall have to live with the colonies of dirt, for they are my housemates, and you, the housemaid.