Weekend news

So turns out it's really really hard to go shopping without a car. We're trying to stock up on everything we need for our new place, but as we're discovering, there is a direct correlation between how much we have to carry and how much we want to die from heat stroke.

So yesterday we decided to venture to the giant hell-scape of Ikea. It's exactly like the one in Austin, which is to say, crowded and intimidating. We took the subway as far as we could go, but since we didn't know precisely where it was, we just took a cab the rest of the way. We ate at the scary-large food court, which was yummy. The Swedish meatballs were good, but nowhere near as good as dad's. Or mine, if I may be so bold. Then we proceeded to get lost, like we always do in Ikea, but we got a lot of stuff we needed. Unfortunately, we couldn't get everything, since we still didn't know what size the beds in our new place are, and what kitchen tools it would have. But we made a good dent, and came away with three enormous white bags. I'm pretty sure it looked like we were carrying clouds, but we found a shuttle to take us back to the subway, and then had to walk back to our apartment. It was hot, the bags were heavy and cumbersome, and by the time we got back Mike looked like he was about to faint. Not a fun outing, but a necessary one.

Today started out well, we went to a place called Funan, which is another big electronics shopping center, and got a new camera! Hooray! It's a Nikon Coolpix, and I really like it despite the blatantly misspelled name. We also saw two Buddhist monks in bright orange robes buying a flat screen TV, which I thought was pretty awesome. I like to think they're watching Rambo, but Mike thinks they're watching Little Buddha with Keanu Reeves. Or the E True Hollywood story of the Dalai Lama. After that, we went and got some Indonesian food, which was one of the best things I've eaten here. I got this dish that is kind of like an Indonesian beef stew; it had chunks of beef, potatoes, and tomatoes in this sweet and spicy curry broth. I ate the entire thing, leaving only a bay leaf and a chunk of allspice at the bottom. Mike got a chicken bowl, but I think mine was way better.

After that, we went back to the hotel and played with the camera for awhile. Then around 4, we left to go meet our agent and the landlord's agent at our new apartment. It's officially ours now! We got our keys and signed our papers, and now all we have to do is slowly move our stuff over. I was going to take some pictures of the inside, but we started moving furniture around and had to stop halfway through due to small hallway space. Also the toilet in the guest bathroom is broken, so nobody come until we get that fixed. There's a lot to do, and we still have quite a bit to get, but it's really nice to know we have a home now. The neighborhood is really pretty, and it's only a 5-10 minute walk to Mike's work. I'm going to meet him for lunch tomorrow and walk over to our new place and start setting it up. We're both getting a little stressed out, but I think if we just deal with one thing at a time it'll get done. It's just different here, and things like electricity and cable and internet all need to be set up the Singapore way. But I keep reminding myself it's nothing compared to the month we had before we left...good lord, I'm surprised my hair didn't fall out, we were so crazed. So if I'm not online the next few days, DON'T PANIC. I'm simply at the new apartment and we won't have internet set up yet.

Other than the move, things are going well. Mike is having fun at work, and we got to go see Iron Man 2 on Thursday night. It was really cool, the theater was packed and everyone cheered during the credits. I felt very proud of myself for marrying a talented person. Go me! And I'm officially out of Nutella, I know everyone was wondering.