Thursday, November 8, 2012

A New Chapter Begins in Beijing

The phone finally rang at approximately 9pm.
“Hello. I am your pet relocation agent. Your Zoewe has arrived. We are now downstairs at your service apartment.” the voice on the other side of the line said.
“OK OK.” We jumped to change and put on some thick clothing and rushed down to the lobby.

After all, we have been worried sick since she was taken from us 2 days ago by the agent in Malaysia to prepare her for her flight to Hong Kong, then to Shenzhen and from there, ultimately to Beijing, her new home for the next two years.

After all the formalities, there she was, finally with us in the living room, clinging on to us. I guessed she was fearful that she could be taken away again.
With her joining us, our family is now complete in Beijing, our new home for the next two years. The thought is only slowly sinking in that we have left Malaysia for our two years adventure in this land of the Dragon.
Events leading up to this week has been rather dramatic and stressful to say the least. With so much to pack  and not knowing what to pack, the discovery of our maid stealing from us and her sacking at the last hour, just before we proceed to process her visa to China, and arranging for my mother in law to step in for the next three months at least to help out in our new home, have certainly been a contributing factor to the additional few strands of white hair.
 
We thought that we would have little to pack. After all, we are only shifting our master bedroom king size mattress, a sofa bed and a single bed over. How much could that be? Right? WRONG!

Wrong for the two reasons. Firstly, we are shifting with two toddlers. Their clothes, winter clothing, toys, milk powder and diapers have already taken up several boxes.

Secondly, we might be shifting for good. Although we are expected to be here for the next two years, there is every possibility that we might either stay longer or move on to our next destination. Hence, if we do not pack those stuff now, what if we do not come back after two years. And we still have to pack the pots, pans, cutlery, pillows etc over, right? I am not going to spent money buying all these and leave them behind when we leave Beijing.

In the end, the final count was a STAGGERING 113 BOXES! But, we were glad that we got that done. The professional movers were a great motivating factor. They were literally behind our back, pushing us almost every minute to decide what to take and what to leave behind.
We were still packing our luggage just 3 hours before we left for the airport and my wife was so stressed out! Being a meticulous lady and a self claimed perfectionist, this move was ANYTHING but perfect and meticulous so to speak. I thought that at one point in time, she almost burst out in tears and that was when a totally random, careless and last minute guy, yours truly, stood in and took charge. I just told her to pack what she can remember, take it as a adventure, part and parcel of an experience and anything that we have forgotten to pack, we would just either have to make do in Beijing or buy them. After all, we are not moving to the Sahara desert or the interior jungles of the Amazon. We did just that!

We were glad that our flight into Beijing was only half full, and hence, we could have the entire row of seats to ourselves. Ryan was his usual irritating self, switching from games to movies to TV shows on board and wanting attention. Chenya, being her first flight was just as curious and refused to sit still for a good 2 hours!

They finally settled in half way through the flight and slept which gave us all, a time to rest and me, to enjoy my beers and wine.

We are fortunate that we still have the service apartment provided by the company till the 24th Nov and hence, we do not have to worry about going straight into our rented apartment (although fully furnished) with no pillows and no cutlery. We still have the next 2 weeks to wait for our air shipment to arrive and prepare ourselves to shift into our new apartment.
Ryan will be going to his new school on the 12th Nov which is next week and I will have to work out my new daily routine, but I am excited of the new uncharted path ahead. It’s not going to be rather that easy for a 50 years old man like me, but nothing is impossible and insurmountable. I am not a perfectionist and neither am I meticulous but I guess that those traits are playing to my advantage now.
To get myself right at home and to help everyone settling in into this new chapter of our lives, I do what I do best….I cooked our very first home cooked meal for dinner. A simple meal of Chicken Drumstick marinated with soy sauce and black pepper, fried with shallots, garlic, ginger slices and broccoli....that is the least I could do at this moment in time....

8 comments:

Yee Ling said...

You are doing good Daddy!

Alice said...

yes, you're doing good! zoewe is sooo lovely!....

Unknown said...

Reading this,it really makes me feel,how time really flies,it really seems like yesterday,as far as I remember,one evening,when I called you up for some chit chat months ago and you divulged to me that Cat would be relocating to Beijing in months to come and those months have finally arrived.

I shall be praying,(this I promise)for you and your entire family that the good Lord,will cover you guys with his protection and favor coming from any person or any institutions and most of you,may the good Lord open up new avenues for you,as far as your business is concerned.

Take good care now bro,let me save enough money first,then I go and see you and the ya,hahahahahahahha

do keep us posted and by the way,don't forget to exercise and drink a little Pauliner here and there and don't forget to drink for me too ya,,,,,

And so me more pic from your Nikon and I okay bro?

Chiao,,,

Cynful Pleasure said...

Hope everyone settle well!! Well done Daddy!

Chinneeq said...

first, your dog is super cute. Lol, how come Mummy is still wearing shorts in a winter country? kekeke....and lastly, you don't look like you are 50, or you are???

Unknown said...

Wow, your cooking... Looks too yummylicious or is it just your camera? Glad the relocation is finally complete, now the fun part... Unpacking!! All 113 boxes, but trust the professional movers have gotten the labels on so you don't have to hunt through all boxes just to look for something! Kids must be so excited, they adapt better than us... And school starts in January too?

Take care...

Daddy said...

Irene...I am not sure about the cooking. That you would have to ask my wife to see if she is satisfied with it..LOL. Yupe. Can't wait for the boxes to arrive and start unpacking because most of our things are there. School's new term in Beijing starts in September. So, Ryan is actually joining them late.

Mummy to QiQi....The heater is on in the apartment and so, not cold at all but it's a different story outside. And yes...I am going to be 50 next March....old man liow...hehehe

Unknown said...

Yes. Instead of the original two years, we have been here for 8 years now and still counting.

More Pictures on Jeju Island Coming up NEXT!