At work, I had visited two clients and nothing too tough at this moment (yet). I have started some work on the small project and i will have to get myself up to speed on the new version as well as the customisations that have been done to the system.
Work is actually manageable at this stage. The bosses have been nice to me and show much understanding to my need on hunting for accommodation. The apartment hotel that i am staying at now is charging a daily rate of NZD95 and it is booked until 12/12. The room is a small studio apartment with all the necessary facilities with everything provided, even the laundry powder and detergent for the dishwasher.
The accommodation amount will come off the relocation allowance of NZD6K from the company. I gotta check out from here on 12/12 before 10am and my mom will be arriving on the night before. Hence i was actually under pressure to find a permanent place and mom will have to help me to move the stuff over on 12/12.
The rental here is quite expensive, especially when i intend to stay on my own (without housemates and landlord) and within the city area (since i do not have a car). I had viewed 5 apartments last week and have finally decided on a small fully furnished one-room apartment (it is really small!). The rental is NZD300 per week, excluding electricity and Internet (water is free here). That means i'll have to scoop out close to NZD1.5K per month just for accommodation and utilities. Actually on dollar-to-dollar values, the price is quite good considering the location - it is centrally located in the city itself. I decided to just sign a 6-month lease first and see if i like the place. If it is no good, at least i have more time to look for a better place and move out after 6 months, rather than being tied down to a year.
I am really looking forward to moving into the place so that i can finally settle down. Until now, i still do not have the feeling of coming here for years; it feels as if i'm here just for a short business trip, like i used to do in my previous job. I think it is probably because staying in a hotel room gives me a temporal feeling. After all, living environment does make a lot of difference and impacts our quality of life.
So far, i've not been eating well either. Eating out is expensive but i do not wanna buy too much food stuff now since i'll be moving soon. I haven't been cooking except making simple sandwiches or having instant noodles for dinner. Oh, and of course, fruits such as kiwis and strawberries are cheap here (which are my favourites!), and so those are part of my daily diet too.
Note that the golden kiwi fruits are selling at NZD3.99 for 10pcs. That is really cheap, as in SG it was selling at SGD6.99 for 6pcs. And i saw these at a supermarket nearby the hotel. I was told that these fruits can be even cheaper if i get it from the farms or farmer's market.
Labels: life, New Zealand
