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3 things

Here are 3 things I did today (aside from taking pictures from my iphone, surfing the net, asking for hair advice on FB, going out for a walk by the river and inserting a new banner to this blog).

1. I squeezed the oranges which were languishing in the bowl for some juice. The juice tasted good. I had to stop myself from making a second glass. Why didn't I think about doing this earlier? We have too many oranges to eat and I have been chucking away a lot of the older ones. I will certainly be repeating this practice tomorrow. 

2. I continued to unpack my stuff (from their boxes where they have been hiding since last July) into our apartment. It took me some time (mainly because I was multi-tasking -i.e. also checking emails, FB comments and tweets, taking instagram pictures). I'm done with the kitchen (for now).  Here is an instagram picture of some colourful fridge magnets to make you happy.

3. I found a stack of drawing pens and colour pencils lurking in a box (together with a mountain of other forgotten art supplies). They urged me to do something - anything. So, I hastily drew a teapot which was sitting in front of me: the only teapot I have now, which incidentally is also a very recently acquired one: My mother gave it to me last month (when I visited her), right after I remarked that it was a nice tea pot. Once upon a time, in a distant land (and life), I had many cute teapots. But I gave them all away when I was packing up to come here. I can't believe that I didn't save ANY. I'm still on minimalism etc mode* but come on ...I should have known that a cute teapot to brew tea in is surely a necessity!   

 

{Instagram picture of the drawing}

* You wouldn't think so, I know, if you were my brother in law helping to carry my check in bag last month in Singapore

There can never be enough good and reliable hangers...

I was in a bloody good mood yesterday. The arrival of my things really cheered me up, the magnitude of which surprised me. Sure, I know that I'm not defined solely by my belongings ya-dar ya-dar. However, I have to admit that my things do give me a sense of wellness and identity. Colourful dresses, high heels, vintage tea sets, illustrated books - they make me HAPPY :-).

The best thing about the 28 boxes was that they contained all of my favourite things. I know this is because I only allowed myself to pack things I love and couldnt bear to part. E asked me last night whether I regretted discarding anything when I mentioned to him that the movers seem to have used only half of each box suggesting that I might have had additional space in the boxes. "Hangers", I told him automatically and, "... maybe some other stuff like toiletries, cute kitchenware and unread books and CDs".  Which is true. I didn't love them but I think they could come handy especially when we settle into our new apartment in the city.

E reckons it's a lesson for me not to de-clutter radically. I'm not so sure. I didn't know at the time we would have another flat to occupy and wanted to minimise shipping costs, lighten my load and travel lightly. The problem is I think, everything seems to cost so much here.

 

Mid week

I share with you a picture of the entrance to the house of peace knowledge. It's a nice place to study.

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I'm taking the bike to school today as I need to be at home after lunch. My boxes from Hong Kong are scheduled to arrive. Yippeee.

Only 28 boxes because, as you know, I've gotten rid of so much of my belongings. Sometimes I shudder when I think about all the CDs I gave away (including the ones I didn't have time to upload). Also the stacks of unread new books. Painful. What about all the hangers I discarded and don't have enough off now? It's a real bugger buying them here - they are too small and rather expensive. Strangely, I don't feel as bad about the extra notebooks, bags or dresses that I gave away. I'm trying to make myself feel better by remembering the minimalism principle etc and how high the shipping costs were in motivating me to downsize. I should meditate on this while biking to and fro school today.

Miscellaneous

These sweets were on sale from a stall situated close to the restaurant we were enjoying a coma-inducing family lunch while in Menorca in July (on the menu: delicious Lobster Calderetta). I found the colours so attractive and skulked around taking pictures while MIL bought a handful of these for LE (In case you're wondering the answer is no, I'm not a proponent for sweets for little kids). LE insisted I take some from him (he's keen on sharing·) and I found the orange one to be tastier than the green (melon flavour).    

Back at the ranch:

So, I've worked on the clothes in my wardrobe again, this time grouping them as if I was travelling and would need to wear specific pieces together. I.e. packing and repacking each set, pretending that the wardrobe was my suitcase and I would have to know what I would be wearing each day.

Yes, sighg, I know I sound like a woman obsessed. I'm just getting my head around the change in my lifestyle here: not having to wear smart dresses and high heels on a daily basis. What do I have to wear to look put together? And how do I excite myself in the morning, faced with casual wear? (sigh, shallow? moi?).

I think a pair of boot cut black trousers and a black vest (both which I don't have) should be a basic necessity to fall back on. I also need shoes-boots which are nice yet flat (oxymoron?) - comfortable enough to walk around town with when its cold and allow me to easily hop on and off trams and bicycles.

Egad -- How do I align these wants with the minimalism concept I excitedly embraced a few months ago. And the fact that I am currently not earning any income? And that I should be focusing on improving the world and HUMANITY as per the course I'm studying. Madness. My boxes from HK should arrive in the coming weeks (touch wood). I'm hoping to find more casual winter clothes I've forgotten about in them. Please.      

(·) I now know better and hide whatever piece of sweet, cheese, etc I've taken from him, pretending to munch them instead of actually eating it. 

Update on reducing my stuff

Gone are all my furniture (including the rocking chair and balinese teak wood bedroom set), half of my wardrobe content, picture frames and nearly all of all my toiletries, books and kitchenware.

I really thought I was doing great, until I came home with N late one night and she (at my behest) pointed out the extra stash I still harboured. She left at about 430am, the movers came at 11am and I used the hours between 7-11am to give away more things to sensibly avoid incurring a hefty transport bill. 

Sigh.

The new owners will appreciate the stuff much more and I will only consume consciously from now on. No more “just in case”. I found this essay the same morning I was struggling with the idea of letting go of my bedroom set - perfect timing - serendipitious almost.

To N with love xxx

Print from madrid early 2000, framed in KL in 2005, left behind in HK 2011 

 

Joys

One of my new joy is G's old one - to focus on finishing specific bottles of cleansers, face creams, bath gels etc (vs. my old habit of using a few products at the same time, losing count of them and buying some more). It's super fantastic. I've discarded a number of empty bottles in the past few weeks; yesterday I threw out an empty mosturiser bottle which took some time to get through. 

I emailed G to share my joy. She takes great pleasure in slathering and dispensing empty bottles before starting on new ones. She also likes throwing out thoroughly squeezed toothpaste tubes and empty roll on deodorants and calls it easy pleasures in life. I totally get her now.

 

Bathroom in soon to be ex-apartment, HK 2011 

Further downsizing

I've culled my wardrobes of dresses for the nth time convinced that there are many pieces-with-better homes still lurking. My formal-clothes-wardrobe is looking much sparser; my second wardrobe is a far cry from its previous bursting let-me-out-of-here condition. I reckon both wardrobes need one final pruning before they're all set to go. This one below for example is going to a new home. 

  

No urgent need to scan the pictures

I hinted here that I was feeling lonely re:moving? Well, I received a text from M asking whether she should come over to help me. "Yes please". She arrived with breakfast in hand and we spent a very pleasant morning sorting out my tubs and cupboards. 

The highlight was reducing the quantity of pictures. Similar to the boxes of postcards, I just chose the more special ones and ripped the others to pieces. I felt liberated getting rid of old baggage. M is inspired to do the same with her stack of pictures at home.  

This tub was overflowing with pictures before.

My soon to be ex-aparment, Hong Kong 2011 

Insomnia

 

Sample nice picture from my fujitsu notebook

I have not been sleeping very well since I started this whole leaving Hong Kong affair. It's not worrying about the future that is keeping me awake but the whole process of wrapping up my life here. Alone. Tax forms to fill (urg) and payments to be made (double urg), decision regarding the destination of furniture (charity is now the answer) and the execution of transporting and storage of things.

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Si, I'm back from Phuket, and resuming the decluttering process. In Phuket, I gave away even more stuff after I wrote here (a pair of jeans and 2 more t-shirts) eager to keep up the momentum of decluterring. Here at home, I've trimmed my wardrobe some more and set aside a box of scented candles as well as a few non-neutral colour oil burners and a tub of notebook, blank cards and files. I feel bad that I am getting rid of things I purchased (money wasted) but keep reminding myself that it will cost even more to transport/store them and of course making real my now usual mantra of "I am not my things".    

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What to do with old pictures? I wish I had a robot to help me scan them all so I can just bin the tub I have been lugging around these past few years. Maybe the robot can also help me with the 2 boxes of cds and dvds I've packed (without covers, to save space). 

As for  old post-cards, well, I spent this afternoon perusing them, stacking them in piles to bin (some bitter sweet ones from ex-boyfriends and arrogant sounding ones from my 20+ year old self ..sigh); to give away (blank ones - no longer to my taste) and finally a selection to keep (mostly thought provoking and funny ones from G and the Toronto based BFF). 

  

Continuing to declutter while on the move

I packed holiday things I'm either going to wear or get rid off for this Phuket trip. I.e. off they will go if I still don't feel like wearing them even with a limited wardrobe. 

On the confirmed list of items to shed: a breezy gray top with funky sleeves which I've held on for 2 years thinking one day I just might (hah); a sundress which looks far nicer in the wardrobe/shop than on me (confirmed by G); another gypsy oasis top which was once a favourite (already passed on to spa buddy) and a couple of random mediocre tops and a cut-off pair of mango jeans. 

My bag will be lighter returning home. Full disclosure: I was semi-tempted to purchase a delightful looking oil burner at the boutique in the villa when LS picked up hers (it was a big square one, possessed depth and was a lovely white) but thankfully remained rationale. So far, the only purchase I've made is a t-shirt for a cute little boy in a different time zone, in his favourite colour. 

 

Phuket boutique, 2011