Our New Home!

Here it is, our high-rise apartment in the middle of a city of about 13 million!

It's still a work in progress, but it's feeling much more homey (and clean), these days.  Amazing how two trips to Ikea can do that:).  Also, the majority of the furniture and all of the curtains belong to our landlord.

The rooms are all pretty self explanatory: kitchen, dining area, living room, master bedroom, and study/guest room.  However, the second picture is best described as a mudroom.  We have the Fort Knox of all front doors, this area, then another door into the actual apartment.  In this entry area, we have the landlord's extra furniture, the washer & dryer, and our strollers.

I didn't take any pictures of Addie's room because it's pretty unremarkable.  There is a pack n play, a changing table, and a very unstable wardrobe.  I wish her room and our master felt more homey, but we'll only be in this particular place for about 18 months to 2 years, so I'm not sure I want to invest a whole lot in it.  Anything we buy, we'll have to ship.

One day, she'll have a room that's as bright and sunny as she is!

Our place has a lot of great things about it, and we are very thankful for it!

What We Packed: Looking Back On Our Move

Hi There!  I know I've been absent from blogging for about 4 months now, but, we hadn't actually started our "Asian Adventure" yet, so what could I really talk about? 

In my last post, I talked about what we were packing (by, the way, I didn't realized how many grammatical errors I made.  Sorry.).   Two months of training, some wisdom from experienced expats, and lots of strategizing changed our list slightly.  So, let me do a follow up on what actually went down...er...over. :)

I dramatically stated that we were fitting our entire lives into 6 bags.  Correction.  We fit it into 7 fifty pound bags, 3 backpacks, 2 carry-on suitcases, a camouflage diaper bag, a stroller, and a carseat.  Whew!  We paid for one extra bag and carried-on or gate checked the rest. 

*People have asked what kind of bags we took.  We took a standard rolling suitcase, this, this, and 4 of these.  Overall, the variety of luggage served us well, and the duffel bags held up like beasts. 

Here's what actually made it to EA.

Clothes- After packing and moving several times over the last 7 months, I began to experience this overwhelming feeling of I NEED TO PURGE EVERYTHING.  Also, we knew that H&M, GAP, and oldnavy.cn could help us in a pinch.  So, we purged and tossed and trashed.  Brad and I cut down our clothes to just our favorite items.  So far, we haven't missed much.  NOTE: I did not plan on how hot it would be here in our first city, and I sorta forgot that the rest of the world doesn't utilize air conditioners quite like the US does.  So, about three weeks in, I made a quick trip to H&M and scored some 20 and 30 Kuai (about $3-$5) short-sleeved shirts.  Also, they totally carry larger (not taller) sizes.  No worries.  For Addie, we went to Once Upon a Child and stocked up clothes 18M through 2T. 

Shoes: One of the best things I thought to bring were my crocs rain boots.  It rains often and unexpectedly here, and these are very lightweight and can even roll up.  Other than that, I brought my Toms, one pair of old flip flops, tennis shoes, and two pairs of heels (which I haven't even glanced at, yet).  Brad wears his Chacos pretty much every day. 

Bedding:  We were provided a pack n play, so we brought a couple extra sheets for that.  Would do that again, simply because finding them here is possible, but not quick or easy.  I also ended up packing my favorite soft fuzzy blanket, a quilt for Addie, a few of her smaller lightweight blankets, and a duvet cover (this is totally not necessary, but it didn't weigh much or take up a lot of room...it was nice to be able to put it on the bed the first night that we were here). 

Homey Items: The picture frames, family photos, and this awesome pillow have generated many compliments and made the apartment feel like it's ours.  

Medicine:  The one trunk we brought was packed full of mostly medicine and toiletries.  I DO NOT want to be ill and trying to decipher a foreign language to figure out what might help.  We brought Motrin, Tylenol, and Benadryl (adult and child), Tums, Pepto, various allergy medicines, the stuff that makes you go, the stuff that makes you stop going, sleep aids, bandaids, Neosporin, Aquaphor, and Addie's pediatrician even gave us some antibiotics, just in case. Highly recommended.   

Toiletries: Deodorant, shaving accessories, and make-up made it into the trunk.  The first two are available here, but limited and very expensive.  I brought my clinique liquid foundation and NAKED palettes.  The other stuff is easily found in local shops. 

Spices/Mixes: Taco, chili, and fajita seasoning, ranch dressing mix, soup and gravy mixes, etc. Again, in our large city, we can find some of these things, but not always and it's even less likely if you live in a smaller city.  The only thing in this category I regret not bringing is chocolate chips.  It never occurred to me that they wouldn't have them here. 

Toys: We brought her favorite toys and books, and bought a couple of new toys at IKEA.  The big pink tent has been a hit.  I wish we would've packed crayons.  They have markers and colored pencils here, but not crayons?????   However, we can find almost anything, including WASHABLE crayons on Taobao.com. 

*I think I'm going to do a separate post on flying with a toddler and lots of baggage*

Books:  We packed almost none.  We ended up having just enough weight for our electronics, Bibles, and the Duck Dynasty book that Brad snuck in:).  Kindle books are our friend. 

Water Bottles: At the suggestion of a good friend, we packed our adult and baby Camelbak bottles.  Because the tap water here has a high mercury content, we have filtered water delivered to us every week. We just fill up our bottles and go.  Bottled water and assorted sodas are usually available at restaurants, but toddler friendly drinks/cups are not.  Highly recommend bringing this wherever you go! 

A Collapsible Booster Seat: Most restaurants don't have high chairs.  PTL for the wise lady that told me to bring one.  We brought this one. 

Other than that, we packed a few odds and ends (like our favorite coffee mugs,  power converters, and the baby monitor) and feel really good about what we brought and didn't bring.  The expat community here has been very helpful in helping us find things and lending us items that we didn't know we needed.   We have been shown how much stuff we DO NOT NEED.  I've really enjoyed having our apartment look so clutter free!  I know collecting things is just part of our nature, but I really hope we can keep our belongings close to this level of simple.

What do you think? Did we miss anything? Hah!