all things me

Last night I thought about trying to do “against my nature”: not have the apartment completely furnished the day I move in, or even the next day. I’d like to move in with just the bare necessities and then add as I notice I need or, more likely, miss having something around (be it coffee or hooks for the bathroom). Just because something has been a certain way at home doesn’t mean it has to be like that at my home.

The other day as I was listing things I should get at one point or another, I thought of a stand or a wall holder for the roll of kitchen towels — that’s what we’ve always had at home. Then I thought, why do I need one? Paper rolls tend to stand on their own.

Why get all kinds of pots and pans if I’m never going to use them? Of course, if the guests are due in an hour, it may not be the best time to go shopping for a pie pan… I’d survive with just one coffee mug that I’d use for everything from orange juice to coffee and wash it every now and then, but I assure you, I’ll keep a few spare mugs and other tableware for guests.

(See, I’m trying to be optimistic and not think I’m going to become a hermit. )

Here it is! (I cleaned it up a bit — there were dotted lines everywhere.)

The balcony is quite big… I measured it at about 2.5m × 3.5m. I’m not sure what all those dotted lines mean in place of closets etc. — I’ll find out when it’s almost finished, I guess.

I just called the seller and reserved the 52.5 m² apartment for myself.

(I tried to find an appropriate, nutty, gif animation to insert here but I couldn’t find one. I’m seeing little Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone waving his hands around and screaming. Try and imagine something like that, please.)

I went to see the place on Friday and it’s such a great location! There are lots of trees and a grocery store is nearby. I was a bit worried because it’s on the 1st floor (that is, ground level) and I have a balcony, but it isn’t too low after all.

And it’s new! No one else’s gunk (filth) in the sink, shower, or toilet — or anywhere! (Except the builders’…)

I have no idea what happens next. The seller is mailing me some more information and then I should go to my bank (again…) now that I mean business unlike last time.

Well, what do you know. The apartment I tried to reserve suddenly became available. They called me today because I had left my contact information. And you know what? I’m going to reserve it. I tried to call today soon after 4 pm but the office was closed for the Midsummer (public holidays). I was asked to call back on Monday, so I’ll call then. Damn if they get someone else to reserve it before me. They did say that I should call on Monday and only then they’d call other people if I didn’t want the place. I shouldn’t get too excited though because every time I do, it all goes down the drain.

Nevertheless, how exciting! I’d get to pick out materials and colours for my new apartment. The building will be finished in the first quarter of 2008.

Suddenly I’ve started to look for apartments for real. I made an appointment at my bank for Monday and then I’ll find out what sort of money I can plan on putting into an apartment. On Sunday we’re going to 4-5 showings (whatever it’s called — open house) and 4 more on Monday.

I have started a list of the things I need. And now I know some requirements for the apartment too: two rooms + kitchen and bathroom, preferably a balcony with “window glasses” (although a balcony will make it easier for my parents to smoke when they’re visiting…), storage space in the apartment (lots of old apartments have walk-in closets), no bathtub (takes unnecessarily much space)…

First I started looking for apartments nearby but Dad suggested the area where we used to live years ago. Not because he wants me far away (I hope so) but because it’s a nice area and it would make commuting easier. The apartments are also cheaper there. Still, I’m worried about “shunning my responsibilities” if I move too far away: I wouldn’t be able to help with the dog.

I’m going to buy an apartment instead of renting. Furthermore, I’m getting a two-room apartment instead of a studio because I see studios as temporary abodes — I want a Home. With a capital H. Also, there’s something about having all rooms in a single space that bothers me.

[Edit: June 17] Dad told me that it is actually forbidden in many places to smoke on the balcony nowadays. Therefore people have to smoke either inside their apartments or in the yard. Two of the buildings we went to see today smelled awfully of tobacco… Anyway, if I had a balcony, my parents would have to go outside to smoke because I would definitely forbid smoking inside. [/Edit]

The 31 hours of travelling is behind me. I left Sydney at 5 pm on Sunday 25th, waited for my transferring flight in Frankfurt from around 5:30 am (to 10:45 am) on Monday 26th and arrived in Helsinki around 2:30 pm on Monday. Now, twenty past six pm the tiredness suddenly crept up on me but I can’t give up. If I sleep at this time of day, my internal clock will be all messed up. Luckily, there’s nothing on tv today so I can go to bed early and wake up early as I’ve done during the trip.

This week has been really busy. On Tuesday I went in to the city for the first time when we had dinner at Sydney Tower (Centerpoint Tower).

The food was really good; I even tried some kangaroo and camel. The camel meat was really tough but the kangaroo was alright. I wouldn’t eat it regularly though. There also were tiny octopi (octopuses) but I wasn’t feeling quite that adventurous. We saw the fireworks they had arranged for the cruiseships Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2.

On Wednesday we went to Stanwell Park for some nice views

and then to Scarborough for some lunch (I had fish and chips — how boring am I?! It was delicious, though). Then we drove down to Wollongong for some more views and choc tops (soft ice with chocolate coating).

On Thursday we went into the city again. We walked through the Rocks (the old part of the city) to the Opera House.

Strolled through the Royal Botanical Gardens to the Library of NSW. There were some nice exhibitions there about old books and escaped convicts. The last stop was the Sydney Aquarium where I saw the platypus! I didn’t know they were so small — only 30 cm (about a foot) long. It was a fast bugger so I couldn’t get a proper picture…

We were knackered from all the walking so we decided to leave the Wildlife World for the next day. So, today we went to the Wildlife World where we saw all kinds of insects, reptiles and of course…

the wombat

the wallabi

and of course, the koala

Unfortunately there were no kangaroos, probably because they need so much space to live in.

I had good luck in shopping too: found a book on Stephen King’s unpublished stories (I forget the name and it’s safely wrapped up) and Dreamfall (PC game). I can’t buy much more — I only have 20 something dollars (AUD) left!

I was invited to dinner Friday night. It was a traditional Australian baked dinner apparently. We had lamb, chicken, sweet potato, potato, corn, broccoli, peas, and I think one dish was pumpkin. It was really good. Baked dinner can contain anything really, I suppose it’s just the cooking that makes it ‘baked’. Later, I got the best coffee I’ve ever had and some carrot peanut cake. Yum!

I was asked what is a traditional Finnish dish. I couldn’t really answer. I did tell them we usually eat beef, fish, pork, chicken, and turkey, and that lamb is perhaps a bit special food (for Easter) — I’ve never had it before. And that we like potatoes, pasta, and rice. But I couldn’t explain a traditional Finnish dish. The only really Finnish thing I can think if is mämmi, Easter pudding. Wikipedia doesn’t offer very much information on Finnish cuisine either… Oh well.

My friend’s mother-in-law took me to Cronulla Beach today. On the way there we drove through a national park and it was like in a jungle there! It was all green even though there had been a bush fire a few years ago. I got an amazing look at the area because there were loads of steep hills. Beautiful!

At the beach we walked through the rocks that are under water at high tides.

We stopped for a bit in the shade

When we got up from the rocks onto the pathway we came across a palm tree!

Quite beautiful, isn’t it?

After the walk we went for a lunch at South Beach Seafood. I had my first taste of fish and chips and also tried some crab. The crab was in a funny looking dough ball with the claw sticking out. Really good though, quite sweet. Then we walked down a street full of shops and I bought some things to take home. Can’t tell what they are yet because my sister’s reading this.

I’ve noticed some things that are different in Australia — besides the obvious of course. It could very well be that I’ve been hanging with the “wrong crowd” to do generalisations on the Aussies, so if that’s the case I apologise.

I just came back from the local store because I bought some food for the next few days and on my way there I had to cross some roads. I stopped at the zebra crossing to wait for a car to pass but instead it stopped! Now, in Finland they don’t do that very often. Then at the cashier they put the groceries in the bag automatically! Of course, I’ve only been to this one shop but in Finland I’ve never been to a grocery store that bagged the food. There is a “fancy” store in the centre of Helsinki where at rush hours they have grocery baggers but that’s the only occasion I’ve seen the sort of customer service. Of course, other kind of stores put the purchases in plastic bags if you’re not fast enough to stop them.

Don’t know if it’s an Australian thing but they seem to like their food salted and seasoned. On the plane I had some salad with cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, the normal stuff — it was “pickled”. It had some sort of vinegary taste in it and I couldn’t eat much (I picked out the tomatoes and ate them but left the rest). Also, the butter was salted (mentioned especially on the pack). In a conversation one of my friend’s friends mentioned that she doesn’t like plain salad, there has to be salt and things in it. I know fancy chefs (like Jamie Oliver ) always put salt and pepper in the salad but I don’t like it. To me, vegetables have to be fresh and unseasoned or cooked and seasoned.

I’m most amazed by how polite — in a talkative way — people are here. It struck me as a little silly at first to hear ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ all the time in a crowded store, but that’s always better than to have bruises on your sides (or face and shoulders, for people my height) from getting hit by elbows…