Chak De Andrea!

Follow the exciting and not so exciting adventures of Andrea in Mumbai...

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

And so now that the memories are a little less vivid, I can finally tell you all about my flat hunting experience. I won’t say that before now the memories were too painful, because it wouldn’t be true, but I definitely do not want to remember those days at all.

And so how many flats did I look at? At least fifteen to twenty, I don’t remember. How many brokers did I go through? Probably around eight or so…

The first day of flat hunting I went with Snehal. We only saw two flats. Neither of us wanted to go and see any more ever again.

The first flat was tiny, in the middle of nowhere (well… quite far from Goregaon station) and had nothing in it at all. It would’ve cost 6000 a month so I was quite tempted but thought I should wait to see something else. The second one also cost 6000 a month, was bigger and would’ve included a wardrobe. The problem was that the surrounding area was a bit too traditional and I wouldn’t have fit in very well.

So the flat hunt continued… sometimes I found ones that I liked only to be rejected. Twice I was rejected for being a foreigner, including from a flat that I really, really liked. The second time was even worse because the guy’s mother lived in Australia. That time I was thoroughly tempted to say something VERY rude to him.

Then I thought that I had found a flatmate. Then she didn’t want to share with me. Then she did want to share with me. Then she again didn’t want to share with me. At this point I gave up and decided that it was much better to live on my own.

Finally after almost settling on a horrible flat simply because I was desperate and about to give up, I changed my mind at the last moment and told them I didn’t want it. I lost some money of course but in the end I’m glad I didn’t take it.

So finally, finally I found a flat that I actually liked. Once again it was in the middle of nowhere, at a place called Mahakali Caves in Andheri East. But the flat was an okay size (a studio apartment), clean and in a nice neighbourhood, the rent was in my budget and the deposit required was small. They even agreed to let me keep the gas stove that was there and install a geyser for me.

And so after a slight delay… as there must always be one… I moved in. The first day the only thing that I had was a mattress I bought and a pillow, both without covers, and a refrigerator. Partially because I was too tired to go and buy some. The second day I went and bought sheets and a pillow cover, the day after I went and bought myself a second hand wardrobe. I’ve got a toaster and some pots and pans as well so the place is coming along. Hayley is going to donate a table to me, so I’ll buy a couple of chairs and finally have somewhere to sit besides my mattress!

Besides that I finally evicted my unwanted tenants… two pigeons who were living beside my water tank. It took a great deal of effort to lure them down, catch them, and then put them out the window. They’re now living on the ledge outside looking at me rather pitifully as if to ask why I chucked them out. Poor pigeons.

I haven’t really started decorating yet and the place is still a bit of a mess but if you’d like to see some pictures you can see them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11203044@N08/

Next blog coming up… my Bollywood adventures.

Stay tuned!

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