As Moving Day Nears...

Today is our last day in this house. By this time tomorrow, the movers would be here to cart our barang-barang (items) to the new place.

I have never lived in a condo before and I am viewing this move with trepidation. It was Pak Abu who decided on this condo-living business. As usual, I concur with whatever he says.

I have nothing against condos. It's just that I have never lived in a highrise before, save for staying in hotels. And I am so used to feeling the earth under my feet every morning.

Thankfully, I am not acrophobic, otherwise condo-living would not be an option. The certainty is that I know I will adjust, there's no question about it.

At this moment, my house is looking like a tongkang pecah (a sailing junk shattered to smithereens), with my precious books piled up on the floor and packing boxes all over the place.

If there is anything positive to be said about this move, I must say it's like the beginning of a new life altogether.

We are not taking a single stick of the furniture - all are given away to relatives - and we are bringing only the bare minimum, things that matter from our viewpoint.

They include books and magazines, clothes and other personal effects, our laptops and printer, Pak Abu's golf sets, some kitchenware, my precious decorative plates and a couple of paintings. That's about it.

Somehow we feel the need to unclutter our lives. We no longer want to be encumbered with too many unnecessary things.

I know I can live without all these junks that we have accumulated over the years. Difficult as it may be, there is no room for sentimentality this time around.

Of the two cats, the one named Phi Phi walked out on us a week ago. I grieve for him, I think he knew we were leaving and he left before we did.

The other is still at home. Pak Abu will have to bring her to the SPCA soon, as he did with the rest. I do not have the heart to do it.

She sits by me each time I write, head lolling, inching closer and closer to the laptop in search of a familiar pat. And I am going to miss that tremendously. Enough said.