Settling into the new Apt

Yet again I move into another apartment. The excitement of moving into a new house is always very palpable, very real. The first house I remember moving in as an adult was in Chandigarh. Back in 1999. Fresh out of B school I had just joined a product company. The money was good but the city was expensive even then. Its wierd, but as I recall, whenever I've gone house hunting (rental), I've always liked the first house the most. Internet postings were not so popular then. I scanned the newspapaer classifieds and narrowed down the search. It was a studio right above the garage section of a bunglow. It was freshly painted, White. Cheap destemper but clean. The rent was Rs.2700 pm which I think is high even today. But after visiting about half a dozen other places I had finally selected the first one.

House hunting in Abu Dhabi was also old world. I tried looking up houses on dubizzle, but most of the places were either too expensive or too downmarket. I have a close friend living here and he looked up a few places for me. Somehow, I did not like any. In the end it was a broker and with 100dhms fee, the first place he brought me was a brand new building that was still not occupied. I checked out both a studio and a 1 bhk. The studio was too small, but the 1bhk was a dream. With glass facades across the living room and the bedroom, it gave me okayish view of the city. There were 2 toilets and an open kitchen, I loved the moment I saw it. 

We left the place and he took me around some 7 other places, but my heart was stuck on this one. In the end, after a couple of weeks of searching, the first love prevailed and I finally eliminated all others to settle for this one. With 80K a year rent, the 1 bhk was pushing the envelope. With dedicated parking, I thought it was worth it. And so I took it up. I'll try and post a few pics in another post, just for posterity.