The Day I Talk About The Frustration With My Current Predicament

Some of you may know that I've been moving into my new house for quite awhile. You may wonder, "Why is Justin still moving after so many months? The hell is wrong?" In actual fact, by "moving" I meant "moving" the boxes that were packed from my en bloc back in August into my new house. I haven't actually moved in for good and obviously haven't started staying there yet. Truth is, I can't. Therein lies my frustration with the entire fiasco.

Here's what's been happening and why I'm being driven up the wall:


1) The Constant Delays

Construction of my new place was planned to begin in March of this year, but no work had begun until June came rolling by. Being 2 months away from my impending displacement from my old home in Lorong Chuan, I knew it was impossible that the contractor could be able to finish the A&A on time. At that point of time, we had signed a contract stating that my new place was scheduled for completion by the end of October.

Before we knew it, it was already the end of October and the house was still a mess (the roof wasn't even up yet). So we were once again promised that work would be completed by mid-November (after my ORD). That day came and as expected, we still couldn't move in yet. The contractor/engineer/whoever the fuck was responsible for this shit) had not even signed up for our water and electricity permits. Then came and end of November and now, it's already December 17th.


2) Crashing with Extended Family

Ever since the en bloc, my parents and I have been staying with my grandparents (who share their house with my aunt and 2 cousins). Imagine this: We are now sharing a three room condominium, with each room progressively smaller and more pathetic than the next, and there are only two toilets (of which only one is a common toilet because the other one is reserved only for use by the geriatric couple). Six people, one toilet.

To make things worse, I'm sleeping side by side with my parents on two mattresses (which we join together to make one slightly bigger mattress, and have to pack up to put it into one corner of the room every morning after we wake up) in the smallest of the three rooms. I'm not a claustrophobe and already I feel like a caged animal. I wonder how I would be able to deal with this if I was actually claustrophobic. This is why I actually preferred staying in camp more because at least I had a bed of my own there. So much for ORDing.


3) A House Is Not A Home

Even though the new place is mostly done up, it is still inhabitable due to some unapproved permits which the people in-charged of are not doing anything about (or if they are, I have yet to see any action taken nor have I heard any updates about it). This, coupled with the fact that the interior design has not been done (ie the yet-to-be-built build-in wardrobes, dry kitchen, wet kitchen cabinets) makes it absolutely impossible for my family to stay there at all. So yes, I may be able to step into my new house, turn on the lights, run the tap, but it's only just that: a house.

This fuckery has caused me to be unable to spend my final Christmas in my own home in Singapore before I depart for the US next year, and now it seems like my final Chinese New Year (for at least the next four years) may be affected too. Honestly, I'm too tired to think about the minute details now.

I guess my Christmas wish for 2008 won't be coming true.