This Aug 29, I would have been in Dubai for two years (Ok, actually less than that since I spend about 2.5-3 months in SG every year. Because I have had the mentality that I will be going back to Singapore soon, I have been living in the simplest possible way as this place to me is transient. It is not my home, and certainly not my house.
I was unwilling to invest in anything to decorate it or make it nicer or whatsoever. Anything I buy, I only buy if it has practical value. If I already have it, I make do with it.. But during the appraisal this year, someone’s boss told him that “It will be better for your career if you stayed on for another two years…” I am not surprised.. the way I see it, I think he means also that it will be better for HIS career if his right hand man stayed on for another two years to help him out. (Update: This person just resigned to go back home.. well, so much for bosses who make promises...Guess what, after all the promises and two bosses later, Max is still here and the so called bosses are all somewhere else.. haha)
Then I remembered what my Japanese friend L told me. She has been moving around with her husband for more than 10 years (2 years in Singapore, 10 years in Dubai). When I complained to her once how I very much wanted to go home, she told me this, “Angel, to be really happy in Dubai, you have to think… Oh, I am going to stay here forever and live life as if you will be staying here for good.. then you will be happy…”
This year, when we had to think about whether to shift or not (our lease is yearly renewal), I asked Max this question… “How would you live your life and what sort of place will you live in if we were staying here for good?” We were all squeezed into tiny 1 bedroom apartment because our thinking was we were going back soon. Not that it is not good.. it is great that it is cosy and that it is easy to clean.
But it means Ace’s overflowing stack of toys has to be in the living room… And that Ace sleeps next to me and will have the chance to KICK ME IN BED when he is sleeping. It also means any baby making activities will always have to be after ace falls asleep and has to be done in.. the living room.. because we have nowhere else to go… hahahah. In short, my thinking was just to save money and “make do”.
In the end, because of the increasing prices of the overall rental and the fact that I have to factor in my travelling time to work, Ace’s school and also because I am starting to get used to the neighbourhood we are staying in and at least I know where to go for wat stuff… and also that our place is next to an interchange metro stop, near to a mall that is upgrading to include Carrefour and a Cineplex soon… we decided to stay on for another one more year at this place.
But asking myself that question made me think that maybe there is a better way to live my life in Dubai instead of just MAKING DO. I mean, I have so many friends who have been here 5 years, 10 years… Max doesn’t seem prone to move back unless something big happens… so do I really want to MAKE DO for another 5 years or 10 years? And so, we decided it is time to INVEST in a proper SOFA;)
And since we are going to invest in a Sofa, I thought it is time I invested in a nicer table for my Gohonzon as well.. better still, make it a set of drawers so that I can keep more stuff;) After a few trips to Ikea and various furniture shops, we decided on what we had wanted and bought it! I was so excited when the new furniture came.. because after packing all the things in, I feel like my house looks like a different place! ;) Now I dare to ask people to come my house.. wahaha..
If not, ask my DXB friends… most of them have never been to my house at all ;)
I can’t say I have totally gotten rid of the MAKE DO thinking ;) I am still dam cheapo and think can save just save lah… But I have started on making a photo wall in our living room.. and have come to think of this tiny space we live in as our home…
PS: I asked Max that question and he said if we were going to stay for 10 years, he would probably have invested in a place to live in in the first place ;) He assured me that we are certainly going to improve our standard of living since his next increment will come with a percentage increment on his allowances…
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