Moving date fixed

Boyfriend Maiyuu reckons we will move to our new condo by Sunday.

In the market, he has spoken to a man with a truck and crew for hire. They will take our boxes from the condo, pack them on their six-wheel truck, then move them our condo in town.

For the five men, we will pay a fee of B300 each. On top of that, we pay B1500 for the hire of the truck. The total price is B3000.

Can they fit it all on their truck? I hope so.

Last night, Maiyuu packed a few boxes of items which live under the stereo and TV. He has yet to start on his kitchen and cooking ware, which will need another two or three boxes.

I am relieved that we finally have a moving date. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours packing things in my room. That's on top of the two or three hours in put in last week.

Why did I think moving would be a simple job?

It's been nine years since I last moved. The last time I packed up my life was shortly before my journey here.

I had to move my things out of my last home before selling it. Some things, I sold; others, I gave to my partner; still others I stored at my parents' house.

Parents end up storing the relics of their children's lives. We park our belongings with Mum and Dad because we are too pre-occupied at the time to sell them.

We are often at a turning point of their lives - about to move cities, start new jobs, embark on overseas adventures.

My parents must have at least a dozen boxes stored under the house belonging to my brother, sisters and me. They sit there in the damp, years after year.

Some go back a long time. The last time I ventured down there, I found university books; clothes which I had forgotten, books I never want to read again, music (LPs, cassettes) which I loved back then but would not contemplate playing now.

What happens when Mum and Dad want to move? They have a big job.

Once, my father called to ask if he could throw out the school notes and books which I had stacked on their shelves of their previous home.

I was overseas, but said Yes. I would never read them again. What was the point?

Here, in the room around me, I have piled unwanted clothes into three large rubbish bags, and unwanted books into a large box.

If no one wants them, I shall throw them all out after Sunday.

It's time to start collecting again. Who knows how many more years will pass before we move again.

I am sure we will have memories to toss out on that occasion, too.

Godless town

Boyfriend Maiyuu says he has finished tiling the floor of the new condo. Today, he says, we can start packing our household in boxes, ready for the big move.

When I dropped in on him yesterday, half the floor was done, but he had already started on a new project, lining a window in one bedroom with tiles made of plastic film. They are covered in blue designs, a bit like mosaic tiles.

The purpose is purely decorative. I might have to take pictures of the new place once we have settled in, and post them here, so readers get a better idea of what I mean. I have never seen the things before.

When I turned up, Maiyuu was sitting on the floor in his underwear, cutting out the window tiles. He had lit candles in the bathroom and bedrooms, to improve the ambiance.

He might have to put aesthetic considerations to one side while we move. It will get messy for a day, maybe two. But move we must, as time is running out.

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While Maiyuu toiled on the floor, farang C, a work friend who lives next door to our new place, took me out for a beer.

About five minutes' drive from the condo is a gay district. We visited two lousy bars patronised mainly by farang tourists.

As the sun set, I watched several Thai-farang couples pass on the street. The farang were middle-aged, the Thais in their early 20s...nothing unusual there.

One Thai in his early 20s with Thai-Chinese looks walked with his arm around his farang friend's shoulders. The Thai guy was dressed in sports gear...maybe he had just been to the gym.

He did not look self-conscious, or embarrassed. In public, most Thai couples keep their hands to themselves.

Later, we visited a restaurant serving Latin cuisine. The waiter flirted. He asked me where I came from.

"Australia," I said, and he declared that he was wearing underwear from the same place.

'Look!' he said, as he pulled up the band of his white underpants to show me the logo, which indeed tells the world where they were made.

'Have you been there?' I asked.

'No, I bought them in Singapore,' he said.

We were the only diners there, so the owner, a young woman in her early 30s, entertained us.

'He wants to get drunk with you guys,' she announced, referring to her waiter, who took me by the hand before we left.

'Please come back tomorrow,' he said.

Another time, perhaps.

I will have to watch myself. I don't want to end up in trouble in my own backyard.

I want to find sleaze-free places close to home.

The bars I can do without...restaurants might be more fun. Or perhaps I should avoid the gay district altogether, and take my custom to straight places instead.

Farang C, who is straight, sent me a text message before bed.

'We live in a godless town,' he said.

'The only god is money,' I replied.

Mr Interior Decorator

Boyfriend Maiyuu is at home, though his stay will be brief. He has spent the last two days at our new condo in town, cleaning and laying one floor with rubber floor tiles.

The floor-tile design looks like light-coloured timber. The dimensions of the tiles exactly match the ceramic tiles in the main room, where he is laying them.

He lays the rubber tiles on top - they are coated with some adhesive substance on the back, so no glue is needed.

He wants a timber look in that room, as the two bedrooms adjoining the main room are laid with real timber floorboards, so we will get the same look throughout.

Today he is also expecting a visit from the hi-speed internet man, I am told.

At home, there is not much more I can do to help along our move. I have packed my belongings in boxes.

I dare not touch Maiyuu's stuff, or any household items in common use, as I am bound to do something wrong (throwing out items which he wants to keep, for example), so I shall have to await his guidance.

So, the furniture still sits here, as do the packing boxes. Barely anything has moved, or changed.

At the new place, Maiyuu has also fitted a new shower curtain, and bought a new head for the shower, so there is progress over there, though it is slow.

I did not realise when we took this new place that the boyfriend would go into interior decorator mode, by insisting on laying a new floor and making other changes to the fixtures...I thought we'd just move in.

But as he is doing most of the work and making the decisions, I can do little but watch and wait.

I have offered to dismantle the built-up furniture in this place, but he has forbidden it. 'How can we sell it if it is in pieces?' he asks.

Maiyuu wants to sell our furniture to a second-hand dealer. He will inspect it here at home.

Maiyuu will call him in to take a look at the furniture and give us a price, though judging by the slow pace of progress at the new place, that could be days away yet.

Valentine's Day apart

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

As I write this blog post, Maiyuu has gone to our new condo in town for a second day of pre-move cleaning.

'I am in a hurry to move condos,' he announced this morning, as he checked his clothes in the mirror.

He spent just 20 minutes fussing over his appearance today, which is less indulgent than yesterday's half-hour effort, so he really must be serious.

When we met the owner of our new place the other day, the condo looked clean. However, it takes a gay eye, I suspect, to really know whether a place is up to scratch or not.

According to Maiyuu, who spent a full day cleaning the place yesterday, the place was full of long strands of black hair (yuck!).

Small progress report? He has spoken to the True telephone company about putting in high-speed internet, which I need for my work.

We will have to put in a new telephone line, as the old number is disconnected.

The last occupant was a foreigner (with a liking for Thai women with long black hair, presumably), who worked in design.

The technician will arrive next week. Maiyuu has also spoken to the satellite TV people, who will install a new dish about the same time.

After inspecting the place, Maiyuu decided he would like to lay a new floor in what will be my bedroom.

He has also decided to keep more of our furniture than he had planned, as it is in better condition than the couches, tables, and chairs which the owner has provided.

That is the problem with renting furnished places: the fittings are invariably old and used. We did not want a furnished place, as we have everything we need already.

However, most places for rent in town are furnished. The owners appear to expect that tenants will be newcomers to the city, arriving with nothing, not long-term residents such as us, moving to town from the sticks with their own household goods.

In the end, we had to opt for a furnished place, as there are more of them on the market.

We have asked the owner to store some of her stuff. We will move some of ours to her place, and try to sell the rest.

I probably won't see Maiyuu for the rest of today, so our Valentine's Day won't amount to anything much.

Last night, when I saw him after work, he was exhausted. 'Do you want anything?' he asked in a tiny voice.

'No...just you,' I said.

Condo cleaning duty

Maiyuu is on cleaning duty at the new condo.

Without prompting from me, he took himself off to our new inner-city condo this morning to do a thorough clean before the furniture arrives.

We have yet to move anything from our present place in Thon Buri to the condo, as we signed the rental contract only a couple of days ago, and these things take a while to organise.

Yesterday, Maiyuu sold several bags of his clothes to a second-hand dealer, who paid B1000 for the lot.

Maiyuu's clothes, which he packed in large black rubbish bags, have sat in the living room for months waiting for a buyer. Not before time, of course, but finally, we are rid of those awful bulky bags.

In other pre-move jobs, yesterday he photocopied pages from my passport, which I forgot to give the owner when I met her this week.

He also cut me a copy of the keys to the place, and stored a few more household belongings in packing boxes.

About midnight last night, he visited a friend in this condo who owns a truck, to see if it would be big enough to move our furniture. No luck. He will try somewhere else instead.

While at the new condo today, he will ask about installing hi-speed internet, which I need for my work, and satellite television, which he needs in his capacity as Good Housewife Who Deserves Time Out.

Before he left this morning, he spent half an hour adjusting his clothes in front of the mirror, making sure he looked right.

Maiyuu wore a pair of close-fitting pants and a T-shirt with collar and large stripes. Of course he looked great.

'You might wreck those clothes if you are cleaning,' I warned him.

'I have packed a pair of rough clothes. I will change into them when I get there,' he said.

He took with him a large shoulder bag, which also included cleaning gear.

'Do I look ugly?'he asked.

'You look wonderful,' I told him.

'It's an illusion. I might look good now, but I look different before a shower,' he said pragmatically.

'But we go for the whole package. I love you because of who you are, not just how you look,' I reminded him.

I also urged him to eat.

'I will take a meal on the main drag close to the condo, so I can survey the local territory,' he said.

So organised...well done.