House hunting...

sucks. But after seeing the one house that I saw yesterday evening, my faith in the University of Queensland Accommodations Database has been restored. I saw a lovely Queenslander (this is a type of house that is built up off the ground - very much like a house built on stilts), which had hard wood polished floors, good lighting, close to a shopping centre and a major train stop. The room that I would be renting is quite nice and bright, 12 ft ceilings and two big windows. So, you must be thinking, "well, that's all nice Veevek but what did you manage to pick out that was so wrong?" The kitchen. The kitchen looked as if it should belong in a cabin, as it was so rustic. The sink is smaller than my mum's chai tepalu (pot for those non-gujju folk)! I know that I won't be able to do as much cooking now but I would like to have the option of having a potentially well-stocked kitchen. The stove was extremely small - look as if it were a heavy paper weight.

The next day, I looked at another flat, which was pretty much across the way from uni. It was a two bedroom and two bathroom place. The kitchen was much better and the person that I would be living with was a 21 year old woman that was finishing up her degree in environmental science. Her father was there to help set up her desk. My room was spacious and the wardrobe (aka closet) was huge! I would have no problem fitting all my stuff in there. It was a little far, but definitely within walking distance, to Coles (one of the two major grocery chains here, the other being Woolworth's). If I were to choose between this one and the queenslander, I reckon that I would have to choose this one as it would be close to uni.

This day was probably the hottest day since I have been in Brisbane. It was hovering around 34 degrees Centigrade. I was sweating bullets - I mean all the water that I drank ended up pouring out of my pores. I have a sunburn on my nose and my pasty brown skin colour has started to transform into this 'honey-wheatish' complexion. :) wheatish complexion = awesome biodata report! I can see my mum say, "oh Veevek, you have come back so thin and black. I will make you some food and make sure you scrub your face hard with the Fair & Lovely soap that I have placed in your bathroom." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Seriously.

Okay, back to the house hunting saga...

That same day, I also looked at another place that was in the same apartment complex as Claire's. I knew that it would be good because Claire's flat is quite nice - all modern amenities (except the showerhead must have been ordered from Hell's Catalogue of Household Furnishings). The place indeed had all the modern amenities but the bedroom that was being rented out was actually the study! It was a windowless room that had no storage space whatsoever. I was quite disappointed - oh well. My eyes were set on the two bedroom/two bathroom flat that was close to uni.

By this time, I was getting a bit frantic. Uni starts on Monday and I don't have a place to live yet. I reckon that most of the med students (well, the ones that I have talked to) have all found places and will have finished setting up by the time Monday rolls around. I had two more places to check out and both were looking promising.

On Saturday morning, I saw a place that was absolutely AMASING (yes, that's how amazing is spelt in Australia)! It was a three bedroom flat that overlooked the Brisbane River and had a great view of the CBD. I was shown my bedroom, which had an ensuite bathroom. It was everything that I was looking for in a place (well, the carpet was a bit grungy but that can be easily overlooked in this situation)! It had several windows (none of which faced the afternoon sun, which is good or else the flat would have its very own tandoori oven), a queen size bed, good lighting and a large enough wardrobe to fit most of the clothes that I would need on a regular basis. The flat was 100m from the bus stop to uni, 100m to the major train stop, 200m to the RE (Royal Exchange - a very popular student bar) and Toowong Square (a major suburb shopping centre). The two other people living there were older than me - late 20s. The bloke was a Kiwi and he does IT work at a local newspaper and the sheila was a Aussie, who just finished a degree in applied science and education and is teaching science courses at a local school and coaching a couple of sports (I don't know which ones). They will let me know by Monday/Tuesday. Now that I have seen this place, I don't want to look any more but I have this feeling that I won't be getting the room. I have one more place to check out tomorrow morning at 9am. Fun fun.