One of the first things we did as soon as we moved into this apartment in January was go to the bank to try and open a joint bank account or get me added to Gopal’s existing bank account. Try is very much the operative word, as nothing is easy in India.

One of the problems we noticed after we’d moved into this apartment, was that the tiles in the wet areas hadn’t been laid properly. Both bathrooms are completely tiled (floors and to 2 metres up the wall) and have two drains in them.

Last night, we had a power cut. They are not uncommon here, but mostly happen during the afternoons or early evenings. Last night’s was a bit different though.

We’ve been in this apartment for a bit over a month now and we still haven’t really got the furniture situation sorted. Here is our progress report:

After a bed, the next thing we looked for was a fridge. Fridges in India have a few differences from the fridges commonly available in New Zealand.

The apartment we ended up taking was actually the very first one we saw in Hyderabad. It is in a complex called Greenwood Residency in the northeast of Secunderabad, between Yapral and Kowkoor:

The first thing we did when we got to Hyderabad was to start looking for an apartment and a motorcycle. The first day, we went to look at two bikes, one of which happened to be in an area that we were quite keen on. As we were driving around looking for ‘to let’ signs, we saw an apartment building (Greenwood Residency) built by the same people as the building where Gopal’s sister currently lives. He researched and chose that building and was quite impressed by this company and their standard of work. We drove up and asked if they had any flats to rent.

Lots more to come, but for now – I got married, had a honeymoon on a motorcycle in NZ and then moved to India.; We are settling in Hyderabad and we currently have a motorcycle and an apartment we are in the process of furnishing. I’ve been very busy, but I do intend to post when I can.

My banking setup is rather complicated. Right now, I have 8 active bank accounts and 2 credit cards with 6 different banks. None of these banks charge me any fees for any of my accounts, so I’ve always just left them open as I’ve switched banks. My primary bank used to be ASB, then it was National, then KiwiBank, then ANZ. I am now currently in the process of switching back to KiwiBank.

Lately there have been quite a few major changes in my life.