Nesting

I am an OC person when it comes to staking out and laying claim to a territory.

Everytime I travel, the first thing I do is unpack. I display all my toiletries, put my toothbrush in the cup, place my shampoo in the shower, hang all my clothes and arrange my footwear at the foot of the closet. It's always a ritual for me to also open the hotel directory and look at all the amenities offered even if I don't plan on doing any of them. I need to make this place my own (albeit even if only for a night or two) and study my surroundings.

So, it comes as no surprise when it came for me to actually settle into my new place, the 3rd place that I would eventually recognize as "home" (the 1st was my grandma's house where I lived for 10 years and the 2nd where my family moved thereafter and where I've been living for 17 years now), I would exert all my efforts madly to make it my own.

I know my boyfriend was ready to kill me but for 3 straight days since the day we arrived in Singapore, we went to good old Ikea. Even though my flat was supposedly fully furnished, the bedroom was sparse with only a bed and a closet. I needed a desk, a night table, a lamp, photo frames, hanging pictures, hamper, sofa bed, mirror, shoe rack, trash cans, beddings, cushions (okay so maybe some were actually wants and not needs). And he was sweet because I bugged him to carry and fix up most of the furniture.

I am a true-blue Libran. I appreciate and need beautiful things around me to be happy. If I was going to be away from the people I love, then all the more I need to be comfortable and look forward to at least going home. I revel in seeing my closet filled to the brim and my desk overflowing. It makes the place feel more like my own than some stranger's. It makes me feel that I am really living in this country and not just here on an extended vacation.

What is it about things that bring us comfort? I love my comfy sofa chair where I curl up and watch my download videos and my soft khaki quilt where I sleep in every weekend. I love the clothes I brought because they bring familiarity. I love the way my desk is now organized into a make-up dresser area and my magazine holders now hold various folders of bills and documents. Most of all I love my mini gallery facing the bed which display a myriad of memories and faces.