The Diplos Move to Berlin

Hi there! You must be really surprised to finally hear from me! A lot of things have happened (and are still happening) but I figure if I don’t write a quick catch-up post now, all the events of the past 2 months will just never appear on my blog. So here is a quick catch-up on what’s been keeping me too-busy-to-blog…

Before I sold all the stuff I wasn’t bringing to Berlin, LivingETC Indonesia did a quick shoot of my Jakarta Apartment. What an honor to be featured.  It was the perfect way to cap off our 4 years in Jakarta and a great way to remember our flat before we sell/ship and leave. Will post photos of the spread next time. Below are the lovely Atri (editor/stylist) and Erwin (photographer) who doted on DiploDog the entire time.

SANTA FE MOVERS

We packed out our Jakarta home and shipped it to Berlin using Santa Fe relocation company.

MOVING IS HARD FOR DOGS TOO

DiploDog had to be confined on our last day of packing because he was throwing up. (I think he could feel how stressed we were about leaving in him in Jakarta.)

He had to board in Animal Clinic for 2 months while waiting to fly to Berlin (there is a 3 month waiting period after the rabies titer test is taken). The owner Karin of Animal Clinic and the staff were so sweet they would send pictures of DiploDog regularly to let us know he is doing find. Our Santa Fe agent Lizette also visited him regularly and took pictures with him to send to us. We used Santa Fe’s pet relocation services as well.

ARRIVED IN BERLIN

 Arrived in Berlin and stayed in the fabulous Concorde Hotel for a week. They had a good breakfast buffet there!

Stayed in Buroma Apartelle for another 2 weeks while flat hunting.

Found a lovely apartment that we love because a) it was one of the two apartments that we could find with 2 full bathrooms, b) it has a big kitchen with tons of storage, c) good neighbourhood and d) it can fit our stuff and has storage space. It has some bonus features though like the gorgeous bathroom, great insulation, etc.

DIPLODOG FLIES CARGO

DiploDog arrived. He was skin and bones due to dehydration of a full days travel via KLM but we were just so happy that our little DiploFamily was back together again. Thank you to Santa Fe, Animal Clinic and JakPetz for making it all happen.

Because DiploDog was attacked before we left he could not be titer tested in time for the 2-month quarantine outside Germany. He had to stay in Jakarta for 1 month and follow us. We had to hire Santa Fe Pet Movers who coordinated with Jakarta animal clinic and Jakpetz to prepare everything for DiploDog to safely move.

GUEST ARRIVING BEFORE OUR SHIPMENT

My in-laws arrived, BEFORE my shipment. Talk about stressful timing. Good thing TD’s officemate lent him an air bed! When our shipment arrived it was chaos. Imagine 3 additional people (aside from the 3 that are already there) trying to make space among all the boxes of stuff. I shudder to think at how scratched up the parquet flooring already is. To be honest I’d rather unpack slowly but surely instead of hurrying up and getting stuff damaged.

4 years of our stuff (which took 5 days to pack in Jakarta), took our German delivery men 3 hours to bring up the stairs (on their backs with some rope!!). It took them another 3 hours to unpack the furniture.

It’s been a little more than a week since our stuff arrived and we are still unpacking. All the boxes and wrapping material is all over the place and OC-me is getting really stressed out. Sigh. Mental note: future self, never receive guests in the middle of a move! Bad idea. 

I would love to post more pictures of the simple yummy food we’ve had in Berlin and other experiences.

If you’d like to get more regular updates and pictures on what is up with #TheDiplosInBerlin please Like my Facebook Page and Follow me on Instagram. I post pictures almost everyday!

Again thank you so much for your patience and I hope to hear from you! If any of you have recommended things to see/do/eat in Berlin please drop me a comment!