We have officially moved out of our first marital home yesterday. It was a small studio apartment in a student accommodation building in Stratford City. As many memories were fostered there, needless to say we left with a heavy heart. Bittersweet really, because we practically built our 2nd home from scratch - cleaning it, painting the walls and buying the furniture - its alot bigger too, so its a definite step up. But the studio was and will always be our first little space to ourselves.
Before getting married, I was quite apprehensive about the flat. Not only was it way smaller than what I was used to (living in a 4bed flat with girls), it was also in an unfamiliar part of town. Wayyy east, in Zone 3 of London. It would also like reliving my stint in student halls in my first year of university -often drunk and noisy teenagers, dirty bathrooms, rowdy behaviour, etc. But we had our own bathroom and kitchen, so we figured it wouldn't be so bad.
So yes, I was very nervous - so many prayers were uttered to ease this particular transition.
However, I did not expect it to be as good as it was. A few things I couldn't have predicted:
1. We loved being in a small space.
Maybe it was that our wedding bells were chimed only few month prior so we were effectively still on a honeymoon, but it was nice that there weren't any physical walls between us. I might be a clingy wife, but sometimes when I was studying on the desk and Akmal would be working on his laptop on the bed, I would miss him. So I would urge him to sit next to me, or I would slide next to him. Like I said, clingy.
Even after transitioning to our also humble 2 bed apartment, we spent many weeks sleeping on our sofa bed in our living room instead of on our nice, comfy bed in the bedroom. Mainly because it was now weird having a room just for sleeping. Strange, but true. After 3 whole months, we have only just accustomed ourselves to the extra space a few days ago - now comfortably sleeping in our bedroom. Although I foresee the sofa bed still being used from time to time.
Less space also means less stuff. And less stuff means less clutter. And less clutter makes a happy Ayne.
2. Our friends moved to Stratford.
This was a total surprise on our part too. Cause having moved from central London, everyone knows that if you are Malaysian, most likely you would end up living in Bayswater/Paddington. But maybe being the exceptions to that rule, two of our high school friends decided to move into our area at the same time we were moving in. Wawa was a mere 10 minutes walk away and Fred lived in our building. We didn't consult one another on this prior to us moving, it just happened. So Fred, being one of the groomsmen in our wedding, kept my husband company a lot of the time. Tea was served and our flat became like a bro's cave when I was at school. And since Wawa and Fred were in their final year of medical school, Akmal became Fred's "test patient" in preparation for his exams, and I became Wawa's on occasion. Fred being the only guy in his cohort of Malaysian medics at Queen Mary would have struggled to find a "test patient" if we were not in close living proximity. It was really, Akmal to the rescue! Haha.
Alhamdulillah, they both passed - and they are now doctors!
How beautiful did Allah swt arrange our lives!
So we weren't alone in Stratford - we had a community around us. One that enjoys each others company, each others home cooked food and nights of endless board games.
3. We had many guests over.
Before moving in, the kitchen gave the greatest anxiety. The flat was initially meant for disabled students, so the kitchen counter was alot lower than normal, accommodating for possible tenants on wheelchairs. However, after taking a few weeks to adjust our posture when cutting up vegetables and cooking sauces on the shorter stove, we acclimatised to the kitchen quite well. Although, there might have been a few instances of sore necks and backs in the process.
There wasn't any space for a dining table. Nada, zilch. So we had two options: (a) to eat on our desk, or (b) to eat on the floor. We opted for the latter, purchasing a picnic blanket on Amazon. So every night at dinner time, our tartan blanket would be gently placed on the small floorspace connecting our kitchen, workspace and bedroom. On it, laid magnificent meals because of course, I married an amazing husband cum chef. I cook pretty well too *insert self-advertisement here*. And we enjoyed eating meals together every night. But I didn't expect that we could share that small space with the many people we did.
We had many friends over for gorgeous dinners of nasi lemak, nasi kerabu and sometimes, a full roast dinner. At most, we had 6 people eating together on the floor at one time. How we manage, I couldn't tell you. But all our guests were more than happy to sit cross-legged on the blanket sharing a meal with us. It goes to show, you don't necessarily need a big house to host awesome dinner parties! One just needs good company and good food.
So in a nutshell, we are grateful for our little studio. If in the future, we are destined to live in a bungalow, so be it - but we will forever be reminded where we started. In our tiny home in Stratford.
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