Moving and settling in

Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
After one month back home to settle our Visas and to visit friends and family, we are back in Hyderabad. Roger is now on a work permit for two years. For Claudia however it did not work out as we had hoped for. She is on a tourist visa only, which means that she has to leave the country every three months for at least two days. After one year her visa will need to be renewed. She is definitely not allowed to work and will have to source other means to persue. But no, we are still not getting married ;-).
Within two weeks of our final arrival in Hyderabad, Roger had to register himself at the Foreign Registry Office. Our designated relocation agent assisted us in getting all the necessary documents ready and also accompanied us to the office. This was a great help as quite honestly one would be lost in this perfected mash of Indian bureaucracy. Also our agent managed to produce one extra document which was requested on the same day, so that we didn't have to go back on another day but merely had to wait four hours for everything to be viewed and the temporary permit handed to Roger.  
All of October Claudia kept pretty busy searching our new place to stay and has managed to find a great apartment for us (after viewing about 50 places!). The big challenge was to find something relatively close to the office (due to the bad traffic), without too many construction sites close by and with a nice layout and interiors (as tastes do vary between different countries). In regards to the construction site we did't quite succeed (there is just to much construction going on in all of Hyderabad) but thanks to our fantastic agent, Shweta, who supported us greatly, we still managed to find a wonderful new home. Our new place is a bit further out of town; pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But there is less traffic, making it easier for Roger to reach the office. Our apartment is in a big Condominium/Society with around 720 apartments in total. The condo offers an outdoor pool, gym, yoga and aerobic classes, tennis court, badminton, squash, spa, grocery store, event hall and even a cinema for private hire (Tom, you've got to check this out!)! We'd say: pretty cool! The flat is very spacious and yes, we do have more than enough guest rooms. So hey, anybody up for a trip to India, just let us know. You are always welcome to stay with us!
Unfortunately the shipment of the container with our goods took longer than expected. Also, the final works at the apartment took quite some time (yes, as anything in India really always does ;-)). Therefore we had to further extend our stay at the serviced apartment before we were able to move into our new home by Mid November. All our goods arrived mostly in good condition and the delivery crew was fantastic. Within two days everything was in the apartment, unpacked, assembled and put in place. Now it's just about sorting out some final issues and major cleaning. You wouldn't believe the amount of dirt and dust that's accumulating here! Cleaning just absolutely must be done on a daily basis. So, our part-time helper has started work already. Also every day still electricians, plumbers, carpenters, technicians and handymen are coming by to fix, install and repair. And with nobody ever showing up on time or even on the day that was agreed, everything requires a lot of patience and time.  
As we brought most of our furniture, our apartment is so called 'semifurnished', which means that it has a kitchen and bathrooms but almost nothing nothing else built in. This wasn't easy to find, as Indians really prefer to have 'fully furnished' apartments with all built in furniture like wardrobes, sideboards, bookshelves and even beds. Our place has wardrobes built in the bedrooms, central aircon, a kitchen (as usual with cold water only) and four bathrooms (with hot water showers, one Indian squat- and three western toilets). A water filter is provided in the kitchen and we bought our own fridge, oven and washing machine. We also have a separate area for washing and cleaning stuff.
One condition made by the owner of the apartment was, that he would rent out to vegetarians only. Now surely, we are eating much less meat since we've been here as the vegetarian cuisine of India ist absolutely fantastic. But to call ourselves true vegetarians might be stretching the truth just a little bit. But Indians are known to look the other way where necessary and it's been more or less agreed, that we would cook vegetarian and have meat as home delivery only and that nobody would check on it anyhow ;-). 
So, here is our new address: Aparna Sarovar Grande, A-Block Apt. 11-02, Nallagandla, Hyderabad 500019, Telangana, India
In the meantime we've also bought a car and the next task will be to get the registration done and to hire a driver. So far we got around mostly by taxis and the ever present and fun to use auto rickshaws. But in the long run and for more comfort and safety we prefer our own transport. As driving ourselves is no option due to the hazardous road conditions, a driver is a must have. 
Well, so much for now. We'll keep you posted and hope to hear from you too. Take care everyone!

Comments

Hami
2017-11-22

Merci för die beide Updates! Ha scho lang druf gwartet, weder dörfe z läse, wie‘s euch goht. So spannend immer zum läse! Vier badzimmer? Wow! Ond morn natürli de claudia alles liebi ond gueti zum geburtstag!! All the best & fiired schön.

Ela + Victor
2017-11-23

liebe Claudia und Roger - herzlichen DAnk für Eure New's und es freut uns, dass Ihr inzwischen ein schönes Heim gefunden habt und Ihr Euch darin wohl fühlt. Bei uns zieht nun der Winter ein. Es ist frisch und Schneeluft breitet sich aus. Claudia herzliche Gratulation zu Deinem Geburtstag. PS. Bitte es wäre schön, wenn Ihr an unserer nächsten GV der HGC teilnehmen könntet. Ist es doch ein Jubiläum - Datum 25.8.2018. Es wird in unserem Heimatort Eppenberg stattfinden. Reserviert Euch doch diesen wichtigen Tag. Nun wünschen wir Euch weiterhin schöner Aufenthalt und blibet gsund !!!!!! herzliche Grüsse Ela + Victor

Reto
2017-11-24

Hallo zusammen! Lese immer gerne Eure News. Weiterhin viel Spass und tolle Erfahrungen.

Theres
2017-11-26

Lieber Roger und Claudia - so schön ich gönne Euch das tolle Appartement - geniesst die Zeit und viel Freude und Spass mit allen Euren neuen Erfahrungen. LG Theres

Tom
2017-11-30

Another great write up, fun and interessting to read as always. Glad you guys found this appartment and everything went well, at least for Indian Standards...;) That private cinema sounds really like worth checking out, if I didn't have one myself I'd be tempted, haha...

2025-02-10

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank