What I shouldn't have really packed for US ? Ultimate throw off list, hoarders are gonna hate this one ;) ;)

Hmm now that its been almost an year here, I see certain bags and things just lying around utilizing space. If it was to me, I would have eliminated these too. Here goes my throw away list :

1) Bulky Beds or furniture in general : We got this heavy one from india, its too heavy even if you take the parts out. Everytime we think of moving even in the same building, this one will be the hugest hurdle. So yeah sell it there. Here you are the packers movers.

2) All gadgets with indian chargers or plugs : We brought in a home theatre and ps3 from india, its cool it works but I think you can't really hang on to converters all the time. Its risky with plugs. Also, they are not under warranty or service. There are so much better products you can buy.

3) Flour pulses rice etc : There is no need to bring anything except spices or snacks from your favorite local shops. All the pulses rice kinds flour kinds mtr maggi junk are available in indian stores. There is no need for extra baggage.

4) Extra clothes : Bring only your best clothes. If its more than 2 years old or rugged or faded, throw it. All those traditional clothes too, if they are not good, donate. You will hardly wear them and they will just occupy space.

5) Quilts : There is no need to carry these too. There are better and weather friendly options here. You will never feel cold inside home so you don't really need these things. AC quilts should do. Never pack curtains.

6) Cookers pans ladles : For kitchen, I would say just get dishes and plates mugs. After a while, you are going to buy pans here, cookers here. They are better, affordable and less messy. Its time to move on from those ancient devices. They even have a yogurt maker which made me feel really ignorant when my friend recommended to buy one. Get rid of old chopping boards while you can.

7) Shoes sandals : The same clothing rule goes, if its old and lies in corner there, it will end up taking more space. Throw away old shoes, old sandals. They don't look good, they don't really work here. While you are at it, throw those socks too.

8) Medicines stock : Everyone says you should pack indian medicines, well you should but not like a full year quota. As soon as you get insurance, everything is covered. Carry basics like antibiotic or special prescriptions like vitamin d or iron. Other than that, there is no need to carry cold cough vomiting blah blah medicines. They are available in all the supermarkets .

9) Hanging watches or photoframes : I personally don't like hanging anything on walls if its a rented house. So I wouldn't pack things like these.

10) Jackets Coats Sweaters : If they are new, yeah bring them but if they are old and only worked in indian cold, you will not need them. Get rid of them, donate them. They just don't work for this cold.

11) Papers papers : Eliminate all the papers if you can. All those extra diaries notebooks hmm not worth it really.

Searching for apartments in seattle : House Hunting decoded :)

This one has been long overdue. We saw like almost 150 apartments in seattle including 5 or 6 in bellevue and redmond. So I am not going to call myself an expert but I kinda am. See when it comes to finding apartments, I can just look at zillow or apartments.com and tell you if its worth it or not. Now everyone needs a different set of attributes in house, some want north facing some want it on ground floor some want like a townhome some of them care about gym others couldn't give a damn. Our must haves were hardwood, well equipped gym, swimming pool and awesome view. You will realize they keep changing as you look at apartments, at some point you just want to give in and settle in any apartment. Hopefully this post will help you a bit. In the end, I will share my favorite ones or the ones that had something special even though they were not for us.

Lets start.

1) Budget restrictions : You are the one who has to decide. For seattle I would say to get a decent apartment you need at least 1800 by 2015 standards. I have seen apartments that even went upto 2400 because of their view. The newest apartments are going to be costly, something with a view will cost more too. You can get almost double the size for the same price in redmond. Bellevue downtown is like seattle in terms of prices, may be a little lower with a more sophisticated family crowd or even younger crowd near lunchbox circle. Also sometimes people get lucky, one of my friends grabbed a townhome in STACK House for 2000 bucks, its cheap being so close to SLU. Decide your price, everyone spends 100 or 200 over it. We got our apartment 1bhk for 1900 in bellevue downtown and end up paying 200 to 300 extra as parking trash electricity water bills come up.

Wherever you go to see apartments, they will give you a total of all extra expenses. There is another option, there are condos that are owned by people opposed to apartments owned by a business group that can freely increase rent in an year by whatever percentage. These condos ads come up in craigslist, most of the condos come up with free parking and free storage with ample space as someone actually designed these as their home not to just rent out. Condo owners might ask for more deposit and 4 months of rent in advance which is difficult to come up with if you are new to country.

Consider all factors, decide the budget and browse apartments.com or forrent.com or which ever platform you are comfortable with.

2) Location restrictions:  If you work for amazon or somewhere in seattle, you would love to be in seattle. If you work for microsoft, redmond or bellevue will work for you. My husband works for amazon and still we took in bellevue. There is this awesome van pool facility so you can reach seattle in maximum 30 minutes, better if you have a car. Unless you are keen on staying close, all three areas can work for you. Most of the family people settle in redmond or sammamish which trust me is soo beautiful. There have been cases of power outage a few times in an year though in these far out areas. Young party goes prefer capitol hill.

3) House Appliances: Most of the apartments will come with washer dryer microwave oven and all the basic things like trash recycling chutes hmm concierge to pick up your amazon orders even curtains or blinds are all there. What differs is quality of appliances, kitchen granite, window sizes, ceiling height, pets policies on different sizes of dogs. Pay attention to what is important for you in apartment. Brand new apartments like stack house post walton lofts have the finest appliances. When it comes to using, its all your preference. Our dishwasher makes lot of noise, but there was no way to check before. Small problems will always creep up as long as it doesn't throw you off. New condos might have better ones.

4) Driving range: I like to walk so I wanted a place where there were supermarkets in a mile radius. If you prefer to drive to everything, then its no issue. QFC Safeway Whole Food kind of supermarkets are scattered all around the area. Some areas are a little scary to walk around in seattle like Downtown in night as there is loads of homeless people and Queen anne as you almost see no one after 7. If you  have a car, it doesn't really matter. SLU is dead in terms of restaurants and pubs.
Redmond is also called Dead-mond as it gets super cold and everything is blocks away.  See the apartment, if it suits you and you have a car, nothing should really bother you.

5) Carpet or Hardwood : Trends keep changing, I would say as long as kitchen has no carpet the apartment is acceptable. Yes, its easier to clean hardwood, for carpet we feel guilty if we don't clean up once in at least 2 weeks. When you buy a vaccum cleaner for carpet, make sure its strong and picks up deep gone food too. We tried to find apartments with hard wood too, they are less in number but they exist. In redmond, most of the apartments are carpeted. Carpet definitely helps with cold weather apart from being super comfy.

6) Kitchen : There are kitchens with black granite black appliances, there are kitchen with white applicances too and white board. Also look for minute details like cupboard space in kitchen, in some of the apartments they have extra space for stocking up costco. Redmond has bigger kitchens with more space. For a family of four , I would say its preferable. For two, seattle has enough apartments. Some apartments come with two sinks, others come with one. For some washer dryer comes in kitchen which is weird. For some its in washroom and then there are some that have it right on door. Condos have amazing kitchens as people designed it to use themselves.

7)View or not:  We were looking for majestic views and we saw so many with it. The only downside sometimes was they lacked some other property or they were just too costly. There are condos with amazing views too. Since seattle is surrounded by mountains and water, you never know which apartment will be a gem. Queen anne area has nice view apartments, then Bellevue has promising views too. Downtown has a few that are right on water, ohhh there is so much to see. You do pay more for the view though.

One of our friends actually lives in a cabin in jungle where he has seen bears coming by. Phew, other one owns a farm and drives all the way from mt rainier. Then there is this guy who uses water taxi from alki beach. Yeah there is a beach where you can live in seattle. Seattle is the kind of place where you can have a mountain view on one side and water city view on other side.
There are apartments where you can tie boats, go kayaking and play cricket basketball, go on miles and miles of nature trails. Rains are overrated, I have lived here six months and its just pleasant. We moved in from a super hot place and this weather here is so surreal, its almost spiritual.

I can see full range of cascade and olympic mountains from my house and on the other side I see space needle with partial water view and amazing city view. My friends in redmond have their private lawns overlooking trees and parks which is soothing too. Its all your choice.

8)Homeless or not : Seattle is homeless friendly city. So every nook and corner you see them. Most of the times they don't cause nuisance but sometimes they do, in SLU there is a rehab centre where almost every midnight some homeless guy would abruptly swear and shout. Capitol Hill has reported  a few shootings in QFC and downtown every signal you hear care for a dollar. Its not that bad, just when I saw bellevue and redmond , it was better. You can always smell weed on them which is totally cool as long as it gives a little high. There is no homeless here in bellevue and redmond.

9) AC or not : Do we need air conditioning in seattle? If  I came here in november, I would have probably taken house without AC but we saw how it was in march , june and september. It was hot hot, some people can but it was difficult for us to cope with it. Then there is no balcony and windows in houses, there is mosquitoes outside too and it rains. I would suggest, one with AC or the option of having it when you need it is not a  bad deal.

10) Townhome or Apartment : This one is purely individualistic. We prefer apartment, we saw so many townhomes in redmond but it just didn't appeal to us. One of the reasons was redmond communities do not offer classy fitness centers or swimming pools. If you can join a club, its cool but we are lazy and we wanted everything in one place. New apartments have a shine to them, some of the townhomes and their carpet looked like you could imagine kids walking over without diapers with choclates. They even smelled funny like old and rustic. Seattle is more crowded since it is a city where amazon is turning streets to offices hiring minions day and night.

11) Swiming pool and Gym : This was one of the major reasons why most of the apartments failed. Most of the apartments do not have a swimming pool. If they do, its outdoor. In redmond, all the apartments except one or two have an indoor heated pool . But then the gym that comes with it is sad with two treadmills. Also , some of the apartments claim to have a gym but its nothing more than a few terrible excuses for not working out. Seattle has a few and bellevue too, I am making a list down in this post. The scene is not soo devastating,  a few of them have yoga studios dance lessons personal trainers. Its all there, we just have to find.

14) Parking : Now parking is a big issue in seattle. Every apartment requires a parking fee. Its free in redmond if you don't go for closed parking. Its charged like 40 bucks if you take closed one. In seattle, it goes to 200 dollars a month for parking in downtown. In bellevue, its 100 dollars a month. It might increase so the stats are valid till jan 2016 only. Condos offer free parking

15) Closet space: Seattle has tiniest apartments possible for a price that is too much. We saw an apartment that was like 500 sqft for 2400. Just no reason, they charge because they simply can. A few societies actually planned better and offered so many closets. Some of them were just disappointing, a coat closet and a bedroom closet. There are walkin closets in apartments too. The ones that are not so new are going to have more wardrobes. Redmond obviously wins here. Bellevue pretty much has a mix, so if you move  a little away from bellevue you will find more space. Condos can offer more space too, just be on the lookout.

16) Gas Range : Sadly, its all coils . There is only one apartment called axis that had an actual gas range. Coils aren't so bad, just when something boils down you have to take out and clean up. If you can find an apartment with glass surface, its better, just spray and clean. Again, condos might have gas range as its personalised. Its difficult to cook some indian dishes on coils. You have to work with what you are given.

17)Grocery Stores : There is grocery stores near Queen anne. If you can drive, its not a problem. Then there is instacart and safeway that do home delivery. Bellevue downtown as QFC Safeway Uwajimaya Wholefooods all in one mile radius. It helps as there is no single store I can pick everything from. Costco walmart are in different directions. Redmond has Sears walmart Indian grocery stores all in the same hood. Come to think of it, redmond is not so dead but you have to have a car to be there. Uwajimaya is best for vegetables, safeway for delivery. Then there is different people, different priorities. I didn't choose to be in vicinity, its after moving in I realized these things were there. Capitol hill has everything too except good gyms and swimming pools.

18) Things to do : For someone who loves nature, redmond sammamish is the best. Take out your bikes or go for walks. For someone who wants to be in city, seattle westlake avenue area, capitol hill is probably better. Then for families , redmond of course rules the scene. There are all kinds of pubs restaurants in bellevue too. There is lincoln movie theatre. Then redmond has crossroad mall which isn't that great. There is outlet mall which is out somewhere. Any place is just 20 minutes more if you start from seattle so again not a big big deciding factor.

19) Balcony : This is such a rare luxury. Seattle has a few apartments with balcony. Redmond has most of them with balconies but they are dirty sometimes. Then there is bellevue downtown with rare small balconies. Balcony was a must in our list but we gave it up eventually over pool gym AC.

20) Pets : Pets are welcome everywhere in all the apartments. There might be a few breed restrictions so check with your leasing agent when you go. They charge you some monthly expense and there is a refundable fee too.

21) Maintenance : Most of the communities boast of a proper maintenance but if its too shady, you might have to bear the cost. Condos are a problem in this scene as for every problem you  have to contact owner. If its a self maintained society, then there is no problem. There are portals to pay rent, pay water bills, lodge complaints. Its all sorted.

22) Guest suites : I love love this option. There is a an option of booking guest suite so if someone comes, you can book a suite for them in your own apartment. Its not cheap but its worth the price if you want 4 people to stay in 600 sqft. Its  a blessing when parents come.

Other things that apartments offer are media rooms, pool tables, your own party halls. I would recommend seeing some apartments for sheer luxury. By swimming pool I mean indoor heated ones By AC air conditioning.

Here goes the list of my favorites and worth mentioning ones:

1) HARBOR STEPS, Downtown : This one had everything, indoor swimming pool , spacious rooms, big closets, balcony, views of water or wheel and their floor plans are so different. The only downside was parking fees and homeless downtown area. This one is worth looking for. Its a bit old so appliances will not be so new. Its almost perfect.

2) Amli Bellevue Downtown : Amli's property in SLU was a bit on higher end but their quality and construction is modern. This one in bellevue downtown has a professional gym with indoor heated swimming pool. The only downside for us was it didn't have any views. For families, its the best facing bellevue downtown park where you can see fireworks play holi or just play with kids. Its closer to shops and their parking charges were minimal. Their apartments were nice too.

3) CIrrus : This one was beyond our budget. You have to see this one to witness luxury at its best. Their rooftop deck is to die for. When you workout you see water and sunset.  They have the best hangout areas with tvs personal couches. No swimming pool though but still its one of a kind. Air conditioning obviously comes.

4) Olympus : Olympus can offer amazing views with great space. Like serious space. Their apartments had almost a mini bar space. No good gym for us so rejected. In fact all the apartments in elliott have olympic park view and water. Sunset view and ships passing by, its pretty spectacular.

5) Fountain Court : Okay no view but  a good gym and swimming pool. Its surrounded by lots of restaurants and its pretty affordable.

6) Stack House : Their appliances are really the best since they are new and there is AC. Their 2bhk is so posh looking, you will sign lease there. You can get lake's view there along with fireworks that happen like twice in an year. Townhomes offer a great deal.

7) Tower 801 : One word, balcony not just one there's two to them and air conditioning. The view could be great, gym swimming pool were not good. The apartment space was good and well planned.

8) Metropolitan : This one is the best. They have view, gym, swimming pool, blacony , spacious apartments, almost acceptable rent rates and parking charges. This one is a catch. We wanted to book this but we had already booked our bellevue apartment which is way better for us.

9) Neptune : This one too was on top. There is no AC, but there is well thought space closets view, there is this small yet all machine gym, a media room you can book for free, a games room. Its almost like a perfect one. There is no swimming pool but prices are way better. Their is balcony too facing lake.

10) Alto : I like alto apartments, they have utilized space wisely. Gym was okk, apartments were considerably smaller and prices were more. The whole finishing of the apartments was nice.

11) Post : Ohh this was perfect too, they didn't have swimming pool but the views ohh you will faint when you see their water facing apartments with glass windows. I would say check it out for experience and if it fits your budget, this one is a royal one.

12) Via 6 : So this one has a really good gym. If you are not a swimming pool frantic, go check this one out too. Its new, its got restaurants with breakfast events going on. Who doesn't want a bar downstairs. Their apartments come with balcony, yeah they do.

13) Sidney Moda : These two are for simple people with basic needs. They have ample space and sunshine coming through.

14) Aspira : Ohh aspira offers relatively better prices for the views n all amenities it offers. Their rooftop deck is nice and gym worked for us. They had one apartment on 31st floor going for 1600 bucks.

15) Elements bellevue downtown : This one had it all, swimming pool gym with trainers but their appliances are too noisy. They have AC option but it takes a little while to heat up. They do offer amazing views but it is mostly filled with students. This one is not a bad option though. There is lunchbox, french bakery, tokyo steak all nearby. If you are not into swimming pool, you can remove this from list.

16) Dimension: I liked this one, views AC apartment space but the prices were a little too much. Their rooftop deck offers 360 degree view of seattle. Its pretty cool. Gym was okkish. No pool of course. Their kitchen and appliances were top notch like alto and cirrus.

17) Centennial : Its right above petra. They have gym pool view nice apartments with space, everything. It looks a bit old but this one is really nice. We didn't like the concierge with glasses as she was a bit too full of herself, same for alto leasing agent who acted like a movie start. Come on, we are looking for houses so doesn't matter. Parking charges were more too. It was 3rd on my fav list.

18) Cielo : This one was a charmer. It had the best gym in all of seattle bellevue downtown, not kidding. Best rooftop, best space management and so went up prices. They have nice city views. Do check this one, I recommend it. If you can find a deal on lower floor, its worth it. All of the apartments like metropolitan centennial cielo have less prices for first 8 floors. Prices increase as floors go up . Also, if a friend already stays in an apartments refers you, it gives you and him few bucks.

19) Harrison square : The apartment that he showed us blew us.  A full bedroom size patio imagine with whole water line mountain line view of sunset and to top it you can see it from all of the house. The space was a little less for us but if we were bachelors with less baggage, we would have signed lease then and there. There was no pool but gym was nice.

20) Elliott 2300 : Elliott has one of the coolest apartments with mind blowing views. Prices are less, you compromise on something but you should check out if you are a view person or you like to run as there is olympic sculpture park. Audrey in belltown has swimming pool too.

21) Riverpark in bellevue redmond :  Balcony, Gym, Spacious apartments, affordable prices, trail that goes right from back of building. Their modern finishes appliances its all worth paying for. No swimming pool.

22) Vista and redmond hill : They have view, an indoor small pool, an okk gym and big houses. Not bad for a family. Actually these were the only ones I liked in redmond. Then there is redmond park apartments where all of my friends moved. There is Lakes apartments which I was about to move in, there is no indoor pool but other amenities are nice. Redmond comes with balcony lawn. Redmond court and Eaves are nice too. Eaves has indoor pool with not so good gym. All of them have coils in kitchen.

23) Axis seattle : It surprised us. A gas burner, amazing view from deck, balcony, better gym than redmond combined except riverpark. You might love it. Also joules in capitol hill is liked by my friends. Windsor heights near redmond trail is super spacious and nice.

24) Insignia and olive 8 are the coolest condos ever : GRab them if you get them. Seriously.

I am done for like a week now. Do move in inspection before you move into an apartment. Take photos. There is tons of houses out there. I know its frustrating looking for house. Go on weekends, make prior appointments, carry something to eat and drink, make videos and discuss when you come back. Be nice and open to leasing agents. And yeah enjoy. If you really like an apartment, book it as the good ones are gone in a day.

Moving from India to abroad : What to expect in Seattle/US ?

From the moment you land in seattle, the very first week can be depressing for some of us. You are in a place with no friends nearby, no supermarket aisles you are used to, no car, no family, no cab services or roads you are used to. Its all new. So what do you do, don't panic. It happens to everyone, that sick loneliness gets us all. 

To help you with the few initial things, here are my tips:

1) Usually when you land, its past lunch time and airport in seattle has not much to offer. What you can do is order when you take cab. Install amazon app and get any restaurant to deliver for you. It could be the case you are fed up with eating in flight so totally cool if you want to go and sleep off  jetlag. 

2) Checking in : Most of my friends faced this problem, they were made to wait by aboda rivet. For us, they said your apartment is not ready and we could leave suitcases there, take our lunch somewhere in vicinity. Well, we just had a flight of 22 hours. All we wanted was a bed . Luckily, in 5 minutes housekeeping lady came with key. Just call them ahead so they keep your temporary house ready to move in. On reservation document, you will see passcodes for accessing room key. My pregnant friends waited for an hour in the lobby. If you are going rivet and asked to wait, just ask them to at least take you to community lounge where they have pool table. Every apartment has a place you can see tv relax and lie down too.  We all get hesitant but comfort comes first. Just be polite. 

3) What to do when you are off flight : Follow people, there is an immigration line, get in the line, keep passports forms documents ready. They will ask questions if you brought any food items. Tell them you got flour spices etc. They might ask for offer letter and just go with it. Don't be nervous, its just a process. Then go down, pick your suitcases from belt , take them to security line, again show passport. They will take suitcases and send them to the final conveyor belt. All you have to do is take the train that everyone takes , go to belt , pick up suitcases and head to cabs. There is directions everywhere, just stay calm and you will realize it was all nothing

Everyone is super courteous and friendly. You can ask airport officials and they will be happy to help. Or just ask co passengers. 

4) Fire alarm : We moved in, and just when were about to doze off, fire alarm rang. Go down, follow the stairs and just stand with everyone. There is nothing much you can do here.  

5) Rivet or others : Hmm, rivet has its pros and cons. Since I lived just here, I can tell you its good and homely. But they don't have gym, ac, fast internet. Sometimes I can't even buffer youtube videos here. Otherwise, its got nice rooftop deck with pool table and sitting area along with dog park and amazing views of city with lake and the best of all right next to amazon office. Also housekeeping is done once in 15 days which is pretty cool. They leave vaccum cleaner, mops in house so you can do it yourself too. The only downside is gym ac internet and our apartment faced rehab area so sometimes there were homeless people shouting in the middle of night. If you have a big family, ask for a bigger apartment at time of booking. See your options and decide. Post and dimension apartments are awesome with cool water views and fully functional gym. Ava queen anne has pretty cool gym with mind-blowing ocean view. If you are looking for indian friends, rivet could be the best bet. So weigh in, these friends are going to move in different apartments and your husband could walk or take orca card. I would have loved living in post apartment.  My apartment was 513 in rivet, it was well lit with lots of windows and direct sunlight but homeless and gym situation bothered me a lot.  But then we stayed for 3 months, as you live you kind of get accustomed to everything even if it makes you fatter. 

6) Use mailbox : You can change your address to rivet or any apartment by filling a form and keeping in mailbox. Then you will receive all mails there. This is important for ssn, license and bank documents. When you move to your apartment, change address in usps website. You can ask office people for more details. So get your cosmetics clothes delivered right there in apartment concierge. Keep checking mails for nice restaurant offers, coupons. All apartments have mailboxes. In some of them, they even have screens where you can see if you received any packages.

7) Housekeeping services : Every apartment offers housekeeping. You can ask them for cooker, mixer when they come to clean or you can just ask in office. For rivet, they came once every 2 weeks, they change towels clean up house and if they don't change bedsheets ask in office. We did and it seems they never changed so I just washed sheets. 

8) Trash chute : All apartments have trash chutes. Just find one on your floor and in some time you will be recycling like every seattle person. Trash chutes are like spaces on all floors marked trash, just go around the floor and find yours. Enter and follow directions. Some apartments need a key to operate them, some don't. Rivet needs key and trash chute starts from 3rd floor. 

9) Groceries : Well I asked my friends zillion times and they were just like go qfc or safeway. For your immediate needs, just on the left of rivet there is home deli, you can buy milk egg bread breakfast stuff from there. If you want to stock up, I would suggest safeway online delivery or instacart delivery. QFC is on mercer street, just 10 minutes walk from rivet or queen anne area. Find your nearest qfc safeway on map and walk to it. Safeway signature kitchen 15 grain bread is good. I like vegetables from QFC. Safeway is soooo goood for delivery. Then there is amazon fresh. General grocery bill for two people for 15 days is 150 dollars. You can even try whole foods which is totally organic. On your first order, order dishwashing gel for dishwasher, tissue rolls, paper napkins, salt, sugar, laundry detergent, dish scrub . If you are confused or overwhelmed, go QFC and see for yourself. Grocery therapy never failed. There is bartell drugs too near amazon office. 

10) Salon : As an indian, I need salon appointments every 20 days. For threading, I tried e brow lounge sola salon manita. It was good, the shape was perfect for eyebrows. Make an appointment over yelp and try her. Then there is tons of groupon deals for haircut and color. Search on yelp, make appointments and let maps guide you. Be on time. 

11) Walk : Seattle is perfect for walks. They have south lake union with museum and beautiful scenery for a peaceful tread. Also near queen anne is olympic sculpture park, gosh its perfect. You can run anywhere. Whenever you have to cross road, just find white zebra line, push button and when white walk sign appears, walk. Even if you want to observe people and follow, its cool. Everything takes time. Also,all museums are free first thursday so try them out. 

12) Gym : If you are a gym freak, join 24 hr fitness center near rivet. Or just google and find a good one. 

13) Bank : You can choose banks by taking recommendations from friends already  living here . Ask your company people and you should be sorted. We took first tech bank cards. While you are at it, get your social security number too from the office. Its all there on google. 

14) Phone plan : You can either join someone's phone plan as with more people joining on same line there are few discounts. Otherwise just take your number and go on. For india, they have 15$ plans for unlimited calling. 

15) Shopping : Downtown is good for shopping. Every brand is there. Take a stroll and you will end up with shopping bags. There's target, macy, forever 21, nordstorm, columbia every freaking store is in that area. I wouldn't ever go out, but once I did it was a weekly routine. 

16) Driving license : 911 driving classes are the best. Don't think about the money they will take, just take the classes. My husband had no problem driving around but when he went for test straight ahead, he failed because he was driving little slow somewhere and little fast in some areas. So you got to practice before you take test. Your indian driving license works for an year. Also if you take learners license here, you don't have to carry passport around with you. 

17) Use dishwasher : Use it, stack it up, put the dishwashing capsule or liquid and go for it. In a few days, you will use it like a pro. Its actually soooo cool, who wants to wash dishes when you can just toss them inside a machine that steams them up. Ohh, trust me use it. You can choose any setting, if the dishes are almost clean, use 1 hour option. I am posting few pics to give you the idea.

18) Making food on this new gas : It will take time to adjust to new gas. But you will figure it out. The glass one takes more time to heat up, you have to change settings from hi to lo when you cook chapati. With experience and trying, you will do it. Piece of cake. Gas can be cleaned easily, just wipe it after its cooled down. If you get open coils, put foil inside so it doesn't get messy. Tumeric stains go away easily in 2 days. You can use chopping board as base for keeping chaka belan for chapati which makes it easier to clean. 

19) Use apartment amenities, meet people : If you are in rivet, you will meet so many indians. Talk to them, me and my friends met in lift and then we would meet everyday in pool room. Friends in a new place are always comforting. Even if you are alone, its cool. If I was a bit more of a planner, I could have hosted lunches or festival gatherings in the pool room. On karvachowth, I saw at least 5 couples waiting for chand. 

20) Netflix : All of them netflix hulu showtime offer free first month subscriptions, try them to find out which your favorite one is. You can take one on your credit card, then cancel and take on your husband's and then on new credit card. Or just take subscription. They even have indian channels on yupptv. After sometime, you will be hooked to house hunters and kardashians. 

22) Restaurants : Keep exploring, there is grubhub caviar bitesquad amazon. Everytime you order from someone new, you get coupons. Just make sure you order one hour before. They deliver in one hour or more. When someone calls on phone, just accept and press 9 to let them in for rivet. Seattle eat guide is out there for download too. The portage bay cafe is the best for brunch. Indian places like chutneys, royal palace are all okk. Try and find out. 

23) Cab services : Everyone starts with uber. Download the app and they might have problems accepting cards from india. Enter US pincode. If it doesn't work, take yellow cabs or lyft. Best if you can drive, take zipcar. Amazon offers the option of taking rental car or cab. Even public transport is good here, keep maps and catch buses. You can either use orca card or pay when you enter in bus. If you don't know, just ask bus driver. 

If you have any questions, mail me baghel.archana@gmail.com

You can use towel to keep washed utensils so the counter is not wet.

Moving from India to US : WHAT TO PACK ??

Well, we survived the whole throwing trash game and we are left with what to pack for our US stay. Here is the list of things you should pack with you for the waiting time when shipment comes. which can be around 3 months. We stayed in temporary housing rivet apartment.

1) Clothes : Pack clothes for 15 days, most probably you will get washer dryer in your apartment. There is no need to bring more clothes. For those of you who work, pack 2 pair of nightwear and more office stuff. For those who have to stay in apartment all day, pack like 3 apartment wearable t shirts pajamas and 7 or 8 outerwear. 
If there is a festival in those 3 months, pack traditional wear if you need it. You can always buy more clothes from malls in US. If you are looking for something cheaper, try old navy forever 21 ross. 
You can choose shoes according to weather. I brought just 2 and it worked out fine. If it gets colder, you have to have boots, leg warmers, caps, gloves, socks, jackets. If its thanksgiving or christmas time, you can pick from sales here.  If its summer time, you can bring anything. 

2) Chargers, converter : Bring all mobile chargers you need, all digicam laptop chargers along-with converter thing. You can buy converter in any electrical shop. Buy at least 2 from india.

3) Spices and groceries : List of items I packed for kitchen
                 Kasuri methi
                 All basic spices( turmeric chili corriander)
                 Almonds etc nuts you want
                 Wheat flour at least 3 kgs(till u c indian store)
                 Pickles, Papad
                 Water bottles 2 empty for apartment
                 Tea strainer
                 Chyawanprash
                 Tea
                 Cumin powder, Mango powder, sambhar powder
                 cumin mustard dried badi, asafoetida powder
                 Maggi, Chana masala
                 Favorite biscuits
                 MTR idli mix with microwave idli kit
                 Whatever spices you need on a daily basis
                 General medication with prescription
                 ( Get your health benefits within a month)
                All chapati kit, wooden rolling pin with base
                Probably you will not need chimta, sansi( hindi) 
     
In short, keep the groceries you are going to need for a month.  My friends bought tamarind, coffee filter and rice lentils. Just avoid things that can turn into a plant. We didn't bring rice, lentils. All the supermarkets have lobia, rajma, chana, rice and some dals. If you don't get toor dal, you can try any indian store nearby. If you bring more packets of some specific product, they suspect you are going to sell it and remove everything in airport checking. So keep it minimum. Although there have been people who brought too much stuff and were not stopped but why take chances. Its difficult to get instant veg noodles in beginning. After a while, when you are adjusted to city, you can buy everything. This list is to let you settle you in and not make transformation tough.

4) Laptop : If you are going to get laptop, I would advise putting it in the suitcase. You can carry notebook around in airport. Trust me, you won't like hanging with that weight and bag on your shoulders.

5) Travel size vanity : Preferably buy travel size lotions shampoo conditioner face packs shower gel loofah hair oil. You can buy more when you come here. Obviously, quality is better in US. If you are getting a better deal, feel free to stock up. Same goes for jockey stuff. Keep an eye on body shop or whatever brand you prefer for deals and options. You can even order online and accept when you land here. Bring your razor as it might take time to spot the perfect salon for you. If you want, pack liquid sindoor too and two pairs of slippers.  

6) Bath rugs : I brought 2 thin bath rugs from homecenter. I had no idea they would be so useful here. Bathrooms here are supposed to be dry so bath rugs help a lot. Put one near washbasin and one when you enter washroom. 

7) Ps3 games : My husband packed ps3 in suitcase too. He got games preloaded into it. Ohh, best decision ever. In US, everyone comes home by 6 so to pass time this one was a good option. You will get a tv, just plug it in and you are done. I know shop in chennai that gives games for 100 bucks. 

8) Cooker, idli stand : You might not need cooker since most of the apartments offer rice cooker and mixer grinder here. Just ask for them in reception. It will be better if you pack microwave idli stand. You can make idlis, dhoklas in it. Just mail and confirm if they provide and you can pack accordingly. We packed tawa too. No need to bring any other utensils, you will get everything in apartment. Pack one indian knife and peeler whichever you are comfortable in. We all love our knives. 

Buy mixer grinder if you don't have and bring it by shipment. Get new utensils according to city and apartments there. Some apartments have gas, some have coils, some have glass over coils. I would suggest throwing away all the old unused stuff and get from US. Make sure whatever you buy is microwave safe dishwasher safe and flat bottom. 

9) No cutlery at all : You will be provided with a fully functional kitchen, everything you will need like plates, spoons, bowls, quarter plates, oven trays ladles. Almost all of it. They even gave cutting boards, knives and a starter kit with tea coffee sugar biscuits. All the cooking pans were there. If you want, you can bring 2 small bowls.

10) Refrigerator boxes : Keep a few tupperware storage containers for storing dough, oil, extra flour left after cooking chapati. If you don't want to, just order food through amazon or any other food delivery service and you will get your extra containers. 

11) Lighter : Buy a lighter and pack. You will need it for candles or pooja. If there is a festival in that duration, you can even get all items you will need. Or you can just go to a friend's house to celebrate. I managed with dough diya and internet aarti. Its all in faith. God doesn't care if you put 100 poris or just one as long as you offer yourself unconditionally. Ooh, satyavachan. 

12) Diary, pen : If you are like me, you probably make notes of all events. So yeah pack it. 

13) Masala dabba : This is probably an extension. If you have space, pack it or just 4 small plastic cups from grocery store will work. Also, salt pepper will be provided by apartment authorities. You can pick bigger packs from nearby supermarkets. 

Well, if you have any questions feel free to mail me baghel.archana@gmail.com

Also I have written  3 other detailed articles on moving from India to US. Check them out on blog. Thanks all. 



                 

Moving from INDIA to US : How to plan packing moving?? What to buy, what to do furniture ?

What wife or husband or whoever has time should do ??

1) PAY bills : First of all, you got to clear bills. Now your apartment dues will be settled in end, keep like third last day for it. In most of the apartments, you go downstairs, they tell you the current water bill, electricity bill blah blah and you pay through portal or cheque. Last day for this. 
     If you have a broadband connection, call them 15 days ahead and enquire about the bill payment procedure for when you want to move out. If its the middle of month, normally they want you to call one week ahead, broadband guy comes and takes landline away after a week. So you are never in no wifi zone. 
     For gas reading or submitting cylinder, go when you can to agency and return it. It takes like 15 minutes to return. Just call them in advance, take cylinder and book with you.
     

2) Fix house : If you are renting the apartment, there must be something you have to fix like a light bulb or balcony which is dirty because of the plants. Anything you think that will take up time needs to be finished 2 weeks early. So you have peaceful 2 weeks to just arrange the stuff you want to pack or shop for. 

3) Maid issues : I had the best maid ever and still there were problems in the end. Get her something like a saree or money in the end. Make sure she expects nothing more. My maid wanted a refrigerator so yeah keep them grounded and in service till you leave. 

4) Sort your stuff : Well all those tshirts skirts you have grown out of, leave them for charity. Carry only the stuff thats new or can be worn in house. Why? Because US style is different, clothes are amazing. If you are not wearing those clothes in india, they are just gonna be taking up more space here. Sort it out, one pile goes to be packed with you in flight, another one to be shipped to you after a few months, and the last one is charity. Freely give away. Trust me, you won't miss anything. Do this at least 2 weeks in advance. 

5) Meet friends : Take out time for friends and meet them as much as possible. You are gonna miss this sunshine first few months in any other city. Keep your last days free so you can say bye properly. Get them gifts if you want to. Go for lunches. Enjoy your life there.

6) Bedding pillows : We all have those bedsheets that are never used. They are just there for when washing machine overflows we can use them. Only bring the ones that are new or look new. Don't bring the whole new old bedsheets in shipping. US has better quality linen. So be a charitable person, give it away. If you have used pillows enough, throw them too. But then, if you are going to have in laws coming in, keep them for that room. Again, at least 15 days before so you only use throw away bedsheets and all the new ones can be packed cleanly. 

7)  Selling stuff : Decide what you want to sell when you move, if you have a bike or car you want to sell, start the process like a month before and hand over the stuff when you are comfortable to. Don't leave things for last moment. If you want to send them to your hometown, be in touch with person who's gonna use it. Take the insurance and xeroxes of sale copy, rc copy and you are done. Send it off when packers movers come. If you decide early, it will be convenient to tell packers when they come for inspection. 
8) Tell everyone you got it : Worst case scenario is some one coming over to help you. So unless you trust the person completely, you and your husband make sure you don't get stressed and even if you do get stressed, don't tell it your parents. They will come over, try to help, get to witness fights . Trust me, not cool. Its just a phase, you can do it yourself easily. 

9)Plants : Well, plants are like kids. I know its hard to part, but you have to. So in advance ask friends if they want plants. Or you can give them to gardener or just replant them else where in a park or cemetry. This way, they don't die and you feel happy . Do this at least a month in advance. 

10) Trash out a week before : If you sorted all your clothes, give them away like a week before so you have more space to pack the final clothes. All trash, all selling stuff that you are not probably needing should be out like a week before. 

11) Utensils out or in : In US where we moved, most of the gas is induction based, all i needed was induction range of utensils. I have 75% of the cooking utensils, I have to take back india in installments. So make sure you have the right things to cook. Also cutlery plates are a lot nicer and dishwasher safe here, so if you can, try and buy in US. Don't bring extra utensils like those old steel ones or plates you never used. Send them back home or give it to a homeless. 

12) Buying Furniture:If you want to buy furniture like tv stand, dining table start browsing furniture stores weeks ahead to see what kind of shop fits your needs. Lifestyle has most of the new designs and affordable prices. Order and get it shipped last week. So when you throw all the trash clothes utensils etc , you will have extra storage to keep everything intact in boxes. My friend insisted on opening and checking so they made them assemble furniture and then packed it again. Whatever works for you. We didn't buy any in India, the prices are a little bit higher here but you do get warranty quality where you buy from. Personally, I would have preferred selling all furniture and buying new in US. All the furniture that you get here is easy to pack while heavy furniture is difficult to manage. Most of the people here do their own packing moving so for sure I should have avoided all junk clothes furniture utensils we brought. And top of it, apartments are small so avoid avoid.

13) Shopping for groceries and travelling stuff : Go to a big store like big bazaar or saravana stores and buy packs of spices, almonds, nuts, atta whatever you are going to need on a daily basis. One of my friends was stopped for carrying rice and lentils. Avoid carrying these or anything that could sprout, that could be considered a seed. Buy one wooden rolling pin, wooden base for less weight.Get this all one week ahead. Also buy travel packs of lotions shampoo conditioner hairserum etc. Get a mixer grinder if you dont have. 

14) Jewelry : Carry your favorite things with you, if its expensive preferably in hand baggage. For all the gaudy gold you never touch, leave it with your mother's when you visit them. As much as I have seen, normally delicate jewelry is what people wear here. There have been indian specific robberies here where they specifically went in indian houses looking for gold. Keep them safe.

15) Your EAD : Keep all documents you are going to need to apply for jobs. All your certification that you might need. If you want, take experience certificate from employers. Take 2 by 2 photos and check on this site. Then print and bring with you. You can also get it done here but in india, everything is cheaper and familiar. 

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/photos/photos.html


16) Airplane shopping : Its going to be a long flight. If you have been travelling , you must have all the accessories otherwise buy these. Plane pillow, woollen shrug, comfortable trouser preferably cotton, loose fitting shirt,socks, flat sandals or shoes and noise cancelling headphones. Ohh those monster kids and people pushing seats to maximum limits. Airports are pretty cold, carry like a light jacket with you.

17) Electronics : Well, find out which one has dual voltage option. The ones that don't have, feel free to send them home or sell them. Yeah that includes toaster sandwich maker hair dryer too. 

18) Relax relax : Dont do everything in one day. Distribute work evenly and finish off calmly. There is no need to hurry, just start off early and you won't be running around in the end. Those last 2 days in hotel, utilize them to return to sanity. 









    

Moving From Amazon To US Seattle: What to How to plan packing?

This has been the most stressful transformation ever. I  mean literally I could have gotten a divorce. So my friends yeah it is going to one hell of a exhaustive demanding month when you  move. Then as soon as you are here, emotionally it could be a little wrecking too. So embrace yourself, keep repeating I will get through it , just jump take that leap and hopefully within a few weeks you will be over it.

My husband worked for amazon office in chennai, like every other amazonian we also decided to try out US after 5 years of hot chennai. I loved Chennai, I had friends I could count on, went out for lunches birthdays pubs. In short, it was kinda amazing. Something called a perfect social mental physical tranquility. We lived in one of the posh ceebros societies with gym pool. Trust me, it was pretty awesome what we had there. Relatively, it hurt more when we moved because of all the friends walks gym trainer swimming classes yoga I was leaving behind.

Lets begin the process of shifting. Well, amazon handles it all. You get your visa interview date, go get your visa , then inform them like 1 week ahead as soon as you receive stamped visa. Pretty procedural and works out smoothly.

So what bummed me out so much. I am going to write all of my experience here. Also what you should and should not carry in your suitcases. How to handle reservations, flight tickets, family visits, packing stuff etc etc is gonna be covered.

What your husband should do on his side

1) Sort up office stuff : Well, my husband seriously messed it up. He kept working and there is so many forms to fill, so many formalities to go through with. He just wasn't paying attention. When he did, it was late and I had to work with packers movers all on my own which isn't so bad. Still, its good if you can finish all of those things at least 3 days before packers movers come. They can always resume work when they start in US office. The whole give up laptop thing can be done end day.

2) Sort his stuff : When we move, there are so many clothes husbands never touch. Shirts, trousers, ties, sweaters just sort it all. Here I must tell you though, US has awesome stores and the prices are almost same. There is no need to buy jackets shirts jeans from india. You can always get some for the first few months. But not like for an year. Ask your husband to sort his clothes, make 4 racks, charity stuff, US stuff ( new nice), Dryclean stuff ( jackets sweaters ), Tshirt pyjamas ( wearable ). Feel free to give away more clothes for charity. The shirts you never wear there will probably be just taking up more closet space here. If you are aiming for 1bhk, there is just 2 closets in most of the apartments. Choose wisely. Besides here you will see more plain shirts, black grey tones of clothes. Leave the color check shirts with your mom in law if she insists on saving money. Finish this 2 weeks early before packing.

3) Don't call parents : Well, it gets kind of emotional for parents specially guy's parents. They want to come and help them out with moving. Its the worst idea ever, number one reason you can't really exercise free will at throwing stuff. Secondly, u will fight more while packing and then it won't be cool if there is an audience to witness the sheer fights. Thirdly, no one can really help anyone with their packing. Its your stuff, you know what you want. That goes for guests too, no guests who want to stay in house for a month. It messes up the schedule if someone wants to stay in your house, book a hotel for them. It would be the best money you ever invested in peace.

4) Follow all indian govt rules : It sounds absurd, but yeah do follow all rules. Wear helmet, seat belt and don't break any rules your last days. We got caught without helmet like half km away from home and what followed was frustrating. They took away the driving license, said we will set up court date. In short , stay away from trouble n police.

5) EAD for your job :  For EAD, you are going to need 2 by 2 passport photos with white background. In India, its way easier to get them done. In US, it will take a little time to get used to getting all these services. So just get these photos from there. As soon as you land, fill up the form and you can start interviews. Even if you don't want to work, its always good to have the option. 

6) Documents sorting : There is a list of documents that you need to keep with you all times when you travel. Buy 3 folders, keep most important documents like passports, tickets, forms, amazon joining letter, marriage certificate in English, birth certificate in English, hotel or company provided accommodation booking on top. In second folder, you can keep all the educational qualification documents of you, in third folder keep everything that is your wife's. All done and sorted. Whatever is not required, keep in international shipment in a suitcase or folder. 

7) Accommodation booking : As soon as you get visa, you can ask company to book tickets, your temporary housing and fix packer mover date. While booking tickets, its always better to choose flight that takes 10 hr 10 hr break. Emirates has uncomfortable leg space seats and too long flight. For temporary housing, if you need AC or gym, tell the associate you need it need it. We got aboda rivet which is okk for location but we wanted gym and air conditioning as when we came, it was really hot here in September.  They have dimension, alto, post, ava apartments and loads of more. Insist on your needs. Also if you have a family of kids, tell them you are going to need more space. Don't take 513 apartment or any on this side, there is homeless people shouting swearing in middle of night. Also, their internet speed sucks. The only positive thing about rivet is its full of indians you can be friends with.
Dimension, post,ava, alto are pretty awesome with water view and gym.
  
When packer mover comes before for estimate, make a list of all the house items you want to send home and others you want to send abroad in ship. Tick off as you tell them everything. We told them we wanted to send air conditioner to hometown and they kept complaining we never told their agent. Thanks to the list we made, we weren't confused. Always ask for extra boxes. 

8) Hotel booking : Well, the worst mistake we did was trying to run off as soon as we packed. You are gonna be exhausted when you are done with everything. Take your time in hotel, relax in pool, order room service. Then catch your flight after 2 days of peace and tranquility. Again, no guests no dinner no friend house stays just hotel and alone time. 


In my next post I will add

What wife should do?

What to pack for US?

What to do when you land in seattle?

Where to look for apartments?