The month flew by quickly, and I experienced initial chills at around 13 degrees Celsius as summer approached, was great weather to me. On my first day at work, it took me about an hour from Fulham and I was warmly greeted by my hiring manager, a great guy who was an ex-marine. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with. Settling into my new role was surprisingly not as easy as I had hoped. I had to adjust to the new work style, my new boss, and my colleagues. However, I enjoyed the social times with them, which helped me get into the team.

Outside of work, my main focus was on finding a long-term house rental. My temporary accommodation was only for a month, and rental prices in London were quite high. I was prepared to live further away, but I personally didn’t want to live in the city. I had lived in the city before, and I found it too noisy and crowded. I prefer the English countryside, which is quieter and more peaceful. I arranged many viewings across the month and even took my manager on a tour of Kingston. I fell in love with the place. It had a good mix of country, big town, riverside, and a huge park with wild deer.

Eventually, I found a cosy little two-bedroom place in Kingston. It was the initial viewing that I missed when I arrived, but it was still available. I’m glad it was just meant to be. The house was situated right behind the train station, which made it easy to get to, especially during the dark winter days.

In my first month, I enjoyed the scenery, culture, and definitely cheap drinks. I had way too much for one month! I had never gone drinking from 5 pm to 9 pm without a meal before. I must admit, it’s not a great habit to keep up, but it definitely made the first month a lot more fun. My favourite food was fish and fish and chips was a thing I was doing at almost every pub.

Anyway, I eventually dragged my bags across town from Fulham to Kingston and settled in with a dining table and mattress. I still didn’t have beds yet because I was about to fly back to Malaysia on a very expensive economy class ticket due to the short notice and the summer season.