My Apartment

My apartment

Looking out the back door

I have spent my first night in my apartment.  The place is a 3-bedroom 7th floor apartment. It has many of the conveniences of home, including a fridge, a washing machine, an iron and an ironing board, a 2-burner butane stove, and a small sink.  No internet, except via my new phone, which cuts out more often than not.

The water situation is a bit more iffy.  Cold water only, which is hardly an issue in temperatures that vary between 25 C early in the morning and 33/35 C during the day.  The system is semi-automatic There is a small cistern to store water and provide water pressure.  Then there is a pump that fills the cistern, but overfilling the cistern leads to flooding in the kitchen.  Turning on the pump requires  a keen ear for gurgling sounds in the kitchen and rapid response with the pump switch.

The building  has an elevator, which is giving me some anxiety in view of frequent power outages. Getting stuck in a small elevator in 35C heat is not my idea of fun.  I think I'll climb the stairs more often than not.

My room is tiny, barely larger than the queen-sized bed.  But it has an air-conditioner, which makes the nights comfortable.  Again some anxiety about the power cutting out, but so far so good.  All in all, my living quarters are of a much higher quality than expected.

Unexpected is the noise of the neighbourhood.  I spent most of the night listening to honking cares and howling dogs. The taxi noise dies out after, say, one in the morning.  But there are always one or two dogs yapping and periodically there must be fifty that howl in unison. My room mate Floristan speaks of a recent religious festival at a pagoda across the street from us that included mighty drumming till after midnight. It will take some getting used.  Plus earplugs, which miraculously appeared in my travel bag. I think a left over from a flight in northern Manitoba where they were issued instead of inflight beverages.

Also unexpected is the view from my kitchen window:  Shwedagon Pagoda