Things are settling down and home life is beginning to have
its natural rhythm again. I remember Bits’ first question when we woke up to
our first morning in Malaysia. “What’s for breakfast?” And I had no idea how to
begin.
The past weeks were spent searching for sources of food that
we liked, familiarizing ourselves with the Condo and their rules, finding items
that we needed and systems that could help us communicate with the rest of the
world. I must say it was very easy to feel right at home. It may all be foreign
but they are all very convenient. It’s
been a very fruitful three weeks!
There are two train stations near us: PWTC and the KTM Commuter. The one we could see from our window is the
KTM Commuter. Ozzy and I have watched lines of gasoline tanks, cargo, crates of
construction materials, soot covered old trains, and shiny new white trains all
buzzing by everyday. We love it. Ozzy has named a few of the trains already.
Silly names that I can’t remember to pronounce myself.
The condo unit itself is just one big room. Although I miss
having a complete kitchen that had almost everything, I am making do and still
cooking good food for the husband. I think this proves that I’m a better cook
now than I’ve ever been. (Welcome to the one pan challenge! Haha!) We don’t
plan to put together a full kitchen while we stay here. It’s a lesson learned
from several moves. Only have what you need.
We won’t be hiring cleaners and so cleaning duty is all on
me. I like cleaning. It’s physical and Obsessive Compulsive work. It makes me
feel in control of my environment and be as OC as I please! The floor is easy
to clean, the bath is not so difficult to maintain, and laundry is sent out. I
don’t iron. My everyday chores consist of cooking, doing the dishes, making the
bed, and sweeping. Not really very demanding stuff.We are on a very high floor
and so pollution doesn’t get to us as much. The place stays cleaner longer.
Ozzy too. Today I asked him to take a bath and he protested “but I’m not dirty
yet!” Although, it’s funny how we have
fruit flies and much to my surprise mosquitoes this high up. I’m still figuring
out what to do with them I like it that we live out here on our own. And although the bathroom door fronts the
floor to ceiling glass window, I must admit I am loving this kind of privacy. We
meet people of different nationalities in the elevator. It’s a very
“international community” in here, but everyone seems to be going about their
own way. And we, ours. Precious.
The next door neighbour sometimes drop heavy things on their
floor (weights? a pulldown bed? a big heavy door? I dunno). Construction is
happening in another unit so you could just imagine the hammering and the
drilling during the day. (Not too bothersome though. I think I’ve been hearing
the hammering less and less. Hopefully they are almost done.) We could hear the
vehicles from the street and the trains passing by.Yesterday, I could hear a motorist
shouting at a driver of a van in the middle of the highway. And we were on the
24th floor! We could also hear the elevator chime when someone comes
off and I could tell when people are coming home at the end of the day. This
place is alive 24/7, but these everyday noises make us feel right at home.
There was a fire alarm that went off the other day. Ozzy and
I got to the stairwell and started going down. I realized how far up we were as
I was panting and Ozzy kept begging to ride the elevator. Haha, at some point
we did take the elevator. We were told
that somebody had been smoking. My leg muscles hurt the next day. Smoking and
Rowdy behaviour are among the things that are not allowed in the Condo. And so I’m careful not to burn anything in
the oven or have Ozzy screaming too loudly at the pool area. Heaven knows
there’s no volume control on that boy when he’s having fun!.
