My Asian Adventure - Part Two, My New Home
We arrived at the airport around midnight on Friday and Eric came to pick us up. It was awesome to see his smiling face and get big hugz, I know he’s been really homesick since his other peeps left. He put me in the back seat of the taxi which, as it turned out, was for my protection. You would absolutely NOT believe how people drive here! The lines on the roads are mere suggestions and they are not afraid to get within inches of other vehicles. The strangest thing is that I’ve been here for several days now, have only seen one wreck, and most of the cars are not dented or scratched up. It must be some sort of magic or something! Really, though, no one talks on the phone or texts while driving, so it’s prolly much safer than back home.
He took us back to the house and, wow, nothing could have really prepared me for the magnitude of it. It’s a three-story with the third story being a rooftop deck with the most *amazing* view of the island. The stairs to the deck are scary because they are huge for no apparent reason and I wonder, if *I* struggle with it, what must it be like for the locals? At least I have the go-go-gadget legs to make the climb. LOL! The second story is Eric’s room and the living area with the tv. Eric has a jetted garden tub in his bathroom and totally gets to win. The ground floor is another living area, dining room and kitchen and the staircase is a sweeping arc...gorgeous. There’s a New Orleans style courtyard but with super cool tropical plants. Can you believe they cut the grass with shears here? I didn't believe it until I saw it. Lil Bro and I each have rooms that don’t actually connect to the main house, but instead have exterior doors onto a tiled hallway that surrounds the courtyard. Our bathroom is the connecting room between our two rooms. On the other side of the courtyard is the servant’s quarters, but we opted out on care and feeding another human, so I haven’t even been in there yet. I understand it has a private bathroom tho, which will be awesome to use when people come visit!
Our neighborhood is one of the upscale guarded kind, which makes me feel safe but giggle at the same time. Since when did I travel to an alternate universe where I can afford to live like this? LOL! Speaking of that, the area is the strangest mix of poverty and luxury. There are tin-roofed shacks right next to brand new construction. Oh, and because of the humidity and bug population the buildings are made of concrete. They make it by hand with dirt and water which looks like a megaton of work but it’s impressive what all they can do with it. Truly there are some beautiful homes here that I will get pics of and post.
As classy as our house is, it’s strange how connected to nature we still are, even indoors. The bedrooms are the only climate-controlled areas so we keep the windows open in the common areas. We do have screens, but it’s not sealed by any stretch of the imagination, so the ants and spiders and geckos just come and go as they please. We keep all our food in sealed containers or the fridge, which is fine, just an adjustment. Speaking of geckos, OMFG, they are adorable and *huge* out here. They make this crazy noise that wakes me up sometimes at night and I’m told the locals play the “he loves me, he loves me not” game with their calls. I pretend that this is some sort of pimp camping trip and my brain accepts the rationalization just fine. ;-)
I think that’s about all the energy I have to write for now because I’m still adjusting to the time change and already working on top of that. I’ll do my best to write more very soon. :)
He took us back to the house and, wow, nothing could have really prepared me for the magnitude of it. It’s a three-story with the third story being a rooftop deck with the most *amazing* view of the island. The stairs to the deck are scary because they are huge for no apparent reason and I wonder, if *I* struggle with it, what must it be like for the locals? At least I have the go-go-gadget legs to make the climb. LOL! The second story is Eric’s room and the living area with the tv. Eric has a jetted garden tub in his bathroom and totally gets to win. The ground floor is another living area, dining room and kitchen and the staircase is a sweeping arc...gorgeous. There’s a New Orleans style courtyard but with super cool tropical plants. Can you believe they cut the grass with shears here? I didn't believe it until I saw it. Lil Bro and I each have rooms that don’t actually connect to the main house, but instead have exterior doors onto a tiled hallway that surrounds the courtyard. Our bathroom is the connecting room between our two rooms. On the other side of the courtyard is the servant’s quarters, but we opted out on care and feeding another human, so I haven’t even been in there yet. I understand it has a private bathroom tho, which will be awesome to use when people come visit!
Our neighborhood is one of the upscale guarded kind, which makes me feel safe but giggle at the same time. Since when did I travel to an alternate universe where I can afford to live like this? LOL! Speaking of that, the area is the strangest mix of poverty and luxury. There are tin-roofed shacks right next to brand new construction. Oh, and because of the humidity and bug population the buildings are made of concrete. They make it by hand with dirt and water which looks like a megaton of work but it’s impressive what all they can do with it. Truly there are some beautiful homes here that I will get pics of and post.
As classy as our house is, it’s strange how connected to nature we still are, even indoors. The bedrooms are the only climate-controlled areas so we keep the windows open in the common areas. We do have screens, but it’s not sealed by any stretch of the imagination, so the ants and spiders and geckos just come and go as they please. We keep all our food in sealed containers or the fridge, which is fine, just an adjustment. Speaking of geckos, OMFG, they are adorable and *huge* out here. They make this crazy noise that wakes me up sometimes at night and I’m told the locals play the “he loves me, he loves me not” game with their calls. I pretend that this is some sort of pimp camping trip and my brain accepts the rationalization just fine. ;-)
I think that’s about all the energy I have to write for now because I’m still adjusting to the time change and already working on top of that. I’ll do my best to write more very soon. :)
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