Musings from Singapore: meow's it going?

My apartment building has a family of cats living in the courtyard/lobby. the cats are multi-colored (black, white, tan, calico) but all seem to be part of the same family. They play well together and share the dwelling space with no quabbles. They're lovely.

Someone in the building feeds them: they gather around the building manager's office around dinner time and wait to be fed. I'm not sure who feeds them, but there is a bowl that appears from time to time, with food in it and the cats eat. Then they nap. The scatter around the courtyard, on the ground, on the furniture, on the sculptures, etc. 

There are a couple of cats I like more than the others. (Yes, I have a favorite stray cat). There's one with an eye injury. I'm not sure if it's from a fight or just some weird infection or a scratch or...but his right eye is hurt. But despite the injured eye, he's the most adventurous of the cats. Sometimes I see him roaming around the pool or hanging out in the stairwell. And after dinner, when the other cats are licking themselves in the parking lot, this cat likes to curl up on the narrow table just opposite the elevator.

Sometimes (when he's not in a post-dinner snooze), he's roaming around and will say hi. One night, as I was coming home from work, he greeted me in the courtyard and walked me to the elevator. The doors opened, I entered the elevator....and so did the cat. He walked in, then turned around and faced the doors and sat there, facing the doors for the duration of the ride. He didnt look at me or talk to me...just the doors. Just like humans do in an elevator. We reached my floor, the doors opened and he walked out of the elevator and off to the left. With a purpose. Like he had somewhere to be. I got out of the elevator, turned right to go to my apartment and bid him goodnight.


I'm not sure how he got back down (I live on the 7th floor) but the next morning, when I walked out to go to work, he was lounging in the courtyard.

The rest of the cats kinda bug me. And there are more now than there used to be. Some of them look gross. And mean. But this one, I like.*


Maybe being alone in a foreign country makes me more interested in the company of stray cats. Or maybe I just feel bad for a stray cat with a hurt eye. Or maybe the heat has finally gotten to me. But I have made friends with the stray cats that live in the courtyard of my apartment building.

I keep telling The Tad and Rosie that if they want a cat, I'll bring one back for them. So far, no takers on the offer. But I'm here til March. Let me know.

*I dont like him enough to invite him in to my apartment or even touch him or anything. But I do speak when I pass him in the courtyard. I say hello. He nods at me or meows back. It's casual, but pleasant.

Musings from Singapore: my home away from home

The entry gate to my building,
guarded by some statues.

The sculptures.

While living in Singapore, I'm staying in a serviced apartment building. I have a key card and enter a gate downstairs, proceed through the "lobby" to the elevator and then my apartment.





By lobby, I mean the open air entry way on the first floor, which doubles as a parking lot that only ever has one car in it. It's a burgundy Jaguar that never moves. There are also wicker couches and chairs (that I rarely see people sit in) and lots of sculptures. Now, the sculptures are interesting. Basically there is yard art depicting the entirety of the Kama Sutra in all its graphic detail. There's also a sculpture of a mama pig nursing her piglets. And a bunch of Buddhas. It's very...uh....different.

In the entry hallway, there is this
lovely piece of furniture.
At my apt in Seattle, I have
a similar piece of furniture in the
entry: it's a wine rack.
After realizing that wine does
not fit in this thing
I was very confused
 about its purpose.

I came home one day and the cleaning lady had
put all my shoes in the
shelves of the
little cabinet.
 It's a shoe closet!

My apartment is kinda like a very large hotel room or small condo. It's nice though: has a couch and cable tv, air conditioning in the bedroom AND living room (none of the apartments here have central AC. It's all wall mounted units in the rooms.) 

The living room. The TV is lovely.

The living room. The couch is quite comfy.

My closet. As you can see, there is
 plenty of room for the suitcase worth
 of clothing I have here. As well as the
 pile of bags and beer t-shirts I
acquired in Cambodia.

My bed, with the monogrammed
towels they deliver to me twice a week.
The odd thing: the lamp that came with the
apartment has a plug that doesnot
fit the outlet and also doesn't fit my
outlet adapter. I'm just not real sure
what that's about.

The kitchen is tiny: just a microwave, a hot plate and a mini fridge (the size of the one I had in my dorm room in college), but it comes with sheets and towels and plates and glasses and silverware, so that's good.

My kitchen. Srsly.

My fridge. Srsly.
I have to grocery shop 2-3 times a week
because my fridge cant hold a whole
week's worth of food.

But the real highlight: it comes with a maid! Twice a week (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) the cleaning lady comes to my apartment and cleans. She gives me fresh sheets and towels, she scrubs my bathroom and (this is my favorite) she WASHES MY DISHES! 

The light switch is on the OUTSIDE
of the bathroom door. Every other room has light 
switches on the
inside, but not the bathroom. 
If I were a mischievous kid in
Singapore, I would prank my family
 often with this. 
#justsaying
The other thing on the wall outside the
 bathroom is the water heater power switch. 
Rather than run the water heater 24/7, 
you only turn it on when you want it. 
Energy efficient, la.

My shower. Note the glass
wall and door.
This is an enclosed shower.
This is
not common in Singapore.

The rest of the bathroom. Pretty
basic. Except that the
modern square sink shape is lovely,
but not that effective: the faucet barely
hangs over the lip of the sink
so water runs down the back of the
sink and all over
the counter.

This Jaguar is always there. I've never seen it come
or go. I've never seen anyone get in or out of it.
I frequently see the cats napping on it.

The laundry room, in the "lobby". It's free to wash
clothes, but $5 to use the dryer.

My building has a pool. It's small, but lovely. The
chairs that surround it are comfy, but they're
more for sitting than lounging and tanning.

The pool is actually suspended above the "lobby"
and parking lot. You access the pool via walkways
off the 2nd floor and stairwell. Walking to the elevator
or stairs from the entry gate, I walk under the pool.