Came and saw the apartment again, went shopping. And shopping. And shopping. I never thought I'd groan at the words shopping. I have literally shopped till I dropped!
We looked at and picked out all the furniture we wanted when I was here in December. I thought we had it all taken care of. The couch we looked at was gone - discontinued. So we picked out another one and two recliner/rocker/swivel chairs, all in a pretty soft leather, same as the couch. Won't be delivered until March 31st. Got end tables- 2, won't be delivered until March 31st. Coffee table, long credenza for the tv - won't be delivered until March 31st. Beatiful round teak dining table with 6 chairs, a big stand up pier mirror and some odds and ends. That part has been delivered. So we're living in lawn chairs until we get furniture!
Got a really neat couch/bed, computer tables and a rug - maybe - for the study. Actually may have Basil talked into a burgundy rug or deep turquoise blue one for the study - amazing !!! not chocolate brown.
For those of you who have not heard about Basil and the chocolate brown - let me tell you a little story about my husband. He gets to move into the apartment the first week in February. Yea - no more hotel. I told him to go buy the beds we picked out. Nice king size for our bedroom, nice queen for the guest room. I picked out padded headboards with a micro-suede covering, one in buttery soft yellow, the other in a soft lemon yellow. You know, warm tropical climate - silly me - I thought I'd decorate in warm, tropical colors. He calls - got the beds, just like we planned. Good - how's the color of the headboards look? Great - this chocolate brown won't show anything. Chocolate brown? We did not discuss, nor did we pick out, chocolate brown. Oh, he says. Sheets for both beds? Got them. Color? Chocolate brown. The man didn't even hesitate when he said it. My head begins spinning just a little. Towels for both bathrooms - get the ones we looked at? Absolutely, he says very confidently, along with hand towels and washcloths, very thick and plush. I dread asking the question - color? Not quite as sure of himself this time, he says almost sheepishly - light brown and chcoclate brown. Now, I've got a headache. Oh, he says - I bought two comforters and the pillow shams. They're really pretty. He actually almost hesitates this time. Oh, he says, they're chcocolate brown. Now I'm looking to see if Candid Camera is somewhere around. I'm waiting for the punch line. 2 coffee cups, 2 plates, 2 lawn chairs and a little table to put his coffee on - all brown. I've got to hang up now. Two days later he calls to tell me he has bought 2 fans - upright, nice things we looked at before - they look like tall, slender speakers. Color? Proudly he says, beige - not chocolate brown. Very smug, very confident. I'd had it up to here. Quit buying shades of brown, I tell him, let's do a little color. Next day he calls again. I bought two more fans, same type he says. And I bought blue and silver, he says, very happy with himself. Why blue and silver, I ask. Well, he says, seems like you were getting tired of chocolate brown! I swear. It was like a long - very long - unfolding joke! I am now in the process of trying to determine if I can decorate around chocolate brown!! We'll see. Guess what you may see if you come to visit? Unless you're lucky enough to get the room with the blue and silver fan!!!!!
It's such a strange feeling to buy everything new. You go to look for something you need at that moment and realize, you have to go out and buy it! It started out as kind of fun - now I'm ready to just sit by the pool and read my book!
The aparttment we "secured" is on the 24th floor of the building. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and the usual living room, dining kitchen, laundry room. There is also a large balcony off the master bedroom where we can see the city and a small balcony off the living room that looks out on the bay with all the ships moored waiting their turn to be loaded or unloaded, as the case may be. Hong Kong and Singapore rival each other to see who can process themost cargo during the year. They trade the title back and forth. There must be at least 300 ships out there right this minute and when I get up tomorrow there will be that many again, but different ones. We've been looking with the binoculars to see if we can tell the nationality of them. There is a major roadway below us and with the windows open you get the road noise even up here. With the windows closed you don't hear it, but I'm already learning to tune it out, so I must be getting used to it.
The laundry room area is a bit different. It has a door to the outside hall so you can come in through this area with your groceries, etc if you want. You enter like a large hallway. Just off this there is a room, not huge, that holds the washer, dryer and some shelves. There is also room for a single bed, which comes with many apartments. Just outside this room in the hallway like area where the door enters from the outside is a large set of windows. This is where a lot of your laundry is hung to dry. The breeze comes through here nicely, so the clothes dry well. The washers and dryers you get here mostly are small apartment size ones and
people hang a lot of laundry to dry. Next along the hallway is a bathroom - not much bigger than ones you find on an airplane. Sink, toilet and a showerhead. The whole bathroom is the shower. Then there is a door that separates this area from the rest of the apartment. In some apartments, instead of being totally enclosed as ours is, this area is sometimes an open air balcony with only a little shielding from the rain. This area - enclosed or open - is known as the maid's quarters. If you have a full time maid - which many here do - this is where they live. Many times they are employed 24/7 to cook, clean, take the kids to the pool, walk the kids to the nursery school, or to the playground. It is an unbelievable existance for them. I don't know how they do it.
When we were walking around our end of town today, we found a Pizza Hut that delivers. We had seen a Pizza Hut before downtown, but they did not deliver. This one does. All these little motorized scooter bikes - about 30 of them - eqipped with those pouches they use to keep the pizza hot!! Looks like they can stack about 10 pizzas in their pouch at a time. Next door is a Mac Donald's that advertises that they deliver and they had a whole bunch of the scooters, too. I've never seen a Big Mac or Chicken Nuggets on the go literally!
My Internet or VoIP phone should be arriving soon. When I get it hooked up and working, I will let everyone know how to reach us by phone and snail mail also. I'll also include a time schedule so you'll know what time it is where you are versus what time it is where I am.
Basil has his first actual flight Tuesday - he's off to Tokyo, lays over there and back again. He's very excited! More about that next time!
Keep in touch!
Oh, and yes Heather - even though I'm 14 hours in the future for you - Bush is still the President!
