Reflections on Condo Living

Home Sweet Home

I’ve always been a “village” person.  For all my life I’ve lived in my parent’s house in a nice middle-class suburban (a nice way of putting it to mean that we’re a bit far from “civilization”) subdivision.  There was a year where I decided to be “independent” and lived in a 5-story apartment in the Katipunan area but that was just barely a year.  Hubby was the same except for a year when he got assigned to Indonesia.

On the other hand, my bestfriend, TheDiploWife once mentioned that she and her hubby are “condo” people.  They’ve lived in flats / condominium units most of their lives and just couldn’t imagine any other way to live.  Moving to Sri Lanka, my hubby and I became condo-dwellers.  It was a different kind of experience with some ups and downs:

The Ups:

• It was just right cozy place for us.  Living in a house would be too big for two.  Even with baby on board, our unit is just right.
• It’s awesome to have a balcony with a view.  It’s not exactly the view of the Eiffel Tower but a nice view of Colombo nonetheless.  We don’t normally hang out there (except for the laundry to dry, pardon the pun) but during my pensive moments, it’s a nice place to stare out and reflect.
• The breeze is awesome – thank you to the Bernoulli’s principle and some open shafts in our building.  When we’re lucky it also serves as a natural exhaust especially when we’re cooking. 

The Downs:

• Do you really hear your upstairs neighbour moving their furnitures, heavy footsteps and drilling in the middle of the night?  I thought our place looked “shoshall” – looks are deceiving and in terms of building construction materials, it’s not quite so “shoshall” after all. 
• Is it about renting (rather than owning the place or even about condo dwelling) but if something breaks down with the fixtures, you have to replace it.  Of course you don’t know where to get the damn thing.  Good thing driver is what you would call, ma-abilidad (he would find a way to get it fixed). 
• It’s been more than a month and our building complaints have not yet been answered – no action on the complaints itself (eg. there are stray dogs in the compound, no speed limit and no exhaust in the elevator – imagine when the person who just rode it has bad BO... good Lord!) or even a written reply.  Where my parents live, my mom would just call the guardhouse and wala! her complaints have been acted upon.  Talk about excellent customer service.

At the end of the day I’m pretty sure either way there will be ups and downs.  I mean back at my parents’ house we would complain of a neighbour who would scold her child like there was no tomorrow – toxic!  My mom was this close to calling Bantay Bata (like a child patrol).  At least here, it’s just the furnitures making noise.  A bit creepy at 12mn though.  If I had a choice and looking at our growing family, I would still pick village living any time of the day.  But as with condo living, you really have to choose your neighbourhood right.  Are the neighbours psychologically sane?  Haha!  Just kidding.  But does the neighbourhood have win-win rules and regulation for a tranquil existence?  Do they provide excellent customer service?  Security!  What are the amenities provided?  In the greater scheme of things, what I really want is my home to be a respite from the crazy world I’ve been facing all day.  Not an extension of it.  But at the end of the day, that is really utterly determined by the people who live in it.  And where I am right now, it is just perfect.      

Room With A View

One of the things I am thankful for living in Colombo is the view.  It is my first time to live in a high rise (well there was one crazy year of independence but I was only on the 3^rd floor and the whole apartment building was only upto the 5^th so that doesn’t count).  I was somehow aversed to it because I’ve always loved the village life.  Having your house planted on the ground (my mom never feels the earthquakes when I would experience them in the office or somewhere higher) gives you a sense of security and safety.  Our neighborhood in F1 had very nice paved roads and an awesome security system so running at 4am won’t give you the creeps.  When my husband and I lived in their home in an Antipolo village, it was also a treat.  Like coming home to a vacation house because of the lush foliage and the cool air.  So condo living really doesn’t appeal to me at all.  Always a village girl I would say!

But in Colombo we live in one.  Of course I was hoping for a house but with just the 2 of us and the Managing Director post still 2 big steps away from where my husband is, it’s a stretch!  But I’m not complaining.  It’s a new development and a spacious 2+1.  It was the best my husband saw and thank God it fit the budget!  But one of the best parts to it is that every morning when I bid my husband goodbye at our door, we take in an awesome view of the city and the Indian Ocean.  Not to mention getting quite a good breeze too!  

I’ve never had this leaving home for work.  Usually in F1 and Antipolo I would be greeted by the friendly neighbors, from babies to oldies.  Which was awesome in itself but the view from this height gives you something else.  Since we’re like the only one on our floor (for now), it’s the serenity of an empty floor.  But if you look farther out, on a good day, you get a nice view of the sun touching the roofs and trees of Colombo.  White puffy clouds amidst the most glorious blue I’ve ever seen.  And into the horizon, the Indian Ocean. 

If you see such beauty everyday, I don’t know how you could feel discontent.  This everyday experience is a reminder for me that I have such a blessed life.  That in as much as there are big chunks of the puzzle missing, the picture is nonetheless beautiful in its incompleteness.

And that’s livin’ la vida Lanka!