in the swim : Condo Living As I See It

Hi again

Where do you live. I don't mean where on the street do you live. I mean in what type of house. Bungalow? You must be rich. Or in a terrace house just like most of us ordinary people do.

My visit to a home in a condominium complex got me thinking. Not thinking of buying because no way I can buy one. Just one wishful thinking that if I could afford one how convenient it would be because of the amenities or the facillities available to you when owning a unit . What I like most is that the swimming pool is just so near you. So convenient without having to drive out you can go swim everyday.

The unit that I visited is nice with ample space and the plan is well thought out and practical. The combined living and dining is not cramped.The master bedroom room is quite big and the other three rooms are reasonable in size. The important part of the house, the kitchen is ok so does the laundry area. The bathrooms are quite roomy. It also has a balcony. You can set up small indoor garden there to make the unit more homey.

Since everything is within one floor it is therefore good for there is no need to do the climbing, you know what I mean. The disadvantage is there is no upstairs for you to hide the mess and untidiness when sometimes you need to hehe.

Cleaning house won't be such a hassle. The ceilings are quite low so are the windows unlike my old terrace house where cleaning away the cobweb and the lizard droppings is such a struggle-too high to get sucked by the vacuum cleaner. I think all the pests, flies cockroaches and ants shouldn't be a bother in the condo apartment especially if the unit is at the upper floor.

Unless you are very rich and can afford a duplex, there is no stairway which you hate to vacuum. Save you from dragging that machine up and down.

Another advantage of condo living is you don't have to bother tidying and cleaning outside the house. It has no compound to be maintained. No grass to cut no trees to prune, no smelly cat poos to wash or to bury away. The area outside the house is not your duty to maintain. Your concern is only within your own four walls.

The not so convenient is you have to pay the maintainance fee, the bigger your unit the higher the fee.

Security is one more good point. Unless your terrace house is in a gated community then you score the same point. Mine, no. So I see this aspect of condo living is a plus.

So all in all living in codominium is good, modern, clean (only when new?) yet simple. Not only it suits the lifestyles of the young but also suitable for retirees, may be. I don't say its really good because I don't experience living in one. I am just thinking aloud and my opinion is formed from my visit and talking with the occupants.

The occupant busy with cake cutting

Oh ya there is one thing I don't like. In this particular place you only get two car parking spots. For you and wife. You need to buy one more plot which is not cheap . . . you need one more of course for your father or mother or sister who would come over to stay a few days with you.

(But then if I am the one staying there I don't need more than one car. I don't have to own a car. There are the LRT, MRT the buses the taxis, uber, grab car the paid motor bike ride . . .forget the name. . .etc)

Of course they have visitor car parks but you cannot park there for more than a certain hours. You have to keep checking if your time is up ( not sure whether you can renew the the permit to continue parking there). The security fellow is ever ready to clamp your car if you over extend your stay. How unfriendly.

And one more thing, the unit I visited is on the ground floor so everything seems easy. No need to take the lift. If on the upper floor you have the incovenience of waiting at the lift door. Imagine if the lift breaks down. True, there is more than one but still if you are in a hurry are you going to run down the stairs? If you are old like me then how. If things go wrong you might feel like living in a cage right or not.

Aahhh . . .I am wasting my time thinking about this. I am satistied with my present living arrangement. I am living in a small town it takes me only a short drive to shops supermarkets wet market and whatnot.

What else do I want, the pool I frequent is so nearby. So is the tennis court that have seen me play for don't know how many years.

And the biggest "pool" of all just a half kilometre away ha ha.

All I need to do is make my home more geriatric friendly like upgrading the bathroom floor. This is one place where home accident can happen especially to old people who by nature is slow and clumsy. So get ready before I come to that stage.

Anti slip tiles for the bathroom floor

In the end where we choose to live is not only depended on what we want and what we like. Suitability and affordability come into play. Cut the coat to suit the cloth, we adapt to our circumstances.