A new home
I finally have an apartment here. Actually, I'm finally telling you about the apartment that I've had here for two months. It's a one bedroom flat on the eighth floor of a gorgeous building in Malabar Hill. The place itself feels like a huge empty canvas (that's still pretty empty...). The floor is white marble. The walls are white. The ceilings are tall and the windows are almost floor to ceiling! The most personality I've injected into the place so far is a dark wood chocolate coffee table and bright red placemats. Yes, there's other furniture but nothing else that's really me...
The view is what sold me on the place. From the windows you can see buildings, streets, beach, a grassy park, and the Arabian Sea I couldn't ask for more. I am slowly getting back into my morning-person ways, and that, coupled with the fact that its winter and the sun comes late, means that I can enjoy a seriously beautiful sunrise right from my bed.
I've slowly set up the place, which in Mumbai means buying everything from a sofa to a fridge. Yes, a fridge! The built-in kitchen (where your stove, oven, etc is integrated with the wall) is not a concept that's taken off in India yet. I saw an ad for such a kitchen in a magazine recently but could tell from the wording of the add that built-in cabinets and fixtures isn't common. The stove I have sits on top of the counter and is connected to a gas cylinder that's also removable. I could literally set up the stove in the bedroom if I wanted :)
I found a great resource to rent some furniture for a few months. Probably a place I should blog about all on its own... it was like candyland for me. Yards and yards of beautiful, old wood furniture. I rented a bed, some wardrobes, and a dining set. Everything is ebony or teak and much better quality than any furniture I've seen for sale. Imagine dovetail joinery, and solid wood inners. It's beautiful.
I need to have some more of "me" to my place. I can't wait to have photos and bedding from home. And I can't wait for my mom to come and add a mom's touch. The place seriously needs that.
The best part of this apartment is its location. The view and building aside, I'm in a cosmopolitan and beautiful part of Mumbai. The apartment is only a ten minute cab ride (or bike ride!) from wadi, which means frequent surprise visits to have tea or lunch with my grandparents. I'm smack in the middle of about ten modern art galleries, a dozen design shops, and old, old, old bungalows. There seem to be expats all around, along with schools, gyms, and stores that target the non-Indians. One of the higlights since my move there was discovering a little American import grocery store in the building next to mine. The place is as big as my bathroom but stuffed to the brim with Honey Nut Cheerios, Hershey's syrup, Old El Paso salsa, Doritos!, Skittles, Skippy peanut butter. You name it, it's there. It's, of course, grossly overpriced. But I'm ecstatic to have a place so close to home where I can escape. Every once in a while I treat myself to Cool Ranch Doritos and Fruit Rollups. Both are foods I hardly ate in the States but here they just make me happy.
The view is what sold me on the place. From the windows you can see buildings, streets, beach, a grassy park, and the Arabian Sea I couldn't ask for more. I am slowly getting back into my morning-person ways, and that, coupled with the fact that its winter and the sun comes late, means that I can enjoy a seriously beautiful sunrise right from my bed.
I've slowly set up the place, which in Mumbai means buying everything from a sofa to a fridge. Yes, a fridge! The built-in kitchen (where your stove, oven, etc is integrated with the wall) is not a concept that's taken off in India yet. I saw an ad for such a kitchen in a magazine recently but could tell from the wording of the add that built-in cabinets and fixtures isn't common. The stove I have sits on top of the counter and is connected to a gas cylinder that's also removable. I could literally set up the stove in the bedroom if I wanted :)
I found a great resource to rent some furniture for a few months. Probably a place I should blog about all on its own... it was like candyland for me. Yards and yards of beautiful, old wood furniture. I rented a bed, some wardrobes, and a dining set. Everything is ebony or teak and much better quality than any furniture I've seen for sale. Imagine dovetail joinery, and solid wood inners. It's beautiful.
I need to have some more of "me" to my place. I can't wait to have photos and bedding from home. And I can't wait for my mom to come and add a mom's touch. The place seriously needs that.
The best part of this apartment is its location. The view and building aside, I'm in a cosmopolitan and beautiful part of Mumbai. The apartment is only a ten minute cab ride (or bike ride!) from wadi, which means frequent surprise visits to have tea or lunch with my grandparents. I'm smack in the middle of about ten modern art galleries, a dozen design shops, and old, old, old bungalows. There seem to be expats all around, along with schools, gyms, and stores that target the non-Indians. One of the higlights since my move there was discovering a little American import grocery store in the building next to mine. The place is as big as my bathroom but stuffed to the brim with Honey Nut Cheerios, Hershey's syrup, Old El Paso salsa, Doritos!, Skittles, Skippy peanut butter. You name it, it's there. It's, of course, grossly overpriced. But I'm ecstatic to have a place so close to home where I can escape. Every once in a while I treat myself to Cool Ranch Doritos and Fruit Rollups. Both are foods I hardly ate in the States but here they just make me happy.
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