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August 05, 2004
My Apartment
It’s got 1 moderately sized bedroom with some inbuilt wardrobe space, coming with both a bed (, mattress and pillow) and some clothes racks. The kitchen/eating area is spacious enough, containing a fridge, double gas burner, a table and chairs. There is cupboard space that’s almost out of reach above the sink. The bathroom is very small, it’s a squeeze to shut the door whilst in there. It has a cold water shower hose, a western toilet, the customary bum-washer, a small basin and a mirror.
The front room has a few pieces of cane furniture with a coffee table, all facing the front door and the little TV which picks up some of the channels that come with the free cable TV I get. Unfortunately the TV can’t plug into a DVD player, so for now I’ll have to stick to my laptop for them. There IS a balcony out the front, but it pretty much overlooks only other balconies in the alleyway. I also have access to the roof, which looks like it has only a metre of landing space. All of this for just $100 per month! I pay a flat rate of $5 per month for water, and 700riel (17.5 US cents) per kilowatt of power. Oh yeah, the unit has a few fans, and even an Air-con unit (although it draws electricity like nobody’s business!)
To get into the apartment, you have to drive off Street 294 (close to corner with Sothareos) into the alley, unlock the pantry-looking door, climb a flight of stairs, unlock the temperamental padlock on the security grille, THEN climb up a spiral staircase to get to my front door. What a trek!
I was thinking about moving in during the evening, but I didn’t have any of the ‘things’ needed to be settled. Plus it was raining.
And for a guided tour….. click here to download videoclip
Posted by Dan at August 5, 2004 06:34 AM