what makes home home
recently, the flatmate and i have been looking for new accomodation. for a number of reasons, mainly, to be closer to the shops (won't be needing the car that much, so i'm doing my bit to save the earth!), and to be away from our dope-sniffing, chainsmoking, beer-guzzling neighbours who have a tendency to leave their trash in front of our door. we're apartment dwellers, so there are some shared spaces like corridors, stairs and the space in front of our front doors. their mafia-habits are on-again/off-again, so i can never be sure when it hits. but the last time they got rowdy, screams were heard, bodies were slammed around, a microwave was chucked, and their screen door needed to get replaced.
that said, i still call my current place home. to me, it means protection - a shield that separates me from the horrors (i get dramatic, bear with me) of peak hour traffic, discriminating service-providers, and sometimes, the cold outside. this is where i get the smells of home-cooked food (hence the term home-cooked, huh?). this is the place - a space i can call my own (albeit rented), where i feel a sense of security.
how can a rented place feel like it belongs to me? i've grown up in my parents' home, so i imagine i would identify a sense of home with ownership. but a rented property tends to evoke a certain transience and unreliability. somehow. but my criteria for renting someplace would be, in order of priority, a liking for the space, a certain satisfaction with its surroundings, price, and then assessibility.
it's really about what you feel about a space. for many people i know, travelling occupies just about half their lives, but they still call singapore their home. for the average city-dweller, the only time spent in the confines of their home is roughly equivalent to the number of hours of sleep they need. and for some, they consider their workplace their second (and sometimes first!) home.
i went to a friend's place today, and she was getting ready for her move out tomorrow. in the excitement of finding a new place, i wonder if she will miss her rented room in an old-but-cosy house down a rickety street in the varied suburb of richmond.
i wonder myself if i will be able to recount with fond memories all the properties i have rented, ten years down the road.
that said, i still call my current place home. to me, it means protection - a shield that separates me from the horrors (i get dramatic, bear with me) of peak hour traffic, discriminating service-providers, and sometimes, the cold outside. this is where i get the smells of home-cooked food (hence the term home-cooked, huh?). this is the place - a space i can call my own (albeit rented), where i feel a sense of security.
how can a rented place feel like it belongs to me? i've grown up in my parents' home, so i imagine i would identify a sense of home with ownership. but a rented property tends to evoke a certain transience and unreliability. somehow. but my criteria for renting someplace would be, in order of priority, a liking for the space, a certain satisfaction with its surroundings, price, and then assessibility.
it's really about what you feel about a space. for many people i know, travelling occupies just about half their lives, but they still call singapore their home. for the average city-dweller, the only time spent in the confines of their home is roughly equivalent to the number of hours of sleep they need. and for some, they consider their workplace their second (and sometimes first!) home.
i went to a friend's place today, and she was getting ready for her move out tomorrow. in the excitement of finding a new place, i wonder if she will miss her rented room in an old-but-cosy house down a rickety street in the varied suburb of richmond.
i wonder myself if i will be able to recount with fond memories all the properties i have rented, ten years down the road.
posted by limegreenspyda at 11:21:00 pm
8 Comments:
oooo.
looking for new houses ah!!
HurHur.
Richmond, sounds like where the biggest shopping mall is right.
Ayeer, can't rmb.
Oh well. I can't wait for my turn to move out of homestay and probably heading to the uni hostels! :D~
I think... melbourne should have her own fair share of good neighbourhoods? Shouldn't be a problem right? ;)
pat: independence and staying on your own are a great experiences to have! something that's hard to come by for most in singas, unless you're married or something!
yay... den i orso want to be married .... to a leech bag.
pink leech: i think, getting married is such a hyped-up thing. it's all dandy to celebrate, but doing so with people you hardly even know (with reference to those senseless 10-course banquets)??
richmond is nice. which areas are you looking at though? town? or furthur out since you drive?
adinahaes: i'm looking at box hill... but brunswick/fitzroy would be nice! not town... i'm pretty claustrophobic! and the problem with driving to town is... THE PARKING!! :\
i heard brunswick gets pretty creepy at night though. but i do have friends staying there who seem to like it.
yeah the parking in town is terrible =( all my friends who drive say so.
what abt southbank? the apartments there are not bad.
or come join me and be my neighbour *grin*, i live down st kilda road. its a mighty long road though so lotsa space to drive?
adinahaes: i've got friends staying down st kilda rd too! do you stay past dandenong road, in the direction away from the city? i particularly dislike st kilda road because of the trams, and that inevitable bottleneck at flinder's/fed sq.
southbank is... pricey. haha. call me trash of suburbia if you will, but i like the space that further-out 'burbs have to offer. you doing law, right? you might like to check out monash uni's sprawling law library sometime!
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