A room with a view

Upon my mom's request, I am posting photos of where I live. Today I'll show you the living room/dining room area, which is one big room with the main entry in the middle.

The wooden Chinese furniture on the right was custom made in Qingdao in 2004 at a low price. I had quite a few pieces made there. The one above is used at present to store shoes. Most homes in China have shoe cabinets near the entryway. To the right of it is a bamboo umbrella stand.

This house has a hallway with a built-in sliding-doors closet. Many homes in this country just have bedrooms off the main room, with no hallway. I like having a hallway.

The hutch on the left is used to store pantry items. The hutch on the right stores dishes on top and pantry items on the bottom. Most kitchens are so small that pantry storage room is at a minimum. That's probably why Chinese people put their refrigerators in their living rooms and go produce shopping daily.

In the dining area I have another hutch with a kettle and electric stove unit on top.

This is a view from the kitchen entrance. The main entrance to the apartment is on the right. (Padre, I know you probably are worried that I am about to burn the house down with that candle lit, but I promise you I blew it out just as soon as I was finished taking photos. :-))

The large balcony faces south and can be seen in the background of this photo. A small balcony is on just opposite the big balcony (behind me as I take this photo). I like the white tiles, because Mimi's shedding hair blends in with it. (The bedrooms have dark wood flooring, and her hair shows up much more clearly there.)

 A teapot, loose tea leaves, and Asian style tea cups await visitors.

The sofa belongs to the landlord, but the other furniture is mine. I had my own sofa, but since the landlord didn't have a place to put HIS sofa, I put mine downstairs in my garage. But then cats got in the garage, gave birth to kittens on the sofa, and before you knew it, my sofa was in ruins.

I'm really glad to have a clean place to live in. Some of my other living quarters in this country were so poor that I was constantly sick from breathing in mold, leaded paint and asbestos for all I know. If you missed it before, you can see my first apartment here. Yeah, really, it was that bad.

More of my Chinese furniture up close can be seen here.

If the other rooms ever clean themselves up, I will photograph them for you. But please carry on, as it won't be any time soon!