The first nights are always the hardest. You sleep better at unknown places, knowing that you’ll only be spending a night or two at them. You will be able to forego the comfort, sleep better, knowing you’ll ultimately leave the next day. But it always feel different, knowing you’re going to be there for a long time, like a challenge or a prison sentence (however you want to define it). You seem to be extra sensitive of the walls, the floors, all the nails and sockets, and how does the place sound at night, whether it has sufficient sunlight, and so on.
My parents said goodbye yesterday, leaving me with a mattress, a pillow, a rug, and a suitcase of clothes for me to survive for the next two months. The house is empty, having no chairs nor tables, the kitchen consisting of a fridge a one burner stove and a tikar surrounded by boxes of dry biscuits, maggie, spices, and what have yous. I wonder if this is what it feels like to treat a house like somewhere you only rent to crash in for the night, ignoring all corners of the house except where you will sleep. After all, every other social activity is done outside. (I on the other hand, like to make my spaces as home-ly as possible).
I walk inside and say to myself, detecting the build of the house (1970s/1980s), based on the meter of the house (thanks to three months inspecting from house to house during my TNB intern days), the skylight in the kitchen, the green-painted cement floor, that I see so much (room for) potential.
The other tenant, who works at the same place as I do, brought me to Kulai and introduced me to her cat, Spotty, who has splendid fur and sharp claws. She likes to say ‘the hell’ and ‘damn’ a lot, and seems to know all lyrics to every song on the radio, which was proven during the whole noisefest that is Mentor and Anugerah Juara Era later during the night.
(On the other hand the common conversation points of meeting a new person; your name, your kampung, your siblings, your job/study place, and perhaps and eventually travelling. i wonder how you can go to heart of things – do we pop a random question or let words bleed over time? or perhaps simply ask:what things do you like?)
I shall take comfort that I’ll be going back almost every weekend (and see F perhaps).
perkaraperkara 