After a downpour

Ta-da! What a surprise. And we realised we can see Grandville (Jen's apartment building, with the two elevator shafts) from our window. Let's spy on Auntie Cecilia...

Better air

We added some plants (and air purifiers) to our space. The balcony/cat bathroom is now a garden as well. It's great that these hearty plants (and occasional grasshopper) can thrive in the city. It's also nice to be see some greenery against the neighbouring building's gym. Makes for a more pleasant litter box experience for Zachary too.

The NY Times printed an article this week on the dramatic improvement in Bangkok air quality. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/world/asia/06thai.html) Yay! I didn't really notice from walking on the street -- with engine exhaust, cooking fumes, and heated air billowing about -- but now that they mention it, the skies do look bluer these days.

Slightly skewed

Is it unduly anal to use leveling tools when affixing numbers to the door? V says yes; M says no. Hmmm.... the whole place is wonky - walls, window frames, and light fixtures are not aligned either. Oops.

Closing

We closed on the Soi 15 unit! And it wasn't the least bit painful. Rampant bureaucracy was kept in check, and everything went according to plan. We were new homeowners in an hour.

I'm lying, of course. :P The day started at the crack of dawn when we had to shlep over to the Land Department of Prakanong district, an area in which we never venture. The seller Dr. M. said he'd be there at eight, but he hobbled in (he ran the Bkk Marathon yesterday) an hour later. Turns out we had to wait around for the bank's rep anyway, to clear the seller's mortgage, releasing its claim on the property.

Despite the late start, a surreptitious monetary gift got the process rolling, and we were well on our way to transferring the deed before lunchtime. When we had to tender the transfer fee, the clerk rejected Dr. M's cashier's check because it wasn't dated. Duh!?! The requisite bitching ensued, but the clerk would not accept a written-in date without the initials of the two signers of the check. We had no choice but to cab it back to town to get a new check, and keep tabs on each other's whereabouts. Admittedly obsessive compulsive, Dr. M. would only ride in a new looking taxi, claiming the older ones smelled dirty.

Anyway, it took more than an hour to get a new check and return to the Land Department. By then it was past noon, and the clerks were nowhere to be seen, even though a sign proclaimed that the Department was operational throughout the lunch hour. We then went to lunch together, and returned at one. More waiting while the clerk sat around, and then went to brush her teeth. By two, we'd finally paid the fee, cleared the title with the bank, and transferred the deed.

Dr. M. leeched off us for a ride back into town so we had to endure more polite chatter (what we had been doing whilst waiting and lunching). He is actually a nice guy, so it could have been much worse. Buyers and sellers probably shouldn't bond this much though.

Nitty gritty

Determined not to make October a blog-less month. Things continue to be hectic, with the Soi 15 condo responsible for a fair amount of drama. We found out that the unit we bid on involves a developer teetering on the verge of bankruptcy and no condo association yet in place. As a result, the threat of potential maintenance disruptions hampered execution of the P&S. The building itself is pretty good – décor is Asian spa kitsch with a decent-sized indoor pool. Soi 15 is prone to flooding and school-related traffic (from the old ISB) but otherwise, a quiet, unspectacular soi. Not bad as far as urban sprawl goes. Guess it all comes down to our level of risk tolerance (low!). In the worse case scenario, we’d have to pay the sinking fund again, and this appears to not be unusual here. I'm less than enthralled. Whoopee.