Domicile

Everyone needs somewhere to live, right ? Somewhere where they can feel at home, do their own thing and safely store their belongings, relax, sleep, cook, entertain friends and hopefully not watch too much TV (see a later post about this). “Home is where the heart is”. It takes me a long time to feel at home in a certain place since I have the ability to feel at home almost anywhere. Slowly I am coming to the realisation that it is nice to set oneself up somewhere where one really enjoys being. As they say “Location is everything”. For me, it is also important to have the right kinds of people around me and the energy of the place must feel right. I get this feeling in Chiangmai, Thailand, where I have rented a modest studio apartment. I had to make a choice: an apartment with a nice fitted kitchen but no balcony or an apartment with a small balcony but no kitchen. I love to eat breakfast outside, enjoying the early morning cool air and view of the mountain so I chose the apartment with no kitchen. As I felt more and more settled and people appeared around me who wanted to cook with me, I decided it was time to create a country-style outdoor kitchen (which is typical in Thailand in rural locations).

My first attempt was a gas cooker which was stopped in its tracks by the building management who promptly put up new signs forbidding cooking with gas whilst it was being delivered – which I can understand since those big blue gas bottles would make quite a mess if they exploded. The gas cooker company was understanding and Plan B, electric induction cooking, was put into action and this seems to work very well. Cooking doesn’t come without its downside however – washing dishes. Here I installed a makeshift washing up station in my bathroom: