Arrival of House Guests Today

I guess you can gather that my pending hosting is very much a big deal to me.  I have had tons of house guests in my humble home here; but these foreigners from faraway lands are the FIRST ones to grace me with their presence and learn about how life works here.  It is always easy to 'put up' a friend who knows how things work here and what not to expect.  But people who have just completed an 'upscale biking trip' will be in for an eye opener, me thinks.

When we all began working here and stayed over at each other's homes, we knew that we needed to bring a towel, something to sleep on, and whatever other conveniences were needed (like a glass and a plate or bowl).  Now that I am established, I have ratty thin towels for guests too. Very chi chi huh?  You quickly learn to not buy a thick jumbo towel. It will never dry!  So, these gauzy things I found, that look very much like something for the rag bag are the ticket.  I am still searching for a linen towel - none to be found in Malaysia, but maybe some day in Singapore.  Ahh yes, then the bathrooms. I have three in total, but only one with hot water.  Each bathroom sink dribbles a sad little trickle of water from the faucet. I am told this is to be expected. They will learn why there is a huge bucket beside the sink.  There is a water drain in the floor there, which I cover with the bucket to be sure no skeeters come up that way; plus if two people need to use that particular facility, then the recovery from a flush takes about 10 - 15 minutes. The bucket can be filled from this tap on the wall and take over.  Which makes me wonder why that tap has pressure and not the sink tap. But I can't get an answer for that one. I am counting on the guests to share or use cold.  Can't think of any other way to do this. I tried to get hot water in one of the guest bathrooms upstairs and it was like trying to rebuild the house. Drilling through concrete covered brick walls for water lines and then power lines was not something any service people were willing to consider without my landlord's approval. Well, I could do that. Not easily - the landlord does not speak a word of English. Now I have discovered that the landlord does not speak a word.  He is dead.  Sorry I opened that can of worms.  Now, acting like I did not discover that one, I just check my bank account monthly and see that the funds for rent have been transferred, so I will play dumb, have no hot water in the guest bathroom, and continue on my merry way.

The house sparkling clean, bed linens clean and fresh, hand sanitizer pump bottles on anything that has a shelf, and a google map to Changi makes me think I am ready for this insane journey with Momar to fetch the ladies.  Even have two bottles of white wine chilling in the fridge.  Never been a fan of white wine in the past, but what the heck, I even drink cold water here and count my blessings when I find some.  I  roasted some red peppers on my wee barbecue, so a snack of cheese, roasted peppers, and my hidden treasure of President's Choice black olive tapinade shall accompany the vino.  Now to find some bread to put this all on. If not, then I will  just dispense forks!