Multipurpose Hub in My Small Apartment
I got my small apartment back in 2020 and was very excited to get the keys. I have been waiting for the keys since 2015. It’s a humble one-bedroom apartment with a living room, costing me $140K in SGD.
Finally, I got my own house, made some minor renovations, and was ready to move in. This is my weekend house as I stay with my father on weekdays to keep him company.
My apartment serves multiple purposes. I host many gatherings with different themes.
The main thing is, of course, food. If there’s no food, no one will even bother to come. During COVID, we had very tight restrictions on the number of people we could invite to our house.
Eating and drinking with the right people is always fun. It’s not about what you eat but who you eat with.
Quarantine
I caught Covid in 2022, right on Chinese New Year’s Eve. It just so happened that I was at the apartment when I got it. I spent Chinese New Year all by myself. I set up my own steamboat and entertained myself.
Then follow by my friend caught Covid in March 2022 and needed to find a place to quarantine, as he didn’t want to pass the virus to his elderly parents.
Without hesitation, I met up with him to pass him the keys, and he stayed at my place for a week. He kept the entire house clean for me.
Movies
Watching movies alone can be boring, but watching with a light-hearted gang brings a lot of laughter. And if it’s a horror movie, it’s even more fun with some sudden screams. HAHA!
I love movies and wanted a pull-down curtain with a white screen that becomes a movie screen. I used an older model of a projector to create my home theatre. I loved it! But damn, the projector just chose to shorten its life.
I’m planning to buy a smart projector next, to save me the trouble of dealing with so many converter cables just to make it work.
Karaoke
While gathering with no other activities, most of us end up glued to their phones. So, I bought a cheap karaoke set. It produces sound from a microphone, and a smart TV with a YouTube karaoke channel does the trick. I use my soundbar for the YouTube music.
It works pretty well. Everyone has a good time singing. No one is judging. We are not competing for The Voice.
Casino — Texas Holdem & Mahjong
I’m not a gambler and don’t run any illegal gambling dens. It’s just for my friends who love to play mahjong to keep the sound of tiles going. It won’t hurt to lose $30 to $50 for 4 hours of mahjong. I didn’t have the space to invest in an automatic mahjong table.
Some of my friends prefer to play poker, Texas Holdem. None of us are professionals, I just like to call for All In just to scare them off, but it always backfires. I’m the first to be out of the games. Congrats to the winners!
My Little Anfield
Liverpool is 6747 miles away from my hometown. I went once in 2015 and will never forget the atmosphere in the Anfield stadium. Singing along to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” gave me goosebumps.
My place is my own little Anfield, be it Liverpool playing at home or away. On Christmas Eve, my friend, Arsenal supporter, came to my place to watch. It ended 1–1, but Arsenal was playing with 2 goalkeepers, I suppose. The LARO ✨✨
Anyway, it was a good and exciting game. My friend was the happier fan, getting a draw seemed like a mission accomplished for him.
Lastly
What’s my plan for my apartment in the future? I’m glad I got my own cave, and it’s also my retirement asset.
No job can be secure, and if I’m supposed to retire early, I consider renting it out and staying with my father.
It will generate a fixed monthly income, and I can work on a side hustle.
As my advice to younger friends who are reading this, you should consider working on this path and get a roof over your head from rain and shine. I took too long to do this.
Thanks for reading.