APARTMENT HUNTING

“Ah, the familiar smell,” I blurted out to my wife as we deplaned. After a total of grueling seventeen hours of flying, we landed well after midnight. The air was thick with dampness as the outside air seeped into the jetway tunnel when the jetway awkwardly slithered its way to dock into the side of the plane. The smell was unmistakably tropical-ly and coconut-ty with a hint of undefined spices, probably from my imagination than anything else. Before my mind pronounced that I was in Malaysia, my olfactory function beat my mind to the punch.

When I first came to the region back in 1986 during my short-term missions trip, I cannot, to this day, easily forget the unfamiliar scent freshly coming out of the airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ever since then, I must have frequented the region probably close to 20 times. What was once unfamiliar was now genial. Funny that my olfactory sensory is probably ten times less functional than my wife’s. Whenever something goes bad in the fridge, my nose has failed me quite consistently to the point that I do not trust my sense of smell anymore. A few weeks ago, my wife asked me, “How did you eat that thing? That was so bad.” Dutifully, I would take something to my wife or one of my daughters to tell me whether something had gone bad. If there is ever a selective smell, I clearly seem to possess one.

We knew where we wanted to find an apartment. Yes, an apartment, not a house. We’ve heard from multiple sources that “land houses” might have bug and rat problems. Comparatively speaking, I would not mind the bugs as much, but the rats would pose a different challenge altogether. As I am far from being a handyman, I also did not want to do the work necessary to maintain or fix the place we were going to call home for one year. Thus, an apartment it was. Up until we left the US, I had looked at dozens of apartment units online to ascertain what to expect. Most of them come with amenities like pools, gym, outdoor tennis courts, and sometimes even indoor basketball court. I knew the last one could be a deciding factor but mostly kept inside of my head.

We had one other condition: we wanted to survive without a car as we anticipated traveling throughout Asia often. Additionally, the Grab (similar to Uber or Lyft) app works beautifully, accurately, and cheaply in most Southeast Asia countries. Carless living meant that we would choose to walk everywhere but not too much as heat, humidity, and rain (not to mention flashes of lightning) would be significant deterring factors, so location and access were another non-negotiable factor. Living without a car also meant that we could increase our housing budget.

At the end of our apartment hunting, we came down to two options. First was three bedrooms with two baths and came fully furnished, more than what we could have imagined since there was a family that was living there now. Most homes do not have ovens in Malaysia, but this one did with all kinds of antique-like furniture and endless kitchen items. The owner was very pleasant as she showed us around the house. She kindly told us that she could move anything out if we did not care for them. We smiled and nodded in appreciation but pretty much kept our thoughts to ourselves. Her son who is living in Australia is a huge fan of Kobe and had a Kobe memorabilia featured on the hallway shelf. Plus, my eyes broadened like a pirate citing some treasure chest when I also saw an indoor basketball half-court near the pool. “Could God be speaking to me?” I thought. Minus the basketball hoopla, I also knew my wife was drawn to the place.

When I did some online research back in the US, there were a couple of units in one apartment complex that would pose a serious threat to the one above. The appointments stacked up in such ways that the two units were our last viewings. The complex was a mixed development with shops, mostly cafés and restaurants, including Daiso and Jaya Grocer. From the previous year, Jaya Grocer was the one we liked the most and had the kind of things that would have us happily frequent. Thus, the ability to walk to Jaya Grocer was a must in choosing an apartment. The fact that we could do so in monsoon season, heat, and humidity in air-conditioned indoors would be a huge bonus.

One other important factor was our ability to move in as quickly as possible. We knew that the Lunar New Year was right around the corner and shops and offices would shut down or at least function at a crawling speed for a couple of weeks. One of the unfortunate drawbacks of the first apartment was that we could not move in until after two more weeks since they had to move out in the middle of the Lunar New Year. That meant that we would have to look for an Airbnb for two more weeks, living out of our suitcases. When we asked when we could move in regarding the second apartment, the agent told us, “Tomorrow.” That was music to our ears.

As there were some pros and cons though not the life-altering kind with each, we decided to go with the second unit within a few hours after viewing. The next day, we signed the contract, and the internet guy came and voila, we were open for business. Then the next day arrived with both my wife and I second guessing our decision mainly because of the size of the kitchen. We processed together over meals and during walks. Then we shared our raw process openly with our children including our son and daughters-in-law. Along with the affirmation of our process sharing, the text messages flowed with emojis abound soon after I sent them. Highlighting a few of them below. . .

I hope as time moves on you have no regrets and that God meets you in different ways in this place!!!

It sounds like you guys did the best you could in the situation! Hopefully in time, and as you guys settle in, the apartment you got will be exactly what you needed :) . . . But hey -- we cooked full-blown meals when we camped!! Maybe this is where you guys get tested on how to cook creatively.

As I’m reading your updates my sense is that you guys are exactly where you need to be. I feel like God is going to surprise you in the best ways! Thanks for sharing your process!

I came close to shedding tears of encouragement and my heart was magically flooded with hope and anticipation. Starting the next morning, all our second guesses were lifted, and our hearts were full of gratitude and excitement. A few nights ago, we cooked Kimchi jjigae, filling our entire unit with a fermented kimchi smell. Now there was the smell I was familiar with.