Living in major cities around the world guarantees you conveniences and options. Shops will be open till late, you can get a meal at any hour and if the city is equipped with public transportation, most likely, the hub will be in the CBD. With these, major cities appeals to bigger market from overseas people, retirees, professionals, etc. But there is the limited and finite space to house the projected demand so apartment buildings start going up higher and flats get smaller. I lived in Tokyo before. I was meant to live in a hotel room in Shinjuku but them some idiot who preceded me had biblical knowledge with almost all the girls in Reception and Food and Beverage and caused scandals on varying levels that I was placed in an apartment 30 minutes away from the hotel. The least he could have done was to be brought home by the girls since he was already getting what he wanted. So I had to suffer because of his indiscretions. My apartment was in the Weekly Mansion. There is nothing mansion-y about the flat. It was the size of 25 shoeboxes. Well, maybe a bit more than that but what my apartment can house are: bathroom with a shower, bath and sink, a mini bar fridge (I know bar fridges are mini but I stated that so I can emphasise that it can only fit one bottle of wine and a litre of milk), a double bed, a desk and a closet that fits a quarter of the contents of my suitcase. The kitchen was an electric hot plate that resides squarely above the sink. So if I want to chop something up, I leave the hot plate above the sink. If I want to wash vegetables or plates, I have to move the hot plate. Come to think of it, this was quite the hazard. I guess this safety issue didn’t dawn on me because I am still reeling that I cannot shut the bathroom door when I am using the toilet. Now, I am not a tall, lanky person. Where my genes come from, we are short and stubby so when I can touch both walls with my fingers with outstretched arms, you know I am in an inappropriately named mansion. The horror and sadness the memory this flat has given me has now dissipated. Largely due to the fact that I met my partner there and also because of this apartment in Sydney. I dare you to click on the link. Here it is once again. http://www.sydneylinks.com.au/1P0222 This is the first time that I have seen a kitchen house a shower and worse, a toilet. I mean, sure, this is clearly for one person or a very liberal couple with no boundaries. I get it. Let’s all love our bodies and not be ashamed of it. And at $345 per week in Darlinghurst, this is a steal! The finish looks immaculate and the fittings seems to be above average. You also get the convenience of having to only shuffle once to the right while chopping onions to have a pee. Hell, you can chop onions and pee at the same time! Revel in the free time you will have! But, but, but…how do you bring anyone home? Everyone has some ritual that requires privacy and there is no mystique in viewing those.
Now tell me, how would you feel about sitting up there in full view from the bedroom and wardrobe area as pictured below.
The bed is a Murphy bed so you have free use of the space during the day. So this is Sydney. Melbourne, I believe and would like to believe, still have space for developers to play around with. Recently, this article was stating that architects are refusing their names to be attached to certain developments because of, either the amount of space or the quality of the end product. The same article mentions that new build apartments in Melbourne are getting smaller and smaller and increasing trend of having an internal bedroom that does not get natural light. I guess we here in Melbourne have to happy of dark, moody, dungeon-esque bedrooms in apartments. At least, we don’t have to cook, dump and sleep in the same space.
