The apartment

Our appartment here is very nice for being in Mumbai. Real estate is extremely expensive here, which leads to even greater differences when it comes to the standard of living. The most expensive areas are down south, while up north in Powai where we live, the prices are not as crazy yet. Powai is quite different from much of the rest of Mumbai as it is actually an area of the city which has been planned before built. There is this one big guy, Hiranandani,  who is responsible for planning and building most of the newly built areas around here and that is very evident all around as his name is to see everywhere here (I mention: Hiranandani Gardens, Hiranandani School, Hiranandani Street, Hiranandani Hospital etc.) You can read more about the area we live in if you follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranandani_Gardens.

We live in a community called Lake Homes and our building is Lake Lucerne, you can get more info about this here: http://www.lakehomespowai.com/building_lakelucerne.html
It is very nice here inside the gates. Though this is still India so right outside the gates (as well as the view from our apartment) is to ”houses” of lower quality and a totally different world than the one inside these gates. Some would define these areas as slum, though I would not. I will get back to why in a later blog as this would take up some space and is a bit outside todays topic. Lets just conclude that there is a vast diversity here when it comes to living standards and few are lucky enough to enjoy the standard we have here.

Our appartment is at the 16th floor with a nice view of parts of the city, our local little lake and the mountains and forrest further in the background. We have three bedrooms with ensuites a living/dining room, kitchen as well as a servants area with toilet, which is where the maid has her headquarter. There is also a dry area outside the kitchen, which is kind of a built in balcony where the laundry machine is located.

The kitchen, with the dry-area

The kitchen is not quite as we are used to, but very good Indian standard. We not have a conventional oven, though a convection oven, which is a mix between microwave oven and a conventional oven so we can use it both for baking and typical microwave stuff. This is ok so far as we don’t cook a lot at home anyways, have already baked some scones and typical Norwegian rolls (grove horn) and it worked out ok. We have a gas stove and are lucky enough to have piped gas and not the very old fashioned free standing gas bottles that are most common here. Other than that the kitchen is quite similar to back home except from the granite counter top (which is very nice) and the large 20 liter water dispenser that is on the counter. Ohh, by the way, one thing that is not so similar is the water tap. It only has cold water...Think this might be because you are not really suppose to cook at home so no need for cleaning the dishes...This is however, not a problem for us as it is the maid that does the dishes anyways :) Also we have a large water filterer hanging on the kitchen wall as the tapped water is very much undrinkable and just brushing your teeth in it could make you sick for days! If you want to use the tapped water they recommend you boil it for at least 20 minutes...So we rather use the filtered water for most things, even for some of the dishes.

Our balcony, me like!

Our living area is very nice and big with a balcony and a view. It was also very nicely decorated when we moved in and all I had to add were a few candles! And people that know me are aware of my thing for decorating so it must have been nice if a few candles was the only thing I added. I am loving our tables here in the living room, they are dark wooden and very beautiful and practical with storage underneith. Had to do a bit more work on the balcony though, I am guessing people here are not as obsessed as us Norwegians about the concept of sitting outdoors and enjoying the warm weather... It was dirty and messy, but I did a good clean, purchased a set of chairs and table and toghether with some candle lights I think it got pretty nice, what do you think?

The living area, loving the furniture!

The dining area, room for plenty of guests...

The master bedroom is just wonderful! It is like being at a fancy, exclusive hotel room. Large and very nicely decorated. This is also where we have the flatscreen tv, there is no tv in the living area (which I must admit that I miss..). We also have two other bedrooms, both with their own bathrooms. One is like the kids room complete with a bunk bed and the other has a double bed and flatscreen tv waiting for visitors to come stay!

Guest room waiting for visitors...

The office

        

The kids room is also where the office is and this is where Espen claims to spend his working days (though I am not sure I totally believe him as I think some time is also spent in bed watching movies and different reality shows). When it comes to the bathrooms, these are pretty much like back home, except for the total lack of shower curtains/screens and the very little amount of hot water. Each bathroom as its own little hot water tank, which is switched on manually and this can be a bit frustrating if someone, like the maid or your boyfriend, accidently has switched it off and you don't realise until you are going to have your morning shower...

Master bathroom

Master bedroom/luxury hotel room...

   As you see we have a beautiful apartment here in Mumbai and plenty of room for visitors from back home :)