House Hunting - Day 2 (the saga continues)

Alrighty!  I actually thought that it could not get hotter than the last time I ventured out into the Delhi heat, but I was sadly and unfortunately mistaken.  Today started out nice and cool - and by cool I mean like 88 (at 6:00am), but the rains that cooled the city overnight, brought the venom of humidity.  Not only did we have 107 degrees today, but we had a nice blanket of air you could actually swallow.  It was like hell on earth without the little red guys with pitchforks.  Body parts began to stick together that normal do not even acknowledge the other is there.  It was miserable.

We started off he morning with the same agent that we left off with on Saturday.  He was now calibrated and directional accurate.... or so we thought.  The first place he showed us was actually very nice .  It was in a very prestigious colony, Defense Colony and was located on a nice quiet backstreet.  The bathrooms were nice, although not mind-blowing, and the layout was pretty good.  Excellent start Puneet!

The next one was even better.  A brand new construction in the same colony.  A little close to a more bustling road than I prefer, but not too noisy.  The layout was excellent and it even had a walk in closet (see below), but it also had a quirky kitchen.  This is difficult to explain, so hang with me.  There is a hall running from the back door into the main foyer.  You enter this hall but then immediate turn right into the kitchen - so it is like a room off this corridor.  But the corridor continues to the back door which is simple a metal mesh door that leads to a balcony off which the servants quarters are located.  So in essence, this corridor is completely exposed to the heat and dust of outside Delhi through this screen door of steel.  The kitchen has a door and the corridor has a door between it and rest of the house.  The idea is that the servants can come in and out of the kitchen to prepare meals, but you can keep the inner door locked if you would rather not deal with them (or the kitchen).  I fine idea, except for the mesh door.  Even in the best circumstance, you do not want to have to go "outside" to get to your kitchen and you really do not want to do this in 107 degree heat.  Very bizarre.  If they would put a regular door there, it would actually be a clever design.

You can see the mesh door through the kitchen window.   The corridor is the length of the kitchen and the entrance is at the back.  Other than that, the kitchen is actually nice.

It was pretty much downhill from there.  Apparently, even after the agent showed us exactly what I wanted he felt compelled to show more that we did not.   These were more bizarre, than crappy, though, which shows progress. Below are some innovative highlights of the bizarre.

Classic Shower head in middle of bathroom - poop and shower all at the same time

You can never have too many lights! Or too much white.

This is a typical kitchen - nothing is built in.  When I mean nothing, I mean no burners, no oven, nothing! So they buy stand alone items like this burner to sit atop the counters. Not one single kitchen had an oven - apparently all Indian food is prepared on the burners, so there is no need.  No need for an oven?  Really?

We switched estate agents after lunch and things began to pick up again.  We saw a few nice apartments that were, again, new.  Apparently I have to go new, as the strain of Indian cooking and Delhi living age apartments very fast.  All new construction follows roughly the same pattern which luckily I like.  White marble floors, lots of glass, clean lines, and quite a few terraces.  Armed with this, I am only looking at new apartments which should greatly reduce the amount of wasted viewings.  Below are a few of the ones that I liked.

The fishbowl livingroom is hugely popular in new construction

Aforementioned walk-in closet, but a walk-in (sideways) closet never the less.

Nice little kitchen.  Built in burners, but no oven

The above kitchen came with an adjacent room for dishwashing, so the cook and the maid do not get in each other's way.  Very thoughtful....

..... Although they do live together.

This was one of the better servants' quarters.  Note the hole in the next room on the floor on the left.  You guessed it - the room is en-suite.

We are scheduled to go back out on Saturday and brave the heat for a third time.  Apparently, you are supposed to give an offer during the viewing, as what you see today will most likely be gone tomorrow. I think I will take that chance, as I have not yet been inspired!