Around the house on a rainy afternoon...

I generally prefer sunny days, but there's something about rainy days and getting cooped up inside your house that appeals to my introverted side.

I live in a small condominium unit, just about 47 sqm or so, that sometimes you feel kind of claustrophobic about the size. Being an avid collector (pc term for pack rat LOL), I've filled the small space with lots of items that I love - even if they don't match and my whole house looks like a mess.

There's the three charms hanging by the door of our balcony. The one in the middle is a Japanese chime that I bought on the sidewalk of Ginza. The other two are Chinese good luck charms. Well, I think they are.

Our refrigerator is papered with food delivery flyers held by magnets that I've collected in my travels, telling you that, yes - the owner of this house does not know how to cook.

My cousin's stuff is on our dining table - her study desk when it's not time for meals. She has this lamp that she plugs in when she works late.

Hanging on my closet door are ropes and ropes of necklaces - some I haven't even worn yet - that either I bought or made. My favorite jeans topple to the side, while the ones I rarely use are pushed at the back.

A bronze cat whose origins I don't remember, a small circular silver box with amber stone from a foreign guest from my working days, a pig figurine I bought in China (I think), and a pewter perfume vial (?) that I also don't know where it came from.

At my bedside table, I put an antique suitcase (bought at the Sunday market) and filled it with my prized complete Nora Roberts Language of Love book collection. On top of a crocheted place mat I bought at Landmark, there's an antique glass lamp with a pineapple design, an antique-looking mirror, clock, and a porcelain container. For the finishing touch, I snipped a few branches from the bougainvillea plant outside, put in a small candle holder, and added a few pink silk flowers.

I may have written it all so romantically, when in reality - my house is really a mess. Like, a HUGE mess. But I love it. Absolutely love it. It's my home, after all. Even if there's fear of earthquakes (18th floor!) and sometimes you feel like the thunder and lightning are right beside you... I can not think about anywhere else in the world I would rather live in right now.