As my homelessness reached a point edging towards scary, I was very fortunate to be taken in by a classmate and now friend, Lilin. Lilin is a native Singaporean, a film maker who is married to a visual artist. Lilin's house is amazing. It even blows the Marriott out of the water! Lilin's entire family lives together, this is common in Singapore. Their house is split into two units, with a lovely outdoor garden-patio dividing the two. The one unit, the smaller of the two, is where Lilin and her husband Charles live (they have a master bedroom with an attached bathroom and walk-in closet) and her sister also lives in this unit, in an additional, probably identical, master bedroom setup. There is a living room and an additional bathroom, kitchenette, and office in this unit. Now let's take a walk outside. There's a huge swimming pool, an outdoor bar area, an outdoor eating area, and lots of shrubbery. The larger of the two units, the main part of the house is where Lilin's parents and brother live. There are several gorgeous rooms filled with couches and glass dining room table and artwork hanging on the walls. The master bedroom, the kitchen, etc etc. Two Filipino women live with the family and work for the family, primarily maintaining the house and cooking. They cook breakfast when you wake up, dinner when you're hungry, etc. etc. Lots and lots of food! (I'm actually thinking about writing a play about Filipino domestic workers, because I also read an interesting essay on this topic in a class last year, but I'd certainly have to do a lot more research on the topic.) My stay with Lilin has been extremely nice, relaxing, and comfortable. It showed me a different side of Singapore life.
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