Happy New Year!
A few nights ago, my apartment building was filled with smoke all of a sudden. I found out about this upon returning home from work. When I stepped into the building, I smelled the smoke and immediately started panicking, afraid that something might be burning inside my apartment. I also couldn’t rule out a gas leak, so I was really scared when I turned the key to open the apartment door.
Once inside, I gingerly turned on the lights, fearing that it might cause an explosion. Thankfully, nothing happened—there was neither a fire nor a gas leak inside my place. I stepped back out to check the source of the smoke. As it turned out, it was emanating from a Chinese barbecue restaurant opposite us. Their smokestack was blowing thick smoke into our building through our back door, which is only covered by a metal grid, with no plastic sheet over it.
Although I kept my apartment door firmly shut throughout the night, it couldn’t prevent the smoke from wafting into my room, and I woke up the next morning feeling sickened by the foul air.
I recorded a video of the smokestack billowing out thick smoke toward our building with my phone and forwarded it to my landlord. She in turn lodged a complaint with the relevant authorities in Singapore overseeing the food and beverage industry. I also reported this incident to the property management company of our building, but so far I haven’t received their reply.
I’ve been living in this apartment for more than 20 years, but this is the first time I’ve had to endure such unbreathable air. I imagine that this kind of complaint will take a long time to be addressed by the authorities, so most likely I’ll need to endure this unpleasant situation for at least a few weeks. To make my surroundings a bit more bearable, I’ve purchased an air purifier, scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Hopefully, it can help me breathe more normally going forward.
Speaking of improving my living environment, recently, my robotic vacuum cleaner which I’ve used for the past five years has begun to malfunction, making it unable to clean my apartment effectively. In light of the Chinese New Year sales promotion starting tomorrow, I’ve decided to buy a new one.
The model I’m thinking of buying is a combo device with dual functionality of vacuuming and mopping. Since my apartment is relatively sparsely furnished and I have no carpet on the floor, my place should be ideal for the new device to move around. I’m looking forward to experiencing an enhanced level of cleanliness in my apartment with this new device.
The recent incident of our neighborhood restaurant blowing smoke into our building has certainly been annoying and unpleasant, but it has at least helped me decide to get the most sophisticated appliances available in the market. As I’m not the kind of person who keeps chasing the latest trends, this incident could be a blessing in disguise, by making me embrace modern technology willy-nilly. I can’t wait to start using the new air purifier and vacuum cleaner!
