the weather

I don't think I'll ever be a fan of Auckland weather. Her winters are dreary, cold and damp, without the pretty snow to make up for all the muck; while her summers are scorching and oppressive. Today, the city is warm, humid, and grey all at once, rendering me with the inability to do anything useful - like write.

I drink glass after glass of cold water, which is the only cooling mechanism my body currently has available. My clothes glue to my skin in the constant heat, and I start sweating the minute I step out of the bathroom after a cold shower. At nights, The Husband and I, already prone to sleeping without our clothes on, toss and turn restlessly trying to find a cool spot on the bed without avail, and then wake up in the mornings only to find the sheets sticking to our sweaty skin.

Whenever I complain about the weather, people turn to me in surprise, saying 'But you're from Malaysia! Shouldn't you be used to this weather? In fact, doesn't it remind you of home?' The truth is, while Malaysia is hot and humid, the living conditions of the country I am from is very much different from my current situation. So no, as a matter of fact, I'm very much not used to this.

Malaysians don't go running to put on their shorts, tank top and jandals and spend the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun on the beach. We hide indoors, turning on the air-condition at full blast when it's especially hot outside. I think my parents' home back in Damansara had six air-conditioning units - one for each bedroom and two downstairs in the living area. We wouldn't have survived otherwise. And on that note, I don't think I've ever heard a single one of my friends say, 'Hey, it's nice and hot outside, let's go and do something outdoors.'

Malaysians don't go for walks in the afternoon, if we even go for walks at all. We don't put on sun protection before leaving the house, and if we do leave the house, we move from the air-conditioned home, to the air-conditioned car, to the air-conditioned office, to the air-conditioned mall, to the air-conditioned bar, and always, back to the air-conditioned home. So living in this oppressive heat, without any electrical cooling agent, and spending as much time outdoors in the sun as I've ever done in my life, is completely new to me. And right now, a home with an air-conditioning unit sounds like heaven.

Of course, by the time that dream is realised, winter will have probably reared its head, by which time I will be wishing for a heat pump instead.

Okay, enough griping. The truth is, most of the time, I'm really not bothered by having to put on sun block when I leave the house. And I do enjoy every minute of the time I spend lazing on the beach under the sun, or have a walk with my husband in a park. So, my next post (when my brain doesn't feel so much like a melted mush in my head) will detail everything I do love about this city I now call home. After all, it's only fair.

Now please excuse me while I make myself another ice-cold drink.