This is the front gate to our apartment complex (our place is in the middle of the building on the right, way at the top and not visible in this photo). I've never seen the big gates open and I'm not sure what kind of occasion would call for them to be opened, so I guess they just stay closed most of the time. This is not a drive-up type of place; the tiled part in the foreground is beyond the sidewalk. Luckily, there is a spot along the road right in front of this front walk that is kept free of parked cars so taxis can pull up easily. There is an underground parking garage (-1 on the elevator keypad) that we have no business using. Some days Gene longs for a little car to call our own, but I'm not so sure that's a good idea given the lack of orderly driving around here. I'm a by-the-book type of driver so I spend a lot of time looking out the side windows, ignoring the chaos and near-misses whenever I ride in a car!
This is the pedestrian doorway, to the right of the large gate. There's a small desk to the right and a guard's room next to it. There are always several blue-shirted guards milling around or sitting on folding chairs. One night we came back from dinner at 9 p.m. or so and were told that we had to sign some sort of log book with our name, apartment number and phone number. We had only been here for a few days and didn't have our home phone number memorized yet (okay, it's been three weeks and I still have to look it up every time, but Gene knows all his numbers!). We just shrugged and did the best we could. That has only happened once so we have no idea what it was all about. The small blue square above the black handle (actually a flat plate that we push to open the gate) is a sensor. We have small, plastic things about the size of a quarter on our key rings that we wave in front of that square to open the door when it's locked.
This is the view of the front gate from our balcony. Some mornings I stand out here and watch Gene and the girls walk to the bus stop which is out the gate and down the street to the right. Notice our shared "lawn." The pathway is tiled and the green band running down the middle is made up of open tiles with grass. Looks kind of cool but is a nice way to twist an ankle if one is not paying close attention! Not sure how the grass is trimmed...
Here's the back gate, it is directly opposite the front gate (our place is to the left from this direction). We go out this way when we are going to our little convenience store for ice cream cones, beer, jugs of water, tape, batteries, mop, garbage bags, screw driver, etc. Will post a picture of this tiny, eclectic store soon! We've given them quite a bit of business already since they're so close and easy to use.
The door to our section of the building, three steps up but also has a ramp to the left that we used to drag our suitcases when we first got here. This door is security coded--the small silver thing on the left door is the keypad. We punch in the code, which opens the door on the first try on our lucky days. We sometimes have to put in the code three times, usually when I'm juggling three bags of groceries! The key pad may also be used to call up to an individual apartment to be "buzzed in." We have phones in the apartment for this purpose--I had Amanda stay downstairs to experiment so we would know how to buzz it open from inside. Everything must be decoded! I kept pushing buttons on the phone until the gate opened for her! From here we enter a small hallway that contains the mailboxes and, usually, several bikes. The bikes are always right in front of our mailbox, but we rarely have anything to retrieve so it's not a big deal. Why the owners can't put the bikes on the other side of the hallway is beyond me. This is also where numerous notes have recently been posted. Obviously I have no idea what any of them say, but have noticed that some have specific apartment numbers listed. I scan carefully each day, hoping that our number isn't listed. I can imagine lots of things that they might say, mostly unpleasant like: your water will be turned off at a certain time or we'll be spraying noxious chemicals to ward off bugs tomorrow at noon so be sure to evacuate. Ignorance is bliss? We should be very blissful these days, then! So, a few long strides down the hallway, we turn right to get to the elevator. There is a sensor for the overhead lights but we often find ourselves standing in the dark since it doesn't stay on for very long. This is especially true right outside our apartment since we are on the 15th floor and must wait for the elevator to get up to us from the first floor each time. We feel fortunate that there are only fourteen apartments that share this elevator and haven't had to wait for it for more than a few moments. We have adapted quite quickly to apartment living and don't really mind not having a yard to tend! Next up, photos from inside the apartment (after I tidy up, that is. Funny how even with a paltry amount of possessions we manage to look messy much of the time!)
This is the front gate to our apartment complex (our place is in the middle of the building on the right, way at the top and not visible in this photo). I've never seen the big gates open and I'm not sure what kind of occasion would call for them to be opened, so I guess they just stay closed most of the time. This is not a drive-up type of place; the tiled part in the foreground is beyond the sidewalk. Luckily, there is a spot along the road right in front of this front walk that is kept free of parked cars so taxis can pull up easily. There is an underground parking garage (-1 on the elevator keypad) that we have no business using. Some days Gene longs for a little car to call our own, but I'm not so sure that's a good idea given the lack of orderly driving around here. I'm a by-the-book type of driver so I spend a lot of time looking out the side windows, ignoring the chaos and near-misses whenever I ride in a car!
This is the pedestrian doorway, to the right of the large gate. There's a small desk to the right and a guard's room next to it. There are always several blue-shirted guards milling around or sitting on folding chairs. One night we came back from dinner at 9 p.m. or so and were told that we had to sign some sort of log book with our name, apartment number and phone number. We had only been here for a few days and didn't have our home phone number memorized yet (okay, it's been three weeks and I still have to look it up every time, but Gene knows all his numbers!). We just shrugged and did the best we could. That has only happened once so we have no idea what it was all about. The small blue square above the black handle (actually a flat plate that we push to open the gate) is a sensor. We have small, plastic things about the size of a quarter on our key rings that we wave in front of that square to open the door when it's locked.
This is the view of the front gate from our balcony. Some mornings I stand out here and watch Gene and the girls walk to the bus stop which is out the gate and down the street to the right. Notice our shared "lawn." The pathway is tiled and the green band running down the middle is made up of open tiles with grass. Looks kind of cool but is a nice way to twist an ankle if one is not paying close attention! Not sure how the grass is trimmed...
Here's the back gate, it is directly opposite the front gate (our place is to the left from this direction). We go out this way when we are going to our little convenience store for ice cream cones, beer, jugs of water, tape, batteries, mop, garbage bags, screw driver, etc. Will post a picture of this tiny, eclectic store soon! We've given them quite a bit of business already since they're so close and easy to use.
The door to our section of the building, three steps up but also has a ramp to the left that we used to drag our suitcases when we first got here. This door is security coded--the small silver thing on the left door is the keypad. We punch in the code, which opens the door on the first try on our lucky days. We sometimes have to put in the code three times, usually when I'm juggling three bags of groceries! The key pad may also be used to call up to an individual apartment to be "buzzed in." We have phones in the apartment for this purpose--I had Amanda stay downstairs to experiment so we would know how to buzz it open from inside. Everything must be decoded! I kept pushing buttons on the phone until the gate opened for her! From here we enter a small hallway that contains the mailboxes and, usually, several bikes. The bikes are always right in front of our mailbox, but we rarely have anything to retrieve so it's not a big deal. Why the owners can't put the bikes on the other side of the hallway is beyond me. This is also where numerous notes have recently been posted. Obviously I have no idea what any of them say, but have noticed that some have specific apartment numbers listed. I scan carefully each day, hoping that our number isn't listed. I can imagine lots of things that they might say, mostly unpleasant like: your water will be turned off at a certain time or we'll be spraying noxious chemicals to ward off bugs tomorrow at noon so be sure to evacuate. Ignorance is bliss? We should be very blissful these days, then! So, a few long strides down the hallway, we turn right to get to the elevator. There is a sensor for the overhead lights but we often find ourselves standing in the dark since it doesn't stay on for very long. This is especially true right outside our apartment since we are on the 15th floor and must wait for the elevator to get up to us from the first floor each time. We feel fortunate that there are only fourteen apartments that share this elevator and haven't had to wait for it for more than a few moments. We have adapted quite quickly to apartment living and don't really mind not having a yard to tend! Next up, photos from inside the apartment (after I tidy up, that is. Funny how even with a paltry amount of possessions we manage to look messy much of the time!)
It looks like you are all VERY secure! :) I don't even lock my back door at home all the time!
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