House

For the first time since we embarked on this trip, we're not spending our night at some Motel 6 or Super 8 type of establishment. We're being hosted by Dan's cousin in a spacious, quaint and charming apartment near the Carnegie Mellon University's main campus in Oakland. It's got a lovely red brick and grey stone facade, with wooden staircases, white pock-marked walls and a really ancient elevator.

The front entrance to the building

Don't forget to check your mail as you walk in!

Dannie desperately trying to work the phone thingy to get Fadz to unlock the door. Cos he needs to pee.

Daylight streaming into the ground floor lobby

We had fun with the old cage elevator, although the loud creaking, squeaking and groaning sounds emerging from its rusty old joints probably made all the other residents cringe. The sudden heaving when the elevator starts up can practically knock you out of your skin. And god forbid you lock your knees while riding in it - the earth-shattering jolt that announces its arrival at destination is enough to pop those kneecaps out of action.

Yanking open the heavy wooden door first

Inside the elevator

The creepy 200-year-old lift attendant who lives inside the cage

We almost forgot to manually shut both the doors on our first ride. If the doors aren't closed shut, the elevator won't move. That's a mistake that would get you on the neighbourhood's hate list. And easy one way to piss your neighbours off if you really hate them.

And here's the lovely place we called home on our first 2 nights in Pittsburgh:

Ivy-covered walls on the outside

Nice big windows let in ample sunlight

There's something quite endearing about this slim glass-fronted shelf

I think it's the look of nice clean lines of the white wooden trimmings on the glass panel against the brown

One of the housemates

Goodness gracious me! Which door do I go into?

These would look cheesy in any other house but they look so right here

Love the textured walls and curved ceiling

Just one of the many movie posters that adorn the white walls

And just as we thought we could save some cash by bunking in with family, we got slapped with a parking fine the very next morning for exceeding the 1-hour parking limit along the street. US$35 gone for parking too long in some residential area! Despite all those unfunny jokes about Singapore being a 'fine' city, the fine imposed for a similar offence back home is much smaller. Sigh. There's no such thing as a free nights stay, even if its at your cousin's place.

At least this time, I don't have to suffer the embarassment of being spotted sheepishly paying a parking fine, administered by my very own employer, in my employer's building.