My plethora of sounds

Noise pollution is something that's not lacking where I am. You see, I stay in an area that's still being developed. It's like MidValley City in KL, you have condo's, malls, shop lots etc. All within a relatively close radius. They're still building a mall, another condo and finishing up on the shop lots.

Construction here goes on 24 hours. Yup! 24 hours. Although, they're kind enough to keep the less noisy work for the nights.

Here's my dictionary of sounds:

*woosh-woosh-woosh*
I am greeted in the morning by the sound of my VERY loud fan in the bedroom. I haven't decided if it's just very strong or plain faulty.

*hummm...hummm...hummm..*
Ah! That would be the sound of my trusty water dispenser. Again, very powerful or badly engineered? Eh...no comment.

*vooohhh...vooohhh...vooohhh*
As I take my morning leak, the toilet ventilator takes it as his duty to fully awaken me. 

*kring-krang-kring-krang*
That would be the people sorting rubbish right below my balcony (yes, they sort rubbish manually here). You know those giant bins that all the rubbish from all  units gets thrown into? Conveniently position below my balcony. Lucky me!

*ding-dong*
Like the announcements you hear at the airport! Except here, it's for the construction site (no seriously!) and it comes on like...oh...every 5 minutes or so.

*branng-krong-bang*
Contributed from our trusty construction site nearby. I just thank God that it's not opposite my balcony. In this case, I would really rather choose the rubbish dump over the construction site. There's barely any smell from it and the sound of glass banging together is rather soothing compared to the sound of drilling throughout the day.

*vrooom-vrooom-honk-honk*
Another thing Jakarta doesn't lack is motorcycles and motorists that love to honk their horns. They honk when they're passing by, they honk when you move too slow, they honk when the light turns green and you don't immediately step on the gas and sometimes they probably honk just for the sake of honking.

*wee-ooh-wee-ooh*
No, not the sound of ambulances but police escorts accompanying some big shot in traffic. Guess it is a necessity seeing as Jakarta roads are stuck in a stand still most of the time. We hear this occasionally, not everyday. Oh...I should elaborate a little. By occasionally, I mean about twice a week!

*kraaak-kraaak-kraaak*
That would be the sound of my a/c telling me that it's time for a service. So I go to sleep to this sound and in the middle of the night, when it gets too cold, me or my hubby turn the a/c off and turn the fan on. And in the morning, the beautiful sound of swoosh-swoosh. 

*bang*
One of my many neighbours leaving/entering their unit. Either the walls are too thin or they're just too lazy to shut the door properly.

*wah-wah-hee-hee*
Children running around & babies doing what they do best; cry and wail (my absolute most favorite thing in the world, by the way!); outside on the corridors. Well, I guess the walls are really too thin.

I know, I know, someone's gonna comment that I'm pregnant and that I myself am going to experience the wailing baby 24-7 blah blah blah. Well, my plan is to fully soundproof the baby's room with egg cartons that I collect from the local supermarket. Then all I need is a baby monitor. If the baby cries for no reason, turn the baby monitor off for about 5 minutes or so and check if he/she is still crying. Repeat as desired. Ingenious don't you think!? 

All I can say is, with my kid growing up in such an environment, he/she is going to grow up to be the soundest sleeper in the world. I also have a suspicion that I've lost 10% of my hearing already! =)