I truly felt like i was Alice in Wonderland, right out of Lewis Carroll's book when i awaken on my bed in a sea of tears.
Metaphorically.

Literally, the storm the other night created a mini flood in my bed room. It was almost surreal to wake up and step right into a pond. Sort of.
I was woken up by my cat who was busy burrowing into my blankets due to the thunder storm outside when i felt that its fur was wet. Thinking that it might have been a lil "accident" (loosen bladder due to fright?), i immediately got up to check. When i put my foot on the floor, i thought it might have been the "accident" spot, until i walked a few more steps to the light switch and realized that something has gone horribly wrong. I was actually walking in at least 1cm deep of water. When i switched on the lights, i found that my room was covered in a layer of rainwater from the balcony door to my bedroom door and even to the bathroom through my walk-in closet.

Frankly i was more amazed than frantic in the beginning because this sort of thing is hardly something i ever envisaged. Upon recollection, i was rather foolishly negligent. To be honest, this is a "disaster" waiting to happen. After all, between the balcony and my bedroom, there is only a door separating the two floors which are almost level (perhaps with my bedroom floor about 5mm above the balcony). With the raging storm and wind blowing the rain right into my door and windows, it is almost inevitable that water will seep through to my room while i was asleep. It just never happened before. I guess the night of the 29th, everything was in favour of my room being flooded.

Damage was considerable since my bedroom floor is entirely covered by parquet and my walk-in closet (whose partition takes up considerable space) is made of wood. And with the unrelenting monsoon coming and tropical humidity, i have great cause for worry. By the time i got everything dried, by sweeping out the water at 6am in the morning after the rain stop (i had been waiting in bed the whole time waiting for the rain to relent), i could see that my floor is probably going to be a goner. The seams of each piece is stained and oozing water whenever i walked on it. And even after that had dried, i could feel the surface has gone rough ( i could feel the edges when i walked) and there is a slight expansion around the edges.

Something must be done. Someone called in to survey the damage and provide some solution. I also need to get the door fix to become leakage-proof. Perhaps get a better drainage opening at the end of the balcony. On top of all that, i have to consider the cost, the time needed for repairs and the possible extent of the repairs. Quite daunting when i think about it now. I am tempted to say i am damn unlucky this year (especially in light of the events these last 2 months) but i am holding my breath till year 2002 comes along before i give my final verdict. Perhaps the odds would be even out by some of the better memories for this year.

In anycase, i must say that this is another interest experience (geez, how many people can wake up to their room being flooded in Singapore?) and looks like i am in line for another lesson in life. After car insurance 101, i looked bound to sit for home furnishing 101 cum home maintenence refresher course or perhaps even the all-you-need-to-know-about-parquet introductory lesson.

Who knows. Might be fun. :)