So here's the deal. Since October 2006, I've moved back to Jakarta, Indonesia. I got a job here and well, being Indonesian and all, I figured it's a good time to return to the 'motherland'. I've sold my home in Singapore which means my hobby room of old is now kaput. Sigh...

Also since October, I've been staying at my in-law's home in Jakarta. All my hobby stuff however, was still in Singapore. I didn't sell my home till April. My stuff from Singapore didn't get shipped till May of this year. The stuff only arrived on my doorstep in early July. All thanks to the bureaucracy that is the Indonesian Customs office.

“Well then, your stuff's here! Quick! Open them boxes and start modeling!" Well... it's easier said than done. You see, I've been staying at my in-law's place ever since me and my family moved back. Now they are fine folks. They pretty much let me do whatever I want as long as it doesn't annoy them.

I have a feeling if I started using my compressor, it'll annoy them heh...

The logistics isn't a problem. Naturally, I don't have a dedicated room in my in-law's place for hobbies. However, they do have a big backyard. So I could, if I wanted to, lug my compressor out to the backyard and set-up everything there when I want to do some painting. It's not practical, but it would be workable.

Now though, I think the incessant pumping of the compressor will somehow annoy my in-laws. Especially since I will be painting on weekends, the natural 'rest' day for most people, including my in-laws.

Now one solution I can consider is a Sil-Air silent compressor. Unlike diaphragm compressors like the Sparmax I own, it only expels air once every few minutes or so. Otherwise, there's no sound. However, 3 things stand in the way of me getting one. 1) It's VERY expensive 2) It's VERY heavy to lug around and most importantly 3) It's NOT available in Indonesia. Bugger.

A silver lining did occur earlier this month though. Me and the wife finally got ourselves a new home. It's a stone's throw away from my in-law's place. It's old – 16 years old so it needs some sprucing up. Nonetheless, we will finally have a new home! The renovations won't be finished till early next year but I think I can hold off doing any painting works till then.

In the meantime, I'll do two things. 1) I'll assemble as many model kits as possible. I'll also putty and primer as much as possible 2) I can still handpaint my model kits so this is a good excuse to start doing some figures. I've only done figures once before. Didn't turn out all that well, but practice makes perfect they always say!

Model on!