Look! Look what my initial excavation has revealed
- the original granite airwell AND patterned cement tiles circa 1920 - 1940! All buried underneath a foot of construction rubble and concrete!
The entire floor had been raised previously in an attempt to prevent flood waters from entering the house and from this preliminary dig, it seems like at least some of the floor features are still in place. The tiles are a little caked with lime after being buried for so long, but that's a small matter. What matters is that the airwell is still there! Now, I hope and pray that the entire granite airwell at least, is still intact, but that will be another story for another time.
Accompanying the discovery of the existence of this airwell, was another big surprise - the realisation that the original position of the airwell was towards the centre of the house and not to the side, as it currently is. This was later confirmed by Dr Gwynn Jenkins (friend and cultural anthropologist) who very kindly sent me this interesting old plan from her collection. No. 105 is lot no.86 on the plan. This means that the corresponding space upwards all the way to the roof will now have to be reconfigured if I were to reclaim the original airwell.
And look at this. Look at the two little beams that cut across the other parallel beams in the picture below. This marks the original position of the staircase towards the back of the house rather than its current position at the side. The previous owner sure did some major reshuffling to create a warehouse-like space. Isn't this interesting?
For the past 3 days, I have been buzzing with excitement over these discoveries. I finally wound down yesterday evening, pleasantly walking around with Janet and getting caught in the rain. We passed the house occupied by some Indian old-timers - Janet's buddies, it seems. She chatted for a while and found out one of them has been hospitalized. He was a stevedore when he was young. They didn't drink much water working in the docks those days and his kidneys, after all these years, are suffering from the dehydration he must have endured back then. She'll visit him at the hospital.
And by the way, my aunt has been enjoying a winning streak at her mahjong sessions since that visit to the Tiger God. She's pleased.
- the original granite airwell AND patterned cement tiles circa 1920 - 1940! All buried underneath a foot of construction rubble and concrete! 
The entire floor had been raised previously in an attempt to prevent flood waters from entering the house and from this preliminary dig, it seems like at least some of the floor features are still in place. The tiles are a little caked with lime after being buried for so long, but that's a small matter. What matters is that the airwell is still there! Now, I hope and pray that the entire granite airwell at least, is still intact, but that will be another story for another time. 
Accompanying the discovery of the existence of this airwell, was another big surprise - the realisation that the original position of the airwell was towards the centre of the house and not to the side, as it currently is. This was later confirmed by Dr Gwynn Jenkins (friend and cultural anthropologist) who very kindly sent me this interesting old plan from her collection. No. 105 is lot no.86 on the plan. This means that the corresponding space upwards all the way to the roof will now have to be reconfigured if I were to reclaim the original airwell.
And look at this. Look at the two little beams that cut across the other parallel beams in the picture below. This marks the original position of the staircase towards the back of the house rather than its current position at the side. The previous owner sure did some major reshuffling to create a warehouse-like space. Isn't this interesting?
For the past 3 days, I have been buzzing with excitement over these discoveries. I finally wound down yesterday evening, pleasantly walking around with Janet and getting caught in the rain. We passed the house occupied by some Indian old-timers - Janet's buddies, it seems. She chatted for a while and found out one of them has been hospitalized. He was a stevedore when he was young. They didn't drink much water working in the docks those days and his kidneys, after all these years, are suffering from the dehydration he must have endured back then. She'll visit him at the hospital. 
And by the way, my aunt has been enjoying a winning streak at her mahjong sessions since that visit to the Tiger God. She's pleased.
I also want the Tiger God on my side!!!
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