another weekend, another update. December 2, 2007

I’m not sure there’s a ton to write about but I’m trying to get into a habit here so here’s the latest. Since my last writing, I had chaos erupt over some banking issues. If you’re planning to ever move outside the country, make sure you take your cash with you and do not expect the bank to wire it to you. Bank of America will NOT wire my money to me since I cannot go into a branch. It’s a big pile of crap, so every day I take out my ATM limit and pay mucho fees. By next Friday I need to have enough to finish paying for my apartment deposit, but things seem to be on track there. There were two days of total stress and major freak outs but that is behind me now. I had an overdose on lychee martinis Friday night so I think I need to stay away from the sugar. Saw another movie today – this one in Cantonese (english subtitled), and filmed in hong kong. It’s called “Mad Detective” and it was pretty good. The main character cuts off his ear during the first five minutes and there were a lot of groans in the theater. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but Hong Kong cinemas really put the volume up on the audio. It’s LOUD. I also got my nails done today. It’s a lot more expensive for a gel manicure here and it took almost 2 hours. I found a reasonably priced place in Causeway bay so I guess I’ll continue to go back there. My nails do look nice

Here’s some new pics:

From today in Causeway Bay. These pics are a little boring but maybe you can get a feel for the Christmas decorating and busyness of Causeway Bay – this is on a Sunday afternoon: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/HongKongTimeSquareCausewayBay

 My apartment! These are from the realtor website so I’ll post better pics once i’m moved in and it’s furnished: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rachelmadams2005/Apartment

 I’m doing a few “expat” events this week so hopefully will make some friends.

That’s all for now! xxoo patch

I found an apartment! and other news from hk. November 27, 2007

Things continue to go well and as planned. I looked at four apartments last night. All apartments were in Sheung Wan, which is where my serviced apartment is, and I guess I’m becoming a little comfortable here. Only one was acceptable, really. The largest one which was the most promising and the one I wanted to see, was pretty much a dump. It was depressing. It’s hard to see a place that needs major painting and overhaul and just trust that it will happen. The second was smaller but seemed cleaner and in better overall shape. The last two were fine square footage wise, but the layouts were terrible. The bedrooms literally were teeny weeny boxes, barely big enough for a twin, and more suitable for a crib. I saw one of the apartments in the dark as there was no power.

Today I got an email from another realtor to see a place last minute. I was 30 minutes late, getting lost in Sheung Wan. Somehow Bonham Strand turns into Bonham Strand west (my destination), but certainly not in a straight line or logical path. I walked around aimlessly with blisters thumping for over 30 minutes, and right when I was about to give up, I saw a road sign with the promising “W”. I cannot believe the realtor waited for me. First words out of his mouth were “I told you I’d pick you up”. I walked into the apartment and fell in love. I loved it. It’s a low rise, which isn’t preferred in HK due to the noise closer to the ground, and it’s a walk up but the apt was on the second floor. These are both considered negatives, but I couldn’t help but feel that this sits better with me. I was really somewhat turned off by all the highrises, and I just feel as though this is a bit more “me”. And it’s just a 5 apartment building – one apartment per floor. Everything is brand new. it looks like it’s never been lived in. it’s big (!) – 700 square feet which is huge for a single person in HK. I guess. That’s what I’m told. Anyway, to make a very long story short – I GOT IT! I negotiated the best that I could, and stated my few demands – (i.e, will move in 12/20 and won’t pay more than 1/2 months rent, lower rent a bit, etc). The realtor insisted i see one more place (he had my spot lined up for a client later in the evening, and I think was trying to get both deals) but for a few different reasons, that didn’t happen. I’m signing the lease tomorrow!  It was only the 5th place i looked at, and I am truly happy. It is a little more than I wanted to end up spending, but it’s a bit lower than my upper limit. There’s some weird arrangement with me and the landlord and the water meter, but i’ll save that for another time. I hope that there will be some interesting stories related to that, but at the same time, fingers crossed that there aren’t.

Other than the apartment, there isn’t a ton more in the way of news. Today was day two of work and I really like the office and the people. everyone is so nice and the tea selection in the kitchen is something to certainly write home (or blog) about! the job is great too