Apartment Hunting

I know I haven't finished posting about our trip, but I felt the need to explain how difficult our apartment search has been since we've returned to HK. We are arguably more high-maintenance than the average buyer, but I'd like to think this isn't the third world. I'm not convinced of that yet.

Exhibit A: this little gem of a bathroom. Cut your water bill in half!!

I don't understand why so many people think that "nice deco" (read: pink tile in every room, or primary-color door paneling) is more important than a FRIDGE or a STOVETOP, but maybe I'm just picky. An agent today tried to convince us that the train station was a "nice view."

Check out this great deal in Wong Tai Sin.
(I didn't play with the colors, in case you're wondering. It really was green.)

The owner's main selling point was that the toilet was new -- "NOBODY USE BEFORE!" He even offered to partition off two apartments to make one big awful maze of an apartment, all for the low low price of about $800 USD per month. Groan.


Meanwhile, we're living in Jordan, which is tolerably small - they say it's 450 sq ft but it's more like 250 sq ft of actual living space. Here's the view from our pint-sized balcony.
Soon enough I will post pictures of the inside, and you will laugh and laugh. Hopefully a clean village house with rooftop by the beach will drop out of the sky in the next month. Until then, we will stuff ourselves with $5 take-away curry and bubble tea, courtesy of our new neighborhood.