Our new apartment

It has been a long time since I was able to sit down and write for our blog, because
- Moving and settling into our new apartment took quite a bit of efforts
- We tried to catch the last of the fine Fall weather doing things outside (walking around the town & traveling outside the town) before we hibernate for the winter
- We had a few visitors (work & personal) from the US
- We went away for New Year to catch some warmer air

I am sitting down writing, because
- About ten days ago an earthquake in Taiwan took down major communication cables making it impossible (at first) and painfully slow (then) to surf US sites from China.
- My heal spur needs a break
- Trip planning for Chinese New Year is stalled. I am disgusted with the outrageous airfares.

Therefore, I am writing from our not so new apartment. The first thing I want to report is that this apartment is warmer than our previous one. Why? Here are a few theories
- This building is a few years older than the previous one which means the concrete has had more time to dry.
- Our unit is in the middle instead of on the end.
- The windows and doors are heavier -- I have not yet heard the wind howl.
- It is a warmer winter than the last over all.

In China when you buy a new apartment, townhouse, or even single family house, most of the times it means you are buying a concrete box. You end up hiring your own construction crew to finish the place the rest of way. John's bus stop narrowed our search to this complex and the complex across the street. The one across the street is newer and more upscale -- their units are semi-finished. But for me, seeing the same bathrooms and kitchens, unit after unit, reminded me of mass produced subdivisions in the States; besides I didn't come across a unit with a particularly good view.

I like the view from our apartment. We are on the 11th floor overlooking a busy intersection - one of the top 5 busiest intersections in Shanghai says John. The street noise can be very annoying. There is a lot of beeping (horn blowing) during rush hour. John jokes that those drivers really give him an urge to acquire a gun and use it. Even then I still like our apartment. Maybe it reminds me how I grew up -- on a busy street corner.

The other bad thing about this apartment is that the kitchen counters are designed for the shorter Chinese people. They are 3 inches lower. John likes to complain about it when he is doing the dishes on the weekend. It's a good thing that we have an Ayi (maid) during the week.

In any case, we now have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We can easily put up guests -- hint, hint -- unless our landlord sells the apartment. Just when I felt we were settled in, I got a call from our landlady saying that they want to sell the place and we need to show the apartment for her. It took me by complete surprise. Later it found out that they paid 3,500,000 RMB at the peak of the real estate boom a couple of years ago. They don't expect to get all of that back, but they won't sell below 3,000,000 RMB. Now I am really thinking we got a good deal going, considering our rent is 7000 RMB. Real estate is really overpriced in Shanghai. If you were not in it before the boom, you are pretty much out of luck. Prices have come down some. I don't know what they will do, but I know 3,000,000 is a lot.

Footnote: In the 6 weeks since the landlady first called about selling the apartment, only one person has actually looked.

Thanks for reading.