Tuesday was a holiday here. It's so weird to get a day off in the middle of the week. I seem to always end up going outside on the weekends (and holidays) when it is really hot outside. I think it's because I tend to chat with friends back in the US in the mornings. And then when they go to sleep, I get around to getting outside. And by then, it's around noon and sweltering hot.
That's how I managed to walk around during the hottest part of the day, trying to get money out of the ATM so that I can pay the rest of the deposit for my apartment and get the keys. I found out that I have a daily limit on how much I can take out on my Stanford account (about $3K HKD), which seemed a bit low to me. I went to a nearby mall and managed to get on their free wifi with my old computer that I was carrying around with me. I had planned to check my apartment to see if I can get any free wifi. I found the location of the nearest China Construction Bank and headed there because supposedly Bank of America won't charge me for using CCB's ATMs. But for some reason, it didn't work. So after more wandering around, I decided to find a salon to get my hair straightened. I found a street with several of them and walked into one.
The whole process took about 4 hours. I think I used up a tub of chemicals. They put three different chemicals on my hair and rinsed in between. There was careful blow drying and then flat ironing for an hour. I was getting tired just watching them do the work. It was about $40, which is really cheap compared to the US. The guy cutting my hair at the end didn't do a very good job though. The front part is a bit long and makes my face look long. Anyway, I'll probably get it fixed in a little bit, when I know what I want.
People are always confused what I did to my hair though. I always have to explain that I have naturally curly hair. My coworkers were like, did you get a haircut? Anyway, this is so much better. The humidity was making my hair very fizzy.
I made a lot of progress with my model at work today. I think I've finally got all the technical issues ironed out. There's a lot to learn in terms of learning to use the program. I really appreciate how helpful my coworkers are. They don't just answer my questions and leave it at that. They pose questions as well and we discuss. They understand that I lack experience and help me along. Anyway, really hope to get more involved in the project and not just make models in isolation. I've been keeping up with the work journal and I think it's really good to write things down as they happen.
A friend of mine posted a link to a very long but very interesting article about Asian Americans (mostly for guys): http://nymag.com/news/features/asian-americans-2011-5/ The article points out that there are not a lot of Asians in executive management. And I guess that's what I really want to achieve in life. I don't just want to be a staff engineer forever. I want to be in the upper management. Whether or not coming to Asia to start my career will help with this, I can't say. But at least here, I don't have to face the stereotype of being both Asian and female. I have some observations of how things work differently here than in the US. But I think it's too early to say for sure.
Anyway, I will have enough money tomorrow to get the keys. Can't wait to get the keys.
Showing posts with label Apartment Hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apartment Hunting. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
First Apartment: Success!
Big accomplishments this weekend. Found an apartment today!! I can't believe it but I managed to find (with lots of help) a place that satisfied all my requirements at a reasonable price. It is a one bedroom! I don't know if my readers understand how difficult it is to find an affordable one bedroom place in HK. I didn't either, until I started looking. This place has a bathroom, kitchen, living room area, and a bedroom, separated by another door. The building has security and an elevator. Mom, even the air conditioner is the quiet kind. It is also only 1 mile from work, so if I feel like it, I can walk to work. There are also buses that I can take. The neighborhood is good, lots of parks, shopping, everything I need. But let me start from the beginning.
I spent basically the entire day looking at apartments with agent after agent. This morning, I left my place at 9:30am and met someone to look at 2 places. But the rent was high and there was furniture. I don't need furniture. The guy is the actual owner and he wanted me as a tenant. But his stuff didn't fit with what I wanted. I met up with another guy an hour later and looked at a couple more studios. The first set was too dark, too small, and had a washing machine where I wanted to put my fridge. He then showed me a studio that I really liked in terms of space, lighting, and location but the building is a walkup and has no security.
At this point I was hungry and conflicted. I had seen another place yesterday that I thought was pretty good. It had an elevator, security, and a balcony. We'll call this the balcony place. The actual room in the balcony place is bit small but overall, it's not too bad. I ate at a McDonald's, because I wanted to use their bathroom and they would let me sit however long I wanted. I called my parents and asked them what they thought. I called the agent back about the balcony place but she said that it was already taken. I liked the agent because she seemed trustworthy and very friendly. So I went back to them to look at more places. She took me to two more places, one of which I liked.
At this point, my parents called to say that my dad's friend was willing to help me out. He gave me a call to say that he can come and show me around his neighborhood. So I left the agent and went with him. He took me around the agencies in his neighborhood but the apartments there weren't that much better. And he lives farther away from the subway stations. While we were looking at places, I swear all the previous agents called to see if I was still interested. After walking around some places with him, I didn't see anything that I really liked and wanted to be back in the neighborhood closer to work. . So we went back to see the place that the agent showed me before. My dad's friend wasn't impressed because it turns out that the place is an addition to the actual building. He said that it would get really hot in the summer. The ceiling is low so I don't think I could fit a bunk bed in there. The agent showed us another place that was bigger but the building itself is no good. At this point, an agent that I had called twice previously called me back.
This guy has a website where he posts Youtube videos of the places that his company is renting out (the owner is the real estate company). I had been stalking his website because his places looked pretty good and they are all in the neighborhood I'm interested in. We met up at nearly 6pm and he showed us a place that I liked immediately. The place is newly renovated with five individual suites. Two of them were no good and by the process of elimination, I found the one that I liked. The agent didn't want to bother with bargaining and told us right off that he can give the place to us for $200 (HKD) less than the price listed but that was it. We bargained hard but to no avail. In the end, I took it because the it really is what I want and the monthly rent is less than what I budgeted for.
So, if you're interested in seeing the video to my new place, I can email you the link. I don't want to repost other people's links randomly. I put down some money to hold the place. Once I give the entire deposit and such, I can get the keys and basically start living there. We finished the deal at around 7:30pm. So my day was pretty much like a day at work. We called my parents even though it was 4am their time. We ate dinner and my dad's friend even showed me a place to buy furniture at a wholesale price.
Very happy that this is all done. This place is definitely big enough to have visitors. Now I just have to find a good futon. I can finally go look at furniture! Very exciting. I'm also very glad to have someone helping me look and ask questions. I honestly didn't know what I needed to know. Read that previous sentence carefully. I was a bit hesitant about asking someone to help me out, especially on such short notice. But then I thought about it. If any of my friends (when the time comes), has a kid who needed my help to find an apartment or anything like that, I would not hesitate to help. I would have done the same thing. I think I could have been able to do it on my own, especially since I had contacted the agent and he was returning my call. But I might have signed with somewhere else that I wasn't completely happy with and then missed out on this place. And it was really good to have someone help me ask all the right questions and to read the contract.
Furniture shopping is next! Very excited.
I spent basically the entire day looking at apartments with agent after agent. This morning, I left my place at 9:30am and met someone to look at 2 places. But the rent was high and there was furniture. I don't need furniture. The guy is the actual owner and he wanted me as a tenant. But his stuff didn't fit with what I wanted. I met up with another guy an hour later and looked at a couple more studios. The first set was too dark, too small, and had a washing machine where I wanted to put my fridge. He then showed me a studio that I really liked in terms of space, lighting, and location but the building is a walkup and has no security.
At this point I was hungry and conflicted. I had seen another place yesterday that I thought was pretty good. It had an elevator, security, and a balcony. We'll call this the balcony place. The actual room in the balcony place is bit small but overall, it's not too bad. I ate at a McDonald's, because I wanted to use their bathroom and they would let me sit however long I wanted. I called my parents and asked them what they thought. I called the agent back about the balcony place but she said that it was already taken. I liked the agent because she seemed trustworthy and very friendly. So I went back to them to look at more places. She took me to two more places, one of which I liked.
At this point, my parents called to say that my dad's friend was willing to help me out. He gave me a call to say that he can come and show me around his neighborhood. So I left the agent and went with him. He took me around the agencies in his neighborhood but the apartments there weren't that much better. And he lives farther away from the subway stations. While we were looking at places, I swear all the previous agents called to see if I was still interested. After walking around some places with him, I didn't see anything that I really liked and wanted to be back in the neighborhood closer to work. . So we went back to see the place that the agent showed me before. My dad's friend wasn't impressed because it turns out that the place is an addition to the actual building. He said that it would get really hot in the summer. The ceiling is low so I don't think I could fit a bunk bed in there. The agent showed us another place that was bigger but the building itself is no good. At this point, an agent that I had called twice previously called me back.
This guy has a website where he posts Youtube videos of the places that his company is renting out (the owner is the real estate company). I had been stalking his website because his places looked pretty good and they are all in the neighborhood I'm interested in. We met up at nearly 6pm and he showed us a place that I liked immediately. The place is newly renovated with five individual suites. Two of them were no good and by the process of elimination, I found the one that I liked. The agent didn't want to bother with bargaining and told us right off that he can give the place to us for $200 (HKD) less than the price listed but that was it. We bargained hard but to no avail. In the end, I took it because the it really is what I want and the monthly rent is less than what I budgeted for.
So, if you're interested in seeing the video to my new place, I can email you the link. I don't want to repost other people's links randomly. I put down some money to hold the place. Once I give the entire deposit and such, I can get the keys and basically start living there. We finished the deal at around 7:30pm. So my day was pretty much like a day at work. We called my parents even though it was 4am their time. We ate dinner and my dad's friend even showed me a place to buy furniture at a wholesale price.
Very happy that this is all done. This place is definitely big enough to have visitors. Now I just have to find a good futon. I can finally go look at furniture! Very exciting. I'm also very glad to have someone helping me look and ask questions. I honestly didn't know what I needed to know. Read that previous sentence carefully. I was a bit hesitant about asking someone to help me out, especially on such short notice. But then I thought about it. If any of my friends (when the time comes), has a kid who needed my help to find an apartment or anything like that, I would not hesitate to help. I would have done the same thing. I think I could have been able to do it on my own, especially since I had contacted the agent and he was returning my call. But I might have signed with somewhere else that I wasn't completely happy with and then missed out on this place. And it was really good to have someone help me ask all the right questions and to read the contract.
Furniture shopping is next! Very excited.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
It gets serious
I just bought my flight to go back home for graduation. Kayak email alerts are awesome. The price for the flight had jumped up the last few days but went down by $300+ today so I booked it right away. I really don't think I can find a cheaper flight. I realized today that graduation is coming up in a little more than a month.
I've been thinking more about where I want to live and I think it would be nice to live close enough to either walk or take a bus. The area down the hill from where I am now actually has a lot of affordable places to live. So now I'm concentrating my efforts there. I think it will take about 20 minutes to walk to work. I have to figure out the bus system though, in case it rains or is too hot out.
I saw a place today that is small but is okay. It has a balcony that has a water connection so I can stick a washing machine out there. The balcony is bigger than my actual indoor apartment space and I can use it to hang clothes or whatever. They're not charging extra for it. The price is pretty good. I can make it work if I get a bunk bed. I made some appointments for tomorrow so we'll see what happens. I would really like to rent with the actual owner so that I don't have to go through an agent and pay them too. Anyway, we'll see. I think I've finally found the right neighborhood at least.
I've been thinking more about where I want to live and I think it would be nice to live close enough to either walk or take a bus. The area down the hill from where I am now actually has a lot of affordable places to live. So now I'm concentrating my efforts there. I think it will take about 20 minutes to walk to work. I have to figure out the bus system though, in case it rains or is too hot out.
I saw a place today that is small but is okay. It has a balcony that has a water connection so I can stick a washing machine out there. The balcony is bigger than my actual indoor apartment space and I can use it to hang clothes or whatever. They're not charging extra for it. The price is pretty good. I can make it work if I get a bunk bed. I made some appointments for tomorrow so we'll see what happens. I would really like to rent with the actual owner so that I don't have to go through an agent and pay them too. Anyway, we'll see. I think I've finally found the right neighborhood at least.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Adventures and Drama
Crazy adventures for my first full day in HK.. Joanna and I took the MTR to Hong Kong Island and took the Peak Tram to the Peak, the highest point on HK Island. We went early so there was no line for the tram. It was definitely an experience because the tram went up the hill at a 45 degree angle. But it's too pricey to go more than once so for my future guests, I'll just send them up while I take the cheap bus up. hahaha. We got tickets to the Sky Terrace viewing platform, which I'm not sure is worth the price. You can get the same views without going up that platform Anyway, we walked around the area and then came back down the hill. We visited the HK Gardens and found the Tea Museum but they weren't doing tea tasting (or maybe we were just dumb). We took the Star Ferry back to Kowloon and then a double decker bus to Mong Kok. And here's when the real adventure started.
I made an appointment the day before with a real estate agent. This guy is talkative and the first place he took me to was a place that was undergoing renovation. The place has 3 private suites that are one bedrooms. The two that faces the street are one bedrooms, reasonable size. The one in the back could actually be a two bedroom. He then told me prices that were really great deals for those sizes so I said I was interested in the big one in the back. And then as we were going to other places (which were studios instead of one bedrooms), the actual owner called back with a much higher price. We "negotiated" it down to $5,800, which is significantly higher than my highest price of $5K.
He wanted to close the deal super fast and sat me down at a cafe while he tried to get the brother of the owner to come to sign off the paperwork. Joanna came back from her shopping spree and suggested that I ask my cousin who lives in Mong Kok what he thought. He said that the area is not so great and that it's too expensive. He came back from HK Island really fast and we convinced the agent and the owner to show him the place. He didn't think the agent was doing his job and was trying to rip me off so we ended up walking away from the whole deal. The place didn't have a 24hr security and the street was quiet at night. There wasn't an elevator either but the place was on the 2nd floor. Both we (the customers) and the owner decided after some talking that we were probably not the best match. The agent was really insistent and tried to get me to sign off on a price that the owner didn't agree to. It took us a while for us to shake him off. I think he also called me afterwards.
Anyway, many lessons learned here. I seriously didn't know that you sign off on a place and move in right away. So I have plenty of time to look for a place to stay. And the most important thing is that I need to bargain harder. I also need to know the market more to figure out if a place is worth the rent. Really glad that I had two people with me who talked me to me about my options and got me away from that agent. I just need to be more careful next time. Good thing I didn't even bring any form of ID with me so he couldn't forge anything. After this we ate dinner and de-stressed.
Joanna and I went back to the Ladies Market and bargained for two suitcases for her. I think we got pretty good deals. I'm not sure I've managed to capture the entire drama here but this is the gist of it. Gotta get some sleep!! I think I only slept about 4 hours last night.
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