Finding an apartment in Taipei

For the past few days I've been fully occupied with the task of finding an apartment.

Before I left Victoria I searched for apartment rental web sites in Taiwan. I found the usual suspects - Craigslist, Tealit, Sublet.com - and even the Chinese-only web site 591. I was impressed by the number and variety of listings and felt confident that I could find a place to live very easily.

As soon as I arrived I started emailing people who posted ads for apartments. I waited a couple of days for replies. And I waited another couple of days for replies. Around that time I started to realize that emails were ineffective. People who posted ads were expecting phone calls. So, I contacted five different real estate agents to see if they could help me find an apartment. Only one responded.

I went to see a couple of apartments with the agent. They were in my preferred area and in my budget - barely! - but they were small, dirty, and lacked amenities. They just didn't feel like "home." I started to get seriously worried.

I kept contacting people who posted ads to the apartment rental web sites. One of the people I contacted, Mr. Yang, replied by email and suggested a time when he could show me the apartment. Actually, he had two apartments to rent in the same building. His aunt bought the entire second floor of a building and renovated it to create six apartments of varying sizes. One small and one large apartment were available.

The building was located near Dazhi station on the Wenhu MRT line. The Trend Micro office is near the Liuzhongli station, which is also on the Wenhu MRT line. "Brilliant!" I thought.

I met Mr. Yang at 7pm the next day to view the apartments. He showed me the smaller one first, which was approximately the size of a hotel room. It clearly wouldn't work for a long-term rental. He then showed me the larger apartment. It was bigger than any apartment I'd seen before, and it had the Western-style bathroom I wanted. What it didn't have was a small kitchen. I was about to dismiss the apartment when Mr. Yang showed me the balcony. It was large and covered. As you find with many apartments in Taipei, the washing machine was located at one end of the balcony. I realized that I could add a metal pantry cart to the balcony and set it up with an induction hot plate, pots, pans, and so on. That sold me on the apartment.

I liked the look of the neighbourhood at night, but I wanted to see it in the daytime as well. I asked Mr. Yang if he would hold the apartment until the next day so I could explore the neighbourhood further. He said that was fine.

I went back the next day and spent 2 hours walking around. I went into the Dazhi branch of the Taipei Public Library and read a couple of English magazines. There was a grocery store less than a block from the building. I walked past numerous fruit and vegetable shops. I noticed hair salons, pharmacies, dentists' offices, doctors' offices, and lots of restaurants and coffee shops. I found a traditional market where you can buy meat, fish, fruit, veggies, bread, and homemade noodles (imagine the Asian version of Granville Island Market). I also walked down to the riverside to check out the park and cycling/walking paths. I was sold.

I started emailing back and forth with Mr. Yang to negotiate on price and confirm contract conditions. I settled on $17,500/mo. for rent. I'm sure that's a lot for Dazhi. However, the apartment is newly renovated, modern, large, conveniently located by the MRT, and near all of the amenities I need.

On Tuesday I met Mr. Yang and the property owner, Mrs. Ling. She doesn't speak any English so Mr. Yang translated. She seemed like a lovely woman - she asked that I treat the apartment like "my baby." I replied that I understood what she meant - that's how I want people to treat my apartment in Victoria. After we signed the contract and I gave them the $35,000 security deposit, Mr. Yang reviewed the security features of the building, where to take the garbage, and how to use the washing machine (the buttons are only labelled in Chinese). Then he gave me the keys! According to the rental contract my move-in date is Saturday (Dec. 1) but Mr. Yang explained that in Taiwan it is common for landlords to give new renters access to the apartment for a few days so they can move in. How civilized!

So, today I went to Ikea and bought bedding, pillows, a duvet, towels, and wash cloths. It was a heavy load but I managed to get it to the apartment. I rearranged the furniture to optimize space, then set up the bed and bathroom. I discovered that the bed sheet is too large so I will have to return it. Everything else is good. After that I went to the Wellcome grocery store down the street to buy toilet paper, hand soap, water, and some juice to put in the newly hooked-up and chilling fridge.

On Thursday I will need to buy one or two waste bins, cups, cutlery, knives, a cutting board, and other food-prep basics. I'm not sure when I will set up the "kitchen" on the balcony. But, I do want to have some means of prepping fruit, veggies, and drinks. And to have somewhere to put garbage.

I'm very relieved to have a decent place to live, and I'm pleased that can move in before I start work on Monday (Dec. 3). The World Scholar House hostel is nice, but my room is small, has no windows, and lacks air flow. Also, the shared Asian-style wet bathrooms are narsty, no matter how often they get cleaned. You're always standing in someone else's wet, and it's not uncommon to find balls of hair around the drain.

I will post pictures of my apartment and neighbourhood soon. I have a good feeling about both. Home is where the Hart is!

Name that smell!

I'm not sure why, but Taiwan is smellier than other Asian countries I've visited. Perhaps it's just the prevalence of food vendors. Or maybe it's poor restaurant ventilation. But, whenever I go outside I am surrounded by food smells, and when I come home - even if I haven't stopped anywhere to eat - my clothes and hair smell like food.

http://taipei543.com/2011/12/08/7-reasons-why-we-love-7-eleven-in-taiwan/

One of the stinkiest places you can go is a 7-11 store. They have these hot food stations in the center of every store. Customers grab "to go" boxes and fill them up with whatever it is that is floating in the murky waters. The smell is kind of fishy, kind of greasy, and kind of savory.

They also have big boiling pots full of eggs. I think they are called Tea Eggs. Below is a picture I stole from a blog:

http://www.thedailychefblog.com/?p=1601

They are all brown and cracked, and the water they are floating in looks absolutely disgusting. Yes, I realize it's probably just tea, but I can't get over the visual.

As a Westerner, I just don't see this sort of thing and think "Yum, I gotta get me some of those!"

Still, from a food hygiene perspective, I guess it's better to have one pot of eggs rather than a vat of mystery food all mixed together.

I haven't been to a night market yet, but I understand that the smell of stinky tofu is unmistakable and somewhat stomach-turning. I think I'll wait a bit before embarking on that adventure in smell.

Anyway, the point is, my nose is in training. I can't tell the difference between the smells - are they good? are they bad? is it meat? or vegetable? or dough? I guess I won't know until I actually add taste to the equation. Smell can only tell you so much. You just have to put food in your mouth to connect the smell to the receptors in your brain that tell you whether something is good or not.

All is well if I have chicken snacks

It's hard to be upset when you have chicken snacks. And a bit o' telly. And a nice warm bed to get crumbs in.

But, let's back up a bit. When I arrived in Vancouver and checked in at the China Airlines gate, the two representatives looked at my luggage tags and exchanged concerned looks, as well as some hushed words in Mandarin. It turns out that Air Canada, in all of their helpfulness, had checked my bags through to some fictional airline, not China Airlines. The gate representatives did their best to rally the luggage handlers to find my bags before the flight, but no luck. The plane pushed off with just me and my laptop bag onboard.

The China Airlines lost luggage desk at Taoyuan International Airport happened to be right next to the luggage conveyor where people from my flight were collecting their bags. I looked over and noticed this helpful sign circling around and around. I thought "how very civilized!" Usually airlines just leave you standing there like an idiot until the conveyor stops moving.

I was informed that my bags would not arrive until late the following day. Great. So, when I got to my hotel I asked if they had a room available that I could check into immediately. (The usual check-in time is 3pm.) They did, and I happily coughed up the extra cash so I could get out of my clothes and air them out. And shower off all of those hours of airplane sweat, as well.

I snoozed until the jackhammers started ripping up the street outside the hotel. That was my cue to get up and do a bit of recon around the Da'an neighbourhood. I scored an MRT easy pass and rode the "rails" for a bit. I had to be at the World Scholar House hostel to pay my month's rent by 3pm so I caught a cab to the hostel. I waited for a while but the manager didn't show up to check me in. Thankfully one of the long termers was there and noticed me lurking about. He told me that the manager would be out most of the day. (Gee, thanks for the heads' up, manager.) So, I grabbed the keys to my hostel room and went back to the hotel.

They had moved me to another room, which I discovered had gigantic penguins on the wall.

They kind of have disapproving looks in their eyes. The "Environmental Protection" title in the top left also shoved the shiv of guilt between my ribs.

I wonder how this imagery is going to incorporate itself into my dreams tonight?

So, aside from lost luggage, missing managers, and giant penguins, all is well. Looking forward to more adventures tomorrow. And possibly Swedish meatballs. More on that later.

Prepping for the move to Taiwan

In four days I depart for a new life in Taipei, Taiwan.

That's such a grand statement. I'm sure that when you read/hear it all kinds of exciting things come to mind - exotic food, crazy traffic, voices speaking in a different tongue, golden temples, steamy and smelly hot springs, thieving chittering macaques, and so on. However, when I read/hear that statement all that comes to mind is lists. Lists of lists. Things to do before I leave.

I'm in that pre-departure frenzy where I'm trying to make sure I'm completely prepared for such a big adventure, as well as say goodbye to all of my friends and family. My time is not my own right now. And that means not one second is available to dream about the exciting things to come.

Oh, boo hoo, you say. Yes, I understand that I am damned lucky to have such problems. Really damned lucky, considering the year that I've had. I will keep the whingeing to a minimum.

 I managed to complete one huge, really unpleasant task today: I dug up and scanned the documents required for my Taiwanese work visa. Tomorrow I have to root around in my storage locker to see if I can find my Royal Roads University diploma. If I can't find it, I guess I'll have to make a trek to the campus to see if there's any way to get a copy before I leave. I don't even want to think about that. /shudder/

This afternoon/evening provides a bit of play time. I'm meeting besties Anita and Michael and we're heading downtown to get our minds messed up on "Cloud Atlas." Afterwards we will decamp to a restaurant that serves good food so we can try to figure out what the hell happened in the movie. The sad part is that this will probably be my last visit with them until the spring.

I don't know how the rest of the week will unfold. But, somehow bills will get paid, services will be cancelled, and I will manage to cause my mother a complete breakdown by not packing until the day - or day before - I depart.

Expected next post: Taipei!