Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Feb 19 2003

Warning! Those who find my whinging about housing-…

Warning! Those who find my whinging about housing-related stuff: you might want to hit the back button on your browser.

So I’ve been looking at places, each seemingly smaller than the last. I saw the converted storeroom/office annex off the stairwell on Fuxing South Road, its balcony enclosed in tin-foil. I saw the large, old-fashioned two-room cave so close to the Chihshan MRT station there was a breeze every time the train roared by. I saw the long hallway-like dungeon on Yanping of course. None of these really work for me, but I have the bad habit of thinking a lot more highly of any place I haven’t seen before than is prudent. I proved this theory with the stairwell place I had actually considered before going back to see it on my own.

Then I went to a newish building in the old city I had seen rental notices up on before. Two or three rooms were for rent, and one was a corner room with a nice view of a square. Another square! you say, no doubt recoiling in horror. But TC, haven’t you learned your lesson about squares?

You’d think so. I’m planning to go over early tomorrow morning to see if the aforementioned square is full of old women practicing Yuanjiwu to the Qing Dynasty’s Greatest Hits over a loudspeaker. Downstairs from my present location this happens every day, so if they do it there, it will probably be going on there too. I’ve been there in the evenings and it seems pretty quiet for the most part. The rent is 3,000 cheaper, but the place comes unfurnished and is no larger than where I am now. In Typical Poagao Style, I told the landlord I wanted to move in and would sign a contract tomorrow, a meeting which I’ve since delayed until Friday evening.

Today I spent walking around the Shilin area. There I found some ok if smallish apartments in another newish building. These rooms come furnished, and the building provides coin laundry services. The downside, in addition to the size, is that the stretch of road between the building and Jiantan Station is often jam-packed with revellers and tourists due to the nearby night market. I do like the area, though, and I will probably do some more looking up there tomorrow, especially if I find the square full of annoying dancing women, in which case I will cancel the contract-signing appointment immediately. I’ll most likely spend tonight trolling the various Taiwanese real estate sites looking for something new I haven’t noticed before. I’ve come to hate looking for new places, and I also hate the fact that for the past six months I haven’t been able to find a decent, reasonable place to live without some fatal flaw. I don’t know why I rush myself, or why any place that’s not immediately familiar seems much nicer than it is on subsequent inspections. Those are all questions for my therapist, or would be if I was willing to pay someone to tell me I’m not really that big an idiot.

I also know that, no matter what I do or what kind of place I eventually find, something much better and cheaper will make itself known before the ink on the contract is dry. It’s just the nature of the market with a dash of Murphy’s Law thrown in for good measure. In any case, I’m off to comb the real estate websites.

posted by Poagao at 2:45 pm  

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment