Apartment Hunting

I went apartment hunting with my coworker, and while I managed to not take photos of the apartments we saw (I was usually too busy trying not to laugh out loud at the size and proce to remember to take a photo), I did capture some views and locations.

One of the first places we went to look at for my friend to stay was on floor number 5 (that's the sixth story in american - the british call the first floor "G", anf the second floor is "1") and had no elevator. The living room was about the size of a bedroom and the bedrooms were miniscule. The bathroom opened into the kitchen and the entire bathroom - toilet, sink, and water heater became the shower, which was much too short for my friends 6' something frame. IT did open into an open-air market, which would be nice for a while, but the smells were - I'll say, unusual. And intense.

If the apartments in Tai Po were small and pricey, then those in Kowloon and Hung Hom were miniscule and extravagantly expensive. I didn;'t get to see them, but from the sound of it, they were like bedrooms with plumbing. The front door was the only door in one example...

Then we checked out a village house, which is essentially a concrete box split into units by floor. It was a good place, but pretty expensive.

Finally, we went to check out a spot that he found on Craig's List. It was a great catch, to say the least. Apparently, an expat (foreigner) owns a house here in The New Territories (Yuen Long) and lives somewhere else - Germany, I believe.

She wants to make money off of an empty house, so she's renting it out for a reasonable price as a serviced apartment/long stay hotel kind of place. The room has a bed, an adjacent bath(with separated toilet and shower - oooh classy), and a kitchen and patio and living room shared with others. The only other person currently sharing the house is the caretaker, who keeps the place neat and provides help with figuring out how to get to the grocery store etc. And as the least expensive spot he found, the price is right. It's a little bit removed from the city, but it's only a short ride on a bus or train to get anywhere he'd need to be. And as you can see, the scenery is stunning.