New Place (photos)

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Do we or don't we?

Despite the initial good feelings about Wei-Wei's place we are far more cautious about signing a contract than we were with Martin's which came about through a combination of us running out of time and good old fashioned laziness. There are things we need to check like water pressure, bus times and journey lengths, and we are going to try and haggle a bit. All in all we end up visiting three times before finally signing on the dotted line. Wei-Wei refuses to budge on the rent but does agree to us only putting down a one month security deposit which is great news. Martin squeezed us for two months, one of which we forfeited as soon as we decided not to complete the contract.

Let's move.

Wei-Wei's place is unfurnished aside from an old washing machine so we start shopping. Priorities are a bed, table, sofa and a fridge. Everything else can wait. There is a monster Ikea just over the river in Sanchong. Given our recent travails i'm reluctant to go there as I know the strain Ikea couple-shopping can put on a relationship. However, I get persuaded and we actually have a really nice afternoon there which I realise makes me sound 109 years old. We find a nice extendable kitchen table that has been reduced by 50%!b(MISSING)ecause of a few scratches and snap it up. Wei-Wei tells of us Xiamen street near Guting MRT which is renowned for second hand furniture and appliances. She generously lets us have the keys a few days before we move in so we can get some essentials delivered. When you buy something large in Taiwan you have to pay to have it delivered. The cost varies depending on how far you live from the store as well as whether you live in an elevator building or not. Here's an example. Ikea charge $600NT to deliver the table to Martin's, but then charge an extra $75NT to carry it up to the 2nd (UK 1st) floor. Wei-Wei's place is on the fourth floor so when we buy a King Size mattress the delivery cost jumps from $600NT to $1000. Looking at the state of the two old men after they carried it up the stairs I think it's the best $1000 NT i've spent so far. We also buy a fridge freezer and a sofa. Melissa supervises this delivery and she tells me the guy who delivered them was a skinny old guy in his sixties. Apparently he just strapped them to his back and carted them up four flights of stairs without even blinking. Appearances really can be deceiving.

The move

The day of the move finally comes round. Wei-Wei is an agel. She telephones the old men who delivered our mattress and gets one of them to come to Martin's early to collect us and our stuff. Money is seriously tight right now so the deal is that he just drives and yours truly will do all the carrying. In reality the guy helps me load and unload the truck as well as carry the table upstairs so he's not quite as hands off as I'd first thought. If you can speak Chinese and need a reliable guy to help you move let me know and I'll let you have his number. Anyway inside an hour and a half we've finally said goodbye to Martin's for the last time and have all our personal belongings in a pile in the living room at Wei-Wei's.

Early stages


Living Room

The Good news

I have to say it's fantastic to be in our new place. It really is a world away from Martin's. Martin, nice guy though he is, is a bit of shit for preying on ignorant foreigners. Not that his behaviour in any way excuses our stupidity. I would however caution anyone coming to Taipei against renting the property at Number 9, Lane 86 Tienxiang Road.

We're going to be spending enough time in the city as it is, so it's nice to be able to have some fresh air in the mornings and evenings. There is no construction noise and no need to even turn on a light until the early evening. It's going to take some time to get it furnished but we have the essentials. In recent days the temperature has plummeted and it's pleasantly cool. For the first time since I arrived here I've been wearing multiple layers. It's a welcome relief from the oppressive heat and humidity and should remain like this for at least a couple of months. We are able to explore our new surroundings in cooler conditions and get a bit of exercise walking up the mountain.


Kitchen - with special relationship mugs


bedroom



































































Spider the size of a dinner plate hanging from power line

The bad news

So although moving to the new place has given us both a new lease of life I'm still struggling work wise. I knew that it might take a while to build my hours up at the new place but I was under the impression that I'd be up and running by mid-November. As it is i'm still scraping by on just a few hours a week and am relying on the the odd bit of substitute work to keep me going. The guys in the office are now talking about stuff in December but unless I have something concrete soon we are going to continue to struggle. I really enjoy the work, what there is of it but with Christmas coming up I may have to look at taking another job to help us get by.

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