I spoke too soon. After getting cold feet about settling for such a high-priced apartment in Shanghai, we decided to go through several more agents. Sims and I filled out online inquiries explicitly stating our requirements on five or six websites of different firms. This time around, we were very explicit: “If the apartments do not meet these standards, then please do not bother to waste both our time.” Agents were not dissuaded by the intimidating tone and “taoji biaozhun;” the next morning my phone didn’t stop ringing. Caught without a pen and paper, I scrambled down the names of agents...Danny from Phoenix, Angel from Joanna, Prince from Homelink, Elle from ??...and hopped in a cab to meet the boys at yet another complex. As we assessed the 30th apartment-- does it have an oven? do all of the bedrooms have closets?- a kaleidoscopic rush of images of all of the previous apartments whirled through my head. My brain was saturated.
Before we knew it, we had gone from few options to way too many! While Sims was at work, Zack, Logan and I had to split up with different agents. We came close to an awkward encounter: as Danny and I pulled up to a complex, Logan and Tia were leaving the same one. When they walked by our van, I ducked to avoid being spotted with the paranoia of a Saving Private Ryan extra. As they lingered nearby, I pretended I needed to make a phone call to delay getting out of the van and avoid the run-in that would reveal our disloyalty.
In addition to the guilt of sneaking around, having several agents had another downside. Elle led Zack and me back to the Top of the City (our favorite compound). While Elle called the landlord, we looked up at the building with a sneaking suspicion of familiarity. The complex is a dizzying array of thirty identical buildings, but still we looked at each other with a mutual understanding that maybe...Oh yes... Elle opened the door into the corridor where the familiar fragrance haunted our senses. “I smell Chinese cedar!!” I nervously whispered to Zack. Seconds later, Ms. Wong opened the door, shot us an icy glare, said “Tamen lai guo le!” and quickly shut the door. Needless to say, we continued on our search for our home for the next year, maybe two.
With the help of Danny, we found a gem in Top of the City for 14500 RMB which I adore (by the way, it is located directly above The Lodge!). It is modern, clean, and comfortable. It even has a grande piano that we have been ordered to keep, which I guess isn’t a terrible con but looses us about 30 square meters of space in the living room! If we end up in this place, I predict drunken concerts of “Heart and Soul.” This morning Danny will show us some cheaper places in the French Concession. These are the last places we will see. After six full days of apartment hunting- albeit in 100 degree hotbox underneath the smoggy atmosphere- we have agreed to make a decision tonight.
For the record, I don’t think I have ever sweat more in my entire life. I am not talking about a dewy glow upon my forehead and glistening drops on the nape of my neck. No, this is full-on sweat, which then turns my skin into a sticky canvas on which the pollution can collect. In the late-afternoon dizzy spells start creeping up my spine. Insisting that I have perspired out all of my essential electrolytes, Zack encourages me to drink a Chinese carbonated beverage made out of pig sweat. Um, no thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment