Apartment Hunting !!!

I hear an ambulance pass by as I am writing this blog. It is then I realize that I can actually enjoy a nice BKK skyline from my room if I pulled my window curtains. So I sit down on a cute little chair and set my laptop on the coffee table by the window. Nice thing about BKK apartments is that majority of them come fully furnished; they have a refrigerator, microwave, bed, sofa, coffee table, chairs, TV set, cabinets and so on, which makes lives of us temporary residents much easier. Although it has been only couple days since I moved to my new apartment on the 18^th floor, I already feel a need to go shop for things like cleaning supplies, cooking utensils, groceries, toilet papers, and what not. I finally feel like I graduated from college and turning into a working housewife. I am relieved, as I have already signed my lease and even gotten pass for the swimming pool, which is on the 4^th floor of the building. However, there are some things that I need to learn: buy water from the water machine and use the laundry room, instructions for which are in Thai.

Apartment hunting is anything but fun. There are few agents that you can call in BKK and surprisingly you don’t have to pay them but the owner does. However, none of those agents worked in my favor, as most of them offered me studio apartments with no kitchen at all. Given the fact that I come home really tired and I hate cooking for myself alone, there are less chances of me cooking during the week days. However, my natural human desires like having choices so it took me longer to get a studio apartment with a built in kitchen. The first one that I looked at was pretty cheap but no kitchen and not even an extra sink, in case, I wanted to build my own kitchen at the balcony. The second one that I looked at was perfect except that the price was a little higher than my range. The owner said that he could negotiate the price so I called him the next day of my visit and he said that he had rented it out already. Although I was the first person to look at his apartment and he had promised to inform me before renting out to someone else, he did not even bother. The third one that I looked at was the same as the second one except even more expensive and on 10 floor down. Then came the fourth one with okay price but needed at least a year of lease. Since my job contract expires within 11 months and I already spent a month in a guest house, I would not qualify for this one either.

Hence my current apartment has been a blessing with a monthly pay rate of exactly what I was looking for and a kitchen with microwave and refrigerator but no cooking heaters. However, there is a supermarket nearby and it is pretty cheap to buy a digital one so will have to go get it soon. Besides, the train station is about 5 minutes walk from here and there are lots of restaurants, shops, a café, a hospital, a bank, bus stations, and so on, which makes my life easier although I don’t drive. The apartment has 24 hour security, a swimming pool, a gym and the security people call taxis for me when I leave for work in the morning. Although it took me a month to look for this apartment, so far I like it so I can say that the saying “patience is virtue” seems true.