New Flat, Part 2

Maybe one day, these will be the first of a 'before and after' sequence. For now, this is what a semi-moved-into apartment looks like.

New Flat

The end of February finds me in the process of moving into a new flat here in Hong Kong. After eight months in Chan Uk Village, I decided it was time to find something more convenient for me. So for the first time in my life, I'll be living alone. Exciting!

The new place is in Tai Wai, a ten minute walk from the train station one stop away from my workplace in Kowloon Tong. So basically, this cuts my commute down by 45 minutes each way. Sure I'm paying more money, but extra sleep and relaxation time are priceless. Also, as much as I've enjoyed living with my roommate Ben, I feel like I'm at a point where I want to have my own place. I am forever grateful for his letting me live with him, and now that I have a bit more knowledge of this city, I think I'm ready to live independently. Of course, it would be silly for me not to mention my girlfriend right about now. She has helped me so very much in the house hunt and rental process, and though I'll be living alone, I am more than happy to have a native Hong Konger to help me settle in and find my way. Not to mention, a welcome house guest from time to time :) 

I have a living room, bedroom, bathroom and small balcony. I'm on the first floor in a nice complex called 'Golden Lion Garden'. Tai Wai is somewhere between urban and rural. That's to say the area has shops, markets and restaurants but is not the concrete zoo of Hong Kong Island. Geographically, it's just north of the Lion Rock, which acts as the border between Kowloon and the New Territories. Having shops around me will be nice when compared to Chan Uk, where the closest store was a single grocery store, twenty minutes away. Now I can get essentially anything I need within a ten minute radius while still breathing somewhat clean air.

It's going to be wonderful when I move in in early March, but now, there is so much I need to take care of. Essentially I'm turning four empty rooms into a home. This means I need furniture, appliances, cooking supplies, etc. Once again, I was lucky enough to move into a place with all these things nicely set up in Ben's home last July. But I had to do this eventually. Moving will change my life in many ways. My job is the same, but outside of work, I will now see different people and places, eat different food and probably spend my leisure time differently. I'm thrilled about this and welcome the newness with open arms. Expect another post about this with photos once I'm a bit more settled in.