We have finally uploaded photos of our apartment. Here is it is… in all its glory!
The living room.
The kitchen.
Check out those amazing red cabinets. You’ll notice no dishwasher or oven. My hands are already feeling dry from just a couple weeks of handwashing. It’s also interesting that all kitchens here have doors. We think it has something to do with all the garlic, oil, and fish used in cooking. It’s actually kind of nice and something I think makes sense.
This is the stove top. It’s gas and you have to use a match or lighter, which was scary for me at first. I still get nervous every time I do it especially since I’m often home alone!
The fridge. It’s small, but considering we buy groceries every few days, it works. Below the fridge is a small freezer and on top is our microwave.
This is our water dispenser. We’ve been told the local Chinese don’t even drink the tap water here. It’s been an adjustment to always remember to use, but it’s part of our routine now. The only problem is how much counter space it takes up. Cooking in this kitchen can be somewhat challenging.
Just outside our kitchen is a little nook for our washing machine. Thankfully, it works pretty well. We’ve heard some horror stories from others regarding washing machines here, so we’re quite thankful. We have no idea how to use the other settings because it’s of course all written in Chinese, so cold water will have to do.
Our front door and kitchen table, which faces the living room and balcony.
The balcony where our dryer and clothesline are. You’ll notice two sets of windows, which really helps with the noise. Can you see all the traffic on the elevated highway below? The street noise here is pretty intense….Chinese love to honk!
Many dryers are kept outside because there isn’t proper ventilation for them inside. Having a dryer here is quite a luxury. We still haven’t used ours.
View from our apartment through the second set of windows. This is a very “clear” day (hey, it’s all relative).
View without windows.
We’re up high! The 24th floor.
Our bedroom.
Guest bedroom, where all of you will be staying when you come to visit us! Don’t worry, we’ll have sheets and a comforter in there. :-)
The bathroom. This is the only part of the apartment I really don’t like, mostly because everything seems to be broken. The shower head hangs really low, so you have to use the handheld, which makes for chilly showers! The toilet seat isn’t properly attached to the toilet, so it shifts when you sit on it. The drains don’t work properly. Noticing a pattern here? We’ve contacted the landlord and asked for these things to get fixed and of course we were told “no problem,” but we’re not too optimistic that anything will ever get fixed. ”Welcome to China!”
We hope you enjoy our new apartment. We’ve been here for two weeks now and it is starting to feel like home, but only in a hotel-home kind of way. We both doubt we’ll be in this place much longer than our 1yr. lease.
Don’t forget to let us know when you want to put our #2 room to good use! We hope we didn’t pay that extra money for nothing…. no pressure. ;-)
Zaijian,
roshley
I love it! So exciting! I actually got a little choked up finally seeing where you live now, it’s really real
I’m getting excited to visit… Love you & miss you! xo
I think it looks great!!! Get a few pictures up and throw pillows out and you’ve got a home. RE: visiting…I really want to come in Oct so if no one else has claimed it, I’ll take the guest bedroom then
Let me know what weeks work for you.
I wanna come with Wes!
FYI, about the buildings you see out our window. We’re in Puxi which is west of the Huangpu river that divides Shanghai. On our side you can see Shimao International Plaza, with the two spires on top. Further in the distance (easier to see in picture through window) is Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong, east of the river. It’s apparently the tallest in China.
Looks like a great apartment. I’d guess that being on the 24th floor also helps reduce road noise. I read that most Chinese apartments are very small and because of that they tend to entertain in restaurants — maybe that contributes to the many restaurant options. Also, there’s a specifically Shanghainese cuisine.
Love, dad east
Allrightythen……somehow pressed some button & my original comment disappeared. Briefly, we used to light Gram C’s oven with a match. The stovetop had constant pilot light burning to light burners, but not the oven. Don’t know why that was. Gram would close the doors to the kitchen whenever she fried or browned food. Remember the gas burner she had out in the screened patio? Grandpa put that in so she could take “messy” cooking outside & just roll up the newspaer she’d put down to catch any splatters & toss it in the trash. Right now we’re having issues lighting our gas grill in Hawaii. Handyman coming this afternoon to have a look/see. Probably some little buggah has clogged the line. When I opened the lid to light the grill the other night a little gecko ran down in to the “charcoal” I tried to get him out of there before trying to light the grill. After a few failed attempts, he popped his head out to escape the gas fumes. He’s probably quite glad the burner couldn’t light.
Loving the blog to keep tabs on your adventure. Anxious to experience Mexican food in Shanghai; any food in Shanghai.
Possibly, Fall is going to be a busy time for visitors it sounds. All of Oct. Wes & Lauren?
Keep blogging. We love it.
xox, momster
Are those little blue rectangles swimming pools?