You did done good

We have a new place!!

But first the gory details. Yesterday, as Mei was recovering from her cold/making lesson plans for her work, I decided to go to Banciao to go apartment hunting. Banciao is a suburb of Taipei, about 8 minutes by train to our work and 10 minutes by MRT to the main station, maybe 20 to Taipei 101. More on that later.

So I get off the train station, and immediately set out looking for a realtor. It was pretty funny; thanks to Mei's previous assistance, I was able to sketch the rough idea of what I was looking for. I was looking to rent, not buy, a one or two bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, near the train station. The first place I went to I had immediate success; I was able to convey that I wanted an apartment, he said ok, we have some, and Mei was able to finish it off. Kind of like the closer in baseball. Except she's more than that.. me, the starting pitcher, I get rocked in the first inning, and Mei finishes off the whole game. So I guess she's a super-closer.

This place didn't have anything to show us immediately, so I kept looking and Mei went back to her work. She told me she was going to shower, yet here I was, anxious to keep looking, so I keep banging on doors, seeing what people had... I think I called and interrupted Mei four times, including once where she was even in the shower. Sigh...

Anyway, finally I found something that caught my eye. It's on the '5th' floor, but really it's on the 6th. It's literally a 7 minute walk (by my walking speed) to the Banciao train station (where it's a 7 minute train to Shulin, the town where we work). It has two bedrooms, a kitchen, etc etc and has a really big balcony where we hope to put lots of plants. For the price, I think it's a really good deal.

And the best part is... as I'm waiting for Mei to trek out to Banciao herself so we can meet the landlord/sign the contract (poor Mei, is really sick and was suppsoed to do lesson plans... but she braved the 3 hour 30 minute trek (total) to go see it.. woo!) I wander around... I notice that there is an MRT station ahead, so I keep walking... and, WOAH SHIT!! It's the Xinpu MRT!!! We're smack dab inbetween the Xinpu MRT (roughly 10 minutes away) and the Banciao train station! We're close to EVERYWHERE now! The MRT can take us throughout Taipei and the train station can take us anywhere in Taiwan! I was so exicted because the bus that I take to work goes along that route (near the Xinpu train station, AND along the main road that we live on)!!! I can now literally roll out of bed, walk one minute to my bus stop, and take a twenty minute bus ride to work! Wahoooooooooooooooooo!!!

AND the Banciao train station is set to open it's own adjacent MRT station by early next year, i think (currently Xinpu is the terminal stop of the line, meaning we're at the edge of the MRT's boundaries). Who knows, maybe the MRT will also go right by our work?

Needless to say, life is about to get MUCH, MUCH better. Getting to and from work will be much, much quicker (30 minutes instead of 1:45) and now we're WELL within striking distance of Taipei. I personally think it's a perfect balacne; a short trek to work where I can read the paper, and it's close to the MRT if we want to go exploring on the weekends. And if I don't want to spend the time waiting for my bus that doesn't come that often, or worry about missing it, I may just get my own scooter. So yay for that!

NOW WE CAN SETTLE DOWN!! And the best part... the mailbox is clutter free!! Soon we'll have an ACTUAL address!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!