Day 4

Thursday 8th of August, 2019

After the disappointment and frustration of yesterdays set back with the apartment, I awoke with some hope that today would be a better day because I now had a plan B in place. The day started of well not because I woke up and breathing but because my amazing and awesome partner was able to navigate her way through the wiring of the ball machine for tennis, so the battery could be replaced and the machine to be put back together again. It was great to know that the machine is up and running again.

Around midday, I headed down to Qibao so I could look at the plan B apartment. As soon as I was inside and had a quick glance around the place, I thought two things…..

1. Plan B was the one.
2. I had this feeling that I had seen this apartment before.

After some small negotating with the landlord and both side agreeing to the terms and conditions, the deposit was paid. The signing of the contract and the rest of the money will be paid tomorrow. There was a great feeling of relief of knowing that I now had a place to live. I found the landlord and the landlord’s mother to be a very sweet, considerate and respectful people. The mother was very happy to hear that a teacher was moving into the apartment as her daughter (the landlord) was also a local teacher. At one point, the landlord rang on the phone just to ask if my other half had seen the photos of the apartment and if she approved of the apartment. So sweet and considerate to think of her and ask that question.

However, I still had this strange feeling that I had seen this apartment before. It then dawned on me that a previous agent had shown me this apartment but I had rejected it because I was told that the price was RMB8000 minimum and that it was impossible to get a bed for the second room. However, this was not the case. The price was lower than originally stated and the landlord was very accomodating with the bed issue. I later found out that the previous agent that I had, was also planning to show the apartment to another client after me. But fortunately for me, I got in just in time. So from now on, my new home will affectionately be called PLAN B.

To celebrate the apartment , I decide to enjoy some street food and a strawberry yoghurt drink. I tried my first real traditional JianBing. It is easy to see why this is such a popular breakfast in Shanghai. The different tastes and textures in each bite is one of the craziest things I have had. I am not sure of the other two pieces of food but they were also pretty damn good.

After eating dinner, I still had some steps that I needed to finish off. So I headed towards The Bund. However, the crowds were something that I have never had to deal with before let alone seen. so I eventually was able to turn around and headed back to the hotel.