Our Guest Flat

Some of our friends think we're roughing it in Hong Kong. We're not. We are staying in a three bedroom flat with a full bathroom (shower not tub), washer-dryer set up, two lofted rooms with kids' beds, a full kitchen with dining corner, and a bedroom. It's pretty amazing. It's chilly here but we have two radiator heaters which take the edge off. We're not really sure what to do with all the space. I requisitioned a lamp and child-height table for us, but otherwise, we leave the upstairs lofted rooms alone.






This flat was actually the Snow's apartment, I think, before they moved to Lantau Island, where we lived. I think the Stephens also lived here at one point. It was used for the Wee Care facility for a little while before they moved down Borrett road to their current location. The flat was vaguely familiar, but mostly not. A friend from YWAM happened to be visiting the area, and she said that the hospitality office used to be in this building as well.

Our bedroom

The bed is very firm, so if you lay on your side, your arm and hip may fall asleep. 

The office. The password for the wifi is actually the name of one of the YWAM base directors who worked there when my parents did. 

An induction range top with push buttons. You have to first turn on the power switch and then choose your setting. It doesn't turn red, nor does it require special pans, but it heats really hot and works very well. 

Our beverage set-up. Wenda, our coordinator and host, left tea, sugar, and milk for us, so we had tea the first night we arrived. The air pot bring water to a boil (100C) and keeps it there until you disconnect the power cord.

My kitchen, taken from the dining room side, looking at the "office"

We have an actual dining room!

The laundry room. The "thing" in the middle holding up the wash basin is a washer. The washer beneath the dryer doesn't actually work. I found that out this morning once I'd loaded it with towels and closed the door. The door handle is broken off and it took us some time to get it open and to transfer the towels to the other machine. More on the machines later. 

Wide screen tv adds 25 pounds to the skinny television hostesses. We watched Korean Pop (K-Pop) on it last night, and we also watched an episode of Psych, which had Chinese subtitles! Ah... American television. If we start missing the US, we can also watch Two and a Half Men, CSI: NY, and Crash and Burn. I'm so glad that these American television shows exist so the rest of the world can see what America is really like!

We have our own bathroom with a shower that was made *just* to fit someone exactly my size. I've banged into each side of the shower stall so far. Fortunately, after some work, the water heater works and pumps out really hot water. The first night it was broken, so we ended up taking modified sponge baths. The maintenance man came and reset the water heater, which is in the ceiling above the bathroom mirror. When we returned to our flat yesterday, it was soooo nice to take a hot shower on demand. Funny how those basic niceties are so luxurious when you realize you can't get them as easily. (As a side note, the water heater usually works fine and isn't a problem, so having hot water isn't such the luxury in the thoroughly modern and Westernized Hong Kong)

There's also a child-sized toilet on the side. Haven't assembled it to see how it works.