“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
(A not so subtle hit that I want people to come visit and I hope I can entice you by my apartment 😉 )
I found an apartment! The whole process was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.
Sunday: I emailed an agent who was posting apartments on a Facebook page and asked to see two of them.
Monday: My agent, Linh who was fantastic, showed me 8 apartments in 4 different buildings.
Tuesday: 9 am- Went and re-looked at my favorite apartment. 7pm- Signed a lease (after having someone from my HR double-check it for me)
Wednesday: Paid deposit and 1st months rent. It all had to be in cash which was new to me because I’ve always had to give deposits in the form of money orders or certified bank checks. Carrying around millions of VND was a little unnerving.
Thursday: Moved all my bags in.
I still have a couple of days in my temporary housing so I’m still there because it’s convenient and right next door to the school.
My apartment is in a building that is one of 5 new high rises. It’s less than a 10 minute walk to work, which will be even shorter when I get a bicycle. The apartment itself is a new fully furnished (don’t judge the art or linens. I will be replacing those) 2 bedroom/2 bath and is almost 800 sq feet. It’s on the 22nd floor and I have a view of the city. The building has a gym, swimming pool, and security.
Below are pictures:
View when you first walk in
View looking at the door
City view
Balcony
I can’t want to grow some veggies out here. The sliding glass door is cool and can open on either side which was a little confusing at first.
View looking up from the balcony
View looking down from the balcony
View off to the left of the balcony
View looking at the kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
That door leads to my laundry area
Stove which has a lock button.
There is no oven but my landlord took the price of a convection oven of my first months rent so I can go buy one.
Laundry area
I’m calling it an area because the left wall (sorry no picture) is only a half wall and lets air in so clothing can dry. The American in me is very sad I do not have a drier, but I’m excited about having my own washing machine!
View from where the bedrooms are
My bedroom
Guest bedroom
Both bathrooms look like this
Every toilet (except the one in my temporary housing) I have seen has had a bidet.
Let’s talk storage
My apartment in San Diego had very limited storage. I do not have the problem here.
Both bedrooms have large wardrobes
Both beds have storage
Shoe cabinet when you first walk in
Keys….
I have a key for everything! A key card for the building and elevator, a front door key, a key for each bedroom, a key for each bathroom, a key for the balcony, a key for the laundry area, and a key for the safe in each wardrobe. For a country that has doesn’t have a lot of house theft, I sure have a lot of keys.
Wardrobe safe
Why this apartment?
While I was looking at apartments I judged them on two things; colors on the walls/kitchen back splash (I saw a lot of BRIGHT colors) and the most important things…..the couch.
I can’t wait to lounge on this baby and read a good book which drinking a cup of tea. (Relaxation goals)
I’ve put a few of my own things out, but excited for my home goods to arrive because then this apartment will really start to feel like it’s mine.
As I walked around taking pictures I had a moment of feeling really grateful. (And I’m hopefully this doesn’t come off at too first world privileged). This apartment is so nice! If it was set in San Diego it would have been way out of my reach. I’m grateful for an opportunity that is allowing me to live a lifestyle I may not have been able to back in the state. I get to live in this lovely apartment and not stress about if it’s going to kill my budget. I get to feel safe and secure in a new country and don’t have to stress about buying all new things. I get a pool and a gym at no extra cost! But most of all I’m grateful that I have such a nice space to welcome friends and family who want to come visit.
This week has been kinda crazy with house hunting, orientation, and just trying to stay awake so I’ll post again soon about all the other things that have been going on.
Morning walk along the river
Street views
Thankfully the streets around my school are pretty quiet and I won’t have to try to cross a multi-laned motorbike packed street on a daily basis.
There was a color run going on
French influenced building are all around
This picture doesn’t show it well, but I was caught in a down pour
Obligatory bowl of Pho on my first day
My bags are packed, I’m all checked-in, and currently waiting to board my flight. Yes, three checked bags… no shame here. I packed food I knew I wouldn’t be able to get, clothing to hold me over until my home goods arrive, and things I didn’t want to get lost or broken. Thankful all of my bags were under 50 pounds! 🙌🏼 I also made sure to call United three days ago to make sure I had gluten free meals. I did not want my Virgin Australia fiasco (they didn’t have my requested meals on my flights to/from Australia) to be repeated.
There they go…. all 9 boxes. Which made the guy helping me laugh because “you pack light.”
(I watch too my SVU to post this cute little face on a public form. So all you get is his smile😉)
Goodbye dinner -check. (Can I just add that I love that my friends from different areas of my life met and now want to be friends with each other! How awesome is that!)
I will miss this car! It was so good to me. Little gray Honda, you rocked!
