Don't you hate those emails that start with profuse apologies about why someone has been so busy to reply to your email? The underlying message is, obviously, my life is more interesting than yours so they feel obliged to make you feel better by letting you know that you are lucky to get a response and the underlying message of that, is they think you have nothing better to do than sit about in your dressing gown drinking tea... or is that just me?
Well I have been busy
No blog since the beginning of September. What on earth could I have been doing that I could not sit down and write a blog? (which I love to do gentle reader)
I have moved house.
Plan A, to live in the previously mentioned ground floor apartments, was abandoned for Plan B, to rent out said ground floor apartments. But why feel obliged to stick to plans? After our own landlord gave us Notice to Quit , which was a surprise, we decided to reinstate Plan A and move into the flats that we own even though they are not joined together by the originally planned doorway. Those mean bureaucrats at the Building Department never did back down on that one.
Our cozy family of four and the dog have moved. The dust is settling, the computer is unpacked (this is the evidence) and connected to the Internet, the telly works and the phone rings (only sometimes though, and it's never for me). It has all gone quite smoothly and although not every cardboard box has been unpacked, in general it looks like our home. The only bomb site being our bedroom as our bed was too big for the room so we sold it and the fitted wardrobe is yet to be fitted.
We have access to both flats via patio doors on our balcony which is private. It's actually not much different to going upstairs and not at all the hardship we originally envisaged.
We do have one problem which is not yet solved. Seepage. If you have someone living above you, as millions do in Hong Kong, then occasionally one experiences leaky pipes causing unsightly damp patches to the ceiling. This is happening in one of our bedrooms but unfortunately Mr Upstairsneighbour is not being very cooperative about fixing his leak. Never worry. If you have a seepage problem just phone
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Hotline 28680000
and report your problem to Hong Kong Buildings Department who will open an official case and begin an investigation to find out where the leak is coming from and then enforce action to make the culprit responsible fix it. I didn't mean it when I was all negative about those Buildings Department bureaucrats. Now they are on my side I like them a lot and the Sai Kung District Office is, albeit slowly, working on the case.
If you are suffering from seepage (it's not a medical condition) check out the link below.
