Sofas For Sitting and Showers With Stalls - Apartment Shopping in Saigon

Okay, I dont even really think I can put to words my first experience looking for an apartment. There are a few things that I should explain first (although, I am not really sure that I have it perfectly clear - language barrier and all...): Buildings are not owned by one landlord. Landlords buy the apartments and then rent them out. So, if you have one hundred apartments in one building, you could potentially have one hundred different landlords. On top of that, each landlord designs and decorates their own space - I use those terms loosely and I mean very loosely (will explain later) also they get to pick their fees, which as a landlord myself I understand, BUT I don't understand how random the prices are. I think the whole process could be like the mystery grab bag at a carnaval...I envision Vietnamese landlords at a carnaval, they go around at the carnival and the cautious ones just take the grab bag with the price in it and leave, the rest of them spend hours at the ring toss trying to win the giant purple parrot so they can put it into their apartment - because every one needs a purple parrot. Seriously, you just never know what you are going to get. Behind every door there is something new and exciting (often with a hint of mothballs).



It became abundantly clear that I will be adapting to my surroundings...because if I don't I will be sleeping under my mosquito net and ranger poncho for two years (hmm, that actually doesn't sound bad...). I decided to see if I could convince someone if they wanted to share an accommodation because more money SHOULD = better apartments, but not so much...It generally means you have a bigger space to clutter with weird stuff. At least now I have a partner to suffer through this daunting task.

There are many nice apartments in Saigon, don't get me wrong, they are just too far away from the school I will be working at. At this point I have no mode of transportation aside from the heel toe express and school starts at 8am. Most people know me well enough to be laughing at this point because I am not a morning person. Anyway, factor in the heat, a 20 minute walk, and I have a feeling things will not be pretty most days (mind you, I am loving the heat which is more than I can say for most people without broken internal thermostats - Raynauds Disease is good for something, who knew?). I digress... So nice apartments are anywhere from a 15 minute drive to a 40 minute drive away, add insane traffic, the potential for miscommunication and having to pay someone to drive me...ah the rub of it all...furthermore, I would be too far away from grocery stores etc. so clearly a close apartment is important.

Anyway, during orientation it was mentioned that you need to check many things like: water pressure, water heating, the beds and the sofa to make sure they are comfortable. Now, I was a little bit skeptical I mean, how bad can a sofa be? Clearly I wasn't taking this seriously enough. Most sofas were one step up from a bed of nails or so ugly you would get nightmares if you sat on them. Not exactly what you want to come home to. I, being the trooper that I am, decided that the sofa would not be the thing to hold me back from renting a potential apartment. There was another deal breaker for me, the shower situation. First, even though it is very hot here, there must be hot water in the shower. I can't take a cold shower everyday for two years, come on! Also, there should be a stall for the shower, and no, I am not joking. I don't know how many places I saw with a room that had a sink toilet and shower head with no stall. I guess it could potentially save time in the long run because you could shower while using the toilet...but maybe not...

To discuss decor would take far too long but I will share some highlights:
Behind door number one you get: A two bedroom apartment, with one bed (???)and it is an extra $50 a month if you want a second bed, a kitchen with giant plastic ants and butterflies on the wall, lattice work with grapes hanging from the ceiling in the bathroom, plastic starfish, decorative stones and sand in the living room all for $800.00 US ... Or, how about a purple sparkle butterfly light and a big molded red sparkly sink...quite the combo. Bathroom tiles with cartoon tigers anyone? And mint green paint, what is it with the mint green paint!? How about the bathroom kitchen combo - you can cook your eggs and take a crap at the same time (another time saver I guess). I could go on but I believe that I have taken far to long already.

Maybe that poncho was a good investment.