I’ve got a flat! Well, it’s not mine – just a loaner until next week – but I don’t think I have ever been happier about anything ever in my life, ever. Living in the Hong Kong hostel system had me at the end of my tether, and if I had to spend another consecutive night in one of those hellholes I would have thrown either myself or one of the other occupants out of the window.
Last night was a case in point: no hot water, again and unparalleled rudeness from the hotel manager, again. Then two Korean girls arrived at 3 in the morning and woke me up, and another girl woke me at 4.50 on her way to the airport. At that point the Koreans started having a fight about having no hot water with the rude manager; I took this as my cue to leave.
My miracle flat, my haven of havens in this mad, bad, city belongs to a friend of a friend (of a friend of mine). The wonderful Charlie emailed the wonderful Jess who asked the wonderful Charlotte and suddenly I have a free flat in Causeway Bay, close to the heart of the city.
The first thing I did – obviously – when I let myself in this morning (having got the keys last night) was have a good nose around in the essentials – bookshelves, DVD shelves, the fridge (Charlotte is moving out and doesn’t want to keep it’s contents, when she goes…very good news for me). To my utter delight the flat is like a treasure trove of guilty pleasures. The pastel covers of terrible chick lit covers peek out from between humorous blokey titles with cartoons on the front; an innocuous paisley box contains much of the later work of both Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie (not such an innocuous combination) and the fridge freezer contains BEER. PEANUT BUTTER. FISH FINGERS.
And there’s hot water. F*cking spiders. Christ on a bike. Oh, mother of god. I am so happy. Praise be and thank all the spirits for my good fortune. I just hope it doesn’t make me a home hermit for the next week. I’m already missing the place. Just 4 hours and 15 minutes til I can go home to an actual abode!
