Fili’s world

This is what 8000NT$ (+1800NT$ management) will get you in eastern Tainan (area of Linsen & Dongmen):

1 living room connected to a Japanese room with a functional balcony (aircon).

1 big ensuite master room (includes a bathroom + aircon).

1 smaller kids room (aircon).

1 study.

1 bathroom.

1 kitchen (with functional laundry balcony attached).

Communal gym (as far as I’ve seen so far – always empty, and pretty nice).

Communal swimming pool (open summer only).

Communal subsidized-fee KTV/Movie-room/Coffee-bar.

Underground parking and such.

I think that’s terrific value for money spent. Don’t you?

After searching for an apartment on the Internet for almost 3 weeks and seeing apartments ranging from soso to awful, it turned out that the best way to get something really nice in my price range is to go into buildings that look good and ask the doorman in broken Chinese if there’s someone who is looking to rent out. Most landlords leave the key with the doorman so you can have a look immediately, some landlords live next to it or have some neighbor standing by to show the place. This apartment I came across after noticing a beautiful  French restaurant attached to a nice looking building.

If your Chinese isn’t quite there yet, take your language exchange or Taiwanese friend for an evening of apartment hunting and invite him/her to nice dinner at the end. I’m quite sure you’ll find things that are way better than any website out there.

More on apartment hunting in Tainan :

1. Looking for an apartment in Tainan on this blog a year ago.
2. Finding an apartment in Tainan on INCKU.