Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with enthusiasm – Winston Churchill

It seems that our continued efforts to go from one failed flat search to another has finally resulted in finding the hidden gem that everyone wants and we now have a place to call home! This little miracle of an abode is actually in a commercial building in the middle of Sheung Wan, so the path that leads to it demands some apnea: the street is renowned to be THE source of Chinese medicine in HK, so bird’s nest, dried scallops and shark’s fin abound in every shop that lines the pavements. The entrance to our building is fragrant to say the least.

Two flights of stairs lead you up off the street into the belly of the building, where a small Chinese man shiftily smokes a cigarette on his stool. The first time I visited it I got slightly worried about the number of Philippinas coming in and out of the lifts and starting wondering if one of the ‘trades’ in the building would be one I would come to regret moving in next to, but as the lift opened on the 4th floor I was reassured – there is no brothel here, just a Christian mission. Me and my shameful Western prejudice...

The flat is on the last and 16th floor and is made up of two business ‘units’ of 750sqft each. For the first three months we will be living in 16C, which its current occupant, a Frenchman named Cedric, has tastefully converted into a lovely flat complete with sliding doors hiding tons of storage (and what a relief it was to know that my extensive collection of clothes will have their own space!). He has even attempted to create a sort of fake brickwork pattern on the breakfast bar that gave us some unreasonable nostalgia for our flat in London. It was made to be...

We had to put up a fight though – this kind of flat comes with a long list of people ready to outbid you. In the end what closed the deal for us was that... I am French! French monkeys 1 – English rats 0 on the flathunting front!

So anyway, after three months we will build a door in the wall that will lead into unit 16B, and make room for a master bedroom that will take the flat to a comfy 1000sqft, at a real bargain price. And that’s not all! Not only are there great sea views from the flat, but the view is even more amazing from... our roof terrace! It’s about 1500sqft in total and has lots of plants and furniture and even a hammock. More importantly though, for Krusty, it has a BBQ... and his dreams of cocktails and grilled steak in his own garden have finally come true. We know where we’ll be having the housewarming party.

So you see, a little dried seafood is a very small price to pay to live here, especially after seeing some tiny rabbit holes that could have been ours for even more rent per month. We got lucky. Something to do with the Year of the Rat...?!

Now we just can’t wait to move in. And not to sound too spoilt, but it’s not just because I miss cooking and washing my own clothes – I am NOT impressed with Le Meridien. It is far from the centre yet has a shuttle service that you have to pay for, the bathrooms inexplicably smell of urine all day long, the swimming pool and sauna are closed for maintenance, the food is outrageously priced and not only does room service come with a hefty price tag but there is also a delivery fee (what are you supposed to do, pick it up yourself?!), it is supposed to be a hi-tech hotel but the internet costs a bomb and disconnects every three minutes... AND they forgot to give us our wake up calls twice! I’ll be doing some completely justified whingeing on the ‘Suggestion’ card just to vent my hotel rage.

Of course, the roof terrace now also makes me want to find a job that I can do from home... Nonetheless I also had two interviews last week. One was with a publishing agency that is a sister company of an agency I worked for in London a while ago. The offices were funky, industrial yet cosy, with stickers like ‘the number 2 source of hot air in this office’ on the hand dryer in the bathroom. I thought I had a good chance, too – I had experience working with their sister company, I came with two good recommendations, I was available immediately... My interviewer was kind and friendly, and I was just thinking I would love to work there when the worst thing happened – I was told that they would love me to work for them but that they actually have no jobs at the moment... At least they suggested some freelance opportunities to apply for from my hammock until they find something suitable for me, and to be honest this freelancing idea is sounding more and more appealing. As long as someone finally takes a chance on me one day!

For the second interview I felt that I needed to play the style card. The company produces deliciously quirky travel guides with no pictures, just succinct and witty spot-on reviews of major cities across the world. As they have extensive beauty listings in their guides, I thought I should prepare myself in terms of stylishness by taking advantage of one of HK’s many exciting treatments on offer – I submitted my grubby stubby excuses of bitten fingernails to a manicure. I felt so girly it was embarrassing and I almost felt like I should hide on the way out in case someone spotted me. People have already commented on the nails though, and as there’s no hiding the ends of your fingers short of wearing gloves all day, I’ll just have to face up to my moment of weakness and live up to my pretensions to being a woman...

The interview went well, not least because my friend Victor is good friends with the MD and put in a good word for me beforehand. Said MD was fabulous to listen to and his camp discourse was perfectly accompanied by his coiffed grey hair, beige cashmere clothes, tortoise shell spectacles and leather cufflinks. It made the fact he was telling me that working for him meant sacrificing everything seem enchanting. He was basically saying that he wanted a slave, but it made me want to get up, find a computer and start writing for him. Not that this seems likely ever to happen though – they made it very clear that I would need to find myself a visa, by any means necessary other than asking them to apply for one...

So the flat hunt is over, but the search for the perfect job that is actually willing to have me continues. Until then, I suppose you want to see some photos, eh? Well alright then, here you go... Here's a random selection of scenes from our week, including some stolen shots of the flat (that's my excuse for the rubbish composition, anyway) and some ideas of what our street looks like! See if you can The Girl with the Pearl Earring...!