中国厦门 市思明区禾祥西二路 华侨海景城二期槟城楼 邮编361004

For all of you who cannot read Mandarin, above is our new address. Yup, we finally have a winner. Yesterday evening we went back to the second apartment we viewed last Monday. The idea was to ensure that it was as lovely as we remembered and it was. We attempted to negotiate a better rate and we could only get a 200 RMB discount, which really isn't that much of a deal, however we did like the area and the building was new. The agent also mentioned that there was another apartment in the same building on the 20th floor, so we figured what the heck, it was 300 RMB less than the 17th floor apartment. We took a look at the apartment, and decided that this was the one. It has hardwood floors and it's the same layout as the 17th floor apartment plus we were able to negotiated a better deal. (told them it was bad luck for us to pay an amount in odd numbers, that the need to reduce the rent to an even number). This translates to about $100USD savings per month. The only issue was that the apartment didn't have a kitchen. Hey, as long as it has a fridge, we're good. Okay, so all kidding aside, the kitchen wasn't completed, but the owner promised that the apartment would be done by the 6th of August. Keep your fingers crossed.

So for everyone who had expressed an interest in coming to Xiamen, we now have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom (plus a den) home with a pool and a large balcony where we have views of the lake. We are close to shopping, restaurants, as well as the pier, where ferries depart to Gu Lang Yu for additional shopping.

Entrance fee for the Wichmann Hotel will be a bottle wine (or 2), and it doesn't have to be expensive wine just good. Heck we'll even take a box of wine. That was for you Emily.