Our 2nd Home

[Willy The Londoner]

Well I am certainly married to a Chinese woman. 

Having already spent a million rmb on the new home, decoration and fitting it out then last night I found my wife going through all the paperwork, hour upon hour with pen and calculator in hand.

The result of which was that she found a discrepancy of 300 rmb in the cost of items to be used!!! 

Today she spent an hour or two on the phone and in visiting the contractors at the new place. 

The result was she had the 300 rmb removed from the final bill (whether they got it wrong or they just did not want to battle against her remains a mystery but I have one very happy wife today).

Willy

[shaun]

As long as she is happy Willie, as long as she is happy.

[Jason B]

Looks good Willy, you will be surprised how quickly things go together.  We are building a new house here and they started in July/August and we will be moving in before Christmas! At least you had the shell to start with, and they just have to complete it.  Xia does the same thing, double check every bill and find some discrepancy and get a refund or an upgrade!

[Pineau]

Willy,  Your lucky. She could have found more buried in the bill and your lucky she didnt. You cant trust the contractors.

When I built my house in Yiyang i hired a construction company to do all the work. after going over some bills I discover that I was double billed for the marble tile for the entire house.  They put it on two separate invoices to try to hide it but I found it anyway. That raised a red flag so further investigation discovered that material was being ordered that was in excess of what was needed. The extra material would disappear over night.  I appointed my mother-in-law general contractor. From that point on nothing entered or left the property without being check and approved by her. That put a stop to the overcharges. But I think a few thousand dollars was embezzled before I got wise to them.

Your wife is Chinese and knows the games that can be played there. She is a good and thorough wife. I once had an old Chinese man tell me " don't be trusting people, especially Chinese"

[Willy The Londoner]

Your wife is Chinese and knows the games that can be played there. She is a good and thorough wife. I once had an old Chinese man tell me " don't be trusting people, especially Chinese"

In my travels I have heard that from nearly every country I have been to.  Probably the worst place for attempted rip offs was Nigeria. 

Willy

[Willy The Londoner]

 6 Weeks after my last post on this and they tell me that the builders will be finished by 2nd January.

Not sure if I believe them at the moment but at least all floor tiles are now laid!

Willy

[Willy The Londoner]

A bit after the 2nd January but almost there now. My second love has finally been installed in the kitchen.

My roasting list is getting longer. My patience shorter. Maybe a week or two now.

Willy

[Rhonald]

I finished watching the mini series Marco Polo, that show is a bit risqué with the amount of nudity, but I can pretend that your exploits are as a modern day Marco Polo. I hope to see some pictures of Breasts - that is roasted chicken breast.

[Robertt S]

[Willy The Londoner]

Well the good news is that all the new furniture will be delivered in the next three days.

The bad news is that this week when we applied for a telephone line and internet we was told that although every apartment is wired up for these services the complex will not be connected to the system for another 4 - 6 weeks.

So I will have to go back to the old apartment every working day to work on internet and received business phone calls from UK.

The good things is that it is only five minutes away on my trike.

Willy

[Rhonald]

The good things is that it is only five minutes away on my trike.

Willy

And that's just keeping it in first gear!

Looks good with the TV in place.

[Willy The Londoner]

And that's just keeping it in first gear!

Looks good with the TV in place.
[/quote]

Apart from me and you, youre the only one on here that saw it in its semi 'raw' state. 

We now have a room that is always available when you come back this way.

Willy

[Pineau]

Seeing the lighting in the living room made me remember my house in YiYang. I had a big light like that but a bit bigger. Luckily that it was in the center of the room over the coffee table. One day the thing came loose and came crashing down. It crushed the table and sent shrapnel all over the living room.  scared the pee out of everyone.
. I like new stuff. All in all your place looks very nice

[Willy The Londoner]

As cable tv is connected to the new place I found that they do a Wi Fi system but when I tested it I found that it I found it hardly went as far as the table that is in front of the TV.

I then found a on the back of the box two places for a plug in cable such as you used before Wi Fi became the range. I then obtained a 60 foot cable and that now connects the TV Box across the living room floor down the hall to my new office. Its going to be untidy for a few weeks until China Telecom connect our complex to their system but it stopped the travelling back and forth from the old place.

We have a tenant for that one so will be renting it out as the rent money will give us the equivalent of a 6% interest rate, whereas the banks are giving less than 3%.

Willy