Flat Hunting

The past two weeks we have been frantically hunting for flats with Kristy and Gerrod, our soon-to-be house mates. I wouldn't describe the process as relaxing, but it has had its moments of comic relief.

Such as when Kristy and I visited a top-notch flat near Waterloo. The agent met us out the front of the building to let us in, leading us through a gulag of anonymous doorways, up a few floors in the elevator and down another hallway before we finally arrived at the flat.

Now I could smell the smell before we got within 5 metres of the flat door, so when the agent implored us to "look beyond the mess", I was already kind of prepared. But not prepared enough.

Inside this two bedroom flat lived six people, as well as some advanced viruses which were hitherto believed only to exist in rural China. The place reeked of stale coconut milk-based cooking, unwashed dishes, as well as other things we were yet to discover. A couple of times I lost my balance after tripping over debris in the hall, but seeing as I didn't want to touch anything with my hands, it was a little hard not to topple over completely.

Then the clincher. The agent showed us into the master bedroom and ensuite where we found, wait for it, a caged rabbit.

"So, what do you guys think of the place?" asked the agent.

While Kristy chose to say something articulate and honest, I chose the more indirect way of letting the agent know my feelings:

"Mmm...and, are these, yeah, these are double-glazed windows, aren't they, here...mmm, I think...hmm"

He was a little bamboozled for a moment, but I think he got the picture alright. Translation: "Mmm...rabbit, rabbit rabbit, rabbit...and, rabbit...rabbit".