Introducing “Seaview”

Mrs. Monty and I had the privileged opportunity to pick-up a nice little place near the sea (from the map it looks like we are somewhere on the border of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea). The property is actually part of a large development by Evergreen (the huge property developer that went bankrupt and was in the news a couple of years ago). Property prices dropped precipitously with the bankruptcy, and made buying a place reasonable. One might think that this would be a bad idea, but our goals are not investment but rather just to have a nice place away from the city with a great water view to hang out in. The development itself seems fairly healthy. Most of the properties were bought up prior to the bankruptcy, so the association fees are being collected and the maintenance is very good. There is also a five-star hotel within the development that attracts visitors to keep the place feeling ‘alive’.

This picture is from a couple weeks ago (we are now in the rainy season so we’re pretty socked in).

Our place is on the 29th floor of a 30 floor high rise with nothing built between us and the sea so there is an uninterrupted (and pretty darn nice) view. This isn’t on the ocean with the sounds of waves and such, but it’s pretty good considering we’re only a couple hours outside of Shanghai. And the sea breeze is the greatest. There is almost a constant light (or not so light) breeze that keeps the air fresh. With the windows open creating a cross-apartment air flow, it is comfortable even during this humid season.

The place was a bit worn from disuse and there were some upgrades that we decided to make so we haven’t moved in yet. We expect to be able to move in by the end of the month. One of the biggest changes we made was replacing the veranda windows from traditional small paned panels to a large panel that provides a bigger view. We also took down a wall between a small kitchen veranda and the kitchen/dining room which creates a great little breakfast nook that also has nice view of the beach, which I’m thinking will be my go to spot for great sunrise views with my morning coffee.

So far everything seems to be progressing well and no regrets. The only possible downside is that I’m now feeling a bit envious of all the retirees. I’d like to be able to spend a lot more time here than just a long weekend once in a while. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I can sneak in more remote working days!

Be well,

Monty