New sofa!

One of the great things about our apartment is that it came furnished, which really made it faster and easier for us to settle in. And with the exception of our sparkly table, we don't mind the look of the furniture. We thought this white couch pictured above shortly after we moved in, was pretty nice and suited the space. We've never had a white couch before, and it was really comfy. That chaise-style is really popular here since most people only have room for one couch and that's it! 

But you can see close to Annika's elbow that the fake leather was looking worn, and it didn't take long for it to start cracking and peeling. Pretty soon, our floor was covered with little white flakes daily, and the more spots that were peeling, the more white flakes all over the apartment. I vacuumed every single day, and within an hour the area rug is full of  white debris again! 

At first we thought we would just live with it since we're here temporarily, but it just got to be too annoying and it just looked worse and worse with big bare patches where it had completely rubbed off. So I started checking Asia Xpat, which is Hong Kong's version of Craig'slist/kijiji. There were always lots of choices, but there were TOO many, and it was daunting to figure out how we'd even go about getting rid of the one we have and how do we get a new one delivered? And where do these people even live who are selling their choices?

Eventually we decided to just look for Ikea couches after paying attention in the store at which ones we like, so when I saw this one listed as being one year old and for only $1000 ($130), we thought we should snap it up! We have noticed that people sell things that are only a few years old  for way less than they paid because most people find it inconvenient to buy from these used websites. Without any way to transport items, it's just easier to buy new and get free delivery. And expats in Hong Kong tend to have money (clearly this girl did who I bought it from- she was practically just giving everything away and she'd only lived here a year!), plus they aren't attached to their items because people are here short-term. 

 The only thing is that I hadn't looked at the measurements closely until it was almost time to go look at it (and I'd already booked movers, so I was pretty committed to buying it sight unseen!). Even though it looks normal-sized in the store and in the pictures, with Hong Kong sized apartments, it is a bit of a beast! I almost canceled the whole thing, but we decided to go for it, and fortunately it fits... whew...

 Annie's sitting at the table doing her homework (as usual it seems!) while Mike and Leila have a mini-concert.

Leila's new potty (which she loves, hooray!) also double as a drum! And you can see we had to move our toy shelf/bookcase/dish cabinet to beside the TV because the couch is bigger. But It works! Now what am I going to do with my time now that I don't have to check Asia xPat three times a day? haha