A lot has changed in the past few days.

The lady who was going to rent her house to us realized that she needed to stay in her house for another year. The government gave her $8,000 to buy a house, right when there was that housing crisis two years back. Therefore, she isn't legally allowed to move!

She broke the news to us and promised she'd make it up to us. Being Taiwanese, she invited us to dinner as a formal apology. At first, I thought this was such an awkward thing to do; however, my friend and future roommate told me that this was something socially acceptable in Taiwanese culture.

We ended up going to Shula's Steakhouse, at Wild Horse Casino (south of Chandler). This steakhouse was super, super expensive. My basic assumption was that it was for people who just won tons of money on a nickle machine. Nonetheless, the bill came out to be over $300 for just four people!

Just a list of things we ate:
1. Sourdough bread
2. Caesar salad + some bleu cheese, tomato salad
3. Lobster cocktail halves
4. Grilled asparagus
5. 24 oz "Cowboy" steak (rib eye)
6. Crème brûlée
7. Häagen-Dazs ice cream in an almond brittle shell


Just an idea of what we ate

Onto the new housing plan:

We're moving into Alta Ravenwood in South Tempe. Closer to the freeway, this townhouse is going to suit our commuting needs a lot better.

I don't want to violate any copyrights, so I'll just post the community's website:
Alta Ravenwood
Floor Plan

We got a corner lot townhouse with a double garage. I'll be living in the master bedroom. It's nice, because our townhouse is going to have a view of this immense "courtyard," or grass field. It also has a dog park for all of my dog's running needs. The gym is nice, the study rooms are nicer, the pool and bonfire pit are nice, and community grilling will be exceptional. I can't wait to see what it's like to live there.

The only thing I'm worried about is this issue with move-out fees. I've read some reviews about people getting charged up to $1300 to replace carpet after they've moved out. Apparently, parking's hard to find, there is a lot of noise complaining, and the courtyard floods when it rains. I'm not too worried about the carpet, especially since we Asians are generally cleaner when it comes to carpet; parking should be OK because we don't have many friends; and rain only comes a few times a year in this arid place, right?

I'm generally excited to move over. There's still another month and a half.. but I almost want to start packing now ;)

All of this just means I'll be in Arizona for another year.. Sigh.