Shanghai'd

Flood.


You know that feeling when you get home after a long day at work and all you want to do is plop down on the couch and crack open a frosty cold can of Lone Star? Ever had to swim over to the couch to do so?

Laurel and I knew something was wrong when we put the key in the door and could hear a gushing sound coming from inside the apartment. Clue number two came when we opened the door and saw our shoes floating around peacefully like little boats in the newly-formed 4-inch deep freshwater lake that was our living room. It didn't take long to find the culprit of the hong shui, a busted pipe in the toilet that was spraying super pressurized water up into the ceiling of the bathroom and flooding the entire apartment. Only the kitchen was spared.

This was already the second time the pipe had been replaced by the management office, and of course, instead of trying to find out what is causing the problem, they just came and put another one on. The new pipe does appear to be constructed better, but I'm sure it will just be a matter of time until it bursts again.


Amazingly, with the help of a small team of cleaners, we were able to push/suck all the water down the drain or into the wet vac in the course of about 3 hours. Perhaps even more amazingly, we didn't lose anything. Luckily all of our stuff was off the floor. The only victim is the faux-wood flooring, which is now noticeably bowed around the joints. The landlord doesn't seem to concerned about getting it replaced (though she did offer us tickets to the upcoming ATP tennis tournament in Shanghai next week). We'll likely move apartments in January anyway, so I don't really care either.