What I've learned so far from apartment hunting...

So I've learned some interesting and random things these past few weeks as I've been apartment hunting. First, kitchens are TINY here. Usually "the staff" works in them, which is a whole other topic, so they are poorly ventilated, never have A/Cs, are always adjacent to the staff room and have very little counter space. I've also learned that typically in Bangladesh the floor (a clean one!) is used for preparing and cutting vegetables, so there is no real need for the counter top. Also, related to the kitchen, ovens are very rare. Most people just have two burners and that's the extent of their cooking equipment. I guess not much baking or broiling is needed in Bangladeshi cuisine.

The second thing I've learned is that everything is negotiable. Whether it's the service fee, the amenities or even the rent, it can all be negotiated. So you never want to assume that anything is fixed or off the table.
The third thing I've learned is that you have to go to the area of town where you want to live if you want to be in a particular place. There are no online sites really or listings that you can consult. So it's all either word of mouth or street by street searching, which can be exhausting, let me tell you!
Finally, randomly, I've learned that apartment units are letter and number based instead of just sequential in number. So instead of 101, 201, 301, etc. as you'd see in Europe or North America, it's B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, etc. which can be very confusing.
So those are my random factoids!