Monday, January 14, 2008

My Newest Apartment

We'll start with the cricket.

He came out of nowhere one night, jumping in front of me, while I was watching a particularly creepy episode of Lost. Im pretty sure it was just as John didnt press the button or something. I screamed profanities and ran around in circles, then finally got myself together enough to trap him in a bowl. I left him there next to the television for over a week.
A few days ago while I was vacuuming I figured he was dead, so I lifted up the bowl. He wasnt.
Back to the bowl for you!
I contemplated just vacuuming him up, but then I realized that all my recent bad luck may be due to my imprisonment of the creepy little thing, so I let him go. How vegetarian of me.
Then, today as I was walking up the stairs I saw him sitting where I'd released him. He doesnt move. I think he's dead.
I'm screwed.

Here's my front door and washing machine. Doing chores is even more fun when you have to face the elements (and neighbors).

Walk in the front door, take off your shoes. Then notice the shower door as you enter. Hopefully I never have a house guest that I dont want to see me nude (and vice versa). The to the left is the toilet room. The glossy picture inbetween them is one of Fredrick's prints. And there's the edge of my fridge on the right (so you can orient yourself).
The box on the top right is where they control the hidden cameras.

Here's the window that overlooks my washing machine. I put the shelf and curtain up. It's nice to sit in the bath and here your neighbors coming and going. No peeking, dudes!

And the tub, the most important part of any home. Mine is square and metal. I sit indian-style in it and try not to lean my back on the cold steel before the whole tub fills.

And one of the most fun rooms in the house, the toilet room!

Mine has this nice paneling, so when I close the door and take a seat sometimes I imagine I am in a lemon-scented forest. Note the sink. That happens to be the only bathroom sink in the apartment.
Now hold on. Think about that.
I dont mind washing my hands there, but what about brushing my teeth? And everything else you should only do in your bathroom sink? I dont know. So Ive stopped doing it all.
Oh, and a mirror! Where do I give myself a look-over? You'll see.

My kitchen. All the cabinets are either too high or too low. Like me.

Dining area. Note the trash heap. I have to make a post explaining the crazy sorting system here. It may help me figure out when I should take the unburnables out.

If you look out my window you can see the school I'll be working at. Yup, right up on the fifth floor. They'll be getting a naked wave every morning (when I get out of the shower and walk through the kitchen to my bedroom).

Here's my living room, with a sliver of the dining room on the left. You can see my bookshelf, ramen flag, and all the pieces of my comic book.

My bookshelf, filled with books from all over. Again, thank you to everyone who sent me something! It's one of the best things that's happened to me since Ive been here.

My sittin' pillow on the rug I bought (on sale) at the Loft in Tokyo.

View of my living room with a peek into the bedroom on the right.

My desk. Where no magic happens. If On My Desk could see me now!

What you've all been waiting for... my bedroom. You can see where I dry my clothes when I dont want my neighbors and coworkers to see them. Actually, there's more sunlight there than off my balcony. And you can see my sad little futon and a sleeping Owl Skunk.

This is the only closet in the place. So it holds my clothes, cleaning products, art supplies, my suitcases, stuff I stole from the old apartment, etc.
You can see the futon you'll be sleeping on folded on the bottom left.

Finally, at the foot of my futon, the place where I put myself together. I got the mirror at the 100 Yen shop, but it was 1,260 yen. I cant get the price stickers off. That really bugs me. Actually, I only tried once.
The green bag is filled with pharmaceuticals.


So that's my new place. I'm living alone and I anxiously await your arrival. Make sure to bring a board game or something to do. The internet connection is a bit spotty. This post has taken over five hours (Im not kidding). But it's not like I had anything better to do today.

Did I mention the dead bat that was in here, too?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I sent the thinnest book. Glad to see the sink waste fills the toilet cistern. Very clever them Japanese.

Jonathan said...

Nice new apart! Maybe i'll be able to visit this one too. Once i recuperate from my credit card debt.

Loves

ps. that rug really was worth dragging across tokyo for a whole day!

ElizT said...

Wishing you all the best in your new job, and that interesting apartment.

Jeannetto said...

Cricket update: Today he was sitting in the driveway, not moving. I'm not sure if he's being carried by tiny ants or a gust of wind helped him out, but I guess there is a chance he is alive.

So if he dies after I released him is it still my fault, karmawise?

josh pincus is crying said...

your new apartment looks gre...I mean, small.

I hope you got and enjoy the JPiC button. I have been spreading them around, but I believe that's the first one in Japan. Best of luck to you, kiddo.

Anonymous said...

I just couldn't stop laughing at you new apartment. Some of the best quotes ever. "Mine is square and metal. I sit indian-style in it and try not to lean my back on the cold steel before the whole tub fills."
"All the cabinets are either too high or too low"

Dan Nolan said...

That tub looks like a spiritually relaxing experience. Maybe you could burn some tofu on a pan, bring the pan in the tub room, then light some road flares for some real ambiance. Then you could really kick back and relax.

Frederik Jurk said...

Oh my god! I´m (sort of) in Japan! That´s nice. This is a really comfortable place. You can´t be an unhappy person in this kind of place, right? Too bad I am in a hurry right now and I can´t read this all in one sitting. I´ll get back to this.

Frederik Jurk said...

http://insomnia.ac/japan/garbage_manners.php

Here is a nice story about the japanese garbage rules, very nice. I also used to write some little reviews for that site, like this one:

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/custom/dangunfeveron/

Don´t worry if you don´t have any idea what this is about (weird japanese videogames).

And glancing about those photos more carefully this time, the bathtub is downright disturbing. The drab steel and the square shape makes it look like something to slaughter animals in - certainly it doesn´t invite romantic and relaxing thoughts. This, and not being able to stretch out your legs.

Besides, I´ve heard that it gets pretty problematic for larger people to buy shoes and clothes and stuff like that, because most japanese people are so small. Is that true? (I guess the answer is "Yes")

Steve said...

From the perspective of a man living in the tiniest of studio flats in London, this looks quite spacious....