Humble Abode

So I`ve settled into my new apartment. It feels like a small middle-income apartment meets a traditional Japanese house. My height appears to be a problem though as I`ve knocked my head on the doorways atleast 596 times. Luckily it`s furnished and my predessessor Dominic was nice enough to leave behind many useful items. The most beautiful thing about the place though is the rent: ￥9020. It works out to be $90.20 per month. Talk about savings! Special thanks to Aomori-Ken for taking care of business!

A blueprint of the place.

It appears much bigger in this form. Consider though that all of the doorways, except for the toilet room, are Japanese-style sliding doors, and most of the floors are tatami: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami

It`s not the most comfortable place in the world but it will due. Once I add my tacky touch to the decor, I will be set. One aspect that I abhor though is the plumbing. Japanese plumbing is like a one-handed man on the monkey bars. It makes no sense. For instance, if I desire hot water in the shower, I must turn on a machine in the outside room, then click the mechanism adjacent to the tub in just the right fashion to heat the burner. Then within five minutes I`ll have warm water. The only catch is, you must shower quickly before the water becomes boiling hot. It just seems as though the apartment is a snake habitat with pipes and tubes running amuck.
Plumbing: America - 1, Japan - 0

The kitchen. Folks, it`s not a room, it`s a corner.

Notice anything missing?

a.) Oven b.) Microwave c.) Dishwasher d.) All of the Above

If you answered d.), you`re correct! Ovens are available, but they will rob your wallet of its precious money. The oil stove though is nice and works better than the electric ones I`m used to in Florida. The refrigerator is smaller than an average American fridge and bigger than a college dorm fridge. However, I`m happy since it will help to curb my habit of buying more food than I care to eat.

The dining room, AKA the kitchen and living room.

Another shot of the living/dining/kitchen/funpartywow room.

Yes there is a TV. It only receives about 5 stations, all of which are in Japanese except for random airings of newscasts in English and episodes of Full House. I still can`t believe Joey bought DJ a stolen car for her birthday. What a fool!