One of the coolest things about my visit to Japan, is that the company provided all of us co-ops with separate appartments, within a 15 minute walk from the office: pretty much in the heart of Tokyo. Ivan, Annabelle and I got to be neighbours on the 10th floor of a brand-spanking-new bulding, while Jesse got a place 5 minutes away. The appartments are great for our situation - not too cramped, but not big enough to be a chore to clean up. As one may expect, the japanese appartments differ a bit from the western-style pad. Right beside the door, there is a section of lowered floor for everyone to take off their shoes. The rest of the floor is a softer type of laminate, nicely textured as faux-hardwood. The biggest contrast to the western style appartment would have to be the bathroom. First of all it isn’t in the same room as the toilet. The shower stall is huge in relation to the rest of the appartment (about 2×2 metres), and it contains a full-body mirror - it made the first few showers a bit awekward. Moving on, the large high-tech bathub is INSIDE the shower stall. High-tech you say? Yea. I can set a timer from my kitchen that makes my bathub fill up at any time of the day, can you? Pretty cool to be able to come home and expect a freshly filled bathtub that will maintain any temperature i chose and can electronically regulate the fill-level with a built-in pump. I regret to say that i did not get a super-high tech toilet at my place. As you may know, some japanese toilets have heated seats and sprinklers that wash your ass, also known as “nuclear toilets”. However, i did get to experience one of these ‘wonders’ on my second day at the mall right beside my work - the Gatharia. Aside from all that bathroom stuff, i have an A/C + heater with a remote control, a video-intercom to let people into the building, and a gas stove in my appartment. I didn’t get money for a fridge from the company, but the other co-ops and i were thinking of pitching in and sharing one amongst us all. The only piece of furniture arrived after a few days - a shoddy bedframe with a reading light and a box-spring, but its not too bad. I was forced to build the rest of the furniture myself from the packaging materials (cardboard and tarp) for the bed, so now i have a ‘table’ 30cm off the ground, and curtains that cover half of the huge window in my room. All that doesn’t matter though, as the view from my appartment is magical (see pictures). With all that said, I really like the place.
The neighbourhood is very nice. It’s not a tourist district, and things are very much on the ‘down-low’ most of the time. There is a park with a large and awesome-looking bridge within a 2 minute walk from the buildings; it adds peacefullness to the area. There is an art gallery that i plan to visit soon, right beside the park. During my walk to work i pass 8-10 vending machines (just out on the street) and 3 convenience stores - all these are absurdely abundant in all of Tokyo. I’m a 10 minute walk from a subway station, which lets me explore the hectic areas of the city, and then return to my calm neighbourhood. Really happy to have the accomodations that i have.
Now that you have read all that… Here’s the VIDEO TOUR!!!
