Enlarging Photos

Just in case any of you are a slow as I am...you can open any photo on the blog to its full resolution by clicking on it. Not that they are very good, but you may be able to see more detail, or appreciate exactly how small our apartment is in full resolution. I realized this by accident last week, and have been forgetting to let everyone know. (I know grandma, it is basic computing but most of my friends are idiots).

Moving on Up

We have found an apartment and are beginning to move in this weekend. It is exciting to have our own place, but now the reality of having to move is setting in. Do not ever take having a car for granted. It is amazing how hard it is to purchase two 21"x21" end tables when you have to transport them over an hour back to your house by train! Probably not the best idea, and even worse to try at rush hour, but we made it and leaned an important lesson of what to never do again. Funny that my first trip to Ikea was in Tokyo. Apparently cheap Scandinavian furniture appeals to everyone. We went to look for a bed, but after spending $20 to get there and back we had to buy something. I am very excited about my "Fixa" tool kit. It has a hammer, screw driver, wrench, and wire cutter. I think that makes me a professional repair man in Tokyo. As you can see our place is pretty small, but it is a great deal. We got it through a friend of Aya's dad so we are paying about 60% of fair market rent. Add to that the fact that we do not have to pay him any deposit, any "gift" for the right to rent his apartment, and no real estate agent fees, and we are also saving over 7K before we ever step foot into the apartment. It is located in Minamikugahara (south Kugahara) in the Ota ward of Tokyo. It will be about a 15 minute train ride to work which is a very short ride by Tokyo standards. We are happy to be moving but will miss the hospitality (and home cooking) of the Miyakoda's. I am pretty sure they are planning a party though. They will finally have enough food to eat, and Aya's dads beer will stop disappearing so quickly.

Based on the move this will likley be the last post for a few weeks. Our telephone and internet service will not be set up until towards the end of February. We will still have access to internet at work, so we will not be awol. Hopefully, the time off will give me some time to think of good posts, and gather pictures. I will gladly take some requests in the comments section for when I get "back to work."

See you soon.

BAMBANG PAMUNGKAS

STRIKER PERSIJA

JAKARTA

INFO: JACK MANIA

INFO: JACK MANIA.COM

JACK MANIA

Jack mania.com

JACK MANIA

The Jakmania berdiri sejak Ligina IV, tepatnya 19 Desember 1997. Markas dan sekretariat The Jakmania berada di Stadion Menteng. Setiap Selasa dan Jumat merupakan rutinitas The Jakmania baik itu pengurus maupun anggota untuk melakukan kegiatan kumpul bersama membahas perkembangan The Jakmania serta laporan-laporan dari setiap bidang kepengurusan.

Tidak lupa juga melakukan pendaftaran bagi anggota baru dalam rutinitas tersebut. Ide ini muncul dari Diza Rasyid Ali, manajer Persija waktu itu. Ide ini mendapat dukungan penuh dari Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso. Sebagai pembina Persija, memang Bang Yos (sapaan akrabnya)sangat menyukai sepakbola. Ia ingin sekali membangkitkan kembali sepakbola Jakarta yang telah lama hilang baik itu tim maupun pendukung atau suporter.


Pada awalnya, anggota The Jakmania hanya sekitar 100 orang, dengan pengurus sebanyak 40 orang. Ketika dibentuk, dipilihlah figur yang dikenal di mata masyarakat. Gugun Gondrong merupakan sosok paling ideal disaat itu. Meski dari kalangan selebritis, Gugun tidak ingin diberlakukan berlebihan. Ia ingin merasa sama dengan yang lain.





Pengurus The Jakmania waktu itu akhirnya membuat lambang sebuah tangan dengan jari berbentuk huruf J. Ide ini berasal dari Edi Supatmo, yang waktu itu menjadi Humas Persija. Hingga sekarang, lambang itu masih dipertahankan dan selalu diperagakan sebagai simbol jati diri Jakmania.



Seiring dengan habisnya masa pengurusan, Gugun digantikan Ir. T. Ferry Indrasjarief. Ia lebih akrab disapa Bung Ferry. Masa tugas Bung Ferry adalah periode 1999-2001 dan kembali dipercaya untuk memimpin The Jakmania periode 2001-2003, 2003-2005.



Lelaki tinggi, tampan dan sarjana lulusan ITI Serpong inilah yang memimpin The Jakmania hingga 3 periode. Dibawah kepemimpinan Bung Ferry yang juga pernah menjadi anggota suporter Commandos Pelita Jaya, The Jakmania terus menggeliat. Organisasi The Jakmania ditata dengan matang. Maklum, Bung Ferry memang dibesarkan oleh kegiatan organisasi. Awalnya, sangat sulit mengajak warga Jakarta untuk mau bergabung.



Beruntung, pengurus menemukan momentum jitu. Saat tim nasional Indonesia berlaga pada Pra Piala Asia, mereka menyebarkan formulir di luar stadion. Dengan makin banyaknya anggota yang mendaftar sekitar 7200 anggota, dibentuklah Kordinator Wilayah (Korwil).


Dan sampai pendaftaran terakhir saat ini terdapat lebih dari 30.000 anggota dari 50 Korwil. Setelah diadakan Pemilihan Umum Raya 2005, untuk memilih Ketua Umum yang baru, akhirnya terpilihlah Ketua Umum Baru periode 2005-2007 yaitu Sdr. Hanandiyo Ismayani atau yang bisa dipanggil dengan Bung Danang.

www.ISL.com

VIERRA

VIERRA

RASA INI

http://www.vierra_band.com/

ku tak percaya kau ada disini


menemaniku di saat dia pergi

sungguh bahagia kau ada disini

menghapus semua sakit yang kurasa



mungkinkah kau merasakan

semua yang ku pasrahkan

kenanglah kasih..



Reff :

ku suka dirinya, mungkin aku sayang

namun apakah mungkin, kau menjadi milikku

kau pernah menjadi , menjadi miliknya

namun salahlah aku, bila ku pernah merasa ini



na nana nanana nana nanana



back to * , Reff



back to Reff

LUCKY LAKI

Lirik Lagu The Lucky Laki - Sahabat Lirik lagu indonesia.com

Aku suka Lampard

Kamu suka Owen

Aku suka Metallica

Kamu suka Agnes Monica



Aku suka Rooney

Kamu suka Anelka

Aku suka Amerika

kamu suka Jamaika



Reff:

Meski kita tak sama

Bukan berarti kita tak bisa bersahabat

Meski kita tak sama

Bukan berarti kita harus bermusuhan



Aku suka Inggris

Kamu suka Perancis

Aku sukanya meringis

Kamu suka menangis



Back to Reff: 3x

One More Saturday Night

This saturday after work Miyakoda-san had a party to honor our arrival to the office, as well as Balin (the intern from Turkey) and her boyfriend Mehmet (Memo) who is visiting her. As you can see we had quite the spread, including $23 "large" pizzas. Threw the 12 oz. beer in the picture for scale. We had a great time and drank entirely too much sake! The 2 men in the last picture were a blast to hang out with. The one on the left is a master in Judo, and has trained many olympians, including Americans. The man on the right was a sumo wrestler. I do not believe he was a professional, but it was great to have him explain some of the tradition and technique. Sumo wrestling is very interesting and I can't wait to go to my first match. Hopefully it will be soon. One of Miyakoda-san's friends who is an architect owns a couple of buildings in Tokyo, and says that he may have a few apartments available that we can look at. He seems willing to give us a good deal if we like one, so we will see what happens.

Big America going fast

In sad news today the Big America Texas Burger supply is rapidly diminishing. After record sales of 28 billion yen (a little over $280 million US) for McDonalds on its first day of sales, January 15th, McDonalds is running out of ingredients to prepare the burger. They just can't keep enough fried onions, or special BBQ sauce in the stores to satisfy demand for the burger. They have actually had to limit the daily supply to a set number of burgers at each participating location. I now plan to get up early and go to each McDonalds and buy all of their Big Texas Burgers and then sit in the front window and eat them all. I cannot think of a better way to reinforce the stereotype of overweight, fastfood consuming Americans. This is the sign notifying disappointed Japanese that I have eaten all of the burgers for the day. Please do not worry though this is just the first burger in the Big America series so I still have "The Burger New York" with monterey jack cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, & grainy mustard; "The California Burger" with spicy cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, & a special sauce made with red wine from California; and finally "The Hawaiian Burger" with a fried egg, special gravy, & lettuce with american cheese. For those not paying attention the ingredient that makes all of these American is bacon. I can't argue with that logic. The only thing better than bacon is bacon fried bacon. Gotta go I am starving.

LAGU ORANGE-RANGE

harajuku-style.blogspot.com

ASTERIKS

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe

iroaseru KOTO naku todoku

KIRARI hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi

kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo

chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo

bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni

hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni



hitotsu futatsu kane no ne wa hibiku kokoro no naka e to hiroku fukaku

monogatari no youna hoshi no shizuku sono naka ni hosoi senro wo kizuku

jikan to tomo ni jidai wa ugoku nagareru hoshi wa shizuka ni ugoku

me wo tojite mimi wo sumaseba GOOD BYE



oozora ippai no shirokuro shashin nabiku MAFURA- shiroi iki

sukoshi demo chikazuki takute ano takadai made kakeashi de

omotai bouenkyou toridasu to RENZU hamidashita SUTA-DASUTTO

jikan wo ubawareta jikan jidai wo koete kuru ROMAN



# hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima

toki wo koe dareka ni todoku made

eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni

KIMItachi to tsukutteiku SUTO-RI-



REPEAT *



ubugoe ageta chiisana hikari ookina hikari jikuu wo koe deai

subete no kagayaki ga hitotsu to nari tsukuridasu monogatari

ten to ten wo musubu seiza no you ni

dareka ni totte bokura mo kirei na e egaketetara ii ne

miagete goran yo hora fuyu no DIAMONDO

yuruyaka na amanogawa sugu yuuki torimodoseru ka



REPEAT #



REPEAT *



kono sora wa hitotsu dokomade mo hiroku sou umi no mukou

ima umareru ibuki tatareru inochi hoshi wa terasu megami no gotoku

nagaku tsuzuku kurikaesu shunkashuntou no isshun demo ii sukoshi de ii

omoi wo kizamu tada hatenaku toki wo koe kagayaki dasu



monogatari wa kokoro no naka de tsuzuite iru

ano hi no kimi wa itsuka yogisha ni notte



miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe

iroaseru KOTO naku todoku

KIRARI hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi

kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo

chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe

iroaseru KOTO naku todoku

bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni

hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni



hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni

ORANGE RANGE

ORANGE RANGE

ORANGE RANGE

Miyamori Ryou (Ryo) - low vocals


Hokama Hiroki (Hiroki) - mid vocals

Ganeko Yamato (Yamato) - high vocals

Miyamori You (Yoh) - bass

Hiroyama Naoto (Naoto) - gitar, leader

[sunting] Mantan Anggota

Kitao Kazuhito

[sunting] Daftar Album

[sunting] Singel

Michishirube (ミチシルベ ) (Indies) (25 Agustus 2002)

1.Michishirube (ミチシルベ )

2.MIDNIGHT GAGE

3.Kirikirimai ~Ryukyudisko Remix~ (キリキリマイ ～リューキューディスコRemix～)

Kirikirimai (キリキリマイ) (4 Juni 2003)

1.Kirikirimai (キリキリマイ)

2.Samurai Mania (サムライマニア)

3.Kirikirimai ~Yamadahisashi Roudoku ver~ (キリキリマイ～やまだひさし朗読Ver.～)

4.Kirikirimai ryukyudisco mix (キリキリマイ ryukyudisco mix)

5.Tentenkomui (テンテコマイ)

Shanghai Honey (上海ハニー) (16 Juli 2003)

1.Shanghai Honey (上海ハニー)

2.New Tokyo Machine (ニュー・トウキオマシン)

3.Shanghai Honey ~ Ryukyudisco Remix~ (上海ハニー ～ryukyudisco remix～)

4.Shanghai Honey ~Shanghai Style~ (上海ハニー ～上海style～)

Viva★Rock (ビバ★ロック) (22 Oktober 2003)

1.Viva Rock (ビバ★ロック)

2.Velocity 3000 (ベロシティー3000)

3.Viva Rock ~Ryukyudisco Remix~ (ビバ★ロック～ryukyudisco remix～)

4.Nagisa no Roko Girl (渚のロコガール)

5.Viva Rock ~Japanese Side~ (ビバ★ロック～japanese side～)

Rakuyou (落陽) (27 November 2003)

1.Rakuyou (落陽)

2.Party Night (パーリィナイッ)

3.Rakuyou ~Ryukyu Acoustic Mix~ (落陽 ～ryukyu acoustic mix～)

Michishirube ~a road home~ (ミチシルベ) (25 Februari 2004)

1.Michishirube ~A Road Home~ (ミチシルベ～a road home～)

2.Zung Zung Funky Music

3.Yamauchi Chuukouka (山内公園)

4.Michishirube ~A Road Home Ryukyudisco Remix~ (ミチシルベ～a road home・ryukyudisco remix～)

Locolotion (ロコローション) (9 Juni 2004)

1.Locolotion (ロコローション)

2.Monkey Magic

3.Orange Boat

4.Locolotion ~Ryukyudisco Remix~ (ロコローション～RYUKYUDISCO REMIX～)

Chest (チェスト) (25 Agustus 2004)

1.Chest (チェスト)

2.Shuuji kun (修二君)

3.Kirikirimai Disco Mix (キリキリマイ　DISCO MIX)

4.Chest Live Mix? featuring Paul Gilbert (チェスト　LIVE MIX? featuring PAUL GILBERT)

Hana (花) (20 Oktober 2004)

1.Hana (花)

2.Kasō (花想)

3.Hana (Original Track) (花 original track)

* ~Asterisk~ (＊~アスタリスク~) (23 Februari 2005)

1.*~Asterisk~ (＊~アスタリスク~)

2.Mission in Taisakusen (ミッション in 大作戦)

3.Spiral (スパイラル)

4.* ~Asterisk~ (Romantic Ver.) (＊~アスタリスク~ ロマンティックVer.)

Love Parade (ラヴ・パレード) (25 Mei 2005)

1.Love Parade (ラヴ・パレード)

2.Okihabara Inaa O-721 (沖葉原イナー O-721)

Onegai! Señorita (お願い！セニョリータ) (8 Juni 2005)

1.Onegai! Señorita (お願い!セニョリータ)

2.Nettai Night (ねったいナイト)

3.Hai! Moshimoshi...Natsu Desu! (はい!もしもし・・・夏です)

Kizuna (キズナ) (24 Agustus 2005)

1.Kizuna (キズナ)

2.Soy Sauce no Theme (ソイソースのTheme)

3.Ho Ho Ho (ほほほ)

4.Kizuna ~Acoustic Ver.~ (キズナ)

Champione (チャンピオーネ) (10 Mei 2006)

1.Champione (チャンピオーネ)

2.Walk on

UN ROCK STAR (30 Agustus 2006)

1.UN ROCK STAR

2.Fuurinkazan (風林火山)

3.My Rifle feat. Petunia Rocks (マイ・ライフル ~feat.ペチュニアロックス~)

4.U topia ~LIVE TOUR 005 ИATURAL~

SAYONARA (25 Oktober 2006)

1.SAYONARA

2.YARISUGI Manbou (YARISUGI マンボウ)

3.Lonely Fighter (ロンリーファイター)

Ika SUMMER (イカSUMMER) (25 April 2007)

1.Ika SUMMER (イカSUMMER)

2.SJK06

3.DANCE 2 ~DJ KAGAMI REMIX~

Ikenai Taiyou (イケナイ太陽)(18 Juli 2007)

1.Ikenai Taiyou (イケナイ太陽)

2.Iketenai Taiyou (Instrumental) (イケテナイ太陽)

Kimi Station ((君station) (5 Maret 2008)

1.Kimi Station (君station)

2.powder beats

3.LaLaLa (（仮）ラララ)

[sunting] Mini-Album

Orange Ball (22 Februari 2002)

1.Soujuuko (奏重鼓)

2.Gadget Groove (ガジェットグルーヴ)

3.Kirikirimai (キリキリマイ)

4.Flower Garden (フラワーガーデン)

5.Chuudoku (中毒)

6.Velocity (ベロシティー)

7.Funk Tune (ファンクテューン)

8.Soujuuko -RKDRMX- (奏重鼓)

[sunting] Album

1st Contact (17 Desember 2003)

1.Fever!

2.Shanghai Honey (上海ハニー)

3.Mission in Poppiple (ミッションinポッピプル)

4.Young 8 (ヤング8)

5.Samurai Mania (サムライマニア)

6.Yuugu Red (ゆうぐレッド)

7.Viva★Rock (ビバ★ロック)

8.Japanese People (ジャパニーズピープル)

9.Party Night (パーリィナイッ)

10.O-MO-I

11.TWISTER

12.Velocity 3000 (ベロシティー3000)

13.Kirikirimai ~Album Ver.~ (キリキリマイ)

14.Rakuyou ~Long Ver.~ (落陽)

15.Ambienta (アンビエンタ)

16.Yamauchi-chuu Kouka (山内中校歌)

musiQ (1 Desember 2004)

1.KA・RI・SU・MA

2.Chest (チェスト)

3.Locolotion (ロコローション)

4.Ishin Denshin (以心電信)

5.ZUNG ZUNG FUNKY MUSIC

6.Padi Bon Mahe (パディ ボン マヘ)

7.City Boy (シティボーイ)

8.Xie Xie (謝謝)

9.Danshi-ing session (男子ing session)

10.Beat Ball

11.Michishirube ~a road home~ (ミチシルベ)

12.Hana (花)

13.FULLTHROTTLE

14.Matsuri Danshaku (祭男爵)

15.papa

16.HUB☆STAR

17.Oh! Yeah

18.SP Thanx

19.Zipangu 2 Zipangu (ジパング2ジパング)

ИATURAL (12 Oktober 2005)

1.yumekaze

2.Yumejin (夢人)

3.Onegai! Señorita (お願い!セニョリータ)

4.Winter Winner

5.CRAZY BAND

6.Ame (雨)

7.GOD69

8.HYSTERIC TAXI

9.pe nyom pong

10.Sakadzuki Jammer (盃 Jammer)

11.* ~Asterisk~ (＊~アスタリスク~)

12.sunrise

13.U topia

14.BETWEEN

15.re-cycle

16.Kizuna (キズナ)

17.Love Parade (ラヴ・パレード)

18.Иatural Pop

19.Kirikirimai ~Fantastic Four Remix~

Squeezed (Remix Album) (12 April 2006)

1.Ishin Denshin (Takkyu Ishino Remix) (以心電信)

2.Locolotion (Space Cowboy Remix) (ロコローション)

3.Kirikirimai (cherry blossom front mix) (キリキリマイ)

4.Padi Bon Mahe (Kan Takagi REMIX) (パディ ボン マヘ)

5.Love Parade (NEWDEAL REMIX) (ラヴ・パレード)

6.GOD69 (RYUKYUDISKO REMIX)

7.Onegai! Señorita (Shin's Rockin' Techno) (お願い! セニョリータ )

8.* ~Asterisk~ (Ken Ishii's Seventh City) (＊～アスタリスク～)

9.Hai! Moshimoshi...Natsu desu! (Dogday Afternoo) (はい!もしもし・・・夏です!)

10.Иatural Pop (Takagi Masakatsu "girls" remix)

11.Shanghai Honey (KAGAMI remix)

12.Chest (intro Sooki ReMIX)

13.Hana (AGERO'S TWIST DA WEDDING MIX) (花)

14.BETWEEN (Petunia Rocks REMIX) (ペチュニアロックスREMIX)

ORANGE RANGE (6 Desember 2006)

1.MIRACLE

2.Champione (チャンピオーネ)

3.DANCE2 feat. Soy Sauce

4.FAT

5.BEAUTIFUL DAY

6.Fuurinkazan (風林火山)

7.Everysing

8.Walk on

9.So Little Time feat. Petunia Rocks

10.FIRE BUN feat. GOD MAKING

11.UN ROCK STAR

12.Hello

13.LIGHTS

14.Great Escape

15.STEP BY STEP

16.SAYONARA

17.Silent Night

ORANGE (Best Album) (25 Juli2007)

1.Locolotion (ロコローション)

2.DANCE2 feat. Soy Sauce

3.Onegai! Señorita (お願い！セニョリータ)

4.* ~Asterisk~ (＊~アスタリスク~)

5.Michishirube ~a road home~ (ミチシルベ)

6.Champione (チャンピオーネ)

7.UN ROCK STAR

8.Kirikirimai (キリキリマイ)

9.ZUNG ZUNG FUNKY MUSIC

10.yumekaze

11.GOD69

12.SP Thanx

13.Иatural Pop

14.O-MO-I

15.Ikenai Taiyou (TV Size) (イケナイ太陽)

RANGE (Best Album)(25 Juli2007)

1.Hana (花)

2.Shanghai Honey (上海ハニー)

3.Love Parade (ラヴ・パレード)

4.Kizuna (キズナ)

5.Viva★Rock (ビバ★ロック)

6.SAYONARA

7.Chest (チェスト)

8.Rakuyou ~Long Ver.~ (落陽)

9.Ishin Denshin (以心電信)

10.Walk on

11.Danshi-ing session (男子ing session)

12.MIRACLE

13.TWISTER

14.Winter Winner

15.Ikenai Taiyou (TV Size) (イケナイ太陽)

House Hunters International

Locating a place to live is exciting, confusing, tiring, confusing, and a good way to start to learn your way around. It has also been a good way to get totally lost. I could not find my back to most of these apartments, but that is not such a problem since I will never have to remember how to get back to most of them. As with any real estate search the "perfect place" is a balance between location, size & amenitiy, and price. These samples below will illustrate some of this balance

Apartment 1 - this is the 4th we have looked at so far. It is located in Togoshi, a very dense traditional Japanese neighborhood oriented around a primary pedestrian street (not designated as such, but predominantly pedestrian with a few vehicles that brave the masses) packed with small shops, markets, and restaurants.

This area has quickly emerged as our prefered location. This apartment is 1DK (meaning 1 bedroom with a dining room/kitchen) and a little over 40 square meters (430 square feet). It is new construction, multilevel, and we love the closet space (which is totally shown in the single photo, and is enormous compared to most).

Apartment 2 - again in Togoshi this is 2DK (2 bedroom, dining/kitchen). A very traditional layout, with a tatami bedroom. Not much else to write home about. The most expensive of the group, and not an ideal layout, but good space in a great location.

Apartment 3 - another in Togoshi. This is perhaps the largest apartment we have seen. It is a bit older than most we have seen and a very traditional floorplan. It is 1LDK (bedroom, living room, dining/kitchen) and 48 square meters (516 sq.ft.). We see potential in the floorplan, but also see that it could require a bit more furniture ($$$), and may provide space we do not absolutely need. Of course it could also be a good value given the size and the price. The major draw back is that it is on the ground floor, which limits the natural light, and privicy since it fronts the street. It also makes us a bit worried about drying our clothes, since it is common to hang your clothes on the balcony to dry to conserve energy. The good thing is that not many people can fit into my clothes, and to be honest my fashion is so 90's not a single Japanese person would be caught dead in my clothes...Aya is a bit more worried about her gear.

Apartment 4 - In the heart of Togoshi, on the main street. A truly mixed use building with this unit being 1LDK , and 44.4 square meters (478sq.ft.). This one has just about everything we could want...a great location, a good price, and enough space to satisfy. But, and there always seems to be a but, THE BATHROOM SINK IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE KITCHEN (see last picture)!!! This is a retrofit of an older building so you can expect some quirks, but we are not sure if this is a deal breaker. However, it would be great to walk out your door and be foot steps away from the grocery store, produce market, fresh seafood market, butcher shop, etc. It will also be nice to only have to navigate a single street to get everything we need. I have not yet learned how to say, "I am lost, can you please take me home?," nor as a man can I admit that no matter where on earth I am.

Apartment 5 - This is a 1LDK unit. Not much to say. It is not special in size, location, or price. Just put it on here so you would have more pictures to look at.

Apartment 6 - a 1LDK unit, 63 square meters (678 sq.ft.). This is one of the largest, and least expensive units we have seen. Thus, this unit sacrifices location. It is the furthest from work, and would be about a 20-25 minute bicycle ride to get there. In my mind that makes walking to work as likely as living on the sun. This split level does have great space, but it is a bit cavernous due to being on the gound floor with the bedroom in what is basically the basement. However, it has one of the better kitchens we have seen since it acutally has a counter top...about 2 feet of it.

Apartment 7 - a 1LDK, this unit is one of the more recently constructed. It has nice finishes, and is a good size for us. It is about 5 blocks from Togoshi, but is on the 3rd floor of a building located along the 2nd most major roadway in Japan. The vehicular traffic is a constant, and this unit is not quite high enough to escape the noise. However, this is a very desirable area, and the real estate agent was sure to remind us that this apartment was already shown earlier in the day, has a showing tomorrow, and will likely not last long. Rest assured that high pressure sales are not unique to any country.

What is interesting is that in Tokyo they have some unique customs when it comes to renting an apartment. Of course there is the 1-2 month deposit typical of any rental, and payment of the first months rent at signing. But on top of this you will also have a 1-2 month "gift" for the right to rent the apartment, plus a one month finders fee for the real estate agent. So based on the average price of $1400/month we will owe about $8400 when we decide which apartment we will rent. Thank god $2800 of that will be returned if we do not damage anything...it will be interesting to see how that process goes.

formatting

Not quite sure what the deal is with this blog. It shows me one thing when I am setting it up, and as soon as I press "post" it formats the pictures and text however it wants. To those with graphic sensibilities I appologize. I can only hope I get better as the posts continue. (I tried to keep the formatting simple with all of the pictures aligned to the right and text to the left. But this is what I get) Maybe when I stop trying it will all work out...that's how I ended up here at least.

The Office

So this is the office. Pretty much like any other
office...but as if working wasn't bad enough everything is in some other language! When I say everything I mean EVERYTHING! TIme sheets, computer programs, scheduling meetings, even saving a word document is an adventure. Its is amazing how different everything in a drop down menu looks when they consist of this あいうかっこききぶぷたん. Not sure if I am saving a file or erasing the servers, but what they heck just hit what I think means yes and keep going. If it really messes something up we can always blame the intern...
which I think is me. At least that is the only
wordI recognize when everyone is pointing at me and laughing. The walk to work is nice,
about 15 minutes along the Meguro River. Everyday the office does lunch together from the 7-11. This will soon be a topic all of its own. Amazing what you can get from a convenience store in Japan. The final picture is of my desk. Not much, but it is all mine (right now I am happy to claim anything as mine since I am still leaching off of Aya's parents, sleeping in a crib, and living out of suitcases). They told me not to get my work area too messy until they are sure this is working out. No one
wants to clean up after the gaijin (foreigner)
if they decide to have me deported for not properly serving the tea with lunch. Hopefully, I have been doing enough right to offset the mistakes. Everyone has been extremely helpful, and as best as I can tell I am actually able to help them at times. Maybe they are just to nice to tell me the truth, but either way things are going well so far.