Packing up

Frankly, I didn't expect the cardboard boxes to take up so much space even when flattened and packed like this!! I'm having a little trouble walking around the "kitchen" area. Not like I keep hanging around there though.

Still, imagine when they are all being filled, I don't think I'll have any much standing space left :/

Have only done packing some books into one box and temporarily placed it at the balcony window. There are still many many more things to sort out, throw away, pack in. Oh gawwwd. Moving house is such a nightmare. I keep discovering things I thought I never owned, but they were just hidden in plain view. That one box of books alone gave me a slight sore back. I hope the movers have super human strength, can carry ALL OF THEM with ease. And not to mention the... piano. Down two flights of stairs and up two flights of stairs at the new place. No escalator, sorry.

Gotta hurry by the moving date. よっしゃ！！！
Hope it doesn't rain on that day ><;




Rewarding myself with a pack of fresh strawberries (lame excuse for that one box of books keke). They're in season now!

Sir, your instant yakisoba is ready~

Today was a rather warm day. I could hear the snow melting as I got out of the house.
Went down to shinjuku to seal the deal. No, i'm not selling myself(!) but to sign the 2 year contract for the new apartment. Hope the place will be as pleasant to live in as here. The agent was really nice. He offered to help me settle the mover's date, the gas, water, electricity and internet set up. So kind can?! I think i must have presented myself as helpless as possible for him to do that ^^;; Then he asked if i frequent places like shibuya/harajuku, whether i drink or not, and weirdest of all, do i intend to look for a gf here. Perhaps trying to make conversation, coz i don't see how they were related to what I was there at the little office for… *scratch head*

Lunch was at a random sushi shop. Was deciding between sushi and ichiran ramen and sushi won only because I haven't had it for a long time… since 2011 May and it was in Singapore when i went back for holiday. Calling g to ask for opinion didn't work coz his viber wasn't on -_- In retrospect, i think ramen would have been cheaper :x


My favourite sushi. Engawa!!! I donno how to describe, but it has a delicate milky taste to me, yummy.
If you have a chance to see this on a sushi menu, order it!


This yaki salmon was also very good, in taste and price. i had two plates.
I mean it's quite good value, 3 pieces compared to the usual 2 pieces. And the cheapest plate colour some more.

I think today must be the day where I have the least plates of sushi in my life.
The man beside me only had 4 plates and he left. I felt very self conscious.
Immediately, I was reminded of the sad state of my wallet, so i stopped at the 5th or 6th plate.
AND it still cost 1100 yen ($17)!!
Imagine if I had gone on and on eating… *shudders*

On the way back, I saw this unbelievable thing.
"YAKISOBAR", an instant noodle bar that sells one bowl of yakisoba for 200 yen.


Staff: "This is too embarrassing. Another one of those gaijin taking picture of us."

Some of them were holding kettles which i wondered if they were just props or did they really contain hot water… So now! You can enjoy instant yakisoba like some gourmet here with the waitresses serving you politely~ Feels like the concept of instant noodles is being taken apart and repackaged. They should come up with a maid cafe version too. Otakus will love it LOL

Here's a video of it!

Useful numbers for 引っ越し

Finally, i'm really moving house next month!


Looks like this on the outside. Still building!

Many thanks to Kevin for telling me the various numbers to call to get the electricity etc started.
Here they are. Just in case anybody reading is also planning to move. I doubt so though. (But only applicable to Tokyo)

Electricity: 01-2099-5005
Check here for the area it services.
Wards are divided into two big groups and have different numbers for the customer centre.

Water: 03-5326-1100
See here for details.

Gas: 05-7000-2230
See here for details.

So glad that they take application through internet. Good when you don't want to talk on the phone heh. Phone bill might shoot up, you know :x

Many other things to do like informing the banks and phone telco and whatnots of the change in address and not to send bills and stuff to the old address. And also register at the new ward office within 14 days (i think) since i'm moving to a different ward or 区. Tokyo has 23 special wards. Do you know which wards your favourite hangouts in Tokyo are in?

Searching for a new place to call home.

I am being forced to move house and searching for an apartment is such a headache.
I found one that I like. Went to take a look.

Good location: Near school. Accessible from lots of train lines. Is walking distance from the anime/manga/electronic heaven, Akihabara.

Plus it fits my most important criterion: Music instrument OK.

Let me show the floor plan and photos that I've taken there.











It's so nice. I like the kitchen. Can put lots of things. My "kitchen" now is ridiculously small and I have to stack my cups/plates and pots and pans ON the stove because there's no place to keep them. The bathroom also has lots of storage space for all my rubbish. Room is moderately sized but without closet. And it faces the south.

The negotiation went well and I was already planning to move in during the winter break (now) if everything were to proceed smoothly. But in the end, the realtor company Mitsui said they won't take foreigners!!!!! Wtf. They cited bad past experience with renting to foreign students, saying they left japan halfway and left the remaining rent unpaid. Some also passed their apartment keys to friends and allowed them enter the building freely when they were not the contracted individual. Damn those black sheep! And because almost all the apartments that fit my criterion are maintained by Mitsui, it means they won't rent any of those to me too :(

A second place I found through another agency was very cheap and very near to where I am staying now. Not much difference in shaving off travelling time to school. 10 mins at most.

It's a bit old but I do love the partitioned areas (actually two rooms, sliding doors) and the super huge storage spaces. Though in reality, i'm not a fan of such spaces (see pic below). It reminds me too much of Japanese horror movies…. I may be a fan of horror. But only in movies. Not in real life! But then I was already picturing where to put my stuff in the two rooms when being shown around…







Sadly, i am not a fan of the toilet. It looks so depressing. I think is the tiling effect. Like in jail. The mirror is SO SMALL. I cannot forgive this! No hot water from the tap. WINTER HOW TO WASH FACE!! Fingers all no feeling in freezing water. Only good for reducing pore size. I asked the guy who brought me here, he apologised, ya no hot water. fullstop. The bathtub thing…. no comment. It heats up the leftover bathwater so you can soak a second time. But how to sit/lie down in that thing. You can install a heater for bath but cant lay pipes to direct hot water to a wash basin? Okay i very picky about toilets.





What's worse was I spotted a cockroach crawling in like it's king of the house from the ventilation fan above the kitchen sink, which was located beside the entrance. Means the corridor outside has cockroach!!!!!



For the whole length of time of staying at my current place, I have never seen ANY cockroach at all.
If there's one, there's a whole nest somewhere. I really don't want to have a bug situation -__-
So i guess I won't be taking this apartment after all. Made up some excuses and left :x

The first agency also recommended me two more apartments after the one that I like failed. *shakes fist at Mitsui*

Going to see it on 5th Jan after the current tenant moves out. It's also at the same neighbourhood as the 2nd apartment (with roach) mentioned up there. So i guess it's near my current place too.

This is how the floor plan looks like.



I am intrigued by the doorless bathroom design. Segregatable with curtains. NOT COLD MA? Water wont splash one? Knowing me, I'm very likely to make the whole place wet even with curtains .__.

And it directly faces the terrace/patio, whatever it's called in english. An "open concept patio is the attractive feature",  it says on the paper. Good for drying laundry i guess. Also good for exhibitionist.

The bedroom also has a curtain rail like the bathroom area, probably serves as a partition for closet/storage. Notice it doesn't have any storage space at all!?

The realtor sent some photos of the place to the agency and they forwarded to me. It does look very nice though (but very smallish).

















I'm sad that the kitchen has no built-in drawers and cupboards. Means gotta spend money to buy :x
The bathroom is NICEEEEEE. But it's as described in the floor plan - no doors!! Mama said since i'm living alone, never mind LOL

I also like the double windows. And the window in the kitchen. Shall see how it really looks like next week.

The other apartment that was recommended to me also looks promising from the floor plan.



Grand piano OK, sound proofed. Definitely good. Kinda near school but not much accessibility from different train lines. Checked google maps and the surrounding is ok. Typical japanese neighbourhood. Not as nice as what i have here now though. I have a really good shopping mall that sells every necessities, the three main telco, bank, post office under one roof + it has a gym leh :0 Gotta adjust to a change of "lifestyle".

Best part it allows playing from 8am to 11pm!! Longest hours I ever gotten from my search. Usually only until 8pm.

Only worry is it faces south-west. West is the worst. South is the best. But south-west i'm not sure how bad it can be during evenings and summers. The building might get heated up also (air con bill up). I can only go view the show house in Feb because it's still being built Orz. So no interior photos as reference also. Possible move in period is scheduled from March onwards. Probably good because I'll be having spring break then. Ideal is of course see the open concept one and keep it on hold until I see this one then decide... See which one better :x But i doubt it's possible for the agency to hold so long.

Frankly, I dont really need a balcony nor a bathtub. Just convert the precious space to bigger usable floor space and I'm ok with just a standing shower room that has toilet bowl and basin. No need to separate them into different "rooms". Like sometimes want to go toilet then go wash hand/shower, so mafan have to go out of toilet and go to bathroom. Just this and everything else that I asked for i'll be glad. But it's so hard to find such houses here sigh. God of House Y U NO GIVE ME DREAM HOUSE!