Ohayoo Everybody!
So far, so good. Ross and I have been here for a week now and are settling in nicely.
Home:
We are VERY HAPPY with the apato. The closet space is AMAZING. We have two bedrooms, and a "powder room" in addition to the main bath room. There is the usual fancy Japanese toilet that will wash you if you like and it has a HEATED SEAT (the toilet in the powder room is just a regular one).
Included with the apartment is a weekday "breakfast service" where a "continental breakfast" (consisting of two buns- very nice and soft) is left hanging on the door knob along with a pot of coffee! This service arrives after I leave for work, unfortunately, but Ross has been enjoying it.
We really love the area. Within a 3-minute walk are a hip and cosy cafe/bar, a Malaysian/Thai restaurant, a Hawaiian restaurant, and a western-style place that serves brunch.
Within a 5-minute walk is a shopping and entertainment complex called "Ebisu Garden Place" which contains:
Sapporo Beer Musem
Sapporo Beer Station ("beer restaurant")
a department store with a supermarket; it contains a bakery that bakes fresh baguettes FOUR TIMES A DAY
a wine and food store called "Party and Wine"
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
McDonalds
L'Occitane
an office tower with a number of "view restaurants" on the 37th and 38th floors
a movie theatre
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
Work:
To get to work, I walk 10 minutes to the Ebisu train station (mostly along moving sidewalks- very "Jetsons"), take the Japan Rail Yamanote line (like an above-ground subway) for 16 minutes, then switch to the monorail to Haneda Airport, and take that for around 15 minutes. I get off a few stops before the airport terminal, in an area where there are airline offices and maintenance hangars and simulator training facilities.
There are four of us in the office, ranging in age from 30 to 36. It is a hoot! The office is nice and new and has been decorated very tastefully. The ladies' bathroom down the hall has devices in each stall that play the sound of loud rushing water, for sonic modesty. Today we found the ANA cafeteria in the building next door (we had to get special passes to enter the building). There we can get curry beef and rice for LESS THAN THREE BUCKS!
Friday night we attended a "drinking party" with some people from ANA. It was a bit strange but quite fun- they want to do it every other week!
Entertainment:
Ross and I have been busy shopping for home comforts and necessities (the apartment came with only 8 hangers, despite the multiple giant closets). We have also been busy exploring and eating.
We had the best grocery shopping experience. We went to a supermarket with many foreign products, filled up the cart and then went to the check-out. FOUR (4!) women descended on us and scanned and bagged our groceries. We filled out a form with our address and left the store empty-handed for a leisurely stroll home. A few hours later our groceries were DELIVERED to our apartment door! I think we might get a bit spoiled here.
Today while I was at work Ross went out and bought a folding bicycle. It looks like a pretty cool bike. He is looking forward to his wheeled excursions. There is no reason to worry about traffic- bicycles here just careen along the sidewalks. As a pedestrian, it is a bit alarming.
The food here is amazing. So far we have had: fresh take-out sushi from our department store, Hawaiian food, Korean food, Italian food, Malaysian food, shrimp burgers at McDonald's, a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner (at a restaurant called "Good Honest Grub") and of course many Japanese meals. There are tons of bakeries allover the place with lovely European-style cakes and pastries and breads. You really can get everything (except, as my colleague Bertram pointed out, West Indian food- but you can buy jerk seasoning at the grocery store).
Next week we might go visit some operators (i.e. airlines that are flying our planes here). After that I'll be in Toronto for a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and retrieving some more of my stuff!
So far, so good. Ross and I have been here for a week now and are settling in nicely.
Home:
We are VERY HAPPY with the apato. The closet space is AMAZING. We have two bedrooms, and a "powder room" in addition to the main bath room. There is the usual fancy Japanese toilet that will wash you if you like and it has a HEATED SEAT (the toilet in the powder room is just a regular one).
Included with the apartment is a weekday "breakfast service" where a "continental breakfast" (consisting of two buns- very nice and soft) is left hanging on the door knob along with a pot of coffee! This service arrives after I leave for work, unfortunately, but Ross has been enjoying it.
We really love the area. Within a 3-minute walk are a hip and cosy cafe/bar, a Malaysian/Thai restaurant, a Hawaiian restaurant, and a western-style place that serves brunch.
Within a 5-minute walk is a shopping and entertainment complex called "Ebisu Garden Place" which contains:
Sapporo Beer Musem
Sapporo Beer Station ("beer restaurant")
a department store with a supermarket; it contains a bakery that bakes fresh baguettes FOUR TIMES A DAY
a wine and food store called "Party and Wine"
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
McDonalds
L'Occitane
an office tower with a number of "view restaurants" on the 37th and 38th floors
a movie theatre
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
Work:
To get to work, I walk 10 minutes to the Ebisu train station (mostly along moving sidewalks- very "Jetsons"), take the Japan Rail Yamanote line (like an above-ground subway) for 16 minutes, then switch to the monorail to Haneda Airport, and take that for around 15 minutes. I get off a few stops before the airport terminal, in an area where there are airline offices and maintenance hangars and simulator training facilities.
There are four of us in the office, ranging in age from 30 to 36. It is a hoot! The office is nice and new and has been decorated very tastefully. The ladies' bathroom down the hall has devices in each stall that play the sound of loud rushing water, for sonic modesty. Today we found the ANA cafeteria in the building next door (we had to get special passes to enter the building). There we can get curry beef and rice for LESS THAN THREE BUCKS!
Friday night we attended a "drinking party" with some people from ANA. It was a bit strange but quite fun- they want to do it every other week!
Entertainment:
Ross and I have been busy shopping for home comforts and necessities (the apartment came with only 8 hangers, despite the multiple giant closets). We have also been busy exploring and eating.
We had the best grocery shopping experience. We went to a supermarket with many foreign products, filled up the cart and then went to the check-out. FOUR (4!) women descended on us and scanned and bagged our groceries. We filled out a form with our address and left the store empty-handed for a leisurely stroll home. A few hours later our groceries were DELIVERED to our apartment door! I think we might get a bit spoiled here.
Today while I was at work Ross went out and bought a folding bicycle. It looks like a pretty cool bike. He is looking forward to his wheeled excursions. There is no reason to worry about traffic- bicycles here just careen along the sidewalks. As a pedestrian, it is a bit alarming.
The food here is amazing. So far we have had: fresh take-out sushi from our department store, Hawaiian food, Korean food, Italian food, Malaysian food, shrimp burgers at McDonald's, a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner (at a restaurant called "Good Honest Grub") and of course many Japanese meals. There are tons of bakeries allover the place with lovely European-style cakes and pastries and breads. You really can get everything (except, as my colleague Bertram pointed out, West Indian food- but you can buy jerk seasoning at the grocery store).
Next week we might go visit some operators (i.e. airlines that are flying our planes here). After that I'll be in Toronto for a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and retrieving some more of my stuff!
7 comments:
Hi Folks,
Wish you all the best!
Envy you for all the great food you are eating.
Take care,
Sounds like you're having a blast! I'm glad that you were able to have some honest thanksgiving grub!
Great pictures as well...Rossie, toaster desu ka?
Hi Karen,
thanks for the updates. I am not sure I will be able to keep up with your blog. But I surely do want to stay in touch through other means of communication as well. I love your postcards!!!!! Please let me know what's our actual address - am I being too old fashioned?
Good luck with everything.
Can't wait to visit!
Thinking of you,
Thank god for the anonymous feature...
It is great to see your pictures and hear the stories. I am glad things are going well and look forward to seeing you both.
too wicked! I'm glad you started a blog. I especially love the description of the toilets in your apartment! Keep it up and keep the pictures coming! (BTW, this is kirsten)
Hi Karen, love your blog and love the idea of "sonic modesty".
Also, I am totally jealous of you living in Japan and eating all of that fab food -save some for me!
We r planning a trip to Japan in the next few years so hopefully we won't miss each other.
Since u r already half way - maybe a holiday to Sydney is in order ;-)
Also, feed your blog thru flogblog in Facebook that way FB users can see when you have updated your blog.
xx
Trina
Wow Karen,
What a first week! We can't wait to hear more. I think I need to find a grocery store like the one you described here. And who knew toilets could be taken to a whole new level.
Send more pictures and experiences!
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