Safe and sound

Hello people. Hope the airport farewell wasn't as emotional for you as for me. Well, it can't be - You still have chicken rice, satay, claypot rice, sesame oil chicken, beef kway teow, briyani, pratas, teh tarik, fresh fish soup, pork innards soup, prawn noodles, lor mee, zup chai peng and mini toons' gummies. Oh man i miss those food so much i am getting hunger pangs even though I had dinner just a while ago.

When i arrived, it was not so much the culture shock that shook me, it was the cold. Even if the day is sunny, a breeze would just slam right into my face and past my thick woollen clothes as if they didn't exist at all. The day gets dark early - at around 5 when I knock off, it's like 8pm back in sg. Oh man i miss the sun.

It's a long walk from the train station, Fussa station, to my apartment, or aparto as the locals call it. To all those skeptics out there thinkin i'm bullshitting, trust me - when i say it's long, it's damn bloody long. It takes us around 30 minutes to get to the train station (eki) everyday, just to take a 7-stop ride to Tachikawa where my office is at. It's a ghost town some more, everytime we walk along the streets to the eki, we don't see more than 10 people within visibility range. Talk about Japan being unbreathably crowded eh? So for the past weekend, the 3 of us had been walking to Fussa to and fro carrying household appliances (many from daiso!), muttering curse and swear words while our fingers turn purple from the weight of our shopping goods and cold (oh and i got a camera at akihabara, an electronics haven, definitely cheaper than sg - only less than $300 for a canon ixus with 2gb memory card and casing) . It's a wonder I'm still left with 10 fingers.

Today, for our first day of work, Toohan, who came Japan 1 year earlier than us, brought us to work, and imagine our faces when he brought us to a nearer station. $#!@&* enuff said.... -_-|||

Work wasn't too bad. I'm attached to this guy called Tsuyu-san, who seems like a real nice guy, no airs on what-so-ever. Though his english is sputtering and limited, with a combination of japanese, english and hand signals we still got our messages through. It's a typical Japanese company, or so that's what wilson said - The manager sits right at the front of his section, overlooking all of his department members. No cubicles are in sight, nobody is covered, so even when I dig nose everybody can see. I had better not then.

Now then, to my aparto. I must say it was quite a pleasant surprise. I had already half expected some more kind of lok kok building, reminisque of those that we so often see in horror movies, with the classic dark alleys, tap water dripping sound effects and all. But what greeted us was a nice, modern place which reminds me of some kind of hotel room, but somehow less cosier. What's the weird thing is my designated sleeping area is to be accessed from a ladder, so i need to literally climb to bed. What's more, there's free internet and cable tv (albeit with just a few cable select channels and many other pay-per-view channels) .

Just take a look below yeah:

My corridor. My room is the 2nd last from the end; at the end is Toohan.

My front door. It's a high-tech key hole with a biometric sensor and retina scanner. Neh kidding. The key is just a metal card piece ala hotel room keys.

Along the corridor after entering the front door. Not suited for people who get scared easily.

The shoes area when i just step in. Shoes pointing out!

The washing machine corner. Just beside the main door.

Next up - The cooking area. 2 hot plates and a sink is all the give us in this space-limited aparto.

A closer look at the sink. Sui or not? All self-bought.

The door to where i do all the dirty jobs. And the fridge and the kettle which i bought.

Open the door and hola! A toilet bowl! As per usual, wholly decorated by me, including the bathroom mat and toilet rolls and baskets to put my clothes when i bathe.

My humble bathroom which i suspect i would not utilise it much during this winter season.

A higher view. An interesting thing is that I can hang my laundry on the pole and dry it using the air humidifier-cum-laundry dryer.

As we creep further inwards.....

Welcome to my 16 sq metres of personal space! Tv and internet provided!

My table chucked full of things and a mirror and my precious guitar. Hooks are essential in this hookless place.

The closet and the storage rooms. Ladders to increase the risk of in-home accidents after i wake up. It's like the size of an aircon duct up there, but yet surprisingly cosy.

Last but not least, my 'bed' - consisting of a futon (japanese mattress), comforter, and a pillow i bought. Strange as it looks, its comfortable.

Ok alvin complaining that i take damn long to blog. Updates soon!