first thoughts
we live on the seventh floor of a pretty small building. we haven't met any of our neighbors yet, but apparently there is a canadian couple that works for NOVA on the fifth floor.
the appartment is a traditional japanese one with tatami mats and rice paper screen doors (shoji) between rooms. although it's technically a two bedroom, i think it would be pretty uncomfortable for two strangers. we have a small couch, a tv, and a cabinet in the one bedroom and our futon and clothes in the other. there is only one closet in the whole appartment. we were quite surprised to find that our teeny tiny washing machine actually lives outside on the airing porch. the airing porch, by the way, is occupied entirely by laundry racks and a large futon airing rack, and is no wider than a shallow closet. i'm confident that i'll soon drop the futon over the edge and smother some poor unsuspecting pedestrian.
nova has provided us with the basics in the appartment, like the washer, tv, and sofa as well as new futons, a kitchen table, iron, ironing board, vacuum, etc. the amazing thing is the size of everything. it is all so tiny. the other common factor of the appliances is how cute everything is. as a veteran video game fan, i can't say which inspired which, they all look like monsters from 'zelda' or 'tales of symphonia.' there are smiling anime characters everywhere too, with speech bubbles apparently exclaming how pleased they are with the product. most are japanese but there is some english. . .
i think that our trash can sums it up the best, "9 litter a comfortable life to support. simply receptacle add versatility. way-be. 905."
we made our first outing for groceries yesterday. we made our way into a little store and realized that we weren't even sure if it was a grocer or not. turns out it was a convenient store and we spent nearly $67 on very little food. oops. the tofu and the miso was good, but the canned fish wasn't. john got a bottle of ketchup, much to our relief since it does have natural mellowing agents, and also found some bologna, cheese, and bread (no loaf, just six pieces texas style in a bag. one of the great mysteries of japan. everything is so damn small and they only sell bread the size of a lap quilt and no thinner than the door of a toyota). later the same day we found an actual green grocer - hooray. we saw a mango there for $30. no joke. one mango = 3,000 yen. the cantalopes were only 1,000 yen. we've eaten out mostly this weekend, but will have to master the grocery store soon.
eating out has been an adventure too.
our first meal was in osaka at 7am. we awoke on friday at 5am becuase of the time change and jet speed. nothing was open at first, but we finally found a little diner. we went in and sat down and the waiter brought us tea and started talking to us. of course we didn't understand him. he quickly recognized this and showed us to what looked like a vending machine at the front of the dining room. it was all kanji and pictures, no english and no romaji. so we deducted that we put money into the machine and then push the button of the food that we want. i successfully ordered a miso soup and two other things. the picture was small, but i really thought that it was a fried cake of some sort and i actually thought i was only ordering one of them. at any rate, we sat down and in a little while the waiter brought out the food. john managed to get smoked breakfast sausage and fried potatoes and was nice enough to share.
the mystery dishes that i ordered looked like beans that had been in a tupperware in the fridge for way too long, but with a beautiful garnish of scallions. being the good sport that i am, i tried to eat them. they were firm enough to the touch, but had a stringy web-like structure between them that was actually stronger than duct tape. much worse than too much mozzerella on a pizza, this stuff was making connections on it's own; my mouth, nose, nose ring, chopsticks, hair, bowl, hands, shoulder, napkin, you get the picture. oh yeah, did i mention that it tasted like the forgotten beans in the fridge that i mentioned earlier? wow. i found out later that it's called natto. so begins the list of things never to order when you eat out in japan.
the appartment is a traditional japanese one with tatami mats and rice paper screen doors (shoji) between rooms. although it's technically a two bedroom, i think it would be pretty uncomfortable for two strangers. we have a small couch, a tv, and a cabinet in the one bedroom and our futon and clothes in the other. there is only one closet in the whole appartment. we were quite surprised to find that our teeny tiny washing machine actually lives outside on the airing porch. the airing porch, by the way, is occupied entirely by laundry racks and a large futon airing rack, and is no wider than a shallow closet. i'm confident that i'll soon drop the futon over the edge and smother some poor unsuspecting pedestrian.
nova has provided us with the basics in the appartment, like the washer, tv, and sofa as well as new futons, a kitchen table, iron, ironing board, vacuum, etc. the amazing thing is the size of everything. it is all so tiny. the other common factor of the appliances is how cute everything is. as a veteran video game fan, i can't say which inspired which, they all look like monsters from 'zelda' or 'tales of symphonia.' there are smiling anime characters everywhere too, with speech bubbles apparently exclaming how pleased they are with the product. most are japanese but there is some english. . .
i think that our trash can sums it up the best, "9 litter a comfortable life to support. simply receptacle add versatility. way-be. 905."
we made our first outing for groceries yesterday. we made our way into a little store and realized that we weren't even sure if it was a grocer or not. turns out it was a convenient store and we spent nearly $67 on very little food. oops. the tofu and the miso was good, but the canned fish wasn't. john got a bottle of ketchup, much to our relief since it does have natural mellowing agents, and also found some bologna, cheese, and bread (no loaf, just six pieces texas style in a bag. one of the great mysteries of japan. everything is so damn small and they only sell bread the size of a lap quilt and no thinner than the door of a toyota). later the same day we found an actual green grocer - hooray. we saw a mango there for $30. no joke. one mango = 3,000 yen. the cantalopes were only 1,000 yen. we've eaten out mostly this weekend, but will have to master the grocery store soon.
eating out has been an adventure too.
our first meal was in osaka at 7am. we awoke on friday at 5am becuase of the time change and jet speed. nothing was open at first, but we finally found a little diner. we went in and sat down and the waiter brought us tea and started talking to us. of course we didn't understand him. he quickly recognized this and showed us to what looked like a vending machine at the front of the dining room. it was all kanji and pictures, no english and no romaji. so we deducted that we put money into the machine and then push the button of the food that we want. i successfully ordered a miso soup and two other things. the picture was small, but i really thought that it was a fried cake of some sort and i actually thought i was only ordering one of them. at any rate, we sat down and in a little while the waiter brought out the food. john managed to get smoked breakfast sausage and fried potatoes and was nice enough to share.
the mystery dishes that i ordered looked like beans that had been in a tupperware in the fridge for way too long, but with a beautiful garnish of scallions. being the good sport that i am, i tried to eat them. they were firm enough to the touch, but had a stringy web-like structure between them that was actually stronger than duct tape. much worse than too much mozzerella on a pizza, this stuff was making connections on it's own; my mouth, nose, nose ring, chopsticks, hair, bowl, hands, shoulder, napkin, you get the picture. oh yeah, did i mention that it tasted like the forgotten beans in the fridge that i mentioned earlier? wow. i found out later that it's called natto. so begins the list of things never to order when you eat out in japan.
posted by nel at 10:03 PM
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