Our New Place

Well, have I got a treat for you!
It's a tour of our new apartment! It is located in the prestigious Leo Palace which is owned by a lovely lady named Fukiko. Apparently it is her hobby to "collect" foreigners. She has many of them in her building now, in fact, nearly the whole second floor. Well, what I said about prestigious may not exactly be the case... you see, the main draw of this Leo Palace is neither the location, nor the amenities, nor the size... but the price. At 48000 Yen a month, it is less than half of what we were paying at our last place, although to be fair, it is less than half the size. For any Canadians out there... the Yen is trading around 98 to a Canadian dollar... so it is pretty much on par.

So anyways, for the tour: (Please excuse the mess, we just moved in)
We begin at the door, which is located up a couple of flights of stairs, on the second floor. As you open the door, you will notice that the entranceway is very small and multipurpose: it serves not only as a place to put your shoes on or off, but also as the laundry room and storage area. Two steps further and you "enter" the kitchen, be careful not to take a third step or you may leave the kitchen :) Across from the kitchen (which consists of a small sink and single electric hotplate) you will find the entrance to the bathroom, which is ingeniously set up to take up the least amount of space possible. It still has a tub/shower, sink and toilet, but turning around in it is a bit of a tricky operation.

Two steps beyond the kitchen (and pantryish area) and through a classy looking glass door, you enter what I might call "the great room". I would call it that perhaps because it is the only actual room in the place, the others being more of a hallway or closet. The GREAT room serves us well, taking the roles of living room, den, dining room, library, sleeping quarters and occasionally guest room! With a room this multi-purpose you might be thinking it huge and grande.... but in fact most westerners have bathrooms bigger :) Of course with 15 foot ceilings it feels much more stately than it may otherwise seem.

Our bedroom is located in this same room, but as a loft area. There is a ladder, and above the ladder a six foot by twelve foot sleeping area, and we are getting used to the climb.. There is just enough room for two futons and a couple of clothes drawers. We cannot stand up on our bed, but we can sit easily, so that is all well and fine.
So that is the tour! I am glad you could come along! Be careful not to hit your head on the doorway as you exit, and always watch your step as you descend the stairs (they are not as generously sized steps as you may be used to in North America) Do come again!
-Rod and Bec