Weather: Not that cold compared to Sapporo! Maybe 8 degrees C?
Author: Amy (yes, I finally got off my *ss and did something)
We got up pretty early to get to the train station. After our costly lesson of lugging suitcases over icy snow, we decided to take a cab to the JR Sapporo station. Got there while staying nice and warm (and unharmed!). And off to the airport we went!
We had to go to the Sakura House office in Shinjuku to get our keys and sign a bunch of papers to lease our apartment. We got to Shinjuku maybe 3 or 4pm but it did take us about an hour to finally find the office. By the time we finished everything, it was 6pm! Then came the 'find the apartment' game.... sigh...
The description on the map described the walk to the apartment as '10 minutes walk' but by the 20th minute, we were thinking 'BLOODY LIARS!!!'.
Obviously, we got there safe and sound...
Our apartment building. Ours is the top left. Because it was pretty late already, we didn't have the time or energy to get anything for the apartment so just used whatever was available. Including smelly futons and quilt.
Testing the futon... Verdict: VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!!! And did I mention smelly?Actually, I was so tired I fell asleep. Chrissie was trigger happy while I was sleeping
The apartment itself (not including the loft where I sleep) is ~14 square metres. That's the size of my bloody bedroom in Perth! But surprisingly, I don't feel claustrophobic... probably cause I only stay in my bedroom in Perth anyway!
Entrance way where the shoes are, door on left leads to bathroom, kitchen to the far left.
I knocked myself silly using the bathroom the first few times cause there's no room to manouver.The kitchen is a single hotplate stove next to a sink. That's it!
So I've become quite efficient at cooking and washing at the same time. And planning ahead how to cook to minimise effort in washing pots, pans, dishes, switching hot plate on and off...
At least we won't take long to clean up in the kitchen....The washing machine backs up as a temporary table while cooking and preparing food, something we found out after staying there a while.
Our other 'table'But all in all, quite cosy and easy to clean.
Microwave is also the toaster, grill and oven. Hurray Jap technology!And everything is nearby so easy to access... except from my loft...
I have to climb down 20 times a day, I reckon... so I've learnt to be efficient... it's called 'Chrissie'....'Chris! Can you pass me water???' & 'Chris!!! Can you take this plate down?'
While we're pretty much settled in now, that was not the case on the first day. I basically slept on a very thin futon (think quilt) on a very hard floor. My smelly pillow was as thick as a storybook. I got bruises on my tailbone and hipbones from sleeping on that hard floor. Danny would be delighted to know that maybe I'm not as well padded as I thought...
Chris on the other hand had a great sleep on the first night compared to the previous 2 weeks in Sapporo. But she did have to put up with me climbing down the squeaky ladder many times at night while she was sleeping...
More to come in Amy & Chrissie's cooking adventures in The Smallest Kitchen in the World!
Gee, living in a matchbox. Was the apartment leased out to a hamster previously?
ReplyDeleteThe bathroom is smaller than mine on the ship. Also, our bedroom is actually bigger than 14sqm. There's some things technology cannot replace...
I am quite surprised they didn't put the toilet by the stove/sink/table. Then you could multitask and perform 4 activities at the same time, ie cook, eat, take a dump, wash up. This area could be designated as the Input + Output Express Station.