Saturday, March 31, 2007

Versatile Solutions for Modern Living



Well the move is over, let the unpacking begin! I found some pretty 'interesting' artifacts while I was packing, it really is amazing how much junk I can accumulate in a year. Even a tiny apartment can hold a lot of odds and ends. Once again, I seem to have collected far to many books! I guess being a reader does have its downsides.

The new apartment, as you can see, is a bit larger. The loft is smaller, and with its curtain has a very 'clubhouse' feel that I actually quite like. It provides a cubbyhole to escape the world!

There are a few things that really combine to make me happy about the new place. For one, it came prewired and ready to go for broadband access. That is just too cool to me, use your TV (standard with the apt) to sign up, plug the cable into your computer and you are good to go. Also, my shower has... water pressure. As in, almost painful water pressure. God I love it. Oh, and there is a heater in the shower. People in the states may not understand, but in your average Japanese apartment there is a heater in the main room, and thats it. The kitchen, bathroom etc are all unheated. This can lead to rather unpleasant showers in the winter. But not anymore, there is a fantastically powerful heater built into the ceiling.

While the new apartment is better in many ways, I admit to feeling a pang of sadness when I stood in my empty old apartment. The year and three months I spent there represents the longest I have lived in one place since I moved out of my parents house. It is also the first place that was really MINE. It wasn't Jason's House, Sean Marie's House, Mom and Dad's House, it was Grant's House. I was surprised at how keenly I felt the loss, especially given how much I complained about the size!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! It's all fancy and clean! When can I come trash it?

sam said...

how does the unheated kitchen thing work? Our apartment in hungary just had livingroom/bedroom heat, and by december, we couldn't spend any time at all in the kitchen cause it was just too cold. The bathroom, yeah, a necessity, but we would have to go to friends' apartments to cook...

Travelingrant said...

Yeah, its pretty hard to do any cooking anyway, given the kitchen size issues. Usually I'd just boil water for cup o' noodles, and that doesn't take much effort or time. The bathroom though, thats just cruel.

jalexissmith said...

Grant, you are SO emo! You complain about EVERYTHING!

Anonymous said...

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the most floor Grant will ever see in his place until the day he moves back...