Week 2 - I don't want to live in a capsule hotel

So my plans for the weekend didn't entirely work out. I went out on Friday to some restaurant and ended up singing karaoke until about 3am. So - that meant the morning's walk around Ebisu didn't happen. An estate agent picked me up at 1 and we plodded around the area south west of Roppongi. I saw seven places, only two of which were worth considering. I then took myself round the Roppongi Hills shopping areas (Louis Vuitton, Armani and anything else too expensive or not likely to come in my size). Despite that, the area is pretty cool, I'll probably go to the cinema at some point this week to see the Island. Although I haven't figured out if they dub films yet. I bought some DVDs that were in English with subtitles so I think it should be fine. I then headed into Roppongi proper to pick up some power transformers in Don Quizote (you can buy anything there) and went back to charge my mp3 player. Which I then discovered actually runs on 100V at 50 Hz, and all I needed was a socket converter. Ah well, it'll come in useful when my DVD player/sound system, XBox, and PC arrive. That left Sunday for the local tour - which meant I didn't have time to go to beer mountain… probably for the best really as one of my colleagues didn't make it in the next day.

Then the week proper started… It seems like I've seen a lot of places so far. Well over twenty, and Thursday was the first day I saw anything I really liked. I put an offer in for one of them but it looks like its already taken (It was roughly at the centre of this map http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?ll=35.644524,139.711515&spn=0.005682,0.008979&hl=ja about two minutes from the station - look for the word Qualia). So the hunt is still on. I've got more viewings coming up though so I don't think it will be a problem but I'm beginning to get annoyed with the whole process. Some of the estate agents are pretty good but most are lazy. It seems they don't get commission or performance related pay so there is little motivation for them to pull out the stops and find the best places. One guy keeps canceling viewings which is really getting on my nerves. The other problem with flat hunting is that although the office is giving me all the time I need to get out and find places - I then find myself working late to make up for all the hours I've been out during the day. This isn't helped by the fact I live across the road. So I need to organise more activities to keep me busy in the evening as well. That leads me to this tonight. I'm going to a place called 'Grail' and then I'll probably nip out to Shibuya again to meet Neil Mochan (a guy I went to school with). Grail serves Haggis apparently, although I'm not tempted to try it here. I'll also meet up with Stuart Croy and his girlfriend Yuka, who I haven't seen since she lived in London - in fact - probably since the last flat warming we had at 104.

Oh, how could I forget. I got my Alien Registration card (temporary), bank accounts and mobile phone (http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/March2005/1161.htm) so I'm finally starting to feel like I can settle in. But since I'm going to have to move rooms in the corporate apartments tomorrow its going to be weird again. The fact I've registered everything (bank accounts, phone, gaijin card) at #1609 is going to cause hassle I'm sure.

Tokyo Observations #23 - Why are bath tubs so small? It seems every place I've seen bar one had a half size bath tub. The idea is you sit in it… and instead of a shower attachment over the bath, the entire room (which is pretty small) is used as a shower room. So you end up with half a bathtub, and half a shower. http://www.housingstation.co.jp/pro_new/images/unibath.jpg should give you an idea of what I mean - but this is a bit bigger than what I've seen. Oh, and the stool is to sit on… In Japan, the bath tub is only for soaking in. You wash while sitting on the stool, soak in the bath for a while, then scrub down on the stool again. I'm sure its very clean but it’s a bit of a pain. Also, you don't drain the water. Everyone uses the same water to soak. Then of course - the toilet is in a separate room. Again, it makes sense but it takes up more space if you have to have more rooms.

Tokyo Observations #11 - Morning exercise. The other day when I was on support I left for the office at about 7.30. In the plaza in front of our office building were about 100 locals doing morning exercise. It was all being filmed for TV Asahi and broadcast live to your home in a 1984 like scene. Apparently its a big thing here. I remember they tried that with Mr. Motivator in the UK but it didn't quite take off… Also, in some companies the employees sing the company song before starting the day. They take a lot of pride in it too. I don't think my firm has a company song though. The last time I saw anything like that was in China Town in New York.