The moment you've all be waiting for...

... with baited breath....


... shivering with... anticiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...





...






...





...pation.



Welcome to my humble abode:

We start the tour on my balcony. It's pretty narrow, but when I find myself a nice little folding chair, I can sit out there and relax. The big hook is for hanging my laundry out to dry. The bins are just some extra trash space because garbage pick up isn't the same as at home... There are certain days were different types of trash are picked up. Burnable stuff goes twice a week, but glass, non-burnable, PET bottles and cans go once a month on their own special garbage days. You've gotta write your name and neighbourhood on your trash bags so they know whose doorstep to leave it on if you fail at sorting.

my little space outside...

View of the inside from the balcony. Look! I made my bed, just for you!

The sliding doors are just off the foot of my bed... thankfully my window does not face East... but it does, however, face South... so... I get plenty of sun thanks to my non-blackout curtains. Oh well, I used to get up at 6am back home all the time even with the blackout curtains... This way I'm up at 4pm Winnipeg time if/when folks wanna Skype with me... Ya`ll can listen to me cook breakfast. :P

You can see the sliding wall behind the mirror, I can divide my bedroom/living room from the rest of the apartment... I suppose in the winter that will reduce heating costs (my air-conditioner unit doubles as a heater) but for right now, it just blocks the morning sun coming in my kitchen window and disturbing my beauty sleep...

I'm slowly accumulating pictures to put on my wall over my bed (check out those boss sheets! Weeew!)

Now that I *think* I'm done doing self introductions, I shall add the Canadian flag to the mix that Stace lent me for this trip. I also, finally, have a grown up tv. So now I just need to invest in come cables and I can watch my movies on a sweet screen rather than my lap top... or buy a PS3 and get me some blu-rays. lol

It's been 15 years since I've had to sleep in a twin sized bed... how I miss my double... :(

Wall opposite my bed, fulllll of closet space. If only I'd brought more clothes with me...

The glass door on the right is the way into this shoe box...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese entrance ways, check out this tiny example. You take your shoes off on the tiled part (and the toes are supposed to be facing the door... I'm not really sure why, but... my hands are usually full when I come it so I just leave mine all haphazard. CUZ I'M A REBEL!) then step up on the wood part and into a pair of slippers. I'm down with the whole "leave your shoes at the door" but most of my shoes are not slip ons... makes things... complicated. But I just couldn't live out here without my red high top Chucks! :D

 Welcome to the kitchen part of the tour. A common theme of my apartment is plenty of storage spaces. I wonder if I'll ever fill all these up? Hopefully not... that will be a lot of stuff!

Triple decker fridge: Top = Freezer, Middle = Fridge, Bottom = Crisper
Gas range stove and giant sink.

Small appliences L-R, top to bottom (on top of yellow bookshelf) Hot Water heater (for tea/instant miso soup), Rice Cooker, Toaster oven and microwave oven. 

 Now, the Japanese have this big hang up about clenliness, one reason for switching your kicks when you go inside (this includes going into school, by the way). So my bathroom is split up into 3 different rooms. The Sink, shower/bath and toilet.

Sink, vanity, washing machine and hot water heater.

This was fun to figger out. Glad I know the kanji for Hand so I could figger out which was the gentle cycle...

Some cute chick in her PJs... I mean, the shower portion of the tour. I really dig the whole Bath/Shower room.

Super deep Japanese soaker tub. Many hours have already been spent  in here unwinding with a glass of wine and playing Gameboy.

This contraption sets the temperature for my hot water, both in the shower and my sinks.

Bathtub/shower faucet.

Water closet.

 Can you see the plug in there... with the cable going to the toilet? Here's a close up of the box:

Any guesses as to what this does? It's something I think Canadians can appreciate... and wish we could come up with solar powered ones for outhouses...