Done deal

I just decided on an apartment today! Hooray! I'll be living on the second floor of the same building that I wrote about earlier (the first unit that I saw was on the sixth floor, and has a huge balcony, but is more expensive). I had another meeting with the old-geyser landlord today, during which he agreed to let me have the apartment. I expect to move in around February 15, or so.

I'm doing a happy-dance right now. You just can't see me.

The landlord was actually apologetic about the whole sixth-floor fiasco, and said the rent-increase was because the renovations needed were much more expensive than he had thought. Having seen the inside of the unit, I guess I kinda believe him. Anyways, he was much more welcoming to me now than he was just a week ago. Even the real-estate agent was a little surprised. It was explained to me later (by a Japanese colleague) that the fact that I took the trouble to meet with him face-to-face probably won me a lot of points. Sweet.


The floor plan of my shiny new apartment.

Random pictures

No new updates, really. Anand visited me in Tokyo this past weekend, which was awesome. Also, I'll probably decide on an apartment this weekend. I'm leaning toward taking a spot on the second floor of the building I mentioned in my last post.

So, anyways, here are some random pictures.

A week ago, I moved out of my fabulous paid-for temporary residence, and into a not-paid-for (i.e., paid-for by me) guesthouse. I'm going to stay here until I move into my own apartment. Here is a picture of my room. Gigantic by Japanese standards.

The chill room in the guesthouse.

Crunky. My current favourite chocolate bar. I'm going through one of these a day right now.

My fabulous bright orange Japanese mobile phone (keitai). It's probably the crappiest phone in Japan, but still has a built-in web browser, MP3 player, digital camera and who-knows-how-many other crazy features.

The saga continues...

The apartment-hunting frustration continues. I saw a place that I liked this past Saturday, but when I called back on Monday to submit my application, I was told that someone grabbed it just before I did.

Then, on Tuesday, I then saw another apartment that I really liked (see floor plan below). This time, I was wise enough to tell the real-estate agent (who, on a side note, happens to be a really nice guy) then and there that I wanted the place. He submitted an application on my behalf, and I was the first applicant, so I figured this place was all mine.

But, oh no, now it looks like the landlord (some old Japanese fuddy-duddy) doesn't like to rent to gaijin (see my Jan 11 post for a rant about exactly this issue), and he's making up all sorts of excuses to keep me out. He first said I couldn't move in until March 1st. I said OK. He then said he wouldn't be able to install a new washing machine. I said OK. Now he's saying the rent is going to be 10,000 yen higher than advertised, and I would have to pay 3 months of key money.

All of this, in spite of having a Japanese company willing to vouch for me. I'm definitely a little frustrated right now. I have a meeting with the landlord tomorrow morning. Will keep you posted.

Here is the "floor plan" of the apartment in Moto Azabu that I most likely won't be moving into. Pretty large apartment by Japanese standards, and affordable only because it's in a relatively old building.

Some photos, finally

Here's a round of applause for Lenovo. When they said worldwide warranty, they meant it. My laptop is alive and well again.

So, I've gone ahead and updated my last three blog posts with photos from my trip to China and my hunt for an apartment. That's all for now.

Apartment hunting

First, the routine stuff: my laptop is being repaired by Lenovo right now, so still no photos from my trip to China. Sigh. On the plus side, I have a cell phone now. If you're my friend on facebook, you can get my number from my profile. If you've (understandably) shunned facebook, just send an e-mail to my gmail account instead, and I will send you my number. I finally have a Japanese ATM card, and my US ATM card is functional again. I'm spending lots of time at work, but learning a lot of cool stuff, so no complaints I guess. I'm appreciating how the latest financial crisis really is a worldwide problem, in a way that isn't possible by just reading the Economist.

The situation in Gaza makes me want to cry. That's pretty much all I can say about that.

Anyways, on to what I really wanted to write about: the Tokyo apartment hunting experience. It's amazing how little your yen buys you in central Tokyo. Even more amazing is how many landlords refuse outright to rent their property to gaijin (the Japanese word for "foreigner"). In response, most companies that import foreign workers have some sort of rental assistance program where the company itself enters a lease agreement with the landlord, and rent is then deducted from the employee's paycheque. Obviously Japanese landlords are more comfortable renting to trustworthy mega-corporations, rather than lowly gaijin. The nice part, I guess, is that the company usually pays the reikin ("key money", an absurd concept that you should do a web search about) on behalf of new employees.

So, with the help of brokers, I've seen about 15 apartments so far, but nothing that I'm really happy with. Beyond the sticker shock, my basic dilemma is this. I work in Roppongi. So, should I live in Azabu, Hiroo or Roppongi, all of which are crawling with foreigners (Michael colourfully referred to them as "gaijin ghettos"), but are within walking distance of work? Or, should I live in a "cooler", more "Japanese" neighbourhood (e.g., Ebisu, Nakameguro, Aoyama, Omotesando, Akasaka) and take the train to work? Unless I pick up Japanese really quickly, life in those neighbourhoods might get a little lonely. On the other hand, maybe being forced to learn Japanese is good thing. Right now, I'm leaning toward just staying close to work, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'll update you with the results of the apartment search, probably in my next post. I'm staying in the company-provided temporary housing (see my first Tokyo post for a photo) for at least another week, so I have a little while longer to decide.

Jan 19 edit: And now, some photos!

In case you haven't heard the hype, apartments in central Tokyo are really small, and really expensive. This one in Ebisu is about 300 sq. ft. and costs 160,000 yen per month. I've managed to fit about 80% of the apartment into this photo.

The Japanese are obsessed with new things, especially when it comes to apartments. This one in Nakameguro is considered "old" and relatively large -- built in 1991, 400 sq. ft., and a bargain at 145,000 yen per month.

A cute apartment building in Nakameguro. I would've moved into this building, except it was not close enough to a convenient subway station.

This apartment in Omotesando had a bed that folded into the wall! Cool! Again, too far from a convenient subway station.

Happy new year!

Forgive me father, for it has been two weeks since my last blog post. I just returned to Tokyo yesterday from my trip to China, where (surprisingly) internet cafes were a little hard to find. But anyways, happy new year! I spent new year's eve with some fellow travelers in a bar atop the Marriott in Shanghai (which was a block away from my hostel). Most memorable.

The world really does seem to have converged on English as a universal language. Navigating the major cities in China turned out to be pretty easy, because of all the English signs. Many of the travelers I met in China had jobs teaching English, and they said that demand for teachers is now far exceeding supply. I wonder what Asia will be like for travelers 30 years from now.

I still need to update my last post with pictures, which I plan to do once my laptop stops blue-screening. It has gotten so bad that even the "restore your laptop to original factory state" function is blue-screening. The good news, I guess, is that my laptop is still under warranty. The possibly bad news is that I have to rely on Lenovo's Japanese tech support. To be continued.

Once my laptop gets fixed, I will post some pretty cool pictures from the second half of my trip to China. Honest.

Jan 19 edit: And now, some photos!

My victory pose after conquering a (small) section of the Great Wall of China.

A picture of the Great Wall without my ugly face in it.

The National Stadium in Beijing, site of the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The Terracotta Warriors, just outside Xian.

I wonder if they realize how ironic that sign is.

Atop Big Wild Goose pagoda, in Xian. That's not fog in the distance, it's pollution.

Flying past Mount Fuji on my way back to Tokyo.