mr sekimachihato drove k-chan and little kou-chan to tokyo in search of our new home.
the drive is around three hours so we left nagano in the dark at 5:30am (that's 5:30am as in the morning!!) giving us enough time to stop somewhere for breakfast and a few nappy changes along route.
we made good time to the outskirts of tokyo and then the inevitable happened...
we got stuck in a blimmin traffic jam on one of the many elevated expressways which wind in, out, up, down throughout the concrete jungle of tokyo.
we ended up moving a tad slower than an energetic snail for around two hours...
not nice with a 6-month old bundle of joy strapped into a car-seat.
but hey, we made it safe and sound; that's the main thing.
couple of not good shots from my phone:
now for the tough part.
searching for a place to live.
we had narrowed down our future location to three stations and left it up to the real estate agent to show us the goods. for the amount we had planned to fork out in rent i was kinda disappointed in the condition of some of the apartments.
every time we opened the door and stepped into the empty rooms i couldn't help but flash back to our apartment in hong kong; full sea views from every room, two outdoor swimming pools, indoor heated pool, tennis courts, even a six-lane bowling ally!
instead i was shown apartments which had poky little kitchens, views of "roads" or even a cemetery!, and no glamorous extras what so ever; zilch.
having lived in tokyo before i should have been a little bit more mentally prepared.
but after two full days of looking at apartment after apartment we finally signed a two year contract with a little place in a nice family-friendly environment.
looking forward now to moving into our new place and getting settled.
first things first though. we have to get all out stuff shipped over from hong kong, all 50+ boxes...
shit.
did you know it's december already!
16 comments:
I know how it feels like going house-hunting - it can be a labourious and thankless task.
I do hope you and your sweet lil family settle in and build a new home for yourself - the neighbourhood sounds promising since it's family-friendly. :)
Hopefully it's going to be a good start for this last month of 2010 :-)
yay for this post! i was wondering how you were doing.
sounds like quite a downer moving from your glamorous hk apartment to tokyo!
i'm sure it will be worth it though. living in japan will be fun, won't it?
oh and do you have a new job in tokyo?
hope you will post some pix from your new place...
:)
* Life for Beginners
until now i have actually enjoyed house-hunting. kinda fun looking into empty apartments imagining how i would decorate the place and what not. but this time was pretty painful. it was hard enough taking little kou-chan with us but it didn't help being cold outside and even colder inside the empty apartments.
* Sun
thanks~
can't believe it's dec already. man, santa is sneaking up on me!!
hope your last month of the year is a good one too!
* Luuworld
yes, been a bit hectic around here hence the lack of blog posts.
but you are right, it's gonna be fun living in tokyo again. although the apartment is nowhere are glamorous as my one in hong kong, the environment is a lot better; it's got a more communal feel to it.
and re the job front... i have a few interviews in tokyo next week. i'm shi**ing my pants!
I'm kind of afraid to ask where you are going to ship all those boxes to...
But have fun in Tokyo!
* aixxx
all those boxes are gonna be shipped off to our new little apartment on a quiet narrow Tokyo street.
you wanna help me unpack?! よろしくお願い致します！！
I know how you feel, mate. Some apartments are gorgeous but end up being beyond my budget. Others qualify but then are such slums. (Okay, not that bad, but I'm picky.)
But.
When one finds the right one, the one that is just nice, like how Goldilocks always strikes gold with the third try, then it's ... Yay. :)
different country, different rules right? :)
Besides, it's not bad to start with something that is not your dream house since it will be better every time you move and you learn a new trick and a better way to live every time you move :)
And when you buy it, every experience will pay it off.
see you soon!
* life for beginners
your right. when I left my apartment in hong kong I realized that the actual apartment is only a shell. it's the people who live in it and their personal possessions which make it a (gorgeous) place.
* Pascale
as long as each change is a step-up (even a small step) then I'm happy.
out of all the apartments we saw I think we made the right choice with the one we picked. anyway, one day you will have to come over and visit us.
congratulations on finding a place. Good luck for the move, moving in, making it home and the interviews next week. I'm sure you'll be fabulous and everything will fall into place :)
ops, i really meant to write a comment ages ago :)
thanks for your b'day wishes!
i hope you're settled into your 'tiny' japanese flat by now & that your boxes are making their way over to you.
i sometimes bemoan our small 2 bedromm flat here in montpellier but it's clearly nothing compared to japan :)
* gaijinwife
It's so full on at the moment I could do with one of your stiff drinks.
I know you have a lot on your plate too but hope to see you back in aotearoa during Xmas/new year.
* Mary
I don't know what your flat is like but if it's anything like I imagine a small Persian flat to be like I would be more than happy to trade places with you. lol
actually our new place isn't too bad. it's got a nice "local" feel to it.
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