So here are some pictures of the apartment. This is the living room/dining room/kitchen area. To give you an idea of the size, I took this picture while standing about 3 feet outside on the balcony. And it's zoomed out as far as it will go. The kitchen is behind the white wall.
Here's the view from the hallway. Gen hates the color of the sofa. It actually looks pretty washed out in that picture. It is shockingly lime green. The contraption in the upper left-hand corner is the AC/heater. We have a separate one for the bedroom and each has its own little remote control.
This is my stunning "view." Lovely, isn't it? We're on the sixth floor of a 15-story apartment complex. It was built just one year ago, so it's really nice and clean.
This is looking down onto our street from the balcony. The white building on the left is a
pachinko parlor.
Pachinko is huge here. I don't really get the appeal, but I don't understand the rules, either. Basically it looks like pinball. The parlors are really crowded, noisy, and smoky. The blue storefront on the right is a hostess bar. Hostess bars cater to
salarymen (white collar businessmen). From what I understand, you pay an entrance fee which sometimes includes drinks and the hostesses (usually foreign model-types) sit with you, pour your drinks, and talk to you. It seems like it would be really uncomfortable and awkward, but people must like them. Each bar has a man stationed out on the street. It's his job to accost the
salarymen and try to entice them up to his bar. They don't talk to Gen when he's with me, but he says walking home from work can be like trying to run the gauntlet. Our neighborhood is sort of a melting pot, so you see a lot of Russian, Filipino, and Chinese hostesses.
So here are some pictures of the apartment. This is the living room/dining room/kitchen area. To give you an idea of the size, I took this picture while standing about 3 feet outside on the balcony. And it's zoomed out as far as it will go. The kitchen is behind the white wall.
Here's the view from the hallway. Gen hates the color of the sofa. It actually looks pretty washed out in that picture. It is shockingly lime green. The contraption in the upper left-hand corner is the AC/heater. We have a separate one for the bedroom and each has its own little remote control.
This is my stunning "view." Lovely, isn't it? We're on the sixth floor of a 15-story apartment complex. It was built just one year ago, so it's really nice and clean.
This is looking down onto our street from the balcony. The white building on the left is a pachinko parlor. Pachinko is huge here. I don't really get the appeal, but I don't understand the rules, either. Basically it looks like pinball. The parlors are really crowded, noisy, and smoky. The blue storefront on the right is a hostess bar. Hostess bars cater to salarymen (white collar businessmen). From what I understand, you pay an entrance fee which sometimes includes drinks and the hostesses (usually foreign model-types) sit with you, pour your drinks, and talk to you. It seems like it would be really uncomfortable and awkward, but people must like them. Each bar has a man stationed out on the street. It's his job to accost the salarymen and try to entice them up to his bar. They don't talk to Gen when he's with me, but he says walking home from work can be like trying to run the gauntlet. Our neighborhood is sort of a melting pot, so you see a lot of Russian, Filipino, and Chinese hostesses.
That's awesome - real urban living. I love it. Looks like you are experiencing all of the sites and sounds, too. Margaux and I love the blog and all the pics (unfortunately, B of A blocked Margaux' access). -Adam
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just too subversive for corporate America. I'm glad you like it! Like I said, for 2 people it's fine. Gen wants to have a party with some people he works with. That should be interesting, since we have exactly 4 places to sit.
ReplyDelete