I never thought that I would be able to say it, but “I own a Mansion.” Of course, this is a Japanese style mansion, so it really means “steel-reinforced concrete apartment”, but still. L. and I bought a two bedroom apartment, a 2LDK in Japanese parlance (2 bedrooms, a livingroom / diningroom / kitchen.) The kitchen is actually a small separate affair in our place, and L. got a great refridgerator for it. There is also a super tiny (optional) dishwasher that she wanted, and I sprung for the built-in convection oven / microwave combo, so our kitchen is pretty well set up.

The living room is big, and this is one of the first times I will live somewhere that isn’t just packed with furniture like a tetris game. That works out great because with the order for fiber-optic internet I picked up a Wii and Wii Fit. All of that is set up in the custom order cabinetry that I think looks great.

We are up on the 14th floor with a West-facing apartment that looks out over a canal and Tokyo Bay. We can also see Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba from our balcony and should have a good view of fireworks shot off there. Once the weather cools down I look forward to sitting on the balcony, watching boats go by, and drinking a beer with L..

The room I will probably spend the most time in is the one where I set up my computers. I got a nice computer desk from Tokyu Hands which took a while to put together, but is great. There is one desktop and some notebooks on it.

I already wrote about the crazy remote control features of the apartment, but I have become fairly used to living there now. The building is really great and I love how you can throw out garbage of any kind on any day. That is just amazing.

Since I’ve been busy and sick, I haven’t used the Fittnes (SIC) Room yet, but I plan to. Also there is a big park that looks good for running right across the bridge. The conveniently located Jusco is amazing, like an American supermarket, and we are only about a 3 minute walk from Shinagawa Seaside station, which conveniently (for me) has direct (and not crowded) trains to Shibuya.

I hope I can convince some friends and family to come and visit! The sofa DOES pull out into a bed.