Saturday, December 31, 2005

Lucky Charms

Good luck charms are an integral part of Japanese culture. For New Years, arrangements made from bamboo shafts surrounded by pine branches and then wrapped in straw are placed by doorways of stores and houses.

The ones in the pics are quite large and elaborate and seen in front of businesses. For houses they are no bigger than little house plants.

Me? I have a good luck charm too. It was given to me as a gift. It's for happiness and bonding with friends and family. I was tempted to keep it in the house and keep the happiness to myself. Instead I have it hung on my door... at least for now.

I know I can probably make my own luck but why risk it?

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Old Christmas Cake

Christmas is a terrible time to be single. But it's even worse for a single Japanese female. It's quite funny because I was playing Christmas Carols in office to help get everyone in the mood. But later I found out that I was in fact torturing the girls that sit around me.

I've heard women be called many names - some endearing and some not so endearing - but this was the first time to hear them likened to Christmas Cake. Yes, Christmas Cake. Here it is said "Like Christmas Cake women are no good after 25." I didn't get it at first, but it means that after Dec 25th no one wants Christmas Cake and no one wants a woman over the age of 25. :-O

Can you believe that crap? Luckily it was a woman who explained it to me because I wouldn't have taken it so kindly from a man. So every Christmas single women moan in unison as they feel the pressure of not being able to get a man.

My Japanese girlfriend explained to me that she's 30 and single so that makes her a 5 yr old Christmas Cake. Me? I'm a 1 yr old Christmas Cake. Grrreeaaat! :-S

On another note, here are some random pics of the season.


Christmas Tree made entirely out of ice outside the office building.

Why'd they have to go an' mess with the Colonel?

It's 30 degrees and they still insist on lining up around the building and down the street for ice-cream. Buy shares in Cold Stone!

I just couldn't capture how pretty all the lights were. But they were.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

MER-RII KU-RIS-MA-SU

This is my first Christmas where I'm NOT with someone familiar: family or friend. But I managed to enjoy myself, which wasn't too hard considering the great people I work with here.

First there was the company Christmas party with a circus theme. There were clowns, magicians, woman in spandex on stilts, dancers, and acrobats and, of course, lots of dancing. That's my manager in the tie.

Then the group lunch. That's only half the group and that's my other manager in the wig. Don't ask me why he's wearing a wig.

Finally, the "Orphan" Christmas Lunch at my coworkers house for people like me with no family here. Lots of food, good company.


But still there's nothing like being with family and long time friends.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Glen Park Ginza East

Finally, with the pressure of soon having to pay $240 per night for an extended stay at Roppongi Mansions (the serviced apartment), I made an offer. Hehe.

My agent and I negotiated for no key money, no maintenance fee, no renewal fee, and a free fridge and washing machine. Hallelujah! But I'm still paying out of my ass for rent as they wouldn't budge on the rent. Ah well, you win some you lose some.

So, my company shipped my furniture from NY but it hadn't arrived by my move in date. As a result, they gave me rental furniture. It was only at that moment I started to panic about what was coming by sea. The rental furniture was smaller and fewer than my own furniture so I panicked.

I was 100% certain that my furniture would not fit in here. But, to make it worse, my new Japanese friends were certain about that too. They all laughed at me. Hehe. Even the delivery men from the shipping company laughed in Japanese. They laughed and I cried inside. But they fit! They all fit - minus the few bins I have stored on my balcony.

So this is my new pad at GlenPark Ginza East. Whether I like it or not it's mine for the next two years.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Negotiations

I saw over 15 apartments, which is quite a lot. I only posted a few of those pictures in my last blog. One was too old, another was too close to a main road, many were too small, some too expensive. For one reason or another I just couldn't find one -- the shoe closet wasn't big enough, no fish grill, no bathroom dryer, there's a spider on the wall. My stay in the free serviced apartment had polluted my mind. In NY many of these would have been gems, but here I rejected one after another.

Now this is what you need to know about apartment negotiations. There are several costs that you're almost always expected to pay. First there is the deposit and would be from 1 - 3 months rent. This is not just for damages but for cleaning and regular wear and tear of the apartment when you leave. Very unlikely you will get that back if you plan to live in your apartment like normal people.

Second there is the key money. This is a gift to the landlord to say thank you for allowing me to stay in the building. This would be around 1-2 months rent and is nonrefundable. Kiss that bye bye.

Third is the maintenance fee. This is a small monthly fee on top of your rent for upkeep of the grounds, security etc. May be around $50 - $100 extra monthly.

Fourth is the renewal fee. Again, it's a gift to the landlord but only if you want to stay longer when your lease is expired. This time you're saying thank you for allowing me to stay longer. Expect to pay 1 months rent.

All are negotiable. So once you've found a place, you tell your agent what you want her to put on the application to the landlord. So if the rent is $1400, 2 month key, 2 month deposit etc. I would tell her to put $1200, 1 month key, 1 month deposit. She submits the application and it's always first come first serve here. So, my application will only be considered if the others before me did not work out or if I am truly the first to apply. Then the landlord would come back with an application approval or a counter offer. So he can come back with $1400 (not $1200 like I wanted), 1 month key, 1 month deposit. It's then for me to accept of decline. It's unusual here to "counter" the counter offer.

Of course, the bigger the place and the bigger your budget gives you more leverage to negotiate. Some landlords would throw in free stuff like curtains, rugs, fridge, washers etc. It's fun, it's like a game.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Apartment Hunt

Sooner than later I had to find my own place. So the hunt was on. Lehman gave me a bilingual broker and off we went. We used three weekends checking out apartments. Of course my ideal apartment had suddenly changed from "clean and safe" to "high tech and brand new."

Here the Japanese want everything to be brand new including their apartments. It's not like NY were everyone wants to be in the century old brownstone brick houses "cause it's just so charming". After a while people just don't want to live there - not because something is wrong with it -simply because it's old. So they tear it down and start again. There's always construction here.

I really didn't believe that apartments can come smaller than those in NY. I didn't believe it until now. They're sooo small. I kept telling the agent that she need to show me bigger places. But the problems is that I didn't want to pay bigger money.

My apartment in NY was a little over 400 sqft for $1200. Here I was looking at apartments between 300 and 400 sqft for $1500 and up (rough fx conversion). More money for less space. Also, I was only looking at places that are less than 20 mins by train from work. So, considering the close proximity to work, the apartments are a bargain. It's like living in Manhattan for half price if you ask me.

In the end I did go over my budget but I think it was worth it... maybe.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Free Rent

So they put me up in the heart of Roppongi. It's where all the gaijin (foreigners) hang out, and where the japanese women looking for gaijin men hang out, and where the lehman office is. They put me in a serviced apartment for free for almost 2 months. Boy that was nice. Free rent is always nice.
This apartment was my first look at japanese technology. The floor could be heated with a push of the button. The toilet seat is heated with a button. You can run a hot bath automatically with a button. You can blowdry the bathroom with a button. The microwave doubles as a
oven. Awesome stuff. I was very impressed. Could I live here forever?

From my window is a view of Tokyo Tower (the eiffel tower of Japan) and Roppongi Hills (the it place).

Every day I'd leave a messy room and return with it looking brand new. This girl got used to that really quickly. From NY hotel to Japanese serviced apartment? Is this how I've been destined to live? To have bedroom slippers, a comfy robe, and free toiletries waiting for me always? Maybe.

Monday, December 05, 2005

The Flight

Never expected to enjoy a 13hr flight, but I did. Despite the fact that the stewardess was snobbing me the whole way, I enjoyed it. I guess she can smell "Poor" a mile away. But the guy next to me got tons of extra care from the same witch.

There were bedroom slippers for each person and free newspapers and magazines (but they were all in japanese). We got a menu to select dinner, breakfast and unlimited snacks-and I don't mean peanuts. Snacks were mini pizza, salad, soup etc. Whatever you do, don't get the japanese style lunch. Go Western. Trust me.

My favorite was the entertainment. I had my own little tv where I played video games, watched 4 movies and 2 sitcoms. Then I tested out the various seat positionings - relax, recline and bed. I slept like a baby with drool and everything.

The flight was great!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Pre-Flight

The hotel wasn't super luxurious but it had a great view of the Hudson River and Broadway. All my furniture had been packed up and I was to live from my suitcases for the next two months. These would be my final pictures of NYC.


It was a somber taxi ride to the airport. A mixture of excitement and dread was churning my stomach. "What was I thinking?" I thought. "You're crazy as hell."

And then I rolled my bag up the business class line and my doubt suddenly melted away when the attendent said "Here's your pass to the Executive Lounge." Sweet Jesus! Is this what I've been missing? Wasting my life away in coach? Free breakfast, free drinks, free liqour, free internet, lounge chairs, zen-like garden, maids? What the hell?

So in common college student fashion, I pile the tiny china plates high with pastries and fruit and then stuffed a few extra in my carry-on for good measure.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Last Days


I had quite a lot of fun my last few weeks in NY. It was over the labor day weekend and of course off we went to the parkway for the caribbean parade.










My mom was there just in time to help be pack up my stuff for my trip but we also managed to squeeze in some fun. We saw plays, ate at an upscale restaurtant, visited family - tons of stuff. Needless to say, she wore the heck out of me!

Our last weekend, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel right in Times Square. Ain't nothing like living it up on the company's tab!

Friday, December 02, 2005

Missing in Action



hi people,

i haven't heard from many of you- mostly my fault-but that's besides the point.

i'm testing out this blog service to see if this will help change my M.I.A. status. and my second aim is to try and show you tokyo through my eyes.

my fervor for this will probably fade but, for now, let's enjoy.