Japanese Food

I friggin' love Japanese food. Infact i have only had one western meal so far, which was... Ok, i'll admit it, McDonalds....

Food here is pretty cheap. They have these fast food style noodle bars where you can get a feed from as little as 350 Yen (~AU$3.50). I have been visiting these places every night for dinner, it almost works out cheaper than preparing a meal- plus i am lazy... Cooking doesn't seem as enjoyable when you are couped up in a kitchen that barely fits one person.


THERE ARE THREE STEPS FOR ENJOYING A MEAL AT YOUR LOCAL NOODLE BAR

1) Look at the plastic replicate dishes displayed in the window to see what is on offer



2) Place your order- you don't even talk to anyone to do this. You simply select your desired meal from the buttons on the vending machine, put your money in, and it spits out a ticket, which you give to the staff.

3) In less than five minutes you will have yor meal. Pretty bloody good for 700 Yen.

P.S Went out last night to the infamous 'Roppongi' (its where all the foreigners living in Tokyo, and Japanese who want to meet foreigners, go to party). Its pretty crazy but i'm getting a little sick of it. Another area of Tokyo, Shibuya, supposedly also has crazy bars and clubs but less foreigners so might trek there next time.

P.P.S. Also havn't managed to go for a surf yet. It's gonna cost me 3000 Yen in trains fairs everytime i go surfing!! I can't afford that so i need to find someone who surfs and has a car.

More apartment pics

Oh, did i mention my housemates are from Canada and England? They are slightly older than me (31) but both are top blokes. They have lived here 6 years and 1 year respectively, so have given me plenty of tips about living in Japan.

The kitchen is simple but does the job

Our apartment is the in the corner of the Annex building on the top floor- you can see our washing on the balcony.

The view from our balcony. Not terribly scenic- no rice fields or temples to be seen, but suprisingly you never hear the train.

Apartment pics

Not the largest bedroom in the world...

but at least i have room for a futon.

The living room isn't much bigger.

The toilet room is, well...

small.

1st day of work tomorrow

Begin orientation and training tomorrow. NOVA has been in the news again and some people are saying it is the last straw for the company and it may be the beginning of their demise. But it is a large corporation so i think it should be ok, at least for a while...

Last few days have mainly been spent organising things i.e VISA, bank account etc. Have had a few walks around the area of the house, trying to familiarise myself with the neighbourhood. Its considered a fairly quiet area, but we still have 3 gyms, fast food retaurants, karaoke bars, 3 supermarkets, and a heap of Japanese traditional bars (Izakaya) and noodle bars.

Did karaoke last night, just here at Gyotoku. We started off the night at an Izakaya (first drinks were at 11pm!) then proceeded to the karaoke venue. We had the room from 12am to 5am, so it was alot of singing! After a few hours we were kinda sick of it, but the Japanese people we were with kept singing right up till close at 5am... Im sure they would have gladly kept going if the place hadn't closed... They love Japanese pop music over here, which is termed J-Pop. Foreign bands that are big over here seem to include Good Charlotte, Green Day, Avril Lavigne (spelling??), Michelle Branch and Kelly Clarkson.

I didn't take my camera last night so no karaoke photos, but im sure it wont be my last karaoke session.

I might trek off to bed

Oyasuminasai (good night)