One week in Japan
My first blog entry. It covers some different subjects and I expect that future entries will be more focused, but I’d like to record lots of things from my first week.
It’s Saturday morning and this is the first chance I’ve had to do much more than work, sleep and eat since I arrived on Sunday evening. I’ve spent long hours at work due to video conferences during the evenings. I’ve typically left the office late, picked up a bento from a convenience store on the way home and eaten it at a very late hour.
Having said that, I have been waking up early and I’ve been for a run on most mornings. I’m reminding myself of the routes I used to use three years ago. Although this is Yokohama, in a metropolitan area of 30+ million people, there are plenty of open spaces around my apartment. There’s a linear park that joins Nakamachidai to Center Minami and there are are some large areas with market gardening. I’ll write about those on another occasion.
I did manage to leave the office at 7:30 on Wednesday evening when my colleagues took me out for a welcome meal. We went to an “izakaya” (Japanese style restaurant/bar) near Center Minami station. There were around a dozen of us, some of whom I’ve known for a long time and some I didn’t know before. Beaujolais Nouveau seems to be a big thing in Japan, and Katsuno-san managed to get hold of a bottle, one day early; he was fast asleep by the end of the evening.
For anyone interested in birds, the Brown-eared Bulbul is the most conspicuous bird around. You hear them more often than you see them. I’ve also seen what my bird book calls a Northern Pintail. It looks the same as what I’d call a Pintail in the UK – I assume it’s the same thing.
Postscript
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve felt two earthquakes today. Neither was strong in Yokohama. One was at 4:30 AM this morning and I only noticed it because I was awake. The other was just before 10:30 this morning. You can check them out at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/140_35.php
Finally, here are two photos of my apartment.
alaninjapan
Your appartment looks lovely and modern – is that a balcony I can see? Is it in an apartment block?
Do you have any of the same birds you saw in Singapor?
Hello Rebeccs,
It is modern, but ‘lovely’ is overstating it. Buildings in Japan tend to be drab and this is no exception.
It is a balcony and that’s where I dry my washing. There’s a bacony on the other side as well, out of the bedroom, but that overlooks the main road and is very noisy.
The building is an apartment block. I’m on the 3rd floor (or the 2nd floor, using the UK counting scheme). I don’t see much of the other residents although one guy did join my welcome meal last Wednesday.
The birds are not the same as in Singapore in general.
Have a good day!
Hi Alan, it looks in fact very similar to the previous one… But the picture gives in fact a very nice impression… Bye for now! Markus
Hi Markus,
It is indeed similar to the previous one. It’s directly above the one I had in 2008 and the layout, the fittings, the wallpaper and everything looks just the same.
Alan