It's only been a week since we left home, but having been so busy it feels much longer. On Wednesday, after all the paper work was completed, we packed up our four suitcases and headed to our new apartment. It's 725 square feet - a living room, bedroom, bath and butler kitchen - really plenty large enough for us.
We're in a 42 story building - our apartment is on the 11th floor. The first 14 floors are "serviced" apartments that include all furniture and items to live with - pots, pans, dishes, linens, etc. We have cleaning service twice a week - not bad! The living room and bedroom are off a common balcony with wrap-around windows, so the apartment is very light. We're facing west, southwest, and yesterday when the sun came out there was Mt. Fiji in the distance just between a break in the skyscrapers surrounding us. Anyone familiar with Tokyo will know where we are since we're within spittin' distance of Tokyo Tower. Our apartment is overlooking a shrine area with trees, so for a city it's quite quiet.
My first venture was to shop for food. I was told to walk there, but chickened out and took a taxi not quite knowing the route. After I finished shopping, I strolled home through a lot of little side streets always keeping a few familiar skyscrapers AND the omnipresent Tokyo Tower in view. I can't imagine getting around this city successfully without a good sense of direction. Thank goodness I'm blessed with one!
Even though the supermarket is billed as the place to shop for Westerners, shopping was very time-consuming with many foreign products, not to mention printed languages. I wound around the store and got a lot of staples and enough "familiar" food to last us a few days. Bill and I are going to go back on Saturday - we'll each take a cart and meet at checkout. Three people checked me out. One to sort the items for delivery - all cold together, etc. - one to scan and the other to bag and box up for delivery. Everyone was very nice. About a half-hour after I got back home, the delivery person was at our door with all the food - no tipping allowed!!
My first visit to the 42nd floor that has a spa, three-lane lap pool, a gym and a lounge was a bit of an issue. I was told that my tennis sneakers were not indoor shoes, so they tried to give me all kinds of "indoor" shoes to try on but with my 10-1/2 narrow feet nothing worked. My own shoes were actually very clean, so I told them they would now become my indoor shoes. Whew - now I can work out! The view on the 42nd floor is magnificent, so I'll take advantage of the lounge and have coffee often. They also serve meals, and a free breakfast for residents. I might even treat myself to a massage soon!
So, Bill and I have had two home-cooked dinners at home - both Italian - yeah! And, now we're officially at home!
