Family in town (part 1)

My family flew from the Bay Area in the States to visit me last Thursday. Thus I was busy being a tourist guide showing them around Tokyo these few days.

Part 1 - Ebisu Garden Place
Mike's office is at Ebisu Garden Place, which is, unfortunately, is also a semi-tourist attraction. It used to be a famous beer brewing station and now got turned into a pretty plaza, big Mitsukoshi shopping mall, a beer museum, and a five star hotel. Since it's nearby, I brought my family there as their first stop and got breakfast at a yummy bakery there.




Dad, mom and my brother, Jackie.







The pink ladies?!?!
















In the blood - Mike made fun of us how we all like to pose when taking pictures!!! Well... what can I say - it's IN THE BLOOD !!!!

















There is a pretty cool-looking "glass ceiling" in front of Ebisu Garden Place. Wondered if Mike ever noticed this even though he passed by this everyday on his way to work?!












The Garden Place used to be a beer brewing station. They still kept the building structure at the time to attract tourists.







The buses at Tokyo look very "cartoony" and cute!! (yup, not kidding you, it's a normal mini bus)









Part 2: Food at Atre Building Chinese people likes food, especially pretty-looking ones (well... of coz, cheaper is better, but... that's a different topic!!) Thus I brought my family to the Ebisu Atre building near the JR station to try (and mostly observe) some of the delicious Japanese snacks there.


Japanese bento boxes (弁当). There are many different kinds. Some you can buy from street vendors during lunch hours, some you can purchase from an indoor mall or food market like in Atre. Price varies depending on what is in the bento. ("Bento" just means lunch box.)



"Tiger roll" - black sugar and green tea favor.










Fruit desserts













Japanese people really like pork cutlet stuff: portlet cutlet (カツ) sandwiches, hamburgers, rice bowls, noodles, etc.











My favorite - caramel syrup ice-cream THICK butter toast, at the Leaves Cafe in Atre 4th floor next to Muji store.




Their chocolate moose cake is awesome as well!!!








Jackie tried the Japanese green tea soy ice-cream.








Jackie usually walked more slowly and stayed behind us - now I know why - take sneaky pictures of people's back.








Part 3: Apartment passed my family examination!!

It's my first time living abroad from my family, it's totally understandable that they want to know what kind of place I am staying at now. They seem to like my new apartment =)


Living room








"Let's test how comfortable the sofa is!!! Hmm.... not bad not bad... " said Jackie.






Next, let's test the desk chair.
"hmm... the chair seems to be a bit small...."
(yea, Jackie, you know what - you have a BIG butt!!!) ^_^






Mom was apparently curious to see my closet~















"Hi ~~~" Jackie took this picture from upstairs. Just be careful not to drop the camera on dad's head!!!

Apartment after cleaned up...

After several days of cleaning (mostly me, haha... so proud of myself!!), the apartment finally looks "okay". This is my evidence:

Entry way. I know I know... there are too many pair of shoes... well... ;)








At least they are well-organized =)








Living room - sofa, coffee table, all suitcases hided nicely at the back under the stairs.







Still living room - right to the sofa - desks and chairs








Our "browsing stations"!! =)







Clothes rack and closet








Our tentative laundry solution~

















Kitchen







Bedroom upstairs (day view)








Bedroom night view







"backup" laundry solution ;) Efficiently making use of space upstairs.







Did I mention that I wiped and cleaned the floor 3 times with bare hands and cloths? (yea, hard to find a mop here in Japan for some very strange reason, guess I need to look harder!!)

After all days and days of housework, I think I am totally looking forward to resume working and coding again (sigh)... =)

Catch up for the last two weeks...

Crazy, busy weeks for the last two weeks!! Moving to the new apartment in Ebisu (恵比寿). Lots of transporting, cleaning, box breaking and building (for new furniture) works done. On top of all that, my parents and my brother are visiting me this week from the Bay Area in the States!!! Busy, busy, busy!!

Moving is tiring..... seriously.... exhausted..... )-__-( "


Part 1: "Da Mess"

Boxes, suitcases everywhere!!
































Part 2: Cleaning

Mike, the Cinderella?!!











Oh... he's cleaning the upper floor... with... paper towel...?!! (Yea, we didn't have a mop yet!!)






And I - hanging the laundry... (yea, I know I know, I was indeed hanging it in the living room, since we didn't have a proper "laundry utility set" and place yet!)






We even made use of the stairs for our laundry area!!

















Part 3: Putting together the furniture


First - the sofa. From Ikea.







Second - the chairs. From Laox Computer store for a pretty good price =)








Third - the desks. Left one is Mike's; right smaller one is mine.








Mike's satisfied look after putting together the desks.















Next - the curtain - yea, we actually needed to buy and hang our own curtain. And unforunately, the kind the we got was a bit short (notice the bottom) ..... oh well...













Can't forget upstairs, the mattress, the clothes bins, the curtain, etc.






I assembled all the clothes bins. Got them from Muji. Pretty compact and convenient!!!
Before: the plastic thing that I was holding
After (assembling) : the tall thing at the back on the floor





And I cleaned the whole kitchen!!!


















Part 4 - Break for the move-in day

After a whole day of cleaning and furniture-building, we finally took a break and enjoyed our temporary process =)




Mike was falling asleep browsing that night sitting on the chair and desk that we built earlier of the day...





Yawn.... hanging the nth load of laundry.










Mike's dinner - PBS (Peanut Butter Sandwiches). He was so happy when the FedEx shipment came - which had his favorite peanut butter "Peter Pan" from St Louis only !!! ;)





























Mike's look is saying, "Why the heck are you taking pictures of me making my sandwhiches?!?!" hehe....







And my dinner is....












Lastly - our tired looks....