Let's enjoy Surprising Breezes East

Finally got my handsome model to give you a tour of our humble home.

Come on in!

We keep our shoes in the genkan. Sometimes we even line them up.

There's a big closet here for our backpacks...

Next up is the kitchen. Notice the sweet pair of new trashcans in the background. They are making us very happy right now (we had a few fruit fly issues...). Also in the background is the aircon unit. That is making us EXTREMELY happy right now. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but it's really hot and humid here. The hottest summer ever, they say.

To the left when you come in, is this tatami room. (6-mat, for those of you who are counting.)

At bedtime, the tatami room is transformed as below. I recently changed the covers (like changing the sheets) on these futons (both the under-futons and the over-futons). That was a pain in the oshiri, let me tell you. I think it took me about 45 minutes to do 4 sets.

If you walk to the back of the house, you get to the bathroom suite. Three separate rooms for different bath-y functions.

Note the toilet slippers in the image below. You are allowed to point and laugh if you see somebody accidentally wear these outside the toilet room.

What's that reading material, you ask? Well, we have been enjoying Food Buying in Japan and Easy Living in Kyoto.

Sink.

Bathtub and shower. Well, you can't see the shower. But it's right next to this Hello Kitty soapdish. Which by the way, should have been included in the recent parade of suction cup applications. And which, by the way, I needed to purchase at the Hyaku-en shop, because there is a rule that every Japanese home has to have one Hello Kitty item in it. Seriously--they come and check.

Now let's go upstairs.

These stairs are very skinny. Max's feet are size 2....

You should picture walking down the stairs like you are Charlie Chaplin. That's how skinny they are.

At the top of the stairs is a second tatami room. This is where Darrin and I have been sleeping. See that little weird door near the floor in the back of the room?

You can slide it open and get a view outside. This window is a bit of a mystery to me. The boys keep some of their stuff in here. But else what are you supposed to do with it?

Just outside the tatami room upstairs, there is a little cabinet where we keep books and toys.

In the next room (the fourth room) is the Nintendo DS room.

The DS room also has this desk-vanity. You can set up your computer here and photoshop your makeup.

Outside this room is our balcony. Such a view!

Next door, they are building a new house! That house is not gonna fall down in any earthquakes, that's for sure. (I learned about the effectiveness of those cross-beams at an earthquake exhibit at a children's museum.)

Still on the balcony, you can see our washer. Where's the dryer? We actually have two! One of them is in the photo two pictures back--that blue thing hanging next to Max's head.

This is a small washer. We do laundry almost every day.

Oops, we forgot to show you the kitchen! We have two gas burners.

Our freezer. Yes, even Max has to bend down to peer in. My beer is getting cold in there, and behind it is a box of "Ho--mu--Rah-n Bah" ice cream treats.

Betcha didn't know that a microwave can make toast.

It's no Neurofuzzy, Kurt, but our rice cooker does a pretty fine job.

Thanks, Max, for that enlightening tour.