A new beginning in Shizuoka

Hello from Shizuoka! 

We`ve been staying in Iwata-shi, Shizuoka for a week now and I`d like to show some pictures on our moving activities. During my long hiatus (2 months!), I got a new job in Shizuoka, tried to complete my works at lab before leaving, had farewell lunches/dinners with friends and colleagues, and...dealed with boxes, bubble wrappers, and cellotape. I could not believe that despite the tininess of our apartment room, we had like bazillion things to pack. It seemed as if things mysteriously kept coming out from every part of the room.

Let me start with the first D-day. The day when we sent our things to Shizuoka. It started with two trash trucks coming to our apartment to pick up our trash. For some reasons, we needed to throw away our bed, washing machine, tables, and some other stuffs. We would be much happier if we could find anyone who wanted them for free, but we couldn`t. So we just had to call the trash pick-up service and paid for 13,000 yen (about 130 USD). Quite a price for trash, eh.

Anyway, the trucks came early in the morning and there was our bed getting crushed within seconds by the roller.

And my (second-hand and veeeeery) old washing machine was taken by the other truck. It always sounded so loud when I used it that I always thought I run a helicopter with my laundry inside, but still I felt sad to see it in the truck.

And since that day until now, our life is practically washing machineless since the new one will only be delivered this weekend. There`s a huge pile of dirty laundry in our house now and I try to pretend that they don`t exist. 

Then, the next truck came later in the day to pick up our stuff and send them to our new address.

Those two bicycles were our lifesavers during our first few days in Iwata because I`ve sold my baby Giorno and my husband`s bike came only few days later after our arrival there.

Anyway, after emptying and cleaning the room, we had to leave too. The second D-day it was.

I know I`ve never mentioned anything except that we lived in a tiny apartment. Just imagine two studio rooms combined and that was our home. This is one of the rooms. It was our bedroom/TV room/my computer room/dining room. The other room behind the doors, which was even smaller, was his computer room and our closets. We never invited guests to our house because we don`t want to scare anyone with the view, lol.

Now, as a tribute to my mini kitchen, which absolutely was and still is the important part of this blog, I want to introduce it to all of you. It`s definitely designed for one person, although two can still fit in as long as standing still is the only activity involved.When I was cooking there, I didn`t need to move my feet a lot. Just one or two steps away and I got what I needed. Reaching up and bending down were what I did more often I guess since everything were practically around me.

This is my very first own kitchen where I started to cook some real food. It was just some simple menu at the beginning, but things got more creative and serious after I got married. All the food I posted in this blog until the last one in summer 2012 were born here. It was in this very room where I first time realized that one uses all his/her senses simultaneously during cooking. The sight, smell, hearing, touch, and of course, taste. It was a tiny little kitchen, but it means big to me. I think I grew up in this room. And for that, I`m very thankful for what I`ve had. 

Anyway, life moves on and so had I. We headed for Sendai station to catch our 6:30 AM shinkansen to Tokyo.

It was my first one-way ticket from Sendai. No return ticket. I felt all weird and sad because I always thought of Sendai as my home and not going home there was just weird and seemed unreal.

But again, I needed to move on. And when the Hayabusa came in, it helped. I forgot about feeling sad for a while and took out my camera. I love taking pictures of shinkansen. I think Hayabusa has odd-looking front part, but I`m always amazed whenever I see it.

So we hopped on, sat, and looked through our window saying goodbye to Sendai. It was a beautiful bright morning with a lot of sunshine. I guess it was not a gloomy sad farewell scene after all.

After arriving at Tokyo station, we transferred to a different shinkansen line going to Nagoya direction.

And when you travel to that direction and the sky is bright (and you`re lucky to get the right seat), you`ll see the Fuji-san on the way entering Shizuoka area.

No, I didn`t randomly pick up some pictures from the internet. I took this picture using only my (slow) point-and-shoot behind the window and still it looked unbelievably graceful. It was very hard for me not to sticking my nose on the window and quietly screaming WOW!

Oh, did you know that Shizuoka is the largest green tea producer in Japan? I guess I need to learn more about tea from now on. 

The travelling had to end and life has brought me to this new family-typed home and kitchen. It has far more space for everything and this time we`re going to have a proper dining room. Or at least that`s what we`re planning for.

My husband and I will start working about 10 days from now and until then we`re busy opening boxes (again with the boxes and tapes!), dealing with lots of paperwork, buying new furniture and stuff, etc etc. Now everything seems a lot more real than before.

There are still not many pictures I took since we came here, but here is one I took during our way to a store.

I would definitely come back here later with better equipment and more time to spend. 

Enjoy the spring, everyone!