{"id":719,"date":"2004-04-14T23:00:03","date_gmt":"2004-04-14T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2004-04-14\/719"},"modified":"2004-04-14T23:00:03","modified_gmt":"2004-04-14T14:00:03","slug":"getting-settled-in-japan-washerdryer-and-microwave-oven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2004-04-14\/719","title":{"rendered":"Getting Settled in Japan: Washer\/Dryer and Microwave Oven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<style>\np.editorialf  { width:700px }\n.editorial    { color:#AFA  }\n.editorial a  { color:#CFC  }\n<\/style>\n\n\n<div style='padding:5px 40px; background-color:#444; border: solid 1px #666; margin:10px 30px 50px 10px'>\n\n<p>The text of this post was originally written in April, 2004 as part of\nan online diary I kept before I actually started my blog. I'd forgotten\nabout it until I ran across it in February 2008. I inserted it into my blog\nthen, assigning dates appropriate to the content instead of to the time I\nactually added it. Thus, these April 2004 posts show up as my &#8220;first\nposts&#8221; in my <a nocross='1' href='\/blog\/toc\/'\nclass='quiet'>list of posts<\/a>, even though I didn't actually start a blog\nuntil a year later with my first post about <a nocross='1' class='quiet'\nhref='\/blog\/2005-04-01\/1'>buying a car in Japan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>There's nothing here of interest to anyone but me; I insert it here so\nthat it's together with my other posts (which are also of little interest\nto anyone but me :-)) <span class='editorial'>Any comments I add while posting this to my blog in February 2008 appear like this.<\/span>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<p>This was originally written just after we moved from California to\nJapan, so our days were dominated by jet lag, and trying to set up our\nlife and newly-acquired apartment. Anthony was 18 months old.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\n\nAnthony woke up at 5:15 again, getting only half the sleep he should have. <span class='nobr'>He was monumentally<\/span> fussy during the morning. Luckily, once Fumie got up at\naround 7:30, <span class='nobr'>I was able<\/span> to pass out for <span class='nobr'>a couple<\/span> of hours, getting some\nmuch-needed extra sleep.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nMom watched Anthony again so Fumie and <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> drive up to the apartment to\ndeliver <span class='nobr'>a load<\/span> of stuff, such as the light we'd bought the other day. <span class='nobr'>We brought<\/span> our new cell phones with us, although we didn't really know how to\nuse them. This was the third time for me to go the apartment (the first\nhaving been Apr 10th when Mom drove, and the 2nd by train the other day). <span class='nobr'>I was happy<\/span> that <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> make the hour-plus drive directly &mdash; my years of\ntooling around Kyoto on my motorcycle were not for naught.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nI installed the light, and we did other putzing-around stuff. Fumie had <span class='nobr'>a\nmoment<\/span> of doubt about the fridge color, but in the end decided to keep it\nas is, and in doing so, firmed up her decision on the microwave oven.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nI also got\nthe forms for applying for the in-apartment internet service. <span class='nobr'>All the advertisements<\/span> I've seen so far have said one gets 10MBit service for free,\nbut it turns out that it's 100MBit service for 30 bucks <span class='nobr'>a month,<\/span> with five\nIP addresses. Although infinitely more expensive than what <span class='nobr'>I thought,<\/span> it's\nstill <span class='nobr'>a fantastic<\/span> deal. I'll submit the paperwork tomorrow.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nOn the way home, we stopped by <span class='nobr'>a different<\/span> electronics store (Midori-denki)\nto compare prices, and more importantly, selection. <span class='nobr'>We looked<\/span> for <span class='nobr'>a nice<\/span>\nsimple Japanese-style light for the one Japanese-style room in the\napartment, and found some nice ones (Yamada-denki had nothing appropriate). <span class='nobr'>I bought<\/span> one for $130.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nWe visited a futon shop as well. They had <span class='nobr'>a massage<\/span> chair that we partook\nof, but at $6,500, we decided not to buy :-). They showed us some\nspecial futons that help relieve an aching back. At 3.5x the price of <span class='nobr'>a\nnormal<\/span> futon ($700ish rather than $200ish), the new lightness of one's\nwallet may be enough to relieve the backache!\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nOn the way back from there, we once again stopped by Yamada-denki, this\ntime to buy <span class='nobr'>a washer<\/span>\/dryer and microwave oven. <span class='nobr'>She choose<\/span> the <a\nhref='http:\/\/www.toshiba.co.jp\/webcata\/housekeep\/tw_80ta.htm'>Toshiba\nTW80TA<\/a>, <span class='nobr'>a top<\/span>-of-the-line washer\/dryer combo (in one unit with one\ndrum). <span class='nobr'>As a bonus<\/span>, it was on sale at <span class='nobr'>a hundred<\/span> or so dollars off, and so\nwas only $1,600. Yeah.<\/p>\n\n<p class='editorial'>(It didn't take us long to find out that this\nwasher\/dryer is <b>horrible<\/b>. <span class='nobr'>It takes<\/span> four or five hours to do <span class='nobr'>a small<\/span>\nload, and once the drying has started, your clothes are held hostage\nbecause nothing short of a <a\nhref='http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Reciprocating_saw'\nclass='quiet'>reciprocating saw<\/a> will get your clothes out until\n<i>it<\/i> decides to let you have them. <span class='nobr'>Not long into<\/span> the drying cycle, the\ntime-left readout might indicate 47 minutes left, but when you look again\nin an hour, it indicates 34 minutes left. We <i>hate<\/i> this Toshiba\nwasher\/dryer.<\/p>\n\n<p>\n\nShe also got a microwave oven. <span class='nobr'>I think<\/span> she got a <a\nhref='http:\/\/www.toshiba.co.jp\/webcata\/range\/er_b6.htm'>Toshiba ERB6<\/a>,\nwhich is <span class='nobr'>a combo<\/span> convection oven and microwave oven. <span class='nobr'>A bargain<\/span>(?) at $650.\nThey'll both be delivered on Friday, along with the fridge.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nWe stopped by the bento shop for dinner, and came home at 9:30ish to find\nAnthony, yet again, sleeping in the stroller. When he starts to get tired, <span class='nobr'>Mom brings<\/span> him for <span class='nobr'>a stroll<\/span> to let him sleep. <span class='nobr'>I ate dinner<\/span>, and brought him\nup to bed (futon), where he's sleeping beside me now, as <span class='nobr'>I type.<\/span> Time for\nme to join him.\n\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The text of this post was originally written in April, 2004 as part of an online diary I kept before I actually started my blog. I'd forgotten about it until I ran across it in February 2008. I inserted it into my blog then, assigning dates appropriate to the content instead of to the time I actually added it. Thus, these April 2004 posts show up as my \"first posts\" in my list of posts, even though I didn't actually start a blog until a year later with my first post about buying a car in Japan.<\/p> <p>There's nothing here [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}