Takao Trick Art Museum

I went to the Trick Art Museum in Takao on Saturday with the Tokyo Single's group. There are a lot of paintings on the wall made to look three dimensional, as well as other optical illusions you can take pictures with. Here's a sampling of what it has to offer.

Fish kiss

Short and Tall

Lion's Cage

Kaleidoscope

Shark Tank

Self Portrait

Japanese Food To Go

Groceries stores have a lot of delicious food available to grab and go. These are a few of the many selections I have dined on.

Ramen Museum

I went to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama today with a group of Tokyo singles. It's an opportunity to eat overpriced styles of ramen from around Japan. Still, it was nice to be out and about on my weekend for a change.

Looking down on the floor of the eating area.

3 of the ladies in our group enjoying ramen.

This dude was a master of balloon animals, and held the crowd's attention the entire time we were there.

Coke vs. Pepsi

I felt a little guilty pouring Coke into my classic Pepsi glass. I would have rather been pouring Pepsi into a classic Coke glass. Unfortunately, Pepsi is harder to come by than Coke in Japan.

Japanese Apartment: Part 4

I figured it was time I wrapped this series up. So without further ado, here is the rest of my tiny Japanese apartment.

Looking through my front door. I've had to devote much of the entryway to trash separation. It rules your life in Japan. This is also the area where you leave your shoes before coming inside. That's my mailbox on the left. 

In the doorway. Bathroom straight ahead. Main room around the corner to the right.

My little kitchen area to the right of the fridge and microwave. 

View from the main room 

And from the bathroom. I was fortunate to find a unit of this style with cupboard space above, in addition to below. 

My microwave buttons. I know that red means go and silver means stop. Beyond that, I'm clueless. I know it has the ability to work like a convection oven, but I'll need some help before attempting that.

My bathroom. These are installed as a complete unit: toilet, sink, bath. It's small but functional. I've definitely seen worse as far as bathrooms go.

Shower. High on my list of amenities I wanted in my apartment was the ability to stand while I shower. This is not a given in Japan. Not by a long shot. I'm very happy with my shower. As an added bonus, my heating unit has a standby feature, which means I don't have to heat up the water each time I want to use it. It's always ready to go.

A bath option that I have no interest in.

So that's the end of the tour. This is what 30,000 Yen a month gets you in the Hachioji area.