Tripping Far Side

So, now I'm living with Anna in North Kobe. It's about a 30-45 minute drive from Miki. The area is called Fujiwaradai, and it's a newer, well-planned suburban area. The roads are wider and lots of big houses. On the other side of the Kobe Dentetsu train line, we're in between downtown Kobe and Sanda at Okaba station. Lots of things in walking distance, like a McDonalds and Daiei, a big department store.

Anna's apartment is also pretty new, which is a really nice change from the teacher housing in Miki. It's winter time, so it gets cold here, but the complaint isn't just that. It's that it's cold outside AND inside. You see, the old houses in the countryside don't have much insulation, and the windows are single-paned. You can heat it, but it'll be expensive. And in using the kerosene heater, you have to crack the window or you can die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

So the thing I like most about Anna's apartment is that it's warm inside, probably because we're surrounded by other apartments and borrowing heat from the first floor. Another great thing about the apartment is the instant-on gas water heater. Ah heat, I'm grateful. :)

I'll have to get inside pictures later, but it's small. It feels like a space of about 600 square feet. But cozy enough for Anna and me.