Korea on the other hand has seemed to completely favor a modern design with a few peculiarities: closets, cabinets and ceilings that are not built flush with the wall maximizing dust build up and minimizing efficient use of space. Also, the washing machine is built in where an oven should be. And, the living room, bed room and balcony are huge for Asian standards, but the shower is almost too small to bend down in to pick up the occasional dropped soap. But, all in all, Alex (my girlfriend) and I are happy with the place. Here it is:
One thing that Japan and Korea have in common is an entryway where you take off your shoes and put them in a shoe closet. Did you spot our sneaker sized pup, Sophia?
The kitchen. And yes, that's a washing machine under the stove, not an oven.
The living room. Something Korean apartments have over Japanese is big windows and therefore lots of natural light.
Living room again. Decorating was never a priority when I lived alone in Japan. Alex has a good eye for it...and the pup completes the color scheme.
Our view from the living room.
Our balcony is enormous even for western standards. It nearly doubles our square footage.
Here's a pseudo-panoramic view from our balcony.
And finally, the bedroom. There's Alex toiling away while I take pictures...Thanks to Alex for almost all the pics except the one of her cleaning. Also thanks to her for the squeaky clean floors.
omgoshhhhhhhhhh i'm so glad you're keeping a blog.
ReplyDelete1. washing machine under the stove is crazzyyy! what if you drop food into your laundry?
2. are you sure that's a pup or a guinea pig?
3. we had lots of sunlight in japan! okay, not in the form of a window, but a backdoor.. (esp if you don't have curtains.
4. the decorations are great! i love the idea of using mekju (mekchu?) bottles as candlestick holders. and i like the art.. where's it from? (ask alex!)
5. your balcony is crazy big!! get some lawnchairs. and you can have bbq..
6. did alex draw the sakura trees? they're coooool..
1. haven't had that problem...yet
ReplyDelete2. not completely sure. she might be a hybrid.
3. that's true, and i bet there's a lot of apartos here that have that same set-up, but even a lot of the smaller ones are lofts with windows about 1.5 stories tall and as wide as the back wall. (floor to ceiling + wall to wall)
4. one is a wine bottle (cabernet) and the other is soju. we haven't had mekju yet but we had something similar called dong dong ju. pic coming soon.
the art is from a book store in the area. the artist is Gustav Klimt.
5. duly noted. as the resident texan, everybody is expecting bbq when the weather gets better.
6. no, it's one of many decals that were on our walls when we moved it. you should have seen the four foot roses in the living room where the art is now. very tasteful.
that apartment isnt bad by korean standards.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing your updates. Enjoy the sweltering summer in seoul.
Christoff