Well I got into my first hotel 11pm last night, now I'm here in Ueno.. or what I can make of it. Perhaps I was spoiled. My last hotel in Narita (right across from Narita Station) = the Comfort Hotel, was like a 17000 Yen hotel in Higashi Shinjuku. Only the Narita one was 49000. This one is about 65000, and a dogbox. It's amazing that an hour or two of travel can so dramatically change standards. I'd rather be at a Capule Hotel with fresh air.
First impessions of the hotel weren't great. The map on Ratuken was somewhat ambiguous, and I found some girls in an alley who happened to take me there. After changing trains 3 times from Narita (about 2 hours in total, most spent with my backpack on my back..) I guess I wanted more than I got.
A room right next to a huge power pole, which upon entry smelled like flea powder. It seems like they must have gassed the place all too recently. My throat started acting up already. I thought immediately "There's no way I can stay here" - and then I thought of how hard it would be to talk about the bug gases and the dangers of power poles in Japanese, not to mention where else am I gonna go at 9pm. There's supposedly an Air Purifier in the room, but I opted to open the windows. I was going to go out tonight to the Ueno operative, but really I just don't feel like leaving my things in the room - and it's pretty quiet out there.
I ran into a young yakuzi in the lift, with tattoos on his fingers and hair tied in a ponytail. That and all the men on the street didn't make me want to go out. I wasn't partial to the key system either. Swipe locks would be much better. I think i saw an ad for bag snatching and there is laughter from drunk guys on the streets below. Then again, the more I look out my window, the more I see single girls walking alone. It's a little hard to guage, as it is very quiet here. It tends to feel safe in Tokyo in general.
I went photo mad today, I was trying to figure out all the modes on my new Panasonic Lumix LS7 on the train ride from Narita. There are so may settings for scenes.
Of all the spacesavers in Japan, and incredibly flowing designs, I have to wonder - Why isn't the LAN cable ever long enough. Must remember next time to bring an adapter to add on to an existing cable (the socket is usually well tucked behind a space-saving table. I mean really.. the last thing you feel like doing is perching on some business chair at the end of the day.
Speaking of electricity. I had all these grand plans of hair straightening and having some okay photos taken. This morning it seems that my $300 hair straightener blew up in under 10 minutes on the tokyo electricity supply. From what I understand it's quite a low voltage one, so I'm not sure I get that.
I spent much of today eating breakfast, chilling, getting internet at the last hotel (you never know when your next internet fix will be, the hotel wifi was rubbish in my room so I ended up in the lobby for hours) I spent about $40 on calls to my bank for them to tell me I couldn't get travel insurance as I'd left the country. That's when I found World Nomad's Travel Insurance, which will cover me 3 days after I take it out. I emailed them asking what they mean by three days... is it based on times, for example? So hopefully they will get back to me very soon.
I am loving this sake in a jar business. From lawsons stores, they sell it in cups for about 220 yen. If it's bad sake, I sure can't tell. It's nice to have a wind down drink in the hotel room.
Another thing I love - those little multivitamin jelly packs they sell for about 220 Yen. Ones with Vitamin C and other goodness. They're great to keep in the pack to have on the go (particularly when you're carrying bags, it can be nearly impossible to find chairs sometimes - which makes these super easy to have on the go.
Whatever chemicals they've put in this room, they're so strong. I can't close the windows. People are yelling outside, there's traffic and motorbikes. Geez tomorrow night I just want a good night's sleep and some cool adventures during the day.
So tomorrow, tomorrow. It has been a while since I've had a good sleep. So I think perhaps it's time to retire and see tomorrow in with a fresh head as a new day. First thing tomorrow: plan where I'm going and find a hotel there. I am thinking maybe of getting outta dodge tomorrow. Sunday will be spent in Harajuku and Akihabara with perhaps the evening in Shibuya. Then again I really would like to see Ueno markets. I wonder if they're the same during the day?
I would like to check out the festival too
I am in Ueno City Hotel, and I can viist
Shibuya and Yoyogi Park
- H&M Shibuya
33-5 Udagawa-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo
This is just down from Shibuya 109 - Material Shop along that street in Shibuya
Well I got into my first hotel 11pm last night, now I'm here in Ueno.. or what I can make of it. Perhaps I was spoiled. My last hotel in Narita (right across from Narita Station) = the Comfort Hotel, was like a 17000 Yen hotel in Higashi Shinjuku. Only the Narita one was 49000. This one is about 65000, and a dogbox. It's amazing that an hour or two of travel can so dramatically change standards. I'd rather be at a Capule Hotel with fresh air.
First impessions of the hotel weren't great. The map on Ratuken was somewhat ambiguous, and I found some girls in an alley who happened to take me there. After changing trains 3 times from Narita (about 2 hours in total, most spent with my backpack on my back..) I guess I wanted more than I got.
A room right next to a huge power pole, which upon entry smelled like flea powder. It seems like they must have gassed the place all too recently. My throat started acting up already. I thought immediately "There's no way I can stay here" - and then I thought of how hard it would be to talk about the bug gases and the dangers of power poles in Japanese, not to mention where else am I gonna go at 9pm. There's supposedly an Air Purifier in the room, but I opted to open the windows. I was going to go out tonight to the Ueno operative, but really I just don't feel like leaving my things in the room - and it's pretty quiet out there.
I ran into a young yakuzi in the lift, with tattoos on his fingers and hair tied in a ponytail. That and all the men on the street didn't make me want to go out. I wasn't partial to the key system either. Swipe locks would be much better. I think i saw an ad for bag snatching and there is laughter from drunk guys on the streets below. Then again, the more I look out my window, the more I see single girls walking alone. It's a little hard to guage, as it is very quiet here. It tends to feel safe in Tokyo in general.
I went photo mad today, I was trying to figure out all the modes on my new Panasonic Lumix LS7 on the train ride from Narita. There are so may settings for scenes.
Of all the spacesavers in Japan, and incredibly flowing designs, I have to wonder - Why isn't the LAN cable ever long enough. Must remember next time to bring an adapter to add on to an existing cable (the socket is usually well tucked behind a space-saving table. I mean really.. the last thing you feel like doing is perching on some business chair at the end of the day.
Speaking of electricity. I had all these grand plans of hair straightening and having some okay photos taken. This morning it seems that my $300 hair straightener blew up in under 10 minutes on the tokyo electricity supply. From what I understand it's quite a low voltage one, so I'm not sure I get that.
I spent much of today eating breakfast, chilling, getting internet at the last hotel (you never know when your next internet fix will be, the hotel wifi was rubbish in my room so I ended up in the lobby for hours) I spent about $40 on calls to my bank for them to tell me I couldn't get travel insurance as I'd left the country. That's when I found World Nomad's Travel Insurance, which will cover me 3 days after I take it out. I emailed them asking what they mean by three days... is it based on times, for example? So hopefully they will get back to me very soon.
I am loving this sake in a jar business. From lawsons stores, they sell it in cups for about 220 yen. If it's bad sake, I sure can't tell. It's nice to have a wind down drink in the hotel room.
Another thing I love - those little multivitamin jelly packs they sell for about 220 Yen. Ones with Vitamin C and other goodness. They're great to keep in the pack to have on the go (particularly when you're carrying bags, it can be nearly impossible to find chairs sometimes - which makes these super easy to have on the go.
Whatever chemicals they've put in this room, they're so strong. I can't close the windows. People are yelling outside, there's traffic and motorbikes. Geez tomorrow night I just want a good night's sleep and some cool adventures during the day.
So tomorrow, tomorrow. It has been a while since I've had a good sleep. So I think perhaps it's time to retire and see tomorrow in with a fresh head as a new day. First thing tomorrow: plan where I'm going and find a hotel there. I am thinking maybe of getting outta dodge tomorrow. Sunday will be spent in Harajuku and Akihabara with perhaps the evening in Shibuya. Then again I really would like to see Ueno markets. I wonder if they're the same during the day?
I would like to check out the festival too
I am in Ueno City Hotel, and I can viist
Shibuya and Yoyogi Park
- H&M Shibuya
33-5 Udagawa-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo
This is just down from Shibuya 109 - Material Shop along that street in Shibuya
I've been awaiting something to tickle my fancy, and when I hear "B st on Earth" that does it for me. May I present Takaragawa Onsen. Here's a photo: https://www3.yadosys.com/yadosys/customer/YS-A010002/173/000054/2/
can day trip from tokyo -- might be challenged to find a single http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+70533
Shinjuju sounds good
Harajuku sounds good
Ueno park sounds god
Shibuya and Yoyogi park sound good - is this near harajuku?
I want to go to Akijabara and have a good look at cosplay and electronics and fun stuff
Aka... something sounds good - it's the market right outside Ueno station
Tokyp station department store..
Tokyoo
I wamt to clim a mountain, do some canoing and shill in the mountains.
Look at going somewhere early Monday
