backpackers' hotel NEW KOYO, tokyo japan...

after searching a while for a good rate for places to stay in tokyo, i continuously am directed to hotel new koyo ...

picture of the hotel from their web-site...

located in minami-senju, this place is by far the cheapest thing you can get in tokyo... especially if you are on budget, then this is the place to be...

i stayed 6 nights there and enjoyed it thoroughly... for the price that i was paying...

i got a medium single western room... it was comfy but by now i realised that i could have easily  stayed in a small single japanese room... it will be 200 yen cheaper per night and you wouldn't notice that you will be sleeping on the tatami mat because you are so tired from your day of wondering around tokyo...

pictures from their website...

to find the hotel, you will need to be fairly confident from the map... it is actually not that difficult to find and from JR minami-senju station or the subway line, it is around 10 minutes walk... you will need to walk up a overhead crossing that crosses through some rail tracks.. as you come near to the hotel, you will see a cross-section with a 7-11 on one end... the hotel is in the alleyway...

map taken from their website...

they don't have a curfew but their shower rooms are only available from 6am till 10pm, so before or after you won't be able to take baths...

more pictures from their website...

they do offer free water/tea but you need to pay if you want to use the gas, which is fair...

 

now, you ask me why i put these pictures there... because it looks exactly like this.. no need for me to put up my pictures (which i did not take)...

i do recommend this if you are on budget... you are looking at roughly paying yen2,500 for a single japanese-styled room.... and it is a huge savings for you to explore tokyo...

tokyo has so much to explore, you probably need at least one week... i have still some places i wanna go... so i might go back again... soon...

technorati tags:japan, accommodation, tokyo, cheapstay

japan trip... afterthought...

i finally concluded my trip to japan... it was full on 14 days of backpacking with some shopping done... all in all, i had a good time...

it is a wonderful experience and i hope to go back again... i was really tired out at the end of that 14 days and from this picture, you can see an extremely tired traveller...

these 14 days brought me to a few places... the first being KYOTO...

while you can still do a spot of shopping in kyoto, it is really a place to marvel at the architecture of past with the countless shrines scattered all over the old city...

there was a lot to see... and i fitted in as much as i can during my stay... obviously i need to go back if i wanted to see more of the place...

even from this picture you can see the tiredness in me...

also... it introduced me to travelling on the shinkansen... or bullet train...

i only travelled on the hikari... but it was fast enough for me....

i arrived at OSAKA first, but only got to go around osaka on day 2.... i only managed to fully appreciate the hugeness of osaka after spending time in its central districts...

tokyo is a huge city... it is far more complicated that osaka.... but a different kind of complicated... nice.... the shopping districts of shibuya and shinjuku are so big... it takes a few days just to window shop... let alone going in to see shop by shop...

if you are in shibuya, then you need to take this picture with hachiko the dog... there is a history behind it..

mt. fuji is visible from afar... but to get there takes a long time... but the truth is, if you say you have been to japan without taking a photo of this, then it is like your visit is not complete... even though it is ardous, go if u can....

i have to say my visit to disney was fun... except for the queue...

as commercialised as disney is, it is still somewhere you have to go take a look-see... i didn't go to universal studios in osaka but i thought this was fun enough...

the whole trip there was fun until my battery ran out... i need to get a spare pack for my camera... but i think i need to upgrade my camera...

the only thing not recommended here in disney is the turkey... it is smoked... and did not taste nice...

hiroshima was an experience... the impact of what happened in 1945 did not hit me until i went to their museum... it was a somber experience... and seeing some of the displays were a bit uncomfortable....

this is the a-bomb center...  the few standing ruins that survived the bomb...

one thing you notice here is the bus loads of school kids here...

miyajima island... the first thing you see there is the abundance of wild deers... and i mean a lot of them... they are not scared of people... and people don't feed them... but there are warning signs in booklets and posts saying you need to be careful to not let the deers eat your belongings...

the otori is the gate to the island... built from timber.. miyajima is listed as one of three most scenic spots in japan.... is it worth it to go there... depends... but it is an experience... if you are in hiroshima then you should go round to miyajima...

technorati tags:japan, afterthought

japan... the penultimate day...

today, my penultimate day.... we went to kyoto to see the golden and silver temples... which i missed on day 1 of my trip here...

the golden temple is really gold in color.. from gold leaves... but the silver one... er..

anyway... we also went to see some rocks..

before heading to see the imperial palace... we were not allowed in coz we did not make a booking to see it...

i need to go on diet... cut down my carbs intake...

i tummy is expanding... need to trim down....

technorati tags:japan, day14, kyoto, diet

japan day 12... miyajima...

today i took the tram and later the ferry over from hiroshima to miyajima... where the famous itsukushima shrine is... but before getting there to the shrine, you would see a lot of wild deers...

anyway, these deers don't get in the way... they just lay about and graze... whatever they can find...

the shrine is about 20 minutes walk from the ferry terminal... it requires a YEN 300 entrance fee...

i paid at the entrance where it was manned, but at the other end, no one was there... some angmoh gal just walked into that end even though there was signage in english saying that visitors should use the entrance and pay... maybe she paid on exiting the entrance, shown here...

i didn't wait till the tide to recede so that i can go to the gate... but i took a picture anyway...

lunch was oysters... in udon... my friend suggested that i try so i did...

generally, it is a worthwhile experience... you must go here...

technorati tags:japan, day12, miyajima

japan day 11... hiroshima, a somber experience..

i boarded the train to hiroshima from osaka...

in hiroshima, i was kinda taken aback by the slower pace... which is OK... the place is easy to get around... the tourist map you get from the shinkansen station - hiroshima station.... is good enough for you to get to where u wanna go...

my first stop was at the remnants of the atomic bomb...

i wasn't really taken in by it all until i got to the museum.... in there, i was a bit sadden to see what the bomb did to the people and city of hiroshima...

this was the model on display... only a few buildings were left standing... so basically what you see now is rebuilt...

but the somberness still leaves me a bit distraught....

you should not miss coming here to hiroshima for the feel... the history is one thing... but the feel of a city destroyed and now rebuilt...

tomorrow i'm heading off to miyajima...

technorati tags:japan, day11, hiroshima

japan day 10... tired out...

it has been ten days since i got here to japan... and i'm tired out... physically and mentally... while the mind is somewhat willing my body to keep on walking, my blistered feet is telling my mind to slow down...

anyway, i was going to say that in osaka, it is common courtesy to keep right on the escalators if u intend to stand stationary... in tokyo it is left... and so is in kyoto... just so you know... and not let the locals pick u out to be a tourist... hahaha

the gals in shinsaibashi shopping mall are dressed fairly loud.. i mean the hair puts paris and christina and britney to shame.... not one but a lot of them are all decked in their hippest of outfits and walk the shopping area...

also... japan is in a peddling mode... most japanese now use pedal power to get from A to B... but they are a nuisance...

they zig-zag all over the place...

while i complain, you really need to marvel at the advancement that is Japan... they have the most compact of things... and they all strive to be better...

my tired legs forced me to sit down... i ended up eating ten-don for dinner... nice... the veges were friend tempura style but tasted good...

i'm going to have another tired out day... so see you guys online soon...

technorati tags:japan, day10, ten-don

shibuya and shijuku.... a tiring day of walking...

if you don't know it yet, then you should by now... the IT place to shop in TOKYO is in shibuya and shinjuku... of course there are other places...

shibuya 109 apparently is the capital of fashion... for the young ladies that's it... a lot of floors... a lot of shops... i skipped this one because i was not shopping for female stuff....

in shibuya, there shops are endless... my goodness... i was walking around in circles and i was not able to finish all the spots there... in addition to the countless japanese chained stores, there are just too many shops in this little area...

they even have an apple store here... i've never been to one, so i wasn't sure what to expect... i've been to the resellers so basically they all look the same.... only the staff here are apple staff... and yes, japanese is the language of choice...

there are no new product announcements, except the apple TV... the colored shuffle is now promoted...

in this area, there is also a disney shop... i should have just bought my stuff here instead of disney... hahaha... but the display is of the pirates... so i gave up on climbing the stairs... too tired... my legs hurt...

one of the things you'd notice all over japan is the appearance of vending machines... all over the place...

this is purely for convenience... i mean there are 24-hour convenience stores but their availability takes the convenience up to another level.. hahaha

you can even buy beer and alcohol and tobacco via vending machine... even hot snack foods such as french fries... what a shocker..

anyway, by 6.00 p.m., i headed to shinjuku and decided to call it a day at shibuya because i was walking aimlessly all over shibuya and could not find the name brands that i am familiar with...

shinjuku was quite a nice place to be in... not as overtly crowded as shibuya... by then i was famished... but still manage to capture some photos...

lights were coming on in... quite a nice place to be in....

after my dinner at mac donalds, i saw this sign for half price hair cut at around YEN2,000 and decided to go grab one...

i was at Lusso Capelli in shinjuku and was served by the lovely ms keiko hoshino... she was nice... we discussed the style before proceeding to cut... also... the language barrier was high... but we still managed to get a haircut...

normally i wouldn't female stylist cut my hair in malaysia, but this time i have to say the cut was nice.. hahaa.. enjoyable... hahahha

anyway, by then i was tired out and went back to my hotel... where i posted this blog... hahhaa...

tomorrow is my last day in tokyo... i'm heading back to osaka on monday...

technorati tags:japan, day7, tokyo, shinjuku, shibuya, haircut, vendingmachine