accommodations

now is the time when i have to start looking into places to stay in japan. we'll definitely be in both tokyo and kyoto again, but since we haven't narrowed down if we adding other stops and which those might be (nikko? nara? etc.), i haven't even started with those yet.

i saw a video about a group of themed hostels in tokyo from a girl i subscribe to on youtube who lives in japan. she only highlights the one she stayed at (obviously) - the ninja one - but they also have samurai, kabuki, origami, labratory, and "world" themes ones. they look so cool! and the prices are pretty good.
but hubby said "shared bathroom? no way." so that kiboshed that. but if you're headed to japan and aren't afraid of shared facilities, check it out. www.khaosan-tokyo.com




another cheaper option are the business hotels. meant for business men who don't live in the area but are attending late night company parties and meetings, i guess. they are often VERY cramped, but at least have the privacy that hostels and economy hotels lack.
this list has a few, as well as some other options http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/feb/01/10-best-budget-hotels-tokyo

and for the extremely budget conscious, check out this list of options (mcdonald's? really?) http://blog.gaijinpot.com/cheap-accommodation-in-japan

i have a feeling the husband is NOT going to go for any of those options. he mentioned just staying at the same place we did last time - the prince park tower hotel in hamamatsucho. it was pretty expensive... but hey, he's paying. whatever. it was also supernice, so i would not complain. 

as for kyoto~ last time was stayed at the hotel granvia. again, supernice... superexpensive.

it was great. connected to the kyoto station. very convenient. but... not helpful for anyone who doesn't want to spend a shitton. i gotta work on that to come up with some more affordable options (whether we go that route or not ourselves, it's helpful info for other people who may be looking at this to help plan their own trips) so i'll get back to you on that later. 


a lot of stuff i know about japan - these little tidbits i become obsessed with - are usually things i hear about from documentaries. one (of the thousands) of these things i saw on a doc and am enchanted by are machiya. otherwise, townhouses. these would be the really old, street front homes. generally one would think of kyoto for this type of home. there was a lot of them being renovated in recent years and i just found out that someone has turned some into guest homes. sweet! 

so, this may be an option too. 
http://www.kyoto-machiya.com/eng/ 
i have yet to show it to my husband so we'll see how that goes. it looks amazing. *fingers crossed*

day 2: roppongi, park prince hotel & akihabara

so... this will be back dated, obviously, so it fits in the timeline but today as i write this, it's actually october 30th... 2014. yes. i'm four and a half years late on updating this blog. and i'm really sad about that, because i've forgotten sooooo much.
i'm not really gonna say much. just post pictures and a bit here and there for clarification. sorry i suck.

first thing in the morning, we went over to the mori tower (in roppongi, next to the hyatt) and looked around - famous for their upscale shopping and views of tokyo tower.

at some point, we must have hit a konbini. i remember eating onigiri while sitting on the bed at the hyatt. it must have been from the night before. 

in the land of REAL sushi... we chose "new york sushi" for lunch. americanized, fake stuff, but the best versions of california roll and dynamite roll we had ever had. 

we packed up and headed to our less expensive (still really expensive, but considerably less so) hotel, the park prince, in hamamatsucho (pretty much right next to tokyo tower). 

i was amused over our taxi driver watching kungfu movies on a dashboard mounted dvd player. those are illegal here for safety purposes but his driving didn't seem to be hindered by it. i was also again enthralled by the "real life" doilies on the seat covers and entranced by the fact that the passenger doors open and close automatically. still waiting for that feature in north america...

hubby wasn't happy with the first room we had (asked for non-smoking and it wasn't) so we moved up one floor. that was fun trying to explain that to the non-english speaking porter girl... 

our view wasn't on the tower side, but we could see the next door temple, called zozoji, and a distant view of odaiba and the rainbow bridge.

after a 15 minute or so walk to the hamamatsucho station from the hotel, we took the subway to akihabara. 

(for those that know, each station in tokyo has a "song" that plays when trains are approaching. it helps when you are on the subway, coming to your stop, but might be sleeping. you know it's time to get off without opening your eyes. i became obsessed with "our" song and ended up bringing home this keychain as a souvenir.)

there are "maids" (it's a thing. if you don't know, 
google it.) lining the streets handing out fliers 
for their various cafes.
don't take pictures of them. 
you're supposed to pay for that honour. we didn't know.

donki hote building. 
one of the coolest places ever!

gamers paradise (i was bored.)

the main thing i needed to check off my to-do list was to check out @home cafe. it's a maid cafe i had seen online for the past few years. even though i had planned out the trip on google maps (street view is amazing, btw), it took us awhile to find it. eventually we did. you aren't allowed to take pictures inside any of the cafes, but our dinner "sets" came with a photo op with a maid of our choice.

walked around a little more afterwards.

even though i'm not a gundam fan, 
i so wish we had gone in here.
i've since seen videos online profiling it 
and it's supercool.
judging on the huge line up, 
it must have just opened. 

we went into the ichi building before we left - something hubby had seen online and wanted to check out. didn't see too much. there was a museum type display of cartoon characters and a floor of just restaurants. that's all i really remember. 

i love japan for soooo many reasons. 
fake food displays is one of them.

we finally headed back to our hotel, but ended up spending awhile in tokyo station. i hope to go back someday. why do we not have train stations like they do in japan? it's amazing. they are all cool, but tokyo station is the biggest (and best shopping area). i was soooo tired at the end of the day, i was practically in tears. and my feet! ugh. hence, no good pictures.

note: hubby may have hit mos burger on the way back from hamamatsucho station (?) and we are pretty sure we saw a naked guy giving onlookers (us) a show from the hotel window.

we did NOT go to the imperial palace or ginza and did NOT go to cafe little BSD or sleep at capsule hotel (obviously).