My 2016 Japan travelogue so far:
Osaka Day 1: Ana Crowne Plaza & Sennichimae Doguyasuji
Osaka Day 2: Osaka Station, Kuromon Market & Dotonbori
Nara Day 3: Todai-ji, Cheeky Deer & Fall Foliage
Osaka + Kyoto Day 4: Nishiki Market & Len Kyoto Kawaramachi
Kyoto Day 5: Kiyomizu-dera, Sannen-zaka & Ninen-zaka (Part 1)
Kyoto Day 5: Kōdai-ji (Part 2)
Kyoto Day 6: Autumn At Beautiful Arashiyama & Kyoto Station
Kyoto Day 7: Fushimi Inari Taisha & Yasaka Shrine
Kyoto & Mishima Day 8: Shinkansen & Beautiful Mishima (Part 1)
Fujikawaguchiko Day 8: Kagelow & Kawaguchiko (Part 2)
Fujikawaguchiko & Tokyo Day 9: Mount Fuji Views, Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center & Oishi Park
Tokyo & Urayasu Day 10: Tokyo DisneySea
Day 11 was yet another tiring day. I think at this point, I forgot many things that I saw and did in Tokyo. LOL. Because it was raining that day, I decided to just keep my DSLR (only shot 39 photos with it) in the bag and used my sis’ point and shoot instead.
First, I’m going to talk about our accommodation in Tokyo called Nui. Hostel & Bar Lounge. It’s yet another hostel, cafe, bar and restaurant combo. It’s a sister to Len Kyoto Kawaramachi, which we stayed while in Kyoto. I was actually torn between Nui. and toco. (also sister company) but chooses Nui. instead. Ohh I deeply regretted my decision. I’ll let you know why in a moment.
This is the cafe and bar lounge on the first floor (aka ground floor)… just like Len Kyoto.
We stayed at Nui. for 7 nights and it is located near Kuramae Station (Asakusa line and Toei Oedo line) which is very convenient. Rooms of various setups are at second to fifth floor, while the sixth floor is the common room.
The cold corridor to our rooms. Yup, there’s no heater! We stayed in a twin room @ 3800-4000 yen per night. I didn’t take any photos of the room except for one, either because I’ve completely forgotten or because I was unhappy/pi$$ed. The room is very small, very similar to Len Kyoto. In fact, I felt like I stayed at the same hostel. LOL A great lesson learned!!! Never ever stay at two sister hostels in the same holiday. Not a great feeling. That’s one of the reason why I regretted my decision. Although toco. is another sister company, it’s all about traditional stay, so yeah it’s different. Again, we need to make our own bed.
Photo from our room looking out the window. Opposite the hostel is Sumida River and the nearest white building on the right is the 6th Fire District HQ of Tokyo Fire Department. Hmm, why does my stay at Len Kyoto and Nui. both has fire connection? You can check out the escape equipment that was in my room in Len Kyoto.
Great looking vanity area, shower room and toilet. The problem, yet again was that it was freaking cold. To add to our misery? Cold running water from the sink again, like Len Kyoto.
The noisy and yet not very noisy elevator. Prior to booking, I knew they will shut the elevator from 12am-8am. I was prepared for it. I know when I am going to check out early, I will need to use the staircase. What I was not prepare was the super steep cramp staircase. I was shocked! How are we going to bring our HEAVY luggage down? We were traveling with seniors you see. So we requested them to switch on the elevator for just one night. They refused. But hey, do you know that the noise coming from toilet and your neighbor’s closing their door are 10x noisier than the elevator??? In fact, I never heard the sound of the elevator from my room. They offered to have us place our luggage at the first floor (the bar area) hidden under the piano. No lock, no whatsoever. Wow!!!! Of course we refused. We don’t know how safe it is. This is the main reason I super regret staying here. It may be my choice for choosing Nui., but at least show some hospitality mercy la. We left with a bad aftertaste. Sigh. Also not to mention, our first impression on them when we checked-in on day 9 wasn’t very good.
The laundry and dryer at common room. Not free ya.
The kitchen area at 6th floor (common room).
It has everything you will need.
A beautiful common room. Just like Len Kyoto, I love the common rooms more than my own rooms, which are dark and cramp. LOL
Another area of the common room. Can I sleep here instead?
I’m a sucker for plant in recycled bottle.
Overall, my stay at Nui. wasn’t really pleasant. I would come back, sure, but only if I’m traveling light and it’s in the summer.
Okay, let’s continue with day 11.
Our breakfast at the common room of Nui. I love this old-school table. Brings back lots of my primary school memory.
We left our hostel at 9am and headed to our early lunch place.
Upon exiting Ginza Station. Yeah it was raining.
From Ginza Station we walked to Ginza Kagari, a super famous ramen shop. Click the link to read my ramen review. After our early lunch, we went to the nearby Tokyo Hands. Spent a good two hours plus there. By the time we were done, we were all exhausted. We made the decision to go back hostel to zzzzzz. We slept until 5pm. Hehehe. For dinner, we rode to Ueno-Okamachi Station and had dinner at a tempura chain restaurant called Tempura Tendon Tenya.
After dinner, we visited the nearby Ameyoko, a street market. This is the most disappointing place I’ve visited in my Japan trip. Most of the goods sold here are like our Petaling Street. There are some interesting dried goods sold here but I didn’t feel safe in this street. Many muka karat, if you know what I mean.
Titbits from a stall at Ameyoko.
Then to our final agenda of the day, we walked to Takeya 多慶屋, a super huge discount store. It has couple of buildings and levels. We mostly hogged at the food area. Ya know, where the Kit Kats and all the other Japanese chocolates and biscuits are housed.
Jagabee Calbee at Takeya. It was yummy but too little quantity in one cup. I thought this was the cheapest I could find. But nope. Few days later, I found one even cheaper at only 74 yen from Matsumoto Kiyoshi (drugstore) in Shibuya.
Fruits at Takeya.
All these are owned by Takeya. Haha It was near closing time (closed at 8pm), hence you don’t see many people.
This is the food tax refund counter for tourist. You can claim tax refund if you spend a certain amount. This applies to many shops around Japan.
Then we stopped by Lawson near our hostel to get breakfast for tomorrow.
Enjoyed our ice-creams before sleeping. Pablo mini ice bar @ 172 yen and Meiji rich matcha @ 216 yen which we bought a day earlier from 7-11.
That’s it for day 11. More to come on day 12.
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