Ikebukuro Diary

When we bear 'Mikoshi' (portable shrine),
we say 'wasshoi! wasshoi!' all together :D
I saw it passing in front of our hotel.

I heard it actually heavy, and weighs over 1,000kg!

Girls wearing 'Happi' (traditional light coat)

Wasshoi!

I didn't know there has been such a big festival held in Ikebukuro!
I enjoyed it too :D

Happi boys? Shotaro and Masa joined in this festival.
How about to share this chance in next one?

Recentlly here the sky has been beautiful and clear .
Summer has gone and it's autumn now.
Near my house I saw lovely cosmoses blooming and a few dragonflys flying .
And I guess some people can notice sweet smells in the air.
This smell of orange osmanthussmells let us feel the beginning of autumn.
I like to feel four seasons like this ;)
My house is located in suburb, so I have more chance to see flowers and insects than those who live in central Tokyo.

And autumn is good season to do something and called 'autum for sport'and 'autum for reading'
and ?......' autum for appetite' for me :p
Because we can have a lots of tasty foods especialy in this season.
Also, we can see the beautiful moon in autum....you look up the sky, just try it ;)

Hello! we keep introducing our staffs, and one more person today......

TAKASHI!

Takashi has been working with us since the last February.
He is kind and hospitable to everyone.
That is why he is popular among our guests.
Now he temporarily works at Sakura Hotel Jimbocho(another branch of our hotel)
But he will come back to Ikebukuro after a while to welcome you guests ;)

*Name: Takashi
*Hometown: Saitama
*Language: Japanese, English
*Countries visited: England, Canada, Switzerland, Holland, Thailand, Hawaii, and the Bahamas.

*Travel episode: When my friend and I visited Samui Island in Thailand, we rented one motor cycle for two of us, and took a day trip to find the secret beach (by which we meant some random beach on the other side of the island we had found on the map, where we thought there would be fewer tourists).

The island is small enough for us to go around to the opposite coast within several hours, yet big enough to enjoy the journey.
We explored villages and bought inexpensive snorkels (the ones you can find at a toy store), pulled over and took a rest by the Big Buddha, and cooled our bodies down at “the next secret beach” on the way.

When we eventually arrived to the targeted beach, the sun had just started setting and we had only a couple of hours of daylight left. On the beach there was nobody but my friend and me, and although it was getting a little bit chilly we decided to try the snorkels we had bought.

However, the beach was not so much for swimming because there were seaweeds and plants growing all over in the water that we could barely walk (it almost looked like a forest under the sea), so we gave up running into the ocean, and instead we floated on the surface.

We were happy that the snorkels worked quite well and we could see many small fish swimming in groups.
Some of them looked unknown and I got excited when I thought I was the first person to have found them. After all, what we have found was not the secret beach that we had dreamed of, but it was alright, because one of the best parts of travelling is surprise.

*Message: It would be an absolute pleasure of mine if Sakura Hotel and I could take a part in your memories in Japan.
All of our staffs are friendly and helpful, so please do not hesitate to contact us for information.
We’ll be pleased to hear from you!

We got lovely photo and message from Susan from taiwan.
↓
hello, I found this blog from hotel's website.
I just came back from Tokyo about 1 week ago.
It was really happy to live in sakura hotel, with very nice staff :)
Here's photos we took with 田栗さん:

田栗さんと一緒に写真を撮りました、本当に嬉いかった
ありがとうございました
元気ですか。気をつけて下さい^_^

From Susan, Taiwan

*******************************************
Hey Tagulyn, you are mack dady, huh??

My french hasn't improved yet...!
Anyway, I had the great time with some frech people at Sakuratei!

I met some people from France last year and some of them returned to Japan this year !
And we went to Sakuratei two years in a row!

↓Okonomiyaki ! Somebody wrote a message with mayonnaise on it!

Especially to Chloe, thank you for giving me 'Rasberry Jam' which your father made...
That's wonderful ;) I want to know the recipe!
And chocolate!
I remember that 'Kinder chocolate' is made in Germany!
It sounds a little bit funny that a French lady gave me a German chocolate,, ne ;)

Festival in Ikebukuro:D

These are pictures from the last year.

Well, we would like to inform of you that we have a big exciting festival "Fukuro-Matsuri" in Ikebukuro on September 27th and you can bear a "Mikoshi" (portable shrines) at this festival.

We believe that it will be precious experiences for you to join some events in Japan, and they will be good memories…

Date: Sunday, 27th Sep
Time: 14:00 (Please get together at our front desk)
Fee: Student 1,000yen non student 2,000yen
(Included food, drink, an official matsuri headband & rental Matsuri costume”Happi”)

Please come and join in!!

Last week my friend asked me to go with her to an interesting cafe in Kichijoji. So we went there together.
The cafe is just normal from outside. But the interior was surprising. There are neither sofas nor chairs but Hammocks instead !!.

It was amazing. I always wanted to sleep in a hammock. Because it really looks comfortable when I sometimes see pictures of people sleeping in hammocks. So I wanted to try it.

It was so comfortable for me. It is a bit difficult to have some meal while seating in a hammock.
Because it swings more than I thought. But it is good to relax and chat there.
I also enjoyed the atmosphere in the cafe.

I wish we have it our cafe too☆

Mahika mano
http://mahikamano.com/
10min from Kichijoji station on JR chuo line, JR sobu line, and Keio inogashira line.
From Ikebukuro, take JR Yamanote line to Shinjuku station, and then change for JR sobu line or
JR chuo line.

!!!?

..........um..........well, Alex came back this year again!
He loves jokes and knows lots of stories and love talking with people.
I heard horror story.........hey Alex, don't scare me.............

Do you have any YEN COINS that won't be used anymore??

If you have some, please put them into this box↓

This is a 'YEN COIN donation box'
It's the box for the donation we recently have started ;)
Coins are not only a good souvenir when you are back from other countries but also they can be a good donation.

We looked up how they can tap , then we found that 'Unicef' is collecting them.
So we are thinking of giving the collected coins to 'Unicef'.
By the way, you also can donate them at the airport. They have a donation box there.

Or the other option is , there is an annual TV program called "24 Hour Television" which campaigns to raise funds.
We can mybe take the coins to them next summer!!

http://www.ntv.co.jp/24h/contents/english.html

Because I went to Berlin (?), my pockets are hit...
Then here is my good lunch.
SUSHI (L)

From 12:00 to 14:00, it is available only for 500yen!! You can choose Ehika Nigiri set OR a set of some sushi rolls and a bowl of rice topped with sashimi
This Sushi store is called Midori-zushi and it is pretty famous among the people in Tokyo.
If you don't have enought money but want to try sushi, you really should go to Midori-zushi.
**P.S........Midori-zushi at Echika does't have the space to eat there.That's why it's take-out only.

Two blokes, Two bikes, Around the world...!!

This is their route, wow :0 that's amazing isn't it!

Simon and Todd started their journey from Australia in March to ride around
the world on motorbikes.

This is Simon with a smile, he just got one step further to Russia for shipping.
I helped them to do that procedure and I didn't know how difficult it is.....!!

and I will announce emphatically.....
If you are planning to ride around the world with motorbike, you need prepare lots of documents such as....

*Copies of visa and passport
*Registration book for motorbike
*International driver's license
*Inspection certificate
*Route map
*Inquiry form
*Detail for motorbike (form)

Also, ferry company ask them to apply for clearing corporation to do some paper works and insurance require...etc,
The clearing corporation spoke only Russian.
And that it cost 30,000yen each person!
But they eventually did it by themselves after lots of difficulties all the way.

Yoshikazu posing with their bike. Are you holding cleaning stuff in your hand by the way?

Their motorbikes are huge...!!

Good luck!!

PS: Now I know they got across the boundary and continue traveling in continental Russia and Mongolia!
Let's keep an eye on their great journey ;)

We just renewed pictures on the boad in the entrance.

The pictures which welcomed guests go to 'the photo book' now.
So we keep all your smile faces and we can always have looked your smile!!
Also we have flickers on our web-site.
Have you already checked it??

PS: In case you want to delete it, please just let us know, that's no problem☆

Hi, I came back from Germany last week.
I stayed in Berlin where my sister lives for about 10days. And then, I came to love Berlin.
Berlin itself has a deep historical story as you know, but I felt it is a kind of a new city. I saw many international people over there and many new shops open now. There are many art museums, beautiful world heritage sites, good food and delicious BEER!

When I arrived to Berlin it was really hot. So I had some beer from the lunch time, after that, we went to see some palaces and museums, then took a break at a cafe and had some beer. At night we went to a bar to have fresh oysters and delicious wine(L). Afterward we went to a cafe to have a drink again.
I was surprised how cheap the beer is in Berlin!! It was half price of the one in Japan.

I like it that some of the museums have free admission days once a week. It almost never happens in Japan. I also like it that they have restored the castles, the churches, and the historical buildings, even though those building were once destroyed completely in the war. In Japan, especially in Tokyo, we always tend to create new things and old things don’t really exist now.

↓I don't remember the name of this building,..

↓Berlin dorm

For souvenir, I bought a Big box of HARIBO(the most famous gummy in the world, which is made in Germany) for my colleagues. However, when I came to work today I found that HARIBO box almost empty!
Hey, my colleagues, you guys finished up HARIBO only for 5days!!?? I just cannot believe that!! I doubt Masa ate most of them, because he is the BIGGEST hungry man at my work. ;P

↓ET also has a sad face....

Other things, I had three bottles of wine and several kinds of beer for souvenir. But I couldn’t bring them to Japan because of the overweight at the airport in Berlin. So I had to leave them with my sister. That was really sad...

But, overall, I really really enjoyed my summer vacation this year. I definitely go to Berlin on my next vacation.

Here we go!!

Ooops!!!!
Sorry I picked a wrong picture.................
This is Mr.Shinke, he is one of our staffs.

One more time.....well....
The cutest guest of this month is.....!!!
↓↓

PS: Sorry Mr.Shinke... you are cute too :p