August 2011 Archives

 Have you ever tried -2℃ Beer??

I went to Asahi Extra Cold Bar in Ginza, Tokyo few days ago.

There were still long line up when we arrived there at 9:00 PM.

We could enter the bar 15 min. after, and of cource orderd beer

and it was so~~~~nice!!!　o(*^▽^*)o~♪

Mild and creamy froth of beer!!!

We also had experience to serve a beer by myself at there★

Look!!

Looks nice right??

We also got this card for certificate!!

It will open until the end of September,

you should go there and try it!!

From the outside it looks like an old Italian villa complete with a garden and pond.

The inside is full of beautiful glass sculptures.

There's also a big souvenir shop inside. There were so many things I wanted to buy!

If you have a chance to go to Hakone, this museum is definitely worth a visit! ^^

 One of the best season "Autumn" coming soon

However,It is a time also to worry about Typhoons!

Two typhoons are  approaching in Japan!!

By the way,I found Special umbrella on Youtube.

I would like to recommend New Yorkers for Irene（Hurricane)!

2011Edition

Maps in Colour

Map of Tohoku

Useful pullout map

I found Lonely Planet Japan new edition at Kinokuniya bookshop in Shinjuku,though I heard it's on sale in September.

The latest edition has major changes.All descriptions are in two colour printing,black and blue,and above all descriptions on Fukushima,Miyagi and Iwate prefectures are deleted!!Of course it's due to the earthquake and nuclear plants accident.I am dissapointed because I was born in Aizuwakamatsu,west part of Fukushima prefecture.

Travelling around Tohoku will help the people damaged by the tsunami.
If you have an interest please visit Tohoku region.

Do you know? Welsh cake made by a lot of our LOVE.
By the way, my name is Ai. Ai means LOVE.
hahaha.

 Do you know this??

Yes, it's a Japanese 1000 yen bill.

Then, how about this?

It's a also 1000 yen bill.

But for almost 25 years ago, it discontinued to issue.

Wah, It's a quite big difference of size!!

Few days ago when I get it, I tought it is a counterfeit bill.(~ﾍ~;)

 Do you think should I keep it or just use it for normally?

Last weekend I was invited to a trip to the hot springs in Hakone! It was my first time going to a Japanese Onsen in summer, so I was quite excited. I love hot springs!

I was a bit sceptical at first though, because taking a hot bath on a hot summer day doesn't really sound very appealing, does it? Well, but then it was raining all weekend and it was pretty cool as well all the time, so in the end I was actually quite happy to hop into the bath. ;)

This photo was shot at Lake Ashinoko which is a famous spot in Hakone.

We stayed at a Japanese style hotel (= Ryokan) which means the rooms were equipped with tatami mats and futons.

Dinner was served inside our room by a girl in Kimono! This is me with my friend's mother who had invited me to the trip.

This is the outdoor bath, or Rotenburo, as it is called in Japanese. When I took a bath in the evening and again in the morning there was nobody else there besides me, so I had the whole bath to myself. Nothing is more relaxing than soaking in a Rotenburo!

The food was also great! This is a small part of what we had for breakfast. Ahhh, I'm getting hungry again just looking at the pictures.

A trip to a Japanese Onsen is a great experience and highly recommended to everyone who wants to experience traditional Japanese life style and food! 

I visited to Akihabara '2k540 AKI-OKA ARTISAN'

We can find them under the elevating structure of JR Line.

 Everything Original and New!

Hat Shop imeka .You can order Original own Hat!

Woddy item shop  Hacoa.I bought iphone cover for birthday present

     UAMOU.Small davils and Big davil...Cute!

 TOIQUEYou can play many Toys in the cafe.I

Hanmmok Cafe ASAN Unfortunately They already closed now.

Yanaka Coffee shop.They roasting coffee bean in the shop.

Smell is so great!

There is some performance and Event!

It looks like our sakura group"Design Festa". 

How to get "Akihabara" from Hatagaya Sakura hotel.

Hatagaya→（Keio new line/Toei shinjuku line）Direct→Iwamotocho（Akihabara area）

18min 330yen

This is the Asakusa walking blog part 2, blog part 1 is for about shopping and playing at Sensoji shrine.

Maiko is living near Asakusa from she was a child, so she introduced a shop of folding fan . (She always bring her folding fan with her.) 

This day, was Bon Festival, so there was a TOUROU-NAGASHI (means, sending off the spirits of the dead on lanterns floated on the waters of a river or the sea) at Sumida River.

Everyone wrote their wishes for the dead people, and play to heaven.

The night illumination was very romantic.

We also wished everyone's play will reach to the heaven.

Nine kinds of world tea

They are trying...

Top3 favourite tea

We held world tea tasting contest tonight in Sakura Cafe Hatagaya.

More than 30 entrant tried nine different kind of world tea.

It seemed to be difficult but 21 participants answered all the teas correctly.(Lovely!)

These are top three favourite teas,

1.Quatre Fruit Rouge(France)

2.Masala Chai(Israel)

3.Corn Silk Tea(South Korea)

You can drink each tea at a reasonable price in our cafe.

We plan to hold another tea tasting contest this winter.Come and try!

"One for All, All for One."

Do you remember that I love to see musicals? :)

I saw "The Three Musketeers" at this time, and this word from D'Artagnan and three musketeers.

I always learned many things from musicals and plays.

It's not just a fun, good for study though★

I learned the importance of a companies at this time!!!

・・・By the way, I could shake hands with an actor who I like, I was so happy♪♪

haha♪♪

Is there anyone who will be in Tokyo on 27/August/2011?

This year, the Sumida River Fireworks Festival will be scheduled on 27/August/2011.

It had been held at the end of July.

But this year, the date was changed due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. 

Twenty thousand fireworks will be set off between 7:05 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Fireworks is a summer tradition and a summer feature in Japan.

It's worth watching.

You can get more info on official website of the Sumida River Fireworks Festival.

http://sumidagawa-hanabi.com/index_eg.html

We had a really busy day at Hatagaya today. Sometimes so much happens in only one day at work that I can hardly remember what I did in the morning when I come home at night. So I decided to try and take photos of everything interesting that happened today.

It all started with Henry from the US who suddenly started talking to me in German. I was so surpised! And he was speaking really well! He told me he used to live in Germany for a while. Too bad he only stayed one night.

This is Miwa making pickles. I really like this photo of her. 

Don't eat them all! They're for our guests! XD  

Then Masaya from our maintenance team came over to dispose of our old fridge. He came alone so we had to help him. That fridge was so heavy!! Even with 4 people we had a hard time carrying it to the car. Plus, it's unbelievably hot outside. >,< 

This is Maiko doing all the work while Masaya is watching.

Shouldn't it be the other way round? ;) 

After that I was too exhausted to take any more photos. XD

Well, not really, I just forgot. Actually I wanted to show you Miwa repairing all kinds of stuff. It's a real sight!

I'll show you next time! ^^

Recently, I customizing the blog page everyday♪

And It really fun!!!

Do you know the Ameba Blog, called Amebulo in Japanese??

It's just a japanese page but if you are studying Japanese, please let's try to read that!!!

By the way, this picture model is one of our staff.

Do you know her??? :)

 People sprinkle water on the street in the picture above. It is called Uchimizu (watering).

Although less famous than Japan Rail Pass for visitors,
Seishun 18 Ticket(青春18きっぷ/Seishun 18 Ticket) is very popular discount ticket among Japanese.
It's a symbol of slow and "rich" travel for us.

It's issued in Japan only that allows holders one-day unlimited rides on the local trains
of JR lines all over Japan during limited periods of year.
Even if you pay additional express surcharge you can not get on express trains.

It's possible to get to Kyoto,Osaka,Kobe,Hiroshima from Tokyo for only JPY2300(USD30/EUR21)!
For example,you leave Tokyo station at 6:07am you arrive in Hiroshima at 8:59pm.

(transfer nine times!)

It's valid for flexible five days(counted 0:00-24:00) within the designated period of the season.
In this summer,it's sold until the end of August,valid until 10th September.
This ticket is only JPY11500(USD150/EUR105) for flexible five days,which means JPY2300 for each days.

Different from Shinkansen,it's quite time consuming but you will see local atmosphere in the slow trains.

Seishun 18 means "the youth eighteen(years old)".
But no worries!No age limit to purchase the ticket.

For more details see this JR East official site.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html

A couple of days ago I met up with some guests from Sakura Hostel Asakusa and Sakura House at Shinkiba Station where we got on a traditional Japanese Yakata-bune.

A Yakata-bune is a boat where people eat, drink and party together while enjoying a fresh breeze on a hot summer day.

We had a great time preparing Monjayaki and Okonomiyaki! It was All-You-Can-Eat&Drink, so we ordered lots of different stuff.

This is Tomo from Sakura Hostel Asakusa making Monjayaki! She looks really professional, don't you think? XD

Some more pictures:

The beautiful scenery of Odaiba.

It was a great day! If you ever have the opportunity to get on a Yakata-bune, don't miss out on this traditional Japanese way to party!!

Did you already try our special sheved Ice??

we have 2 kind of Shaved Ice from august!

This is Taiwanese shaved ice.

Made by Milk and black honey.

Fluffy and milky~  

Another one is Chinese shaved ice!

My friends Mr.Shu and Mrs.Sho made it.

You can find Japan agar in the shaved ice.

 When I get order at cafe, I am happy to make it.

Shaving ice is so much fun for me!

 Please come here and try!

I had a realy good time in Ginza with my friend  of ten year's standing few days ago.

That was...

Live House!!! 

I went to Live House in Ginza, and it was my first time to enjoy Ginza night. 

My older friend brought me.

And...2 places we went.

KENTO'S that we went first was really nice atmosphere and there were a big stage inside the house.

It actually not so big inside but we enjoyed old songs and they're nice talk.

Then we stayed until close time :)

I didn't know that I can enjoy at Ginza like an adult city!!!

Please try to go and enjoy if you have a chance!!!

皆さんも是非行ってみて下さい！

絶対また行きたいです！！！！！

An international friendly football match between Japan and South Korea will be held at Sapporo today from 7:30 p.m.

The tickets (42,000 tickets) were sold out within an hour.

The flight between Seoul and Shinchitose(near Sapporo) is also full.

Many Japanese and South Korean eyes including mine are on this match.

I'm sure you do have your favourite food.

Let me talk about my most favourite dessert at Sakura Cafe Hatagaya :)

That is.....WELSH CAKE :D

If you have tried it before, you can understand why I'm saying this right?

That is Lindsey Davis' special Welsh recipe!

We have plain, cocoa and special flavour every single month.

This month..it is Coconut!!

It is really good :)

If you know any flavour that you reccomend, please let us know!

Of course you can have it to go as well :D

YUKAKO

Beer and Edamame ( green soy bean) is the best combo in the history.

Edamame has rich nutrient content,and helps decompose blood alcohol.

Edamame, the king of snack!

 You can eat SAKURA CAFE HATAGAYA!!!!

We are fully booked tonight,

Thank you so much☆

Do you kno why！？

It might be most of our guests for tonight going to see fireworks at Jingu.

It will starts at 7:30 PM tonight.

I knew this event gonna happen today,

but I didn't know a also live concert will before fireworks. 

That's why many young guests came to our hotel.

Everyone looks so happy♪♪

I envy them... :)

I love summer☆

It's good everyone enjoying seasonal event like fireworks!! 

I gonna interview for our guests when they come back tonight☆

The many festivals are starts at beginning of August in Tohoku.

Three representative festivals are :

【Nebuta festival in Aomori】

【Tourou festival in Akita】

【Tanabata festival in Sendai,MIyagi】

All festivals are impressive and very interesting.

If you have chance to visit tohoku at beginning of August,you should check it out!!

Late July and August is the season for fireworks in Japan.

Today, 11 fireworks displays are held in Japan.

It is much more than I thought because some fireworks displays including big ones are cancelled or postponed this year.

I do believe that they are worth watching.

And I wish I could watch them all from the air:)

According to latest news,68 percent of people in Tokyo buy smart phones.
Most of them are relatively cheaper than other countries.

But there is some inconvenience.
Due to different network system Japanese phones do not work with other country's SIM cards.
We have to pay international roaming rate when we go abroad.It's very pricey...

As prepaid SIM cards are not sold in every corner,your foreign mobiles do not work in Japan.
So our guests usually use public phone in our hotel.

You can connect wireless internet for free in SAKURA CAFE HATAGAYA
Skype Out will be helpful to make an international call.

I think you already know that we have our cafe terrace now :)

it is perfect to have a coffe when its nice outside!

We just got umbrellas for those tables.

They are nice red ones.

Those tables and chars are green so it is just like christmas coulour.

By the way, it is alrady AUGUST!!!!

I can't believe it...

the weather hasn't been nice...haven't seen sunshine for a while :'(

Hopefully we can see sunshine soon so that you can use our cafe terrace like them:D

Bye for now.  

 YUKAKO