Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

November is finishing and a full-fledged winter is coming...
We've just got new Futons for our guests so that
everyone can sleep well without freezing.

I hope no one catch a cold during their trip☆
Enjoy the Winter in Tokyo♪

Yummy yummy curry and rice ↑↑is now available at the rounge only for 500yen!!
If you are hungry but not feel like eating out, it's the best choice★
It's available from 11am, after breakfast time.

Good for overslept persons;)

Hi, we are editing new information files for our guests.
Red one is for food.
There are some restaurants which we recommend around our hostel.
Yellow one is for interesting sights such as famous parks, shopping area and so on.
The blue one for the others.
There are some museums and places that you can experience Japanese culture.
I'm just wondering what name should I give this file...
Red one is “Food”and yellow one is “Sights”.

Could you give me any idea?
Blue file doesn't have a name yet...

Hi.
Because we've got a good reputation,
I gonna let you know our seven wonders of Sakura Hostel.
Do you remenber the first one?
2007/09/14 12:08

Most of guests who booked just one night always extend their stay.
We don't know why;)
That's our pleasure to hear that “Can I extend my stay?” in the morning.
If you are worrying about how staying at the hostel is, you can just try one night♪
Our private room is nice, but dormitory rooms are more interesting.

Our promotion movie has just completed!
That's very awesome☆
You can find me and Tomoe in this video;) or you may on this video, too?
I should have put on makeup more!

Please let us know how you feel★

It's a good husband&wife day today:)
Why?
1122 can be read Ii-Fufu(means good couple) in Japanese.

Do you have something interesting memorial day in your country?
For example, 3rd of Jan, is Eye's day. 13 can be read Hitomi (means eye).
9th of Jun. is Rock's day.

As the revised immigration control law has applied nationwide yesterday,
foreigners over 16years old are required to be fingerprinted and photographed.

(http://www.jiji.com/)
It was the second country to take this system following the U.S.
I heard that there were some long lines for it from the news and I was wondering
whether foreigners gonna hesitate visiting Japan because of it.

Even though it is a little annoying, please don't give up to come to Japan☆
You are sure to have many great experiences once you get out of the customs:)

Have you heard about a new tower?
Now we have Tokyo tower in Minato-ku.
It is 49years old and very famous as a symbol of Tokyo.
More information?Click this picture↓↓

And now, new Tokyo tower is under construction and will be completed in 2011.
The hight will be about 610meters, 277meters taller than the old one.
The locaion is very close from Sakura hostel and you may see it from Asakusa station;)

The construction will start next year, so I'm looking forward to keeping watching it♪

It's getting cold these days and we had a cold wintry wind last night.
I hate cold weather:(

During the summer, I was always wearing flip-flop but it would be too cold in the winter...
So, I wear like this↓↓

Oops! Terry, you copied me!!

What happend to you?

You really wanted to be on this weblog, right?
Our Santa Claus this year will be you!

He trimed a Christmas tree and decorated some windows with snow spray.
Please come and check out his works.
It's very artistic★

What is Torinoichi?Click here↓↓
http://www.torinoichi.jp/english/index.htm

We have Torino-ichi on 23rd of Nov. at Ootori shrine, 10mins walking from here.

They sell special bamboo rakes(Kumade in Japanese) there.

Kumade is the symbol of gathering happinesses in Japan, so it's very lucky item☆
You can talk business and when you get a deal, they will give you a hand start;)
You can meet a lot of high-spirited people there!
I recommend you to get some Kumade for souvenirs for your family and friends.

Hi, Naoto. What are you doing??

He is making a menu board to hang on the wall.
We have a cafe where you can have some tea and cofee, maccha and curry&rice;)
The first menu is getting old, so we are making a new one.
Tomoe will finish it.

We got two different types of beers now!
One is Budweiser(one of the most famous label)
and the other is Corona(the only beer I can drink).
Both are just \500!!

Do you have other labels which you want to drink here?
For example, SINGHA(Thailand), GUINESS(Ireland?) and so on...

Even though you are in Japan, it is a ittle bit sad that you don't have any chance
to communicate with locals.

On 18th of Nov, one volunteer group will have a bus tour to the Kusatsu&Karuizawa.
Both are very popular sites among Japanese people and worth visiting★

It's a one day bus tour and cost only 1,000yen(only for foreigners)!
If you need more detail information, please ask us anytime or just come to Sakura Hostel;)
You'll have a great experience♪

Nobody is in the lounge!!

A rare chance!!

Let's do a thorough cleaning~~~
Tsuyoshi gets chairs and tables out of the way.
Yuri vacuums.
Naoto cleans lint screens.

These three guys had stayed here for a long time and always looked fun.
Actually, they wore robot boxes which were made of cardboard boxes.
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/blog/2007/11/where_are_you_guys_going.html

I guess they are in Kyoto or Osaka or around Mt.Fuji and
hopefully will come back before going back to their countries.
Especially, one of the guys (wearing glasses) left his jacket here;)

We are waiting for your coming back!!
Have a nice trip★

Super Mario, one of our staff at the reception, finally got a new friend last week.
Because he looked lonely, two of our guests found Luigi↓ for him.

They are very helpful because they make sounds (they have 4 different sounds!)
and tell us that our guests need help.

Thank you, Matt&Azam;)

They are group of walking club from Netherland and it was their second time here:)
I remember most of their faces:)

Their next destination is Taiwan and they gonna walk a lot again.
How interesting!
To tell the truth, I don't like walking a lot but in the other countries,
it would be nice★
I'm wondering whether I can join their walking club in the future...;)

These four guys were going to robot museum in Ueno, three stops from Asakusa.
Before going there, they asked us some cardboards.
Because we didn't have it, they went to an convenience store nearby.

As you can see, they made these masks at the terrace
and went to the museum with these masks on their faces.
There is nothing afraid of for tourists!
Please don't go to the bank...you'll be in trouble.

We have had many guests here so far and some of them were residents of Japan
and teaching languages to Japanese people.
NOVA is one of the biggest language school, so I just feel sorry to hear the news.
At the same time, because I knew from the news that teachers are having difficult time,
I'm worrying about their conditions.

If you are trying to find a new job in Tokyo, please come and see us.
You'll get something useful information here:)
If you are leaving Japan, please stop over at Sakura Hostel on your way back.
We'll be happy to meet you.

If you are looking for new place to live, Sakura House will be helpful★

It's Culture day today and we had Jidai Matsuri in Asakusa.
It is an historical parade that recreates Tokyo's history and culture.
The parade started from Sensoji temple and we could enjoy watching
a lot of people who were costumed or dressed up like these pictures as follows.

↑the man who is dressed for Kabuki actor.

↑Even foreigners joined and enjoyed this parade.

↑And bow low to express their respects and gratitude for Kannon.

At Sakura Hostel, we held tea ceremony after the festival.
This time, about 15 guests joined us.
To be surprised, all of them except one guy could drink Maccha(thick tea).
I remember the last time, some of the guests couldn't drink it because it's very bitter.

I was a little bit nervous to make tea in front of them...
Though my explanation was not good enough, they tried to understand. Thanks!!

Last night, Sakura's group companies had a party together.↓↓
They are from Sakura House, Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro, Sakura Hotel Hatagaya,
Sakura Hotel Jimbocho and Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

It's rare that more than 40 staff get together and that was
welcome&goodbye party, so it was a good chance to talk with for all of us.

By the way, it was held in Okonomiyaki restaurant (Sakura-Tei) in Harajuku.
I found one guy who cooks as a professional!

He(wearing brown T-shirt) is from Osaka(the birthplace of Okonomiyaki)
and his works were these one⇒
Yummy!!

Oh, Satoshi is back already and working at Sakura House now:)

Team Ikebukuro and Asakusa♪

And Team Sakura House★
They always help us a lot.