Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

You are NOT allow to smoke anywhere inside Sakura hostel.
It's gonna be a big problem if you smoke in your room and
activate a fire alarm system as this poster says...

Please come down for smoking at our terrace or in front of the entrance.
Thank you for your cooperation:)

Finally, two Japanese films, "Departures(Okuribito)"
and "Tsumiki no Ie" won the Oscar.


Have you watched them already?
It seems Japanese are so excited about this great news.

I was so touched from the speech of Kate Winslet who won the oscar for the best actress.
What she said was sometimes so cute;)

We are now in the transition period from analog to digital broadcasting
and it will be completed by July 2011.
I thought that I could use my TV as long as possible and buy new one
two years later or something but it was broken suddenly(><)

You may know there are so many kinds of flat-screen TVs.

I got the third one, Tomoe got the forth one and Tsuyoshi just bought the last one today!
I gotta buy DVD recorder the next♪

TV is getting thinner and wider.
I believe that in near future, it will become like a paper and easy to carry around.

One day I came here to work, I found some guns on the table.
Everytime guests leave something, it's gonna be our toys for a while.

Especially, Naoto...

Are you looking for a job now?
If so, please take a look at this website which you might know already.
Daijob.com

On 20th and 21st, they have a career fair for bilinguals.
Sakura group is also attending this big event and Tomo is now there:)
I heard that she is working as an interviewer.
Have you seen her?

It's not only for Japanese bilinguals but for foreigners
who are interested in working in your country with your Japanese.

I hope this would be a good information for you;)

Have you ever seen people wearing this kind of clothes in Japan?
Sometimes, our guests ask us where to buy them.
It seems they look cool for them.

This is a kind of uniform for construction workers and scaffolding workers.
They say knicker bockers are vaery confortable and easy to walk around.

There are some shops where you can get these items
but Toraichi(寅壱 ) is the most famous brand
for knicker bockers.

I was taking days off and went to hot springs.
Hot springs in Winter is perfect!!
I feel so relaxed and refreshed.

Before taking train when I went back to Tokyo,
I went to footbath just behind Hakone-Yumoto station.
I do reccommend you to go there if you have a chance to go to Hakone area.
It's called Kappa-Tengoku and it cost only 200 yen.
You can be get warmed by just soaking your foots in that natural hot spring.

I found funny Hello Kitty (picture above↑) at Oowakudani :)

Thank you for the sweets, Michael, Phillip and Andrew.
Fortunately, there are only three girls staff here and one of them(Tomo) can't eat chocolates,
this will be for me and Tomoe;)

Yum, yum☆

Also, this box filled with candies are from Michaela♪
Hmmmm...I can get weight easily...but thank you so much.
I'll eat them anyway.

Our guests make my tea time enjoyable:)

We had a big group from Spain first half of this month and they are lively and friendly♪
Normally, Tsuyoshi doesn't join the party and has a logical and judicial type of mind.

BUT, one night, Johrel found Tsuyoshi was dancing with these spanish girls ↑↑
when he was back from his break time.
It was around 2AM.
I wish I were there and took a picture!

Our guests are from all over the world and have such a great variety of characters☆
I can't say which is the best but I think I'm very lucky person to be here as a staff:)

Gracias!!

Hello, my name is Johrel (pronounced as jor-el).
It's been about 2 months since I started working at Sakura Hostel.
I'm still new to this industry but staff here are very friendly and kind
which makes it easier for me to work.

A bit more about myself... I'm Japanese and Filipino mix.
I was born in the Philippines but I grew up in Japan.
Unfortunately, I cannot speak Tagalog (Filipino language), but I can speak English and Japanese.

Here are some of the things I enjoy doing when I have free time:

* Taking photographs
* Designing websites, posters
* Cooking
* Watching movies
* Listening to music
* Surfing the web

Due to my dad's job, I've lived in several countries.
I came back to Japan a few years ago from the US (Rhode Island)
where I spent 7 years.
I really enjoy being in a place where many different cultures meet in one place.
This place is great because we have people coming from many different countries
and so far I enjoy it!

(Written by Johrel)

The last night's game (Japan VS Australia soccer game) ended in a draw (scoreless).
Last night, all the Australian guests went to the stadium and the hostel was empty at night only with Tsuyoshi watching the game on TV by himself. He is a big fan of soccer.

Hope both of us will go to the World Cup and be line for the championship.

I found a kangaroo at the hostel this morning.
↓↓↓↓

Hi Kangaroo!

Australian football suporters have filled the hostel.

They are ready for the tonight's game.

World Cup Qualifying Japan VS Australia!!

Who do you think will win?

If you are a football supporter, you should know we have a big match on 11th in Yokohama.
Japan VS Australia!!
More than half of our guests are now, from Australia and
they are members of Green and Gold Army(GG Army)

They are wearing this uniform all the time.↑↑
Tomoe said that there are many Australian around the town.

I'm not a big fan of a football but I hope Japan would win the game:P

Sometimes, our guests find something strange on the street
and bring it to the hostel for some reason.
When I arrived at the hostel this morning, I found a big blue ball on the counter.

What do you think it was?
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Yes, it was a globe, unfortunately:(
I'm wondering how he found it and why globe was on the street.

Please leave things you find as it was or bring to a police box.
Tomo doesn't know what to do for this.

Have you ever seen inside of vending machines?
We have some in the lounge and we replenish sold-out stocks everyday.
This is beer machine↓↓

It seems a lot of our guests had beer last night as well:)

I wish we had an ice-cream machine here...☆

Australia!!

In January, we had many many Aussie here.
It's almost twice as much as French though we had a big French group
first half of this month.

It seems Feburary will be the same result.

Our sister hotel, Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro is going to start their weblog soon.

Sariko(left) and Kayoko(right) will be the main posters:)
Let's read and comment on:)
But, please don't forget about this weblog!

Their weblog will be started in this month!