Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

My name is Yuri, Lily in English.
In Nagano, there is a place called Yuri-no-sato(Lily land).

Look at this beautiful view!

About 5 million lilies are in broom☆★☆

Also, they have 30 kinds of lilies there!


Which one do you like?
My favorite is white one♪

As here is ski resort druing winter, you can go up the hill by the lift.

I came back refreshed and happy to be my name Yuri;)

Because Jesus is not coming.

He comes with summer every year and stays with us for a month.
He must come. It's been always like that since our hostel opened.
But now, he has a little problem and decided to postpone his trip to Tokyo this year.

Ohhhhhh, noooooooo!!!

Come back to your home, Jesus-san. We miss you.

We received a big box today.
What's inside, Tomo??

Let me check it!

There are pleanty of sweets and cute staff:D

Thank you, John.
This is a birthday gift for us, right?

Welcome to our sushi party!!

We are ready to make hand-rolled sushi☆
Do you find something your favorite from here?

I like salmon with avocado.

Let's start!!

Don't worry, we have enough stock;)

People look serious when they make.
Isn't it so hard?

Wow! You are professional★

...half an hour later.

Now, it's time to go and watch Hanabi♪

Please follow Tomo, be careful not to get lost.

"Aian beauty"

Tamayaaaaaaa!!

Till lately, one of my dream was to get marry the CEO of Haagen Dazs.
When I was tennnager, my breakfast was always ice-cream (Rum raisin!) and
there were many stocks in the fridge.

Now, I'm working and I rediscover that I'm adult everytime I buy Haagen Dazs
because it's a bit expensive for a student.

On 17th of July, they opened a new shop in Ginza.

↑La Maison Ginza
I haven't tried there yet but I checked their website and found that it's a paradice for me♪
I should go the next payday!

I don't think I can get marry him any more but I just wanna say
thank you for this great job to him;)

Welcome back, Tomooooooooo!
I was waiting for.......

Sweeeeets!!

After I wrote "Tomo in Paris vol. 1", I never had a chance to come back to this weblog and came back home yesterday.

Japan Expo was really a huge event.

I met so many fun people there.

I traveled to Madrid and met Jesus, one of the Sakura's guests.

Finally, I reached Ibiza, my paradise.

I didn't have enough sleep in Ibiza as I only had 5 nights there, too short :(
5 parties on 5 nights and 5 beaches on 5 days. That was a crazy crazy time.

Fiesta de espuma (Foam party) at Club Amnesia was a "must go" if you have a plan to go to Ibiza.
You can feel your life threatened.

I wonder if I can recover myself to go back to my real life although my kind colleagues gave me one day off before I start to work

Are you in Japan on 22nd of July?
If so, you should look up the sky to observe solar eclipse.

Oh, please do not forget to use special sun filters!

The more you go to the South, the more you can see the perefct solar eclipse.

Also, you will see fantastic phenomena like this↓

I hope it would be sunny day on the 22nd☆

To us:D

Sakura Hostel Asakusa turned to be 3 years old yesterday.
I'm wondering how many guests we had so far...
Though we sometimes faced some difficulties, we are still happy to work here.

We had many many striking (and funny?) guests for this three years.
Unfortunately, I can't say exactly who they are:P

If you have some advice for us, please feel free to give us comments!
Also, I wanna say thank you for all of you who are reading this weblog.

Who is falling down??

You must be sleepy Naoto...
You should have had enough sleep before night shift☆

HELLO!

My name is SAKURA from SAKURA HOTEL HATAGAYA.
Today is my second training day at ASAKUSA HOSTEL.
I love here!
Very friendly staff , Nice location, Big Window, Lovely cuckoo clock, Happy mood front desk.
I enjoy the atmosphere here!!

Let me introduce myself.
I have worked Hatagaya since September 2008.
Another Job is teacher of dancing class.
Now I am crazy about belly dance…
That's why, I went to the Egypt to see real Belly dance and study it.
I will talk about it hatagaya blog next time.

Thank you.
Sakura

Do you think it's expensive to eat in Japan?
Compared with the other countries, though the size is small,
the price is the same or more expensive.

Then, I reccomend you to go to universities for your lunch.
I don't know much about universities in your country,
our universities have nice cafeterias on campus.

As Japanese students eat a lot but are saving their money (in general),
everything is easy-on-the-pockets;)

Click where you wanna go↓↓
Shinjuku Area
Kogakuin University

Shibuya Area
Aoyama University

Ikebukuro Area
Rikkyo University

Our cleaning staff, Yaeko bought Chinese Lantern (we call it Hozuki) this morning.

On the 10th of July is called Yonman-rokusennichi (Day of 46,000 Blessings)
and it has a big benefit.
If you visit and pray on this day, you'll get the same benefits
as praying every day for 46,000 days!
Of course, I did it this morning because I'm a lazy girl:P

This fair was held yesterday and today at Senso-ji temple for two days only.
You missed this event?
Then you should wait till next year.
I'll try to let you know in advance;)

Do you remember that we planted bitter gourd in May?
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/blog/2009/05/flowers_for_the_summer.html

When I was watering our plants this morning,
I found one of them had a cute yellow flower!
It means we'll have goya soon!

I can't wait;)

Last night, Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro had a party
and Shrimp (ebi-chan) joined it before working.

As they changed the menu, participants could enjoy new meals♪
Please click here to check their new menu!

They are putting Tanzaku (small piece of paper) with their wishes☆

I hope my wish comes true!

Are you trying to climb Mt Fuji this summer?
If you'd like to see sunrise, you need to stay on the way to the top.

Every stations have some lodges and you can choose where to stay.
I recommend you to book in advance;)
http://fujisan.yamakei.co.jp/en-yellowpage01.html
↑This site would be very helpful for Mt. Fuji climbers.

What's your plan for this summer?

I'll introduce how to enjoy Japan's summer;)
#1 Hanabi (fireworks)

We love to watch fireworks in Summer.
On 25th of July, we'll have sushi&hanabi party at out hostel.
Anyone who are staying at Sakura Hostels&Hotels and tenants of Sakura House are welcomed!
Come and join us with your favorite drinks♪

Actually, we have many many fireworks festivals here and there.
If you are here in Japan from July to October,
you should check the town information through some free papers or their websites.

#2 BEEEEEEEECH!!

As Japan is the country surrounded by sea, we have some nice places for
surfing, swimming, relaxing and so on...
This is my recommended magazine below↓↓

You'll find what you need for Japan's summer easily.
We have one here, so you can ask anytime if you have an interests.

#3 Mt. Fuji

It's a standard as Mt Fuji is opening only during summer.
Have you ever climbed to the top?
Yes, I did!
It means, anyone can try;)
I don't wanna try it anymore, though it was a great experience...

#4 Horror movie
I HATE them but Japanese prefer to watch horror movies
to get a shiver up their spine.
If you watch it, please do not tell me about it.

I arrived in Paris two days ago, and visited 5 travel agencies and JNTO (Japan Tourism Organization) office.
So exausted to walk around the city that I don't know very well. But had fun. Paris is beautiful and people are very kind to travelers.

After that, I went to Louvre Museum. Just to have a grance of the most famouse things such as Nika, Mona Lisa, etc.

And Today is the first day of Japan Expo. I'll wear Yukata dress and leave my hotel soon to go to the Expo.

On 30th of June, Sakura Hotel Hatagaya has just opened a brand new cafe.

Mr Kondo, the manager of Hatagaya, loves Rock music as you can see this photo below.
It will be much more sophisticated by the end of this year!

I ordered his (Mr. Kondo) recommended iced coffee.

Hmmm, next time, I'll have an apple pie with ice-cream!!