Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

Do you know Umai-bo?
It means yum-yum bar in English and it is really popular snack in Japan.

There are so many kinds of flavors and we sell 14 of them here;)

Shrimp's favorite: Teriyaki-Burger
Yuri's favorite: Tako-yaki
Naoto's favorite: Mentaiko
Yuta' s favorite: Gyu-tan

I heard that our sister hotel in Ikebukuro had a cosplay party last night.
Today, Yuta gonna have the same thing by himself tonight!

Actually, I'd like to know whether there is anyone who left this reindeer costume in 202?
If not, it is going to be ours (Yuta's):P

What are you doing?

Who are you?

The answer is...

Please wait till mid-February:P

Hello, guys!

Thank you very much for staying with us and your e-mail with this photo!
We all are so happy to hear from you.

Of course, we are waiting for your coming back and keep checking this weblog till then;)
I should have asked all of your names...

See you again and enjoy your life in NYC☆

Do you have any plan for this Saturday?
If the answer is NO, why don't you go to Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro to have a tea ceremony?

As you can see, they sell used Kimono with a great deal.
Of course, the admission is for free;)

If you are interested in, please feel free to contact us or staff there.

last Monday&Wednesday, we had sumo tours.
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/blog/2009/12/dosukoi.html

"We are leaving!!"

About 15 guests joined this tour.

We walked to the stadium and when we reached the bridge spanning the Sumida river,
Sky Tree sprang up!!

It is now 274 meters but is still under construction...

As it was so nice weather, it's a perfect day to walk by the river:)

About an hour later, we arrived at the stadium♪
FYI, we never got lost...:P

Let's have a meal before watching sumo!

Do you know Chanko?
It's a special dish for sumo wrestlers, which consists of many kinds of meats,
vegetables and sometimes seafoods cooked together in a soup.
It's available at the sumo stadium for 250 yen♪

Okay, it's time for watching sumo!
We got good seats here.

Actually, it was my first time and I did enjoy with our guests.
It was totally diffrent from TV and I'll definitely go there in May again!

Too tired to walk, we took a bus on our way back...

Just 200 yen from Ryogoku to Asakusa.
Click the photo above↑↑

Did I tell you that you can rent a bike for 200 yen a day.
It's available at Tsukuba Express Asakusa station which is located 5 mins from us on foot.
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/hostel_access.htm

If you rent a bike, you can go wherever you want without worrying about your broken leg;)
This is the proof↓↓

Just be careful not to drop your crutch, Jason.

Last Saturday, I took part in tasting party at Ikebukuro cafe.
As I informed you, Tomo is now working there and she created some new menu.

This is fried tuna-sushi-roll.

It became much better when we put some sauce on it.

Not only foods but also drinks are very unique.
My favorite one is this↓↓

HOT WINE!!
Yes, I had three cups and another cacktail;)

It made my body become warm from inside♪

At Sakura Cafe in Ikebukuro, there are so many kinds of foods and drinks.
If you miss anything in your country, just go there and have some foods.
Once you go there, you'll be a repeat guest for sure!

since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck on 17th of January, 1995.
I was in the 6th grade at that time and I was so shoked
when I knew about it from the news in that morning.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/

I just hope that people in Haiti could go back to their life as soon as possible...

This is the official ranking list of Sumo, called "Banduke-hyou" in Japanese.
It is announced before every tournaments.

You can see the letters are getting small and of course,
the biggest wrestler is the grand champion.

Of the top 5 wrestlers, 3 are from Mongolia including the grand champion.
So international!

Can you read their names, too?

We need a loupe to find lower-level wrestlers...
I'm always wonderig how they write these thin characters.

I read the news about Japanese pizza.
It says that on youtube, foreign people are surprised at the price of Japanese pizza.
Compared with their countries, sometimes it's more than double price.

But please don't worry, we do have many many good foods with cheap price here in Japan!
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/blog/2009/12/bgrade_foods.html

Look at this great picture↑↑
You can see the Senso-ji temple, five-story pagoda, Asahi beer building
and Tokyo sky tree at the same time!!

Unfortunately, Senso-ji temple is under repair now but it will be finished in November.
Sky tree is now 264M and still growing.
I'm checking every morning how grow it is and always surprised at its speed!
Japanese construction skill is super☆

It's too cold to post a weblog today...
This rain may be snow tonight in Tokyo.

I gotta go home now!
See you tomorrow:D

We rarely to wear a formal clothes at work.
One day, Tsuyoshi dressed in suits as "normal" businessman.
Then, he pretend as if he was a BIG boss:P (...well, he is very tall, actually)

And he started to scold Yuta.
Poor Yuta...I know you didn't do anything wrong today yet.

You are the today's victim.

Winter in Tokyo is very cold (to me).
I'm trying to get warmed as much as I can in all kinds of different ways.

?Hot Chocolate

I love chocolates but sometimes, I worry about its calorie...then,

?Have a cup of Amazake, instead

It's made from rice and little alcoholized but sweet♪

Canned Amazake is available at convenience stores and
from vending machine during winter;)

?Yutapon (hot-water bottle)

When I sleep, this is an essential goods.
I'm using the traditinal one↑↑ for now, but I'll get a more evolved one↓↓★

How do you get warmed in your country?
Give me some ideas:D

Entry No.3
Paul from USA/South Korea!!

He sometimes stopped over at Sakura before going to South Korea.
What the biggest his contribution is he got softner and brought to us!
Click the photo below♪

It's going to be run out, Paul...when are you coming back the next?
Me and Tomoe are missing you?;)

Koji, who was working with us as a night shift manager for three years,
came to say hi to us a few days ago:D

I believe that you remember him.
Unfortunately, I was not there at that time but he gave me an e-mail later;)

I think that we'll be happy to see old coworkers when we drop by after quit.
How are you doing, Hiromi, Shiro and Clive ??

Have you ever seen this mark while you are in a train/bus?

As you can see, the lady who has this tag on their belongings is an expectant mother.

In Japan, most of trains have priority seats for seniors,
persons with disabilities and expectant mothers.
Please offer your seat to those people who really need one:)

Tomoe came to work in beautuful Kimono on 2nd.
It's kind of our traditional event but I missed it this year...:(
I wanted to take a photo with her.

This year, I'll take kimono-wearing class and come to hostel in Kimono☆

What is your new year's resolution?

Thanks, Yuri, for the announcement.

Yes, I've just left Sakura Hostel Asakusa and moved to one of its sister hotels to work for them as their manager.

It's been 4 years since I met Yuri, Tomoe, Tsuyoshi and Naoto. They came and joined me while there was only an uncompleted building still under construction. The team got together to open the hostel. Other guys joined us later one by one.

Imagine how exciting it is to creat something new from scratch! That's been an incredibly precious experience and will have a profond influence on my future life.

This hostel is my home. I've been always feeling as if I were welcoming our guests to my own home. I don't know how much I can do at the new place, but I promise that I'll create another lovely "second home" to Tokyo-lovers.

Thank you, Yuri, Tomoe, Tsuyoshi, Naoto, Suga-san, Koyama-san, Egashira-san, and (sorry, can't write all your names) all the other people who've worked with me and all the guests who've stayed with us and brought me lots of fun and joy. Please keep helping this little girl challenge herself, please please♪

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I?
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

I love you guys all. Mata-ne!

How did you welcome your new year?
...well I was sleeping as usual.

I have one thing to let you know today.
Our boss, Tomo transfered to Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro from today.
We feel like we lost our big mom here but we'll do our best
to keep improving Sakura Hostel Asakusa☆

Do not worry Tomo, but you should come and see us&our guests frequently.
You are our boss forever wherever you are;)

If you miss Tomo, just drop by Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro:)