WHAT I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN: purikura

If you’re my friend on Facebook, you might have seen my latest Japanese love in my profile pictures: PURIKURA.

MY DAILY LIFE: where I live

First of all, thanks for all the nice (facebook) replies to my last post. I especially liked all the 'NO PRESSURE' messages haha.

So up now is the second part in the "My daily life" series; about where I live!
I will temporary move to another place in two weeks, so thought this had to be done now. I also have test tomorrow so doing this instead of studying seemed like a good plan.

I actually made a room tour video. So if you wanna see me acting awkwardly on video, keep on reading..

MY DAILY LIFE: school

It’s good you weren't expecting a lot… otherwise you might 've been disappointed by the lack of updates. Whenever I feel pressure to do ANYTHING, (yes, also when it’s fun, and yes, even when it only me putting that pressure there) I tend to not want to do it anymore.  Keeping up with this blog is like that. It’s a shitty personality trait and I’m trying to work on it; so bear with me.

Besides having shitty personality traits I have actually been very busy.  School is taking a lot more time and effort than I thought it would and there were also just a lot of things that needed to be arranged. I needed to get a phone, register my residence card at the city hall, pay my rent, get a student id, get a library card, get a discount card, get a train card, make decisions on courses to take, buy a bike, buy basic stuff for my room, etc etc. And it's not like any of that went easy. Seriously, the simplest things take effort here, and not only because of the language barrier. Japan seems to be very bureaucratic; you need to attend briefings, fill in forms and get permission for every damn things. Like, you wanna park your bike at the open, not secured, bikepark at your house? Better show a proof of purchase first, sign a form and put a special sticker on the bike before you do so.

Then if you bear in mind the processing of all these experiences my little brain needs to do and the countless hours I have to aimlessly spend browsing the interwebz... I’ve simply been too busy to update.

I thought I should do some blogs on ‘my daily life’ here. Let’s begin with the thing that might be the most boring one, but also the one that keeps me most busy here; school.

ps- All these photos are taken with my pretty old phone camera so the quality isn't that good; sowwy.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN

Skin care, make up, nails, body care, bath products, perfumes, hair care .. I'm a big fan of everything that has to do with beauty. And so, drugstores are a little piece of heaven to me. 

If you love me, bring me to a drugstore. 

If you hate me and want to get rid of me, bring me to a drugstore and you won’t see me for the coming hours. 

Sure, I can wander around a Dutch drugstore and have a good time, but choice seems limited and prices are high so I don’t linger around too long. US drugstores are a big step up.. everything you need, want and more is available and for reasonable prices. 

Asian drugstores, and Japanese in particular, are on a whoooole different level. The beauty industry seems to be a lot bigger here and that reflects in the stores. I took a bunch of photos and I don't want to take up all of your bandwidth so just click to read more.

REVIEW: sleeping in a capsule hotel

I think most people have heard of the crazy phenomenon that is capsule hotels.  As there are a lot of mixed reviews out there, ranging from horrible (“disappointing and very dirty, never again”)  to amazing (“unique, awesome experience”), I was eager to try it out myself. It was pretty hard to find one allowing women, but I did and I spent two nights there!

So what is a capsule hotel?
It’s a super space efficient, basic and cheap way of hosting people, developed in Japan. In one room about 20 tiny ‘rooms’, capsules, are stacked up above and next to each other. Every capsule sleeps one person and I guess they were about 2.00 x 1.20 m in size. Bigger than I thought but maybe still not recommended for claustrophobes. They look like… well, do you remember one of those scenes from a science fiction movie where they are breeding slimy humans or aliens or whatever in pods.. the look of the capsules  kinda remind me of that.

About 30 capsules in 1 room

.... see what I mean?

No.
Also, it doesn't look / sound very appealing…
I know..  but to me it’s basically like a hostel dorm where you spend the night in a room with strangers, but here you have your own little lair where you can hide.  To be honest, I can sleep comfortable in most beds  (or floors, chairs etc) but this wasn't bad at all. They give you clean sheets, towels and A PAJAMA every day.  Yes, the pajama part got me excited as they looked a little bit like a traditional kimono..

Ready for bed in the kimono wannabe

Also, the capsule has little tv, radio, light, mirror and alarm, and you get a free locker. The free locker wasn't big enough for my luggage and I was too cheap to pay for a bigger one so I just left it on the floor. Not sure if that was the safest choice ever but it worked out fine. The one thing missing was a power outlet. 

And wifi.
But I feel like there is a chronic deficit of power outlets and wifi all over the world.

Why was it hard to find one allowing women?
The thing with the capsules is.. there’s no door. You can not close or lock your capsule, you just have some sort of curtain you can pull down. Apparently Japanese men (especially when drunk..which is often) have a hard time controlling themselves so it’s not very safe for women to sleep in an ‘open’ capsule next to a man. This capsule hotel had different, closed, floors for men and women and as far as I can remember, nothing weird has happened to me or the other ladies at night.

My capsule, open

Old lady's capsule, closed

So what kind of people stay at capsule hotels?

In the male-only hotels it’s supposed to be mostly businessmen who either live pretty far away from the city/their work or got too drunk to go home, so it’s easier to stay the night at a capsule hotel.  As I spent most of my time on the women’s floor I only saw a few of them. In my room there was a diverse group of people.  One older woman with a black eye who seemed homeless.  Another grandma. Two businesswomen.  Some girls who missed their last train home.  And of course, a tourist here and there.

How was the rest of the experience?
Pretty comfortable too. When you enter the hotel you are supposed to take your shoes off, put them in a locker and use the slippers they provide. When you’re lucky there is someone at the desk to help you (not that they speak a word of English), but if not, there is a machine where you can pay for the room too.  There is a common room with a computer and wifi, big pay lockers, drink and food vending machines and iphone/ipod chargers.
All facilities are shared and you’d better not be shy when you want to wash yourself as there is only a sento.  Showers where you can sit and wash yourself and a nice hot bath to soak in afterwards.  My first shower and bath was shared with the lovely homeless grandma who kept blabbering in Japanese to me. Just nod and smile and it’s all good.

First a shower...

..then a bath

What was the specific hotel you stayed at and would you recommend it?
I stayed at Asakusa Capsule Hotel Riverside. It is very near a subway station and in a nice area, in walking distance from the famous Senso-ji, the oldest temple in Japan! It’s a little worn, occasionally smelly and the staff speak very limited to no English at all but they are friendly and try to help you in any way they can. For a $30 bed in Tokyo, you can’t complain too much. True, it’s not as comfortable as a regular hotel room  and when travelling as a couple it sucks you can’t sleep together, but when you’re  by yourself, down for something new and are a cheapskate like me.. give it a try!

A busy Senso-ji

Are you ready for it?!

gif from the movie Lost in Translation

"Are you ready for it?!" has been the most asked question lately. I tend to answer with "I think so..".

It's not a definite yes...'cause I'm never sure. I'm not even sure what people mean with the question (pseudo autistic here). Did I get the visa? Yep. Do I have enough money? We'll see. Do I have a place to go when I arrive? Yes I booked it yesterday! Am I mentally or emotionally ready for it? ... eh I'm trying not to think too much about that and that's working great for me. Ignorance is bliss forever.

Another frequently asked question was "Have you packed yet?". This one is a solid and definite NO. I have this new thing where I don't really sleep the night before a flight and then dedicate that night to procrastinating until I hate myself and then pack my bags about an hour before I need to leave.
To be fair, even tho I have a big and embarrassing history of forgetting to bring (back) STUFF, most other things I have taken care of. And stuff can be bought at the place of destination. And in Japan everything is for sale in a 100 times cuter version that I'd probably prefer anyway. So no stress there.

I'm looking forward to being in Tokyo for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to be a shameless tourist with a backpack and a camera hanging around my neck. I feel like I'm not like that most of the times. 'Cause most of the times wherever I am, I try to fit in and act like I toooootallly know where I am and what I'm doing to avoid people being annoying and pushy and scary. I felt so safe in Japan last time!

The last question that I needed to answer a couple of times, "Are you gonna keep a blog?".
The answer is yes. I just started it while sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight.

gif from the movie The Emperor's New Groove