CutiCuti: Japan - Sakura Hostel, Tokyo

Property: Sakura Hostel, Asakusa

Date: 5 Apr 2014 - 8 Apr 2014 (3 nights)

Price: ¥4,650/night per person (~RM 152.00)  

Room Type: 6 Bunks-bed Private Room 

Booked via their website.

We arrive at Tokyo Station from Osaka, hence Tsukuba Express Station is the most convenient.

• Take Exit A1. 
• Turn left to the main road; facing the road take the right side.
• Asakusa View Hotel (landmark I used to locate the hostel) will be on the left side; opposite the road. Take right.
• Turn left after the Panchiko building. 

Wasn't that difficult to locate this hostel. It is quite big & yeah, it's in pink. Dull pink but; still! We got lost upon coming out from the train station, I took the wrong junction. But a good policeman helped us find our way. Albeit the language barrier. 

The lobby are. Desktops with free internet for guests & wifi available at every room for free. This is where we lepak for breakfast & dinner.

Where I met fellow Malaysian on our first night there. I was waiting for the laundry to finish. And that bunches of not-so-bad-looking guys smile at me. One of them wanted to join me at the table but his friends went
"Takyah nak bawa perangai kasanova sampai Jepun kot".  

We arrived just on time for check-in time so yeah we got our room cards (deposit ¥1000 each). Based on my experiences, hostels/motels in Japan are very strict with the check-in time. When they say it's 3pm; then 3pm it is.

Open verandah to the rooms. We got the 1st Floor. Verandah is only covered with thin curtain, so imagine the coldness we encountered every time we came back from the bathroom. Sejuk gigil! 

Our 3 bunks-bed room. They don't have a room that can accommodate exactly five of us. They either have twins room, quadruple room & this. Female dorm consists of 6 beds, but they only has 2 beds available hence I settled with this room instead. 1 empty bed for our belongings. 

Separate bathroom for male & female.

The kitchen. Recycling is a big thing in Japan. So please, throw ur rubbish accordingly.

Laundry room. Detergent is free. But have to pay ¥100 for the washing machine & ¥100 for dryer. Cheap enough for me.

Suggestion by the hostel for guest who wanted to use the subway one-day pass. We didn't pay attention to this as we have the JR Pass & Icoca Card already.

What I like the most about this hostel is its location. Easily accessible through the Tsukuba Express & Asakusa Tokyo Toei Line. Staffs are friendly. They also sell few Halal food at the counter i.e Brahims, Maggi. I bet ada Malaysian buat bisnes while staying as guest. Heater works well too. Both in the room & for the shower. All in all, this hostel has it all. At least for budget travellers like us. In fact, the facilities it has similar to what offered by most hotels. 

Just that I hope they could provide mirror at each room. It's kinda tedious for us (read; ladies) to go back & forth the bathroom just to get ready. Susah mau melawa katanya. 

Would love to recommend this hostel to friends who still searching for a place to crush in Tokyo. BUT untuk yang travel with family i.e budak kecil, aku macam less recommend lah. Unless korang ndak kisah sharing bathroom ni.

p/s Initially, I booked a room at Hanabi Hotel in Shin-Okubo (a Korean town in Tokyo, woot!). It is a family room with ensuite bathroom, kitchen & washing machine. Located merely 5-minutes walking from the JR station. Also very near to a grocery market as well as 7-Eleven next to its building. Alas we have to cancelled the booking as we got a cheaper deal with Sakura Hostel. Kan tight budget, so every Yen counts. Hanabi Hotel looks like a perfect place for those going to Tokyo with family. So, u can check them out. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Chasing Sakura Day 5 - Hiroshima Station / Miyajima Island

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa.

Sambungan from here. 

Naik shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima! Terlewat few hours dari jadual asal sebab si Err sibuk bersushi di Tsukiji! The journey took almost 5 hours(+). Sempatlah lunch macam di rumah sendiri dalam shinkansen.

Asakusa ---> Akihabara via Tsukuba Express ---> Tokyo via JR Keihin-Tohoku ---> Shin-Osaka via Shinkansen Hikari ---> Hiroshima via Shinkansen Sakura

Pengsan! Berapa kali naik turun train sampai aku mau muntah. Luckily it took almost 3 hours from Tokyo to Shin Osaka so bolehlah rest lama sikit dalam train. And another 1.5 hour from Shin Osaka to reach our final destination of the day. Phew! Nasib baik juga station di Jepang ni ada lift facility. Else memang sumpah seranah budak² lain sama aku kalau asyiklah turun naik tangga. Aku yang bawa anak gajah di belakang ni pun sakit pinggang apatah lagi diorang yang sorong beg AF & ada anak gajah lagi. 

Shinkansen ride second time ni, aku bantai tidur. And like the first time, the ladies woke me up when the magnificent Mount Fuji showed himself. Wah sampai dua kali kau tayang muka ah! Kali ni sebab ndak da empty chairs side yang boleh view gunung tu, aku teruslah pecut pi dekat pintu. Cermin lagi besar. Dapat few shots, aku blah. Kasi can pula Ms H pulun snap, dia terlepas masa dari Osaka-Tokyo haritu. She fell asleep. Kami pula al-keji sebab ndak kasi bangun.

"Aku ndak kisah Err, pasni kau kejut aku kalau nampak si Fuji. Kempunan nanti aku tengok gambar kamurang jak."

Gitu kan si Fuji dia panggil. Macam pernah jadi classmate jak dulu.

Alhamdulillah. Thank You Allah. Clearer skies, clearer view! Less geger; paling penting. 

Lunch. Kan cakap buat macam rumah sendiri. Siap buka tin sardin. Nasiblah ndak sembelit sepanjang di sana, hari² ok makan pedas jak kerja aku. 

Along the journey. Sometimes limpas bandar. Hi Meng! Limpas is lalu. Spanish no more. Ngeks.

And sometimes limpas kampung orang. Bertuahnya hidup orang kampung ni, time spring jak boleh cuci mata sakura merimbun. Boleh selca with sakura as background tiap hari.

Again. Rumah semua ala² sama saiz. Design pun lebih kurang. One of the many things yang buat aku sama Ms G wow everytime we passed by their neighbourhood.

Shin Osaka Station. Nampak store ni terus ingat 'kampung'. They have By The Way mart there.

Lost in translation no more. Berlambak electric board with Eng information, mau baca ndak jak. As mentioned in my previous post, for shinkansen with 8 cars only car #1 to #3 have the unreserved seats. So sila queue at the right platform. 

Arrived Hiroshima Station around 3pm. Masa ni semua kelegaan. 

Although we have to take the streetcar a.k.a tram to get to our hostel, at least we know we're in Hiroshima already. Ndak lama lagi boleh sudah taruk anak gajah dalam bilik. 

Just follow the sign to exit the station. Senang kacang pis jak. Every train station ada info board, sesat kalau ndak pay attention jak. 

Double check with the hostel on which tram to take. Ndak pun check website hostel jak senang. Confirm diorang akan bagi direction on how to get there. Our's Tram #1.

Tram station just outside the South Exit of Hiroshima Station. Taxi stand pun sebelah jak.

Our hostel is situated next to Lawson. From the Chuden-Mae Station, it is only a minute away. Pretty convenient & super dekat, yes. 

Let's play the 'teka orang kerja apa' based on their dressing. They ain't primary school students for sure. So our guess was diorang ni budak secondary. Sebab primary students ndak pakai kasut ada heels gitu. 

We arrived at the hostel just in time for check-in. Masuk bilik, rehat lebih kurang...and off we went out. Time is gold when I travel. Mau rest lama, boleh buat malam nanti. Next destination would be Miyajima Island suggested by my blogger friend DJ. Punyalah dia gebang pasal cantik & tenangnya pulau ni even before my trip. 

At first I planned to visit Shukkeien Garden first before the island but since it was already 4pm when we left the hostel, I cancelled the initial plan & headed to Miyajima. I purposely skipped the temples & pagoda in the island. Memang tujuan untuk tengok the floating torii gate & layan sunset.

Chuden-Mae Station ---> Hiroshima Station via Tram #1 ---> Miyajimaguchi Station (last station) via JR train ---> walk to Miyajima Ferry Terminal.

We only paid for the tram from Chuden-Mae to Hiroshima Station; using our beloved Icoca Card. And for the rest of the journey to the island, it's all covered with our dearly JR Pass. Else, we have to pay ¥570 for a combination ticket of the train + ferry. 

It's rather easy to locate where the ferry terminal is once we reached Miyajimaguchi Station. Plenty of signboards.

Access to the ferry terminal is via the underground passage. Good way to burn fats huh. Exercise di petang hari padahal semua adalah kelaparan gaban. 

Mula tu excited tengok matahari yang mau terbenam...sekali aku TERtengok di bawah. Aku ndak da history mabuk laut bagai tapi sejak kejadian naik feri macam roller coaster from Macau to HK haritu, ada sikit fobia. Maka lepas snap few photos, aku duduk diam² di tengah feri. Dalam sejuk beku tu ada hati ah naik terus pi upper deck. 

I stood up upon seeing the Itsukushima Torii from afar. Nasiblah camera boleh zoom super baik so ndak lah aku lagi pening kalau terpaksa pigi tepi deck tu. That's the famous 'floating' torii gate. 

DJ told me about the deer at this island. Mula tu aku macam sceptical mau pigi sebab nanti sedih tengok rusa ndak da tanduk. Tapi aku termakan racun si DJ juga akhirnya. 

Rusa adalah wildlife katanya but they are very friendly. And tame. Tiap kali jumpa, aku bagi salam. Terus diorang datang dekat. Unfortunately kedai semua sudah tutup when we arrived, else boleh lah merasa kasi makan diorang.

Told so, semua tutup. Tapi ntah mana aku baca haritu, it was suggested to visit this island in the late evening. Bila semua orang yang ikut tour sudah balik. Ngam jugalah kami datang lewat, ndak da photobombs merata.

Most importantly, tetap ada view sakura. 

Taken when the sun was about to set. Magnificent view it was. 

Sambil duduk tengok sunset, sambil layan drama sendiri. Muhasabah diri. Bersyukur, merasa berjalan tempat orang. Tengok tempat orang. Other people might not be lucky as I am. Syukur Alhamdulillah. 

Truth is there are times I tend to compare my life with people who are far more lucky than me. I often forget, kalau mau compare pasal rezeki...sila compare dengan orang yang less fortunate than us. Not the other way round. Apa yang Allah bagi ndak kan pernah cukup if we continuously comparing our life with the fortunate people. Suddenly rindu mau layan sunset di Tanjung Aru. Free thing I did back then to soothe my stress. 

Lama aku lepak layan feeling. Masa ni memang masing² buat hala tuju sendiri. Aku turun bawah sikit, dekat sama gigi air gitu. Cuma ndak main sama air laut sebab nanti kasut kotor penuh pasir. Ngokngek. 

Snapped lebih kurang gambar sunset...pastu bergabung balik sama yang lain. Layan group selcas lagi. 

Then we made our move. Singgah the one & only souvenir shop yang still opened at that time. Sejuk gigil masa ni, lepas tulis postcard untuk diri sendiri...aku terus simpan both hands dalam jacket. Whilst waited the rest finished their shopping. Aku sempat rembat FM from Miyajima. A replica of wooden rice scoop. Miyajima is famous for its quality rice scoop. Ms H told me, the cheapest t-shirt of I Love Japan she bought was from this island. Cost only ¥1,300. No wonder lah semua rancak pilih tshirt except for me & Ms G. 

Time to go back to the mainland. Waited the ferry inside the terminal as it was too cold to wait outside. 

Di feri kami duduk dalam kawasan tertutup. Ndak da sudah yang excited mau duduk luar. Gila boleh jadi statue suhu sejuk malam tu. We reached Hiroshima Station 40 minutes later. Dalam itinerary, patut malam tu kami ronda Peace Memorial Park but Ms G suggested to just visit the next morning. Ninja sudah mengigil sejuk time tu. So cancel plan untuk view the park at night. Actually niat mau tengok pokok sakura dengan lampu lip lap. 

Pastu enroute back to the hostel Ms P suarakan idea untuk cari satu Halal restoran that she saw in the brochure the hostel gave us upon check in. Since it was her idea therefore I told her to guide us. Mendera orang kan. From the map given in the brochure, the restaurant should be somewhere near our hostel. Only a tram stop away. Tapi kami pusing the same street dekat few times juga, going back & forth. Sudahlah malam, sejuk...then no one is around for us to ask for the direction. We finally met one guy; hmm actually kami panggil dia keluar from his cafe. Dalam bahasa ayam itik he explained to us. And he said we're at the right area already. So we decided to look once more. 

Alas, hasil kecundang. Gagal misi cari kedai halal. Jadinya kami pun balik hostel. Dekat jak, jalan kaki pun sampai. Stopped by at Lawson. Beli nasi segera & my beloved cafe mocha for tomorrows breakfast. Stok nescafe 3in1 aku makin pupus. Instead of dining outside that night, we had dinner in the room. Dinner cum supper sebenarnya sebab masa tu pun sudah dekat midnight. 

To YOU who think that I travel in luxury. This is how I survived everytime I travel. When I travel I seldom shop till I drop, I rarely dine outside. And reason aku cuma mampu pakai si Fuchy is because I wanted to save more to fulfilled my wanderlust. Get it? So sekian explaination gue. 

Heaven makan nasi panas di kala sejuk...and memang ngam timing sebab perut sudah berkeroncong. Sudah kenyang, semua jadi ular sawa. Habis packing, aku belayar ke alam mimpi. Esok pagi another places are yet to be explored. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Chasing Sakura Day 5 - Tsukiji Market

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa.

Ok Day 5! Tiba² aku rajin update malam ni. 

Intro. Aku & Ms G bangun super awal. Dari second day di Tokyo lagi aku sudah plan mau pi tempat ni. Nasiblah Ms P bijak bestari google pasal that market di awal Subuh 6 April tu.

"Bie, kau nak buat apa gi pasar tu. Harini tutup ah. Ni tulis kat google kata pasar tu tutup every Sat."

Aigoo! Selama aku research pasal that market, ndak pernah pula aku encounter info macam tu. Jadinya, mari sambung tidur. Sebab the night before aku tidur super lewat; around 2-ish. Habis mendobi & lipat baju semua baru aku belayar. 

We still have few days in Tokyo pasal tu aku berani mati tidur balik. Recharged energy sebab pagi tu kami akan tawaf half of Tokyo.

Makanya, on our last day in Tokyo...plan untuk menjejak that market mesti jadi! I told the ladies the night before; I will go albeit I have to go alone. And Ms G told me she wanted to follow because it's her wish to visit the market as well. Wake me up; she reminded me. Malam tu kami pack barang siap² sebab akan check out after balik dari market.

Route kami hari tu;

Asakusa (Tsukuba) ----> Shin-Okachimachi via Tsukuba Express Local ---> Tsukijishijo via Tokyo Subway Oedo Line ---> walk to Tsukiji Market

Orang lain sibuk lah semua pigi kerja; yang kami sibuk mau tengok orang berjualan di pasar. Aku suka tengok Japanese ni; regardless their position in the office semua pun pakai suit. Tiap kali naik train kami sibuk meneka apa kerja orang ni, orang tu. Hampas kan perangai.

Memang ndak plan untuk tengok tuna auction bagai. Sebab belum mampu untuk bangun seawal 4am. Tahan teksi lagi. Tu pun belum jamin akan dapat tempat dalam auction hall tu kan. The auction is limited to 120 visitors daily. Based on my reading, ada yang datang as early as 3am pun still ndak dapat secure tempat. Jadi aku pun pasang niat; janji dapat menjejak sudah cukup. 

It's not like everyday I got to visit this one of world's largest fish market. Grateful I am for the opportunity given. Although hanya boleh cuci mata outside the main auction area; memadailah kan. 

8 April 2014

Tsukiji Market

Ya kami sedar diri. Sampai pun dekat 630am. Of course auction sudah selamat tinggal. 

For more info about Tsukiji Market...read here. 

There are Do's & Don'ts when visiting this market. Specially the inner market where the wholesale business & the famous tuna auction take place. 

Matahari memancar², tanda yang kami memang triple hours lambat for the auction. Ceh! Padahal memang ndak plan kan untuk join. 

Lucky for us though, the market was still busy when we arrived. Nampaklah pelbagai jenis kenderaan berlimpasan; lifting boxes of different sizes. Kena berhati² masa berjalan as to avoid blocking the traffic. Kena sentiasa alert with the surrounding. Jangan bajet tourist sangat sampai kacau kerja diorang; gitu reminder aku untuk diri sendiri. 

Kenapa perlu se-organized ni. Kemas ok. Kemas. And we smell no bau hanyir while walking along the market. Pelik! Pasar ikan, kan? Mana bau yang selalu aku tercium kalau pigi pasar di KK ni. Please ditch statement lupa diri tu Bie. 

Bersih! Super bersih to be exact. I understand that an Inspector from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government supervise activities in the market to ensure the sellers & buyers abide with the Food Hygiene Law. No wonder!

Spotted! Big tuna! Tercapai lah kan impian untuk tengok tuna besar. Berlimpasan jak pun ndak apa. 

And I thought we were late enough to not have to encounter such long queue? Mau masuk makan sushi jak pun!! 

We wander around only at the outer market. Which is a mixture of wholesale & retail shops. And that include restaurants; especially sushi restaurants. 

Mau beli tapi berfikir panjang, mana aku mau tunaikan hasrat berkungfu di dapur as we will be checking out from the hostel that morning. Hostel seterusnya macam ndak provide kitchen. Jadinya, niat pun terkubur.

Most of the sushi restaurants near the main road had pretty long queues in front of the shops. Siap waitress keluar ambil order dari orang yang berbaris tu. So we decided to look farther inside. 

And found this one restaurant. Still kena queue but not as long as the ones we saw earlier. Restoran ni pun penuh masa ni, so we have to wait a bit. Ndak boleh main terjah masuk ok. Sila bersabar tunggu di luar until anda dipersilakan masuk. We waited for a good 10 minutes or so. Macam tau jak kan perut aku sudah bergurindam.

"Bie, kau gi makan sushi takajak. Kata gi tengok pasar ikan je." 
Ms P psycho-ed comment at the picture of my breakfast menu in instagram. Lor, ingatkan memang ndak mau ikut. Nasib lah kan, kami sudah di sana. Sedang menikmati juadah lagi.

Hasrat hati mau duduk depan Ahjussi Tuna tu. Boleh tengok dia buat sushi live. Padahal di KK ndak heran pun sepa buat sushi kau makan tu kan Bie. Lagi jauh duduk dari open-kitchen tu ada. Ala aku mau tengok fresh tuna dia potong guna pisau panjang super tajam! Tu jak tujuan utama mau duduk depan.

Up-close sikit. Caution gila aku zoomed masa ni. Takut kedapatan, naya jak kan nanti kena halau dari kedai. 

My breakfast! Sampai sekarang masih terasa di lidah; gitu kan drama. Ms G ndak makan raw meat, so aku lah yang baham bahagian dia. Literally, aku makan 2 servings pagi tu because she only ate the 6 pieces at the bottom. This plate of sushi cost us 800 Yen. Kami pilih yang paling murah sebab yang lain semua mahal gila. Sob. And miso soup they served was super sedap! Seriously sedap! 

They said; once u get to taste the raw sushi in Japan...u will never stop comparing them with the ones serve here. True enough! Sushi di Jepang fresh & sedap! Totally lain with the sushi yang aku selalu telan di KK ni. Tabahlah hati, bukan senang mau pegi Jepang ni. Mau ndak mau, settle jugalah sama Sushi King. 

After makan...kami tinjau sikit lagi area outer market. Memang banyak retail shops. Even jual telur dadar pun boleh jadi bisnes di sana. Different types of omelette diorang jual; creative gila ndak tau mana jak idea diorang dapat untuk deco telur dadar tu. My greatest regret was I didn't bother to take any pictures of the omelette to show here. Terlampau fokus wow-wee menengok I forgot to take out my camera. Perangai.

"Bie, kata nak gerak kul 9am wei. Ni dah kul 9am korang takbalik lagi."

Tettttttt too carried away with the omelette we forgot its time to go back to the hostel. Nasiblah kan yang lain menunggu penuh tensi di hostel. Sayonara Tsukiji Market, till next time. Manatau tergerak hati untuk join tuna auction pula kan. God knows when. 

On the way back to the hostel, jumpa lori sampah. Terus macam, eh kenapa ndak da bau? Kami selamba jalan tepi lori. Ketawa & bercerita. Ndak da kejadian tutup hidung or u-turn 360' bila nampak lori ni. Malas sudah mau compare nanti terus kena buang negara. Erm, apa barang pekerja tu pakai mask? Oh ok, hygiene katanya. 

Sampai hostel, budak lain belum habis breakfast. Hampas tau kasi paniks aku jak. Siap naik bilik & packing last minute lagi. Settled semua, kami pun check-out. Since beban beg makin berdouble triple berat, I decided to take the train from the Tsukuba Express Station. Dekat sikit jalan kaki. Although the station is 3 levels down, it provides lift. The Asakusa Tokyo Metro station doesn't have this facility.

It's time for another shinkansen ride that morning. We're heading to the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon. Which the bombing marked the end of World War II. 

Yang tu kita continue next entry. Aku ngantuk, mau rest. Esok kerja. Boleh bikin muntah statement.

eryantierdabdulkarim