Tokyo Accommodation: Sakura Hotel

Possibly my biggest regret in the Tokyo trip was not booking Sakura Hotel earlier, before all the rooms were booked. Because of that, we had to stay in several dingy hostels and move out a couple of times too. Only after moving into Sakura and finding out they had very affordable hostel beds (3000 yen, $35~ per night, very cheap in Tokyo standards), i was like lajfdghlkajhgajg noooooooo should have planned way earlier.

Anyway, we moved in on D6 to Sakura Hotel @ Hatagaya. I really really like this hotel although it was a little pricey, for a lot of reasons! Actually I think i’m going to talk about it just a little bit in this post. The previous hostel i stayed in was dingy and small with a gross toilet, mainly because it was kinda cheaper like 3000 yen per person for a twin bedroom, but i don’t want to talk bad about it since the owners were really nice so I’ll leave that hostel out altogether.

On to the main point! Sakura Hotel!

Sakura Hotel entrance

We got the twin room which turned out to be a room for 3 people because one double bed and one single bed. No wonder it was so damn expensive. i checked out the site and it’s actually really cheap for a hostel room (3000 yen)! It’s not available for all of its branches but still, they’re all pretty convenient.

Sakura Hotel is available in:

• Ikebukuro
• Hatagaya
• Jimbocho
• Asakusa

We stayed in Hatagaya and Lineatte Karin Gershwin stayed in the one at Ikebukuro!

The single bed!

The double bed!

We paid like… $120-ish if i’m not wrong! For 3 people that’s about $40 per night for this ‘twin’ bed. Misleading term tsk.

I’d think this is the best deal for a hotel/hostel you can get in Tokyo where accomms is very very very expensive. Have to book early though. We couldn’t stay all the way in Sakura because we booked too late. At least one-two months in advance would be recommended because Sakura is really popular.

They also have this really nice lounge area downstairs with cheap coffee (though not spectacular) and other beverages~

Sakura cafe

The menu!

They also offer free breakfast for less than $5. It’s not supposed to be anything amazing because there are plenty of really amazing affordable hostels in Korea that offer free breakfast, but still, after the dingy hostel we stayed at previously, Sakura was like a breath of fresh air!

During breakfast time

For more info about Sakura Hotel: http://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp/

Tokyo’s Themed Cafes: Owl & Parrot Cafe

Japan is notorious for having lots of themed places, such as cat cafes or maid cafes. One of the cafes i hadn’t heard before until a friend posted about it was an owl cafe. Seems like it’s not very uncommon and there are more than one cafe in Tokyo, but nevertheless here’s my post about the one that we went to in Asakusa!

We actually stumbled upon it by accident on a lazy day where we wanted to just relax at a Starbucks at Akihabara that night. More like my brother going to shop at Book Off and me going to Starbucks to do what i do best – surfing the net. And maybe blogging. So yep, after catching dinner at Asakusa and about to head to Starbucks, we accidentally saw this cafe!

i creyed when i saw the sign and knew i had to go in

 

We were debating whether or not we should pay to go in, it’s 1000 yen for half an hour ($12) but you don’t have to get a drink. It’s a really small cafe anyway there wasn’t any place to sit and enjoy your drink. After seeing the owls though, we decided to just pay and try~ So in we go!

To the left of the cafe, there was an area where the owls were all stoning at.

 

There was also a rack of jackets that we could put on in case the birds shet on us or something. I found out later on that the jackets were very necessary for the parrots. The owls were very calm and half of them were falling asleep anyway hahahaha. Super adorable! You can try to get the owls to perch on your arm but you need to push your arm towards their legs a little for them to get the idea. A lot of them just look like they want to sleep though ahhaha.

Selfie w this qt omg T__T

❤

Huuuuuge owl! I’m not going to look up the owl breeds so i can’t give much info on that T.T

The creepy one

The gaze that kills

/judging you

Aw ❤

One of the largest ones~ we found out later on this one was only 2 months old :O

The way they close their eyes into eyesmiles… so much like cats omg.

hello

My favorite one! It was so happy when I petted it~

gross angle of me but my favorite owl looks so adorable and tiny ;~;

And then we went through the door to the parrots area which gave us a warning ‘are you ready?’ I found out very soon why they wanted to prepare us beforehand.

The first thing i saw when i entered omg poor girl LOL

The first thing I saw when I entered was a lady bent over and lots of parrots on her back jumping around and pecking omg. I had half a mind to withdraw immediately but stepped in bravely, and was greeted by a parrot who perched on top of my head and starting to make a nest out of my hair or smth idek ;A;

This was when it became necessary to wear the jackets they provide lmao. I’m not sure if any of them pooped on me, i don’t think so…??

 

parrots everywhereeeee

These birds aren’t scared of humans at all and they basically see you as new perching spots. Not for the weak-hearted. But the owls are okay for the weak-hearted i think, except that they give you death glares.

The birdkeepers~

The spazzy thingy on my right is actually a parrot on its way to perch on my head ;A;

Half an hour flew by really quick and it was time to leave 😦 I found it much more worth it than cat cafe though.

How to get to the Owl & Parrot Cafe @ Asakusa:

We stumbled upon it by accident so I wasn’t sure, but I managed to find the map from another blog! This blog’s review is hilarious and pretty accurate tbh ‘we passed into the larger “parakeet room” and the crazy level went from 10 to Fuck.’ crey

Recommended to visit if you like themed cafes or birds! If you’re not that fond of birds but find them cute, just stick to the owls outside OTL.

Tokyo D2: Asakusa

Naturally after the ‘flight day’ it’s an excuse to slack on the second day…….. lol. So anyway we decided to stick around Asakusa because we haven’t actually gotten around to exploring the place we stayed at!

but first lemme take a selfie /bitch voice

 

ok now we’re good to go

Shin Nakamise Shopping Street

First sight upon leaving our hostel!

Bought this really spicy cracker (Y)

Nakamise Shopping Street

THe actual street, not the new one lollll

I liked this street~ although didn’t buy anything but it was a pretty sight.

Sensoji Temple

One of Tokyo’s most famous temples~

The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokitesvara). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 by two fishermen, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa, so that the villagers could worship the Kannon.

Sky looking a little ominous~ architecture is so prettttyyyyy

Street wear is fast becoming my favorite style!! ❤ possibly influenced by Korea’s street styles

you can also read your fortune at the side near the temple. Basically you just shake the metal container until a stick falls out, and match the number on the stick with the drawer. Inside you will see a stack of paper, take one and read your fortune.

Fortune

i got a pretty bad one LOL but it’s okay. I CONTROL MY OWN DESTINY i think

Tying the fortunes~

And when you’re done, you can tie it on the metal poles or drawstrings. Tbh i didn’t really want to keep the paper since it wasn’t a good fortune for me, but it feels wrong to throw it away, so I think it makes sense to tie it there.

#hipster #artistic ?? #photography

Finished walking around and decided to grab some green tea ice cream~ it was tasty although i found the one at Boseong strangely nicer, considering Japan’s famous for its green tea in general. But my argument is flawed cuz i’m basing all of this on one shop each…

Japanese trishaws along Asakusa!

The diagonal crossing type roads in Asakusa~

Asakusa Sumida River

Sumida is just a short walk away from the Asakusa district, and you can see the Sky Tree from there! I didn’t bother going to the tower though ㅋㅋ

Over Sumida River~

It was a pretty sight if you go down to the water area where the boats are!

On the same day, we actually visited an owl and parrot cafe but I want to separate that post and categorize it under one of Japan’s fascinating sub-cultures~