Accomodation - Kimi Ryokan

My accomodation during the whole stay was the KIMI RYOKAN in Ikebukuro. It was just a walking distance from the Ikebukuro station away. Passing by lots of karaoke bars, pachinko parlors I reached the ryokan which was just a tiny unremarkeable-looking house laying in a quiet side street.

Check out: http://kimiryokan.jp

The ryokan really is an insider tip! I read about it in one of my guidebooks which recommended to make a booking as soon as possible. It turned out true as all rooms were fully booked only a few days after I made my booking. Although I booked more than half a year in advance.
The price for one night was 4.500 Yen (about 33 Euro!) which is extremly cheap for being in the heart of Tokyo! (Ikebukuro Sunshine City was as well just a walking distance from me)
If you don't need a lot of comfort and just search for a place to calm down in the evening after an eventfully day, you'll be happy with this housing!
The staff was extremly kind. The ryokan was neat and clean and unbelievable idyllic. I swear, you will forget beeing in a city with more than 9 million inhabitants!

The ryokan was a very old-looking and traditional house. The whole floor was covered by dark-wooden parquet. At the entrance you had to take off your shoes, put them into a shelf and wear slippers instead. A sliding door leaded into the lounge which was, again, neat and clean but for me typical japanese and therefore perfect. Check put the photo down below.

My room was at the third floor and basically consisted of not more than a bad, a table and a place to put my clothes in. You were given a Yukata with a proper obi and a towel. You were able to by the Yukata at the end of your stay for about 2.400 Yen (~ 18 Euro). I didn't buy one though, but by now I begin to regret this decision :(

This was my bed.. Well, if you call it like that. It was really hard and uncomfortable and probably the worst about the Ryokan. I alway slept on the one half of my blanket to have it at least a bit more softly.

           

For the ten days I stayed in Tokyo, this room was proper for me. In my opinion you can save most of the money when choosing an accomodation. It doesn't need to be extra super special. You won't spend a lot of time there anyway as you are there to explore the city.

At the very end I'm sharing a picture of me wearing that yukata ^o^
Next post will definitely be about my trip to Ikebukuro!

Day 1 - Let's head to Japan!

I then started my journey to Tokyo on Friday morning 19th of September 2014 at 10:40 am departuring from Hannover airport. With me a huge suitcase, a bagpack and tons of sheets of papers with maps of Tokyo's districts I wanted to visit including every possible access from every station nearby. MAYBE that was a bit too prepared.. ^-^'

My airplane from Hannover to Istanbul

After I gave in my luggage I flew from Hannover to Istanbul within 4 hours by Turkish Airlines. Great airline. I highly recommend. Very kind and courteous. Warm meal was included and you always could choose between two offers which, no matter what, was always pretty delicious. Meal always came with entry and dessert. Moreover at the beginning of every flight turkish nougat was handed out among the passangers. SUPER DELICIOUS.

At Istanbul airport I had to change the airplane and in the meanwhile I killed time exploring the airport and eating a super expensive croissant for about 4 or 5€. 

Reaching the terminal where the airplane for Tokyo was about to depart I immediately was surrounded by Japanese who took their flight back from vacation or similiar. I was excited for the very first time because I realized what I was about to do. Leaving my country on my own for the first time, heading to a country I have never been before, is located on the other side of the world and whose language I dont even speak.

When I entered the plain I got excited again. The plain was super modern, at least what I experienced so far. Just take a look at the pictures! Every passanger had a display for himself for watching movies or playing video games!

Istanbul from above                                            My seat in the plane     

The plaine departured at 5:10 pm from Instanbul heading to Tokyo. I was about to experience a flight of about 10 hours length where I couldn't sleep more than two hours due to the noise and sitting position.

When we were supposed to sleep the staff told us to shade the windows so it became nearly fully dark. About two hours before landing the staff woke us up by some kind of "light show" :D Check out the video! It was really pretty :)

After landing when entering the Narita Airport we were welcomed by two japanese flight attendents whose only job was saying "Thank you for flying with us" and showing us the way.

Next was customs and grabbing the luggage. I exchanged my money at the airport itself right after I got my luggage. 

I used the Heiwa Kotsu Bus from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station for only 1.000 Yen (~8 Euro). 

I highly recommend it. Check out: http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/

The access wasn't displayed on the departure timetable. I guess it's because it is some kind of 'inofficial bus service' because it's so cheap. The cheapest bus services that were displayed were about 3.500 Yen each ride. So it turned out pretty useful that I had printed out the map of the Heiwa Kotsu bus stop in advance :-)

In my next post I will write about my accomodation and my first excursion to Ikebukuro.

Da war doch was...

... dachte ich mir heute morgen, als ich wieder durchs Netz gesurft bin, zwischen Asia Fashion Online Shops und Tokyo Street Style Blogs. BLOG! Da war doch was.
"Du hattest doch mal vor Ewigkeiten einen angefangen!", fiel es mir plötzlich ein. Ich wusste damals schon genau, warum ich in den allerersten Post nichts von "Ich werde hier regelmäßig meine Gedanken mit euch teilen" geschrieben habe.

Als ich meinen ersten Post veröffentliche, habe ich ja bereits angekündigt, dass ich in 2014 das erste Mal nach Japan reisen werde. Genauer noch nach Tokio. Ich war vom 19. September bis zum 1. Oktober 2014 unterwegs. Aufgrund der Flugzeiten gingen der erste und letzte Tag jeweils für die An- und Abreise drauf. Somit war ich effektiv 10 Tage dort.

Ich habe schon Monate vorher mit der Planung angefangen. Ich war immerhin drauf und dran ganz auf mich gestellt zum ersten Mal alleine so weit zu fliegen, in ein Land in dem ich vorher noch nie gewesen bin und dessen Sprache ich nicht spreche.

Welche Stadtteile wollte ich besuchen?
Was gab es dort für Attraktionen?
Wie würde ich dorthin finden? Da es in Japan keine Straßennahmen gibt, wie wir es hier gewohnt sind.
Wie viel würde ich an einem Tag schaffen?
Was würden mich Bahn, Eintritt, Essen kosten?

Und das waren nur einige meiner Fragen, die ich vorab geklärt haben wollte. Doch davon mehr in meinem nächsten Post :-)