Shinjuku Kuyakushomae Capsule Hotel, Tokyo

First time staying in a Capsule Hotel in the country where it starts... A no frills place to just sleep, where everyone in the same room shares the common bathroom and all. We chose to stay at the "Women-only" floor which was available in the hotel. Why capsule? We aren't on budget (a person paid about SGD50) but we wanted to experience how it feels to stay in a capsule hotel. Moreover, we reached Japan in the late evening and well, we need to move on to Kawaguchiko early the next morning, then we thought, why not?

After checking in, you will still get your key but is the key to the locker where you can put all your valuables in and lock it. Up to the room, is time to find your capsule for the night. We did not specify or rather we we were not asked whether we would like to have the upper or lower capsule even though the room was not fully occupied. We were given the upper capsule which I guess was good. 

where is my room?!

Climb the steps beside to climb into the pod. Small, but good enough. your pillow and blanket and well, your pajamas (yes, if you choose to wear).

the capsule room

There is a small TV inside the pod, or you can choose to listen to the music. See the handle at the top, pull it down and that's your door (see my opposite roommate, she 'closed' her door). 

all in the capsule

 Here's the luggage/ locker room. Placed your big luggage at wherever you find a space and locked your valuables in the locker.

the luggage room

The shower/powder room was clean. That's very important especially so many ladies used it. All the basic items like toothbrush/paste, towel, hairdryer, toiletries, lotions can be found here. Not bad!

the bathroom

 Explored the common room and there were many vending machines. Fret not for feeling hungry!

the common area and the vending machines

My Verdict:

The place is good but will I return to stay? Well, i guessed once-in-a-lifetime experiencing a Capsule Hotel is enough for me. Not that the place is not good. It has all the essential things that all hotels provide. But for me

• I need more space to place the luggage (do not want to leave it out of sight and unlocked).
• The roommates that day were a bit noisy and I think they returned late at night and noise started to flow especially that we stayed near the shower room, 
• The airflow was not very good. I felt hot in my own pod. 

But if you just want to experience it once, I would recommend this Capsule Hotel as it was in Shinjuku (minutes walk away from the JR station) and was quite easy to find. 

Shinjuku Kuyakushomae Capsule Hotel, Tokyo
(1-2-5 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to, 160-0021 Japan)

Fuunji | 風雲児 @ Shinjuku, Japan

Our first meal in Japan, Tokyo after checking in. Did some research for recommended food at Shinjuku and Fuunji appeared. I had never tried tsukemen before and therefore, here we went. 

Fuunji, a small and unnoticeable Ramen shop hidden on a quiet street near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. 

We were there before dinner time and there was already a queue. 

Outside the shop

There are only bar counter seats and well, the queue was all the way right to the end. Not the best experience to enjoy the ramen as you will feel the "pressure" behind you. But, nonetheless, it was still an experience. 

Just queue

Order was made through the vending machine. Not much of a choice but well, i guessed we did not do much research and thus, we went on to order 2 different Ramen to try.

Food Ticket

Here we went after getting a seat. Passed the food ticket to the staff and waited for our food. This is tsukemen - cold noodles are served separately from the soup. Dip the noodle into the soup and once the noodles soak up the flavors of the soup, slurp away. The broth was really great. 

After you finished the noodles, if your stomach still have room, grab one of the kettles on the counter and pour hot water into your bowl and drink the remaining soup. That's what we observed what the locals did and follow. Must try!!!

tsukemen - cold noodles are served separately from the soup

If you are not game for the Tsukemen, try the other dish which is the Tokusei Ramen. Needless to say, Japan Ramen is yumz...!

Tokusei Ramen

Address:

2-14-3, YoyogiShinjukuTokyo

Boracay Day 5 - Ariel's point

Another checked for my travel bucket list today! Today was the most 'adventurous' day for us. Time for some height and get wet!

The Ariel's point is one of the highlight of the trip. Okay, nothing fanciful for the trip but you get to leap off the cliff and dunk into the sea. Can't get to do this in Singapore, for sure. 

We pre-arranged the trip with the Ariel's point personnel. The day started before 10am where we had to gather at Ariel's House (Whote Beach Station 1) for a pre-trip briefing. This is to safeguard our safety.

After which, we took the boat out to our destination. The service was real good and they provide water and beer (yes, if you want, you can beer all day) throughout the day. The boat ride took about 40 minutes and there we reached. 

Okay, while we had to pluck up our courage to do the 5 meters jump, there were fellow tourists who took the plunge at the 15 meters. Kudos to them, for sure. 

There we stood to do our jump. I'm glad I did both the 5 & 8 meters dip and okay, leave the 15 metres for my next trip there!

Cliff dive plank @ Ariel's Point

Besides cliff dive, you can also do other activities like suntanning, kayaking, snorkelling or just swim and relax!

A buffet lunch was included in the 2,000 pesos cost. 

The other activities

The day ended at around 5pm and well, it's our last night at this beautiful island. Have another look at how the sunset paints the background for the night.

Sunset, yet again!

Time for our last dinner and it's time for seafood at 'I love my backyard'. This restaurant is situated in the centre of D'mall. Not very hard to find but believe it, it is very hard to get a table. We tried once but could not get a table immediately. So this time round, we waited for half an hour before we had our butt seated at this restaurant. Great dinner to end off the day and to round up the trip.

Seafood platter @ I love my backyard

I will be back, Boracay!

Hanoi Day 7

City tour round the Hanoi city before we headed home!

Hanoi Day 6

After the wonderful sleep on cruise, we headed to some kayaking for a morning exercise. Very relaxing!

Back to Hanoi City and we went for a food tour. A travel is never complete without trying what the locals enjoyed. Here we went and eat!

Hanoi Day 5 - Halong Bay

Overnight train back from Sapa to Hanoi was not that smooth as the first night, but nonetheless, it was an experience for me. The boss from the travel agency came to pick us up and brought us back to his place. 

Here, we repacked our bag to bring new clothes to Halong Bay. It was really great to engage this service as we did not have to lug our luggage around the places. 

Van ride to Halong Bay was smooth. I heard a lot on Halong Bay, the new 7 wonders of Nature. I was actually looking forward to the cruise stay and of course, the amazing view.

Let's the pictures below tells the stories!

Hanoi Day 4 - Sapa

3rd day at Sapa and we took another half day trek. The view was different and maybe as we had enough rest, this trek was much better than what we had on Day 1. 

After the trek, we went to the city centre to walk.

Goodbye Sapa, you have been good to us. No rain when we visited and the weather was cooling, much to my liking. I loved the peaceful days we had there and I simply enjoyed the breakfast, lunch and dinner at Sapa Eden Hotel.

Hanoi Day 3 -Sapa

Hello SUN, how beautiful was you when you rose from the horizon. I simply love sunrise, for no reason. I was not expecting a sunrise view for this trip, at least not at Sapa. 

Sunrise View from Sapa Eden Hotel

Off to the Sunday Market. This was a wrong move, I guessed. The road was bumpy and I was a little disappointed by the Market. I think we took almost 2 -3 hours there and we only spent like less than an hour to comb the whole place. Not the best market I visited, but nonetheless, I saw the cultural side of the tribes in Sapa - Vietnam. 

Lunch was served once again, and this meal was well, oily and the Vietnamese coffee was sweet. Too sweet for a liking.

A least unexpected trip was bringing us to the border between Vietnam and China. Cross the border and welcome to China. The only such border I crossed was that between Singapore and Malaysia. And the other I came near to was the DMZ at South Korea. So this would be the third such border for me. Nice~.

The trip ended back at the hotel!

Hanoi Day 2 - Sapa

Rise and Shine and awoke to the beauty of Sapa. 

From the train station, the pick up van took us to the home we called for the next 2 nights - Sapa Eden Hotel. 

This hotel was really great and I love the food there - FRESH and well-cooked. I do highly recommended it anyone who is visiting Sapa. The view from the hotel was amazing too. 

When we reached, we were brought to our rooms and then off to the small restaurant where we had our breakfast. They had a couple of choices, ranging from eggs to pancakes. GOOD!

Sapa Eden Hotel and its view

After the hearty breakfast, it was time to shake off some calories. We went for a trekking trip with the local guide and we went presented with amazing terrains. 

As it rained the night before, the treks were muddy and slippery. So we did had a challenging time, trying to keep the balance. The guide and well, the locals who 'acted' as a trek buddies were always besides you and trying to lend you a helping hand when you needed one. So no worries on that. Just that, at the end of the trip, they brought out their handicraft and you might feel the obligations to buy something from you which you might (well) keep it at home with no use to it. 

Lunch was included in the trip and here we ate, once again. Generous portion of food served for 3 persons.

Lunch Time

Then off again to complete our trek.

Our dinner at Sapa Eden Hotel. Home-cooked food to my delights. I, especially, loved the vegetables there as they were freshly plucked from the farm everyday.

Dinner Time

Sweet corns and potato were never a 'say-no' for trips. And see how they warmed the eggs as well. This was found in the market area near to the city, within 10 minutes walk.

Hanoi Day 1

2nd trip to Vietnam and this time round, to Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. 

The 2-way airport transfer, the arrangement for trains, activities in Sapa and to Halong Bay were done with an agency which I googled on line. Read that the service was great and decided to engage them to help out with the transportation arrangement. This proved to be a good move for us as we worry about the booking of the transportation. Everything was done through email and deposit paid through paypal. That's it. We just have

So off we went and reached Hanoi in late morning. After we reached, the representative from the tour agency picked us up at the airport and brought us to the resting place which we left our luggage at. This was because we were leaving for Sapa on an overnight train and thus, we did not book any hotel for the night. The agency was great that they let out a room at their place for us to leave our luggage and to rest. 

Not to waste the rest of the afternoon resting, we engaged the service of Hanoi Kids which is a student-run voluntary organization organizing English-speaking city tours for tourists. This was great. The 2 volunteers whom we met were friendly and nice. The arrangement was to meet us at the travel agent's place and then, off we went to visit the city. 

We went to the Temple of literature. This place was the first university of Vietnam where the royal exams were held in the past. Then, we went around the city and to the Hoàn Kiếm Lake. A very pleasant place to be at, peace at mind despite the hectic traffic behind. Dinner was at a roadside stall which the volunteers recommended. First taste of the famous pho in vietnam. Yumz.  

Temple of Literature

Walking around the city

The beauty of the Hoàn Kiếm Lake 

Chicken Pho

Time to board the night train to Sapa. It was a comfortable ride, at least to me. I slept through the ride!