8-bitDesign

Tokyo was a blur.

I’m kinda upset that I’m writing this in retrospect, as some of the shock/awe has worn off, and I’ve only my beleaguered memory to work off of until I can offload the photos from Becky’s camera, but here goes.

We landed in Tokyo, and as we were packing Lite©, we figured we would find accommodations shortly after landing. In retrospect, I don’t think this was a particularly smart decision, but it gave us an interesting look at the country.

So, bags and all, we head off to the nearest Starbucks (”Sta-ba”, to the natives), and hopped on some free Wi-Fi with the PDA. We ran through all the major hostels in Shinjuku, where we’d decided to set up kip, and quickly discovered that there was a concert in town and all the hostels had been booked for weeks. So, what is your enterprising crew going to do, exhausted, confused, and out of place in a foreign land?

Capsule hotel!

Really, words can’t describe this place, so I wish I had my photos to load on here. A capsule hotel is a uniqely Japanese concept of an overnight hotel. Designed for drunk/visiting Japanese sararimen on a budget, a capsule hotel is a hotel full of 7 foot, by 4 foot, by 4 foot “capsules”. Each one features a radio, a clock, and a TV built into the walls, but no effing power-jack (hence my silence).

Claustrophobic doesn’t even begin to describe these things, but for 3800 yen a night, they’re not bad. They even feature a traditional Onsen, or hot bath, upstairs. You know, the kind where a row of men perch on squat stools and wash up with a detachable shower head. Hey, any reason to start my day off with a jacuzzi is good in my book.

Long story short, we landed, found rooms the size of coffins, and I’ve now sen Quinn’s junk. This has all been a surprisingly good way to start the trip.