The Life Hostel and Bar Lounge, Fukuoka review

Picking a place to stay in Fukuoka was surprisingly harder than I thought. I was initially torn between staying in Hakata, Nakasu or Tenjin area as all three were busy areas with easy access to the subway stations. There were also many nice hostels in Fukuoka and even a hostel with cats! But ultimately, I had to remind myself of the whole point of the accommodation and after much debate with my mother, settled for the Life Hostel and Bar Lounge, in the heart of Hakata.

Centurion Ladies Ueno Hostel, Tokyo

I have stayed basically all over Tokyo at this point from Asakusa to Shinjuku to Ikebukuro to even Shibuya and no area has enticed me as much as Ueno. With a park, a zoo, a shopping arcade that was bustling from day to night, a plethora of food and multiple stations to get around, Ueno easily became my favourite part of Tokyo after picking it to set up my base for one week after my adventures in Hokkaido.

Grids Sapporo Hotel and Hostel review

Hokkaido was the first stop of my two months in Japan and after three weeks of WWOOF-ing in Hidaka, I headed to Sapporo for the 69th Sapporo Snow Festival. The last time I was in the city, I stayed at the Khaosan Sapporo hostel about a ten minutes walk from Susukino station and five minutes from Tanukikoji shopping arcade. However this time, I couldn't get a last minute booking at Khaosan hostel which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I ended up booking at Grids Sapporo Hotel and Hostel.

Kagelow Mt Fuji Kawaguchiko Hostel review

I really didn't want to blog about this place. Mainly because I want to keep it all to myself. But that would be irresponsible of me as a writer and also unfair to the hostel because I did love my stay at Kagelow Mt Fuji Kawaguchiko hostel.

To my understanding, Kagelow was once an old Japanese inn turned into a modern day hostel for backpackers. It was a 10 minutes walk from Kawaguchiku station, depending on which way your Google maps takes you. Kagelow was located smack between Mount Fuji and Kawaguchiko Lake and on two of the three mornings I was there, I could glimpse the mountain from my dormitory bed.

Imano Tokyo Hostel, Shinjuku review

Shinjuku is the home to Kabukicho aka Golden Gai and of course, the hub of the busiest station in the world. Staying within the vicinity of Shinjuku means access to almost every part of the city and even to the outskirts. It is also easily accessible to and from Narita and Haneda airports via train and bus.

On my recent trip to Japan for a Spartan Race, I stayed at Imano Tokyo Hotel, a 10 minutes walk from Kabukicho. For only 7,533yen (RM280 est as of Oct 2017), I got myself a bed in the 4 bed- female dormitory room for two nights.

30 in Japan: Kamakura and Enoshima [Day 1 and 2]

I am officially 30 years old. I am officially in my 30s now. I am..still mentally in my 20s so basically nothing has changed.

Except achieving one of my dream of spending my birthday in Japan. Like any true Japan-fan, a birthday getaway to the Land of the Rising Sun was the goal and on my 30th birthday, I was in Japan at the top of Mouth Fuji.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start with the first town we visited upon arrival in Japan during our trip on 1-9 July (summer season). Kamakura was beautiful, peaceful even except on weekends when it's becomes the ideal beach getaway destination for visitors from Tokyo. I booked our two night stay at Webase Hostel Kamakura, near Yuigahama beach and two train stops away from Kamakura station.

Webase Hostel Kamakura, Kanagawa review

After a comfortable 7 hour flight and a one night stay at First Cabin Haneda airport (a comfortable capsule-concept hotel which I blogged about before), I was ready to head down to Kamakura. I had booked my group near Yuigahama beach at a rather new hostel, WeBase Hostel. Upon arriving it was clear that the better term should be postel.

source: tripadvisor

Kamakura was a popular seaside destination for international AND local tourists with Enoshima Island within easy access. Yuigahama on the other hand was blissfully void of people and WeBase was the ideal base for us to start our adventures in Kamakura.

Khaosan Tokyo Origami Hostel review

When looking for a place to stay in Tokyo, I came across the Khaosan hostel branch. With Asakusa as their center point of their hostels, I was intrigued by the thought of staying in the older downtown area of Tokyo and furthermore a friend highly recommended it. I opted for Khaosan Origami hostel, located in the quieter section of Asakusa, right behind the iconic and beautiful Senso-ji temple.

Khaosan Origami was about a 10 minutes walk from the train and subway stations of Asakusa. While lugging suitcases might be a bit troublesome, the walk to and from the hostel was rather nice as I got to really soak in the bustling crowd and colours of Asakusa's food and attractions during the day and the quietness stillness of that same area at the night.

Bangkok 2014 - Lub D hostel, Siam Square

On my previous trips to Bangkok, I have had the privilege of having a working parent located there and that meant free accommodation at fancy serviced apartment and for a brief time period, a driver to drive us around the city. 

Fast forward three years later, said parent has returned back to Malaysia and I have not visited Bangkok since. Well, until recently, when I had an insatiable urge to revisit the city. And also to visit a  husky cafe there *insert excited scream*

Anyway, without a luxury apartment waiting for me, it fell to me to find a place to stay in Bangkok. Fortunately my trip to Japan has turned my preference towards hostels as a means of a budget accommodation and after asking around amongst friends and family, I opted for Lub D, Siam Square (www.lubd.com) for my 5D4N trip to Bangkok in December 2014.

Japan 2014: Namba guesthouse (NUL-Live.com House), Osaka Review

On my mom's recommendation, I stayed the last leg of my Japan 2014 trip at Namba Guesthouse (NUL-Live.com House). My mom who stayed there a few months early and during that time, helped me secure a room for my group, told me of its friendly owners, its ideal location, the cosy accommodation and finally, of its resident cats.

CATS! That immediately sold the guesthouse to me and prior to my trip, I promptly cancelled my booking with a hostel in Shinsaibashi and reconfirmed my booking with Saito, the owner of Namba Guesthouse.

We arrived in Namba station in Osaka coming from Kyoto after a short stop at Nara and quickly found our way to Namba Guesthouse. The accommodation was only a 5 minutes walk from the main transportation hub of midtown Osaka and just a stone-throw away from otaku and technie heaven, Den-Den Town. .

Japan 2014: Hana Hostel Kyoto review

When I was researching for accommodations in Kyoto, the name Hana Hostel Hybrid Inn popped up a lot and after reading up reviews on the place and checking its prices, I was sold.

Whether you are traveling in a group, in pairs or alone through Japan and on a budget, Hana Hostel and its sister hostel, J-Hoppers have the dormitories and private rooms to suit your needs. For my group of four, I booked us a private bunk bed room that came up to about 8,400 yen (RM270) per person for three nights. 

Japan 2014: Yume Nomad Guesthouse, Kobe review

For my recent trip to Kobe, Japan, I opted to stay at the brand new Yume Nomad Guesthouse in Shinkaichi. The hidden on-a-hillside little guesthouse was barely a year old and already it was a popular choice for foreign tourist, my group of four included. I booked a room for four about seven months ago on account that I was traveling there at peak period and got a quick reply from cafe manager, Bunn, confirming my booking.

Location-wise, Yume Nomad is three stops away from the main transportation, entertainment and shopping hub of Kobe which was Sannomiya. To get to the guesthouse by train, there are two train lines you can take which are the Seishin-Yamate subway line or the Hankyu line where you get off at Minatogawakoen station or Shinkaichi station respectively.

Japan 2014: Osaka on a Budget

Contrary to popular belief, Japan is actually not an expensive country to visit. "But but but but, it's expensive! Hotels, food, getting around! They cost a bomb!" you may protest.

But they really don't. And I am going to share with you my tricks to traveling cheap and cheerful in Japan.

1) Stay: When in Japan, live as the locals do. 
If you can forget 5 star hotels or even forgo the word 'hotel' in your mind, you will find hostels and guesthouses that will serve you just as well as your home away from home. Hana Hostel in particular is a popular and well-known chain of hostels or hybrid inn, all around Japan.

 

Most of these hostels also provide free wifi, complimentary coffee and tea, free use of their kitchen and has laundry facilities at a small price. You will also get to meet travelers from all around the world in the kitchen, living room and lobby of these hostels and it is great fun.