Cycling around the Imperial Palace grounds in Kyoto. You can even see the big dai “big” character burned into the hill in the distance.

Fun times.

The last time I went to Japan, we stayed at Capsule Inn Akihabara, a capsule hotel. I’d never stayed in one before, so it was definitely an experience.

Capsule hotels cater to salarymen and so are male-only usually, so it can be hard to find one that accommodates women too. This particular one was in a really good location, only a few minutes walk from Akihabara station, and it’s quite clean (eh, everything in Japan is spotlessly clean) and well, exactly as advertised. I felt slightly smug about the fact that the rates for women were slightly cheaper than for men.
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We were in Japan in February, pretty much just after President Obama’s inauguration ceremony, and there was Obama fever pretty much everywhere. Apparently it’s because it is so easy to understand his speeches.

I quite like this Obamaism. It actually looks quite classy, and it feels more like a neighbourhood coffee shop in New York. This cafe was tucked away in Hebi-michi which is this tiny tiny windy quiet backstreet. It starts at the end of Yomise-dori and slopes down gently before straightening up and ends at Kototoi-dori (a pretty big thoroughfare).

The Yanaka/Nezu area sits just north of Ueno. It’s quite traditional without the crass commercialism of Asakusa. It was a pleasure cycling around the area.
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