Hay nag hihinayang ako. I lost some of my Japan phone pics. I have a whole lot more in my phone compared to my camera for those "instant" moments where I don't need to fuss so much about composition, but just to keep a piece of the memory. I think hindi ko nasave yung photos ng maayos sa laptop kong mababa ang memory (Macbook probs huhu). Mabuti nalang talaga most of these pictures and videos landed on my Instagram, IG Stories, or my family's private FB group. The more that I am grateful na I am the real time poster that I am!!
Anyway, moving forward!
We arrived in Tokyo and the sun was already down. It was dark out as I peered through our taxi's window, I think it was even drizzling. It was cold, but not as cold as Hokkaido. Bright lights of Shinjuku greeted us to Tokyo's modern city. I love it, every contrast our next stop is lending us from where we just came from were perfect.
I had my phone's Google Maps out just in case our cab driver starts to do something fishy, but I doubt it coz we're in Japan. As we were nearing the capsule hotel that I pre booked via Agoda, I felt more and more excited and even at home! Hahaha! Welcome to the KOREA TOWN of TOKYO!
I can't count how many times we took the bus that day, it was tiring but I cannot complain how Japan made things a tad bit more convenient for us travellers.
The streets of my chosen capsule hotel, and it wasn't even intentional, was in Tokyo's Koreatown! There were nights when I kept forgetting I was in Japan while shopping for Kpop merch haha!
Entrance to our capsule: 9H Nine Hours Capsule Shinjuku. Malayo pa pala sya sa Shinjuku Station.
Why book in a capsule accommodation?
More than the rate per night, I really wanted to experience Tokyo's capsule before I get any more older na hindi ko na sya kayanin or baka maging mas maarte nako HAHA. Adventure sya for me right now. All the guest houses and dormitory set-up I have experienced in Korea are THE SAME with this capsule experience: You get a solo bed with curtain, along with other female guests in one room. Toilet and shower are separate, plus lockers are provided per guest.
The difference lang is the layout of the floor, yung lockers are all outside your room so I think that's a good thing since you can freely open your luggage without waking up or annoying your roomates. Another difference is REQUIRED na mag check-out EVERYDAY here in 9Hours, and payment is made PER DAY too. But reserved ko naman na our beds via Agoda, and hindi naman pala sya as hassle as I thought since dumadaan naman talaga kami sa reception area daily.
This is where we check-out in the morning before leaving, and then check-in again at night after touring the whole day. We get the same bed and locker padin naman during our whole 3 nights stay. Plus, we get new supplies din including clean towels daily.
More than the rate per night, I really wanted to experience Tokyo's capsule before I get any more older na hindi ko na sya kayanin or baka maging mas maarte nako HAHA. Adventure sya for me right now. All the guest houses and dormitory set-up I have experienced in Korea are THE SAME with this capsule experience: You get a solo bed with curtain, along with other female guests in one room. Toilet and shower are separate, plus lockers are provided per guest.
The neat floor plan of 9Hour Capsule Shinjuku's 6th floor (where Cea and I were staying) :
The difference lang is the layout of the floor, yung lockers are all outside your room so I think that's a good thing since you can freely open your luggage without waking up or annoying your roomates. Another difference is REQUIRED na mag check-out EVERYDAY here in 9Hours, and payment is made PER DAY too. But reserved ko naman na our beds via Agoda, and hindi naman pala sya as hassle as I thought since dumadaan naman talaga kami sa reception area daily.
This is where we check-out in the morning before leaving, and then check-in again at night after touring the whole day. We get the same bed and locker padin naman during our whole 3 nights stay. Plus, we get new supplies din including clean towels daily.
Some of the photos I am using in this post are from Agoda listing na, sorry! :( Again, lost some phone photos and mostly Tokyo photos to huhu.
I love 9Hours aesthetics! Very clean and minimalist:
We get a new net bag every time we check in. It contains the following, except the shaver (baka sa boys lang). So that's a bedroom slippers, a bath towel and small towel, and a toothbrush with small toothpaste. We return the empty bag to the reception every check-out, dirty towels go to a bin in the shower area (no need to dry them you get a new one daily).
At the back of the reception area is the common room. It looks really pretty, day and night! Very spacious too! This is where Cea and I brought our luggage on our last night para maayos yung pag pack namin. We occupied that huge seating area, and no one even bothered to care!
The view of Shinjuku is so pretty:
We also stayed here on our last night just to eat + social media, haha:
There are three elevators in front of the reception desk. One is to go down the building, and the two is to separate men and women. Nun day 1 namin ni Cea we almost took the elevator for the men's floor and noticed na wala dun yung 6th floor where our sleeping pods are located, haha! Kaya pala ang weird ng tingin samin ng mga lalaki nakipag unahan pa kami pumasok haha, but may isang guy na nag explain na it's only going to men's floor! 😅😅
The moment the elevator door opens, you'll see a full gray area which is the locker room:
Neat level 100!
Locker hallways are small so it was difficult to go through our luggage lalo kung may katabi ka din na nag aayos. Strategy is key! I made sure to take out my "Tokyo packing cubes" and placed them na on the second layer of the locker. My luggage was kept at the lower area and hindi ko na sya binuksan till our last day. The top layer of our locker is dedicated for our shoes / slippers.
They gave us a plastic card (same as former MRT card) to tap and open our assigner lockers.
The black net bag they lent us with the bedroom slippers, towels, and toothbrush. It also held my other things like clean clothes and vanity kit.
There's a sink and 3 toilet cubicles located on our floor, but shower room is on another floor. The net bag came in handy during our bath time since we had to carry a lot of things.
Don't worry about public toilet cubicles when you're in Japan:
The 7th floor, where lots of shower and toilet cubicles are located. Again, this is for women's only. Each shower cubicle is divided to your dressing area with lots of space for your dry towels and clothes (so you don't have to worry about wet clothes), and then a separate glass door leading to the shower area itself (shampoo and body wash are provided).
Meanwhile, the sink area have tall mirrors on both sides, and by end of the counter there's a space where girls dry their hair (hair dryers are also provided) and put on their skincare or makeup.
Cea and I were assigned on top bunks, side by side. Sobrang well-decorated nya noh, you will barely notice the black stairs leading to the upper capsules. It was difficult to close the blinds of the top bunk when going out and naka lambitin ako sa hagdan, haha! But I got used to it eventually--just as well as with the whole capsule system.
On the far side of the pod are two tiny tables where you can place your essentials like a phone or maybe your lip balm or hand cream, your personal light and its switch are camouflaged by the black U shaped design, and there are 2 USB ports for charging.
Nung una kinabahan ako na walang usual saksakan, even for Japan electrical sockets!!! I went down to ask the receptionist since I cannot last three more days ng hindi nag chacharge! 😨 Ang nakaka aliw with this minimal design is you just twist the usb part and a socket for normal plugs will show up like magic! Haha! I hope no traveler stayed here and did not discover this!!
It was pretty warm at first, but eventually lumamig din yung room.
From hotel in Sapporo to hostel in Tokyo! I think my sister adjusted to both naman quickly, and she said super kaya naman! Yehey!
PROS
1) Near train station JR Shin Okubo. Also very easy to find via Google Maps or Waze.
2) So many convenience stores and Korean shopping in the area.
3) Clean and complete for a guest house. They provide towels daily, so you don't have to think of where to dry your wet towels.
4) Spacious lockers and sleeping pods. Even my 30-40kilo luggage fits my assigned locker (or you can leave it at the reception if di kasya). Pod is spacious even for a plus sized girl like me.
5) Staff are all pleasant and accommodating to all my concerns and questions.
CONS
1) You have to check out and check in daily. But this just means you get to stay in a clean room and bed daily, too.
2) Shower is located on a separate floor.
3) It's a bit expensive for a capsule, averaging for about Php 1700-2000 per pod per night.
4) It is still a bit far from airport bus in Shinjuku Station, so we took the taxi pa na medyo mahal for the distance.
5) Ventilation is not so good compared to other hostels I've tried.
Ah, to share unique travel experiences to family! I am glad Cea enjoyed her first capsule experience--which is in a way still something new to me even for a Tokyo 4th timer! Next time I will look for pods with its own TV, haha!
I have no regrets for posting all these pictures on our family's groups, and all the videos I flooded on my IG stories. Imagine having left with no videos or photos to share from this trip when unreliable gadgets get wonky. Did you ever experienced losing photos of your trip???
You can book for 9 Hours Capsule Shinjuku here.
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