Moxy Tokyo

Moxy Tokyo Kinshicho is a new (opened November 2017), cheap and cheerful hotel in Sumida, Tokyo.  It’s reasonably priced (for Tokyo), stylish and in a very local neighborhood.  It’s not in a usual tourist spot, so the room rate is about half of what you’d expect to pay for a western chain hotel.  It’s 10 minutes away from Tokyo Station via JR Sobu Line Rapid (Kinshicho Station).

The theme of the rooms is “wood”.  Wood floor and walls.  It’s good the rooms are decorated nicely because they are small. If you are familiar with business hotels in Japan, the Moxy’s rooms will feel like an old friend with new clothes.  The rooms are comfortable for one; tight for two.  Nice firm beds and comfortably warm duvet.  The hotel was built from a former office building so the rooms were designed specifically for the Moxy.  Despite being part of the Marriott empire, this is not a full service hotel.  They do have a nice lounge area and check in/out is handled at the bar.  Also, if you’re feeling peckish, there’s a Mini Stop across the street and local izakayas and eateries up the block.

Unlike a typical business hotel, it has a real bathroom, not one of those injected plastic things.

All the furniture in the room and the TV are hung on one long wall.  As are your clothes.  There’s no closet.  You either have the choice of setting up the table or opening up your luggage.  There’s not enough room to do both unless you put the luggage on the table.  Despite the lack of room in the room, I like this place.  And with SPG merging with Marriott Rewards next year, the Moxy will probably be my go to hotel in future visits to Tokyo.  Or at least until the Muji Hotel opens…

Guesthouse Daughters

One of the neat things about Singapore is that they have programming from many Asian countries on local TV.  Subtitled!

I have never been a K-drama groupie, but there are some shows I like.  Then there are the silly variety shows.  One I started watching (after seeing the first episode in SG) is called Guesthouse Daughters.  It’s funny and it’s aired after hours on KBS.  So the humor is fun and the daughters (and mom) are all famous Korean actresses.

Fun!

 

Musings of a rideshare driver

I’ve not been flying for the past half year.  I decided to get off my butt and make some money.

But with my condition, how can?

By driving Rideshare!  Both Uber and Lyft.  The two services have distinct characteristics.

Lyft: Generally nicer pax, tipping in app, generally pays more.

Uber: Busy (more pax), no tipping policy, pays way less.

So besides the occasional travel and food post, I’ll post anecdotes from the crappy streets of San Francisco on occasion.

Pokemon Go

What’s the big hook about this smartphone game? It’s the thrill of the hunt, both for monsters and for pokeballs. You need the latter to go after the former.

You also need an external battery and unlimited data because this game sucks both. Fun way to get your exercise.  Look forward to hunting when I return to Asia.

X is for X

Today’s entry is a cheat.  X is one of the original punk bands out of LA.  It was one of the first songs I recognized and actually tracked down when I was in middle school. This was part of my formative years.  I still think that this song wraps up Los Angeles in three minutes.