❀✿Hana Journal by Hana Hostel❀✿

Kyoto Hana Hostel is on-air

2012-01-27T10:02:00.003+09:00

The other day, there was a talk of a radio appearance from KBS Kyoto.

It was an interview of the radio car segment on the KBS radio's program named "Moriya Takeo no Osewaninarimasu!!". The program broadcast between 12:00 and 14:00 from Monday to Thursday.

One of our guest Giuliana who happened to be present also has been interviewed. Although she has rather emerged at center stage.

My tone was very low and sounds like a business presentation without interest. But Tamtam saved me with a piece of paper written "Too Serious!".

Manga Cafe

2012-01-24T16:03:00.012+09:00

Belated HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
It is the year of 'DRAGON' in Chinese astrological calendar.

Anyways, one of the thing that Japanese is so famous about and should be proud of is MANGA/ANIME. It is also known as a Japanese culture.
I have met a lot of MANGA fans from all over the world at Kyoto Hana Hostel. And I am one of them.
There is also a girl who is big fan of manga at Kyoto Hana Hostel. She sometimes talks about manga cafe and what manga is 'HOT' right now.
Finally She and I went to manga cafe the other day! I had not been there for a while, thus I was super surprised how fun place it was!!!
I know that a lot of people have mentioned about manga cafes on the internet already. But I could not not talk about it now!! Because I was totally astonished and had a fantastic time there.
We went to the one which locates around SHIJO KARASUMA area.

They have a different rank of seats such as counter seats and private sofa seats.
Seats price includes variety of unlimited refillable beverages such as pops coffees and soups.

We took a second cheapest seats.

It was very cozy and enough space to enjoy reading manga!!
I really really really liked their food varieties ! They have great choice of food with a great value!

My friend had a rice bowl with hamburg.

I had a toast. (I am a toast lover!!)

Ooooops!! What manga I had have been reading!? LOL

I had a really really great time even though we did not talk at all as if the other was not exist,and just kept concentrating on reading!!haha

Wish for your great year 2012!!

Why don't you go to the Mazda car factory tour in Hiroshima♪

2012-01-18T20:43:00.005+09:00

Hi there!
you remember Mr banzai been?
He came back to Hiroshima again.

He joined Mazda car factory tour yesterday , I asked him about the tour because I have never done it.

Mazda museum

This tour is good for learning about the Mazda cards and history.
It was 90min tour . The guide was very friendly, knowledgeable and informative about Mazda.

Tour is free!
Mr been was very satisfied and knew something about Mazda.

I asked Mr been " What was his favorite car' He answered , any car with the tour guide ♪　which means...He liked tour guide more than the car...

any,way he strongly recommend this tour to anybody!!

It takes about 5min from Hiroshima station by JR train (sanyo or Kure line).
As you may　know, it just 3mins walk from Hiroshima Hana hostel to JR Hiroshima station♪

Why don't you go to the Mazda car factory tour in Hiroshima♪

♪HAPPY NEW YEAR♪

2012-01-08T19:15:00.015+09:00

it's already 2012!! I'm not still used to it yet.. I still write 2011..

Hi & Happy New Year from Hiroshima HANA Hostel!
How's your new year's holiday? I hope you all had great one. Had any Japanese style new year?
Such as eat OSECHI, TOSHIKOSHI SOBA and so on.

Osechi is traditional Traditional Japanese New Year food.
The dishes that make up osechi each have a special meaning celebrating the New Year.

Ex:Kazunoko (数の子),(Herring roe) Kazu means "number" and ko means "child." It symbolizes a wish to be gifted with numerous children in the New Year.

Soba (buckwheat noodles) eaten on New Year's Eve is called toshikoshi (year-bridging) soba in Japan. It is a tradition to eat soba on New Year's Eve since soba has the meaning of longevity.

Traditional Japanese New Year food has many special meaning, you will find out it is very interesting to know! If you missed it this year, please try it next year!!

Happy New Year to all the guest who stay at any HANA Hostel and J-Hoppers!!
Looking forward to seeing you again!

Oyster Hut

2011-12-31T19:05:00.008+09:00

One day we went to Hiroshima port to have oysters.
Oyster hut is open in winter time, lits like a prefab house in the middle of the part next to Hiroshima port. That's the place we are looking for. Hiroshima has the largest catch of oysters in Japan. It's said that Hiroshima has 60% of all oyster catches in Japan. So people live in Hiroshima like to go to this place to have oysters in reasonable prices.

We went in to the place and we choose stuff to grill. We choose 2 portions of oysters(about 10 oysters in 1 portion), oyster seasoned rice, potato with butter, and of course beer. They cost us about 4000 yen for two of us.

We started grilling.

For some reason oysters got explosive while grilling the oysters. oh!

it was soooo goood .. really good with beer and sake～ oh~
We would definitely recommend this place if you like oysters!

We hope you have wonderful happy new year!

Kyoto Food Market

2011-12-27T16:01:00.011+09:00

Nishiki Market is located in the middle of Knoto city and best spot to get souvenirs and you can see a lot of unique Japanese food and ingredients. This market is the oldest Market in Kyoto. The first store opened at early 1311.

This Market is 130m long,many stores sell Japanese pickles which is flavored in different ways. The vegetables are sold at the Market are mostly produced in Kyoto. Even a pumpkin is pickled!!
If you visit there you might be surprised how colorful those pickles are. Red, yellow,Green, orange,White　and so on..
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　☆Tasting☆

This is "Mame" shop. Mame means "beans" in Japanese.
I like pictures that elderly couple own their shop together at the Market、touches my heart.

This is the candy shop!! i personally recommend the japanese candies for souvenirs because some candies made as Japanese traditional flower and toys.

Roasted (Boiled?)baby Octopus !!
The　small egg is inside of the octopus head. What a funny idea!
I have tried once, it tasted gread but... i felt sorry for biting their head :(

Other than those shops, there are famous japanese iron knives store and of course TO-FU stores represents Kyoto City! This market also has shelter so it is good to go when it is raining.

Spain trip -madrid and sansebastioan-

2011-12-27T08:54:00.002+09:00

It has been freezing cold out side...
I hope you had a great white Christmas!

After I returned from Spain,I required 1 week to get over my jet lag...
but I enjoyed Spain so much!!this is my first trip to Spain.it was fantastic!!
I was a little anxious about traveling alone,but it was fantastic!!Spanish people are so friendly and kind,I love them!

I took about 13hours from Japan to instable and about 3 hours from Instable to Madrid.
It was a long way...I knew so well how our guest feels..

I went directly to the hostel at Plasa Mayol in Madrid.I could see Plasa Mayol in my room.

Then I walked around ,sol,church,royal palace..I found such a beautiful place in Madrid.

I spent 2 days in Madrid then I went to Sebastian to meet my friends INAKI and IVAN.
　
They showed me around the town and took me to montigerud.It takes abotu 20 min to the top by cable car.this picture was taken from the top.

I had a lot of PINCHO there, I went to about 5 bar to have different kinds PInchos.

I took some pictures of a sunset, I have never seen a such a beautiful sanest in Japan.

I have a lot of recommendations in Sebastian.so please feel free to ask me anytime about it.

I was so happy to be there and I spent a great my birthday with my great friends.

Santa Claus @ Kyoto Station

2011-12-26T09:32:00.005+09:00

Merry Christmas★

Although I do not have enthusiasm for Christmas that much individually, Christmas is one of the bi events for kids so we went to meet Santa Claus coming from Finland on the 24th.

The huge Christmas tree installed under the grand staircase of Kyoto Station. Wakasa Seikatsu which is well known as the product company of Blue Berry Eye. Since it was an outdoor event, it was very cold, but the staff were very kind to give hand warmers to the audience.

A petit concert played before Santa Claus appearance. From the right, guitar, accordion and nyckelharpa. Nyckelharpa is a traditional musical instrument of Sweden. It combines both of keyboard and stringed instrument's characters. It was a wonderful tone.

Santa Claus appearance! He took along a blond beauty (elf). He can speak Japanese a little and occasionally say jokes in Japanese. He plays the fool about the color of famous reindeer's nose, was is white ? blue ? or black? and kids tell him the color.

Ceremonial photography. Our daughter is in her favorite strawberry beanie having become tense to see the real Santa Claus even though she calls "Santa-san" whenever she finds vinyl Santa Claus in town. She refused to approach closer stubbornly.... Handshaking and a hug will subjects for next year.

By the way, we are planning to do rice-cake making in the traditional way on the 4th January.

My Engel's law

2011-12-25T11:25:00.008+09:00

Do you know what is Engel's Law(エンゲル係数)?
Engel's law is an observation in economics stating that as income rises, the proportion of income spent on food falls, even if actual expenditure on food rises.
It is pretty known word among Japanese however It may not very known by foreigners.

My Engel's law is very high by the killer.....whose name is IMO-KENPI!!!
It is fried sweet potato stick coated by syrup.
Crispy and sweet but not too much. Mmmmm...Yummy!!!
Please try IMO-KENPI when you come to Japan!
It is easy to find in any super market and good for souvenir!
This is definitely my best snack in 2011!!!
(Incidentally,"Yuki no yado" rice cracker was my best in 2010 :P )

I really wish we will have a peaceful year for 2012.
Merry Christmas and A Happy Happy New Year!
Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo a Todos :)
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo a tutti voi :D

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

2011-12-24T19:05:00.013+09:00

Konnichiwa from Hiroshima HANA Hostel.
We already had snow here. FREEZING..Time for me to go to mountain for snowboarding. I went to snowboarding only 2 times this year so I will try my best to go as much as I can next year to become like a professional!!

TIME FLIES!! Another 8 days to 2012!!!
This year means a lot to me. Many changes in good way. Started working at J-Hoppers, met many wonderful guest and also HANA&J-Hoppers staff, learnt many new things from everything and everyone I met.
Hopefully I have improved myself through whole these experiences.

Many many thanks to all people who I met!!
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

My favorite in December

2011-12-10T17:10:00.011+09:00

Hello everyone!
It got very very cold in Kyoto in this few days!
Finally winter is here!!

Here!! I really really want to introduce my favorite to everyone.
It came into my life couple of days ago.
There is a cafe called 'UCC' around Kyoto Hana Hostel. It is about 3 minutes walk from Hana Hostel.
I have been there for lunch time before, but never been there for breakfast even though I have been telling guests about a breakfast over there.
A couple days ago, because of the party, I stayed over night at Kyoto Hana Hostel. Next day before I started working, I was very hungry. Then my peep (Night staff at Kyoto Hana Hostel) who had been there many times and I finally hit the chance!!
I was sooooooooo shocked that I have never been there before although it is just a block away from Hana! I do not know what it is, but I really really really loved their coffee and a slice of toast!
Their morning menu usually comes with a slice of toast, a little salad, and an egg ( could be boiled, could be a sunny side), and a cup of coffee for around 500 yen.
It is just a regular coffee shop, however it was not for me! Since then I am sooooo obsessed about it.
If you stay with Kyoto Hana Hostel, close to Kyoto station, or even far from it, give it a try!!

This is their tomato, egg, bacon sandwich. This is her favorite!

Here it comes! My obsession! A slice of toast with a cup of coffee!!

OH MY GOD, talking about it makes me really want to have it immediately!