Adventures of Anette

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Sightseeing in Izu: Sakura Viewing at the Kawazu Sakura Festival (伊豆河津桜まつり)

Anette 11:20:00 PM

Spring is on its way here in Japan, and with spring comes yet another cherry blossom (sakura) season. While it is still too early to see the sakura here in Tokyo there are other places further south in Japan where the sakura already is in bloom, and one of them is Izu, a peninsula to the southwest of Tokyo.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Travel

[Hostel Review] Tokyo's First Owl Hotel - Meeting Hachi the Owl at WISE OWL HOSTELS TOKYO

Anette 7:39:00 PM

These days there are a variety of accommodations opening up in Tokyo that have very specific points of focus. One of these unique hostels is Wise Owl Hostel Tokyo, where - like you might have guessed - you can actually meet an owl. Hachi the owl is waiting for you in the reception, ready to welcome you along with the rest of the staff. I've visited the hostel a couple of times, and had the pleasure of experiencing the atmosphere there first-hand.

Update: Wise Owl Hostels just opened up their second hostel in the Shibuya area. You can check out their availability here.

See also:

All Tokyo Hotel Reviews

Tokyo's 10 best-rated hotels 2017

Tokyo Hotel Special: 20 Grand Opening Hotels 2016 - 2017

Japan's Top 10 Traditional Ryokan Hotels

Top 10 Fancy Tokyo Budget Hotels

Kyoto & Osaka Hotel Special: 20 Grand Opening Hotels 2016-2017

Monday, February 27, 2017

Travel

Nagano: Skiing in the Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort

Anette 7:01:00 PM

Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort is one of Japan's largest ski resorts, and has among others been listed by Powerhounds as one of Japan's best ski resorts based on things like infrastructure, snow and overall value. I've been in Nagano a couple of times for skiing, both in Hakuba and Shiga-Kogen, and this time it was finally time to take a trip to check out the slopes in Nozawa. Part of the 1998 Winter Olympics were held in Nozawa, and thanks to the games you can find up-to-date infrastructure all there to make your skiing as smooth as possible.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Travel

Sightseeing in Nagano: 5 things to do in Nozawa Onsen (野沢温泉)

Anette 11:29:00 PM

It is again ski season here in Japan, and this time I've had the pleasure of trying out the ski slopes in Nozawa, which is an area that is also famous for.. You guessed it right; onsen! Just like Kusatsu where I visited a couple of months ago Nozawa has what they call and onsen-gai (温泉街); a hot spring district within the town. This made Nozawa an extra great ski destination; after a day out in the cold we could all go and soak in the hot spring and at the same time enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the town.

Love hidden gems? Check out Onsen with Hansen — a channel where I uncover some of Japan’s most fascinating traditional ryokan inns.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Tokyohotels

Tokyo Hotels: February 2017 Grand Time Sale

Anette 9:50:00 PM

We're getting close to peak season here in Japan and the hotel rooms in Tokyo are getting booked at a fast pace. Some hotels offer special deals for early bookers, so if you're planning to visit Tokyo this spring you can take advantage of some of the discounts offered by the hotels listed below. Note that the promotion might not be applicable for all days, and that the offers are only available for bookings done before February 27th!

Browse places to stay in Tokyo on Agoda.com. Free cancellation.

Booking period: 20^th – 27^th February

Stay Period: 20^th February – 31^st May

This page contains affiliate links, and if you follow a link and make a hotel reservation through these links you help support this blog without any additional cost to you. Thank you so much for your kind support!

Related blogposts

All blogposts about Japanese hotels/ryokan

Hotel / Ryokan Reviews

All blogposts from Japan

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Travel

Tokyo: Real Escape Room Asakusa - Escape from The RED ROOM

Anette 11:52:00 PM

Escape room games have been gaining popularity in Tokyo during the recent couple of years, and an increasing number of these venues now offer the opportunity to participate in the puzzles using English, making it accessible also to non-Japanese speakers. One of these venues is the Real Escape Room Asakusa, which is conveniently located in Asakusa only a couple of minutes walk away from the famous Sensoji temple. I visited the Real Escape Room Asakusa a little while back with a group of friends, and have written a little bit about my experience below.

*Warning* Some of the images in this post contains potential spoilers for solving the riddle of the Red Room. I have blurred out some of the photos, but if you hover the mouse over these images they will become visible.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Tochigi Prefecture

[Hotel Review] Nikko Astraea Hotel in Oku-Nikko - Nikko National Park

Anette 10:49:00 PM

Ready for skiing. In the background: Nikko Astraea Hotel

During a recent trip to Nikko we had the pleasure of staying a night at Nikko Astraea Hotel, also known as Kotoku Onsen Nikko Astoria Hotel. This hotel is located in Oku-Nikko (奥日光, lit. "inner" Nikko), a place that is situated within the Nikko National Park. With nothing else than forest in sight the location was excellent for enjoying the great outdoors, and for this trip our main purpose of the stay was to try out their cross-country skiing trails (I've written a separate post about cross country skiing in Nikko here).

Friday, February 10, 2017

Travel

Nikko: A Cross Country Skiing Experience in Oku-Nikko

Anette 6:15:00 PM

Although Japan is most known for downhill skiing (you can check out all my blogposts about skiing in Japan here) there are some places where it is possible to try out cross country skiing as well. Last weekend I had the opportunity to try out cross country skiing in Nikko thanks to an event organised in leadership of former ambassador of Japan to Norway, Mr. Kawai. The event took place at Koutoku (光徳) in Oku-Nikko (lit. "Inner Nikko").

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Osaka

Osaka & Kyoto Hotel Special: Grand Opening Hotels 2016 - 2017

Anette 8:05:00 PM

The number of tourists visiting the famous Japanese cities Osaka and Kyoto is increasing rapidly these days, and with the huge increase in number of visitors comes a number of new hotels ready to cater to these tourists needs with their Japanese omotenashi service. In this post I introduce a list of 12 brand new hotels scheduled to open in Osaka and Kyoto in 2016 and 2017, and I hope you will find them interesting!

Tokyo Hotels: I have also written about newly opening/opened hotels in the capital city Tokyo. You can find an overview of hotels that opened in the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017 here, and hotels that opened in the second half of 2015 and the first half of 2016 here. I have also written a post about fancy low budget accommodations in Tokyo here.

The hotels below are listed by star rating.

Monday, February 6, 2017

日本語あり

NHK E-Tele: "Gretel's Magical Oven" and Norwegian Waffles - グレーテルのかまど「“スプーンおばさん”のワッフル」

Anette 11:53:00 PM

NHKのEテレの番組「グレーテルのかまど」でワッフルパーティの収録に協力しました。番組をきっかけにノルウェーに興味を持ってくれる人が増えますように～。番組の一部をこの下に共有しますので、ご興味がある方はぜひご覧になってください。

A little while ago me and some friends had the chance to participate in the making of an episode about Norwegian waffles and the stories about the fictional Norwegian character Mrs. Pepperpot. It was aired today on a program called Gretel's Magical Oven (Gureteru no kamado / グレーテルのかまど), and you can find parts of the episode below in this post (Japanese only).

Video / ビデオ：

「スプーンおばさん」にも登場する、ノルウェーの国民的おやつと言えば、愛らしいハート型が特徴のワッフル。チーズとチョコレート、2種類のトッピングでお楽しみあれ！世界中で親しまれている、ノルウェー発の「スプーンおばさん」。ひょんなことから、スプーンほどのサイズに小さくなってしまうおばさんの冒険物語。作中にも登場する、ノルウェーの国民的おやつが、ワッフル！薄くてしなやか、ほのかに香るカルダモン、そして何よりも、愛らしいハートの形。おばさんお得意の一品に、ヘンゼルも挑戦。ノルウェー伝統のトッピングと、オリジナルのふわふわガナッシュで、何枚でも食べられちゃう！

（http://www4.nhk.or.jp/kamado/x/2017-02-06/31/7814/1440401/ より）