Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu

Ooooooo!!! Do members receive extra benefits?  Or was the hotel overbooked and thus luckily I had a room upgrade?

I made a reservation for a standard twin room at Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu as a stop-over before moving northwards and thought the room and bathroom looked decently sized from the photos on the hotel's website.

But I was quite surprised when I opened the door to my room and saw that there was a door-less room that functioned as an open wardrobe and luggage room next to the genkan.  The sleeping area was large too, and there was an area with a table and 2 chairs in front of the TV, and next to this area is what I like to call the water station/corner, where the kettle and mugs and glasses sit.

The bathroom was also surprisingly large, with a full-length bathtub and sink area that runs opposite the tub.  Further into the bathroom is a separate area for the toilet with a sliding door and furniture that allows the toilet to double up as a changing room.

All that space for a standard twin room that most people might probably stay for only a night?

Post-stay, I looked up the hotel's website again, and realised that I had been allocated the superior twin room.  At about 29m2, it certainly was a lot larger and more comfy than the 20m2 standard twin room I was expecting to overnight in.

ダイワロイネット青森

ダイワロイネットホテルは、普通のビジネスホテルよりも少し値段が高いという印象をずっと持っていたため、ダイワロイネットの部屋はたいていもっと広くて快適そうに見えたにもかかわらず、いつも見送っていました。

最近の青森旅行では、3泊の滞在だったので、私はダイワロイネットホテルの朝食付きプランに「贅沢に」泊まることにしました。青森のことをよく知らなかったし、毎日コンビニで朝食を買わなくて済むようにしたかったからです。

24㎡のモデレートツインルームは広々としており、バスルームも同様に広々としていました。シャワーとバスタブはガラスドアで仕切られており、洗面台も広々としていました。トイレには独立したスペースがあり、配慮のあるデザインだと思いました。

チェックインサイズの荷物を広げるのに十分なスペースがあり、窓のそばには人々を観察できる小さなソファもあります。

和洋ビュッフェがあり、毎日食べていました。ホテルのウェブサイトには掲載されていませんでしたが、一番気に入ったのは豆腐でした。

ダイワロイネット青森のサービスは素晴らしく、また青森に来ることがあればここに宿泊したいと思っています。

逸品・四国地方

Traditional Pintu Pagar - 3

Pintu pagar No. 9 consists of 3 sections, where the top section is of green glass (?) and there is a decorative part above the top of the pintu pagar.  Other wise the pintu pagar is rather plain in design.

Pintu pagar No. 10 consists of 4 sections, where in the second top-most section, there is a distorted bone-shaped glass (?).  I'm sure there is a proper name for that shape, but until I find out what it is called, I'll just term it 'bone-shaped'.

Pintu pagar No. 11 is actually elaborate, with 3 of the 4 sections with decorative carvings on the panels.  The window pagar in constrast, is not as elaborately designed.

Apart from pintu pagar No. 1, pintu pagar No. 12 has the most sections (2) of glass (?) panels - both the top 2 sections are glass (?). There is also elaborate decorative carvings at the top of the pintu pagar, which I'm guessing suggests that the original owners are wealthier, or more willing to spend more on a more elaborate pintu pagar?

The window pagar appears to be a large panel of glass (?) enclosed in a wooden frame.

Die Wärme der Wölfe | Fritz Fassbinder | Loewe

„Die Wärme der Wölfe“, ein YA Buch von Fritz Fassbinder, erzählt von der Gefahr des Zugehörigkeitsdrangs eines Jugendlichen und der unvorstellbaren Gefahr, der er sich durch seinen Umgang mit rechten Fußballrowdys aussetzte.

Ich bin der Meinung, dass, es war für Teenager schon immer eine existenzielle Krise, wenn der Wunsch, zu einer „coolen“ Gruppe zu gehören, stärker war als rationale Überlegungen, wie destruktiv und gefährlich ein solcher Gruppenzwang und eine solche Groupie-Dynamik sein können.

Dieses Problem gibt es nicht nur in Europa, sondern auch in anderen Teilen der Welt. Doch traditionell betrachten die meisten Erwachsenen dies als „nur eine Phase“, die hormongesteuerte Teenager mit der Zeit überwinden.

逸品・沖縄地方

Traditional Pintu Pagar - 2

The very impressive pintu pagar in the museum evidently used to belong to a rather wealthy peranakan family had 4 sections of panels with plenty of intrigate details.

I wonder how those that are still in use (and not in museums) would look like and set to find out.

Pintu pagar No. 5 consists of 4 sections of panels, with glass (?) at the outer section of the panels second from the top, and some detailed work at the top panel.  The pintu pagar is left wide open and hooked to the side, which kind of defeats its purpose.  The main doors are firmly shut, so the pintu pagars are not deliberately positioned this way so as to facilitate movements such as large furniture or large groups of people moving into and out of the house.  But because the pintu pagar is left wide open, I could see that there is a hook at the top of the pintu pagar and allows the pintu pagar to be (somewhat) securely closed when it is meant to be - i.e. people outside the house cannot simply push the pintu pagars and enter at will.  This provides some security to the occupants.  There is also the wooden bolt between the third and bottommost panel, that keeps the pintu pagar securely fastened when closed.  I did not see such bolts in some pintu pagars which were opened, so I wonder if this bolt is a constant feature of a pintu pagar, or that they were made to order by clients.

Something interesting that I observed are the window versions of pintu pagars.  These would have served the same functions for the windows as the pintu pagars did for the main doors.  The glass panels for the window pagar are not transparent, this ensures that passerbys cannot simply look into the house.

Pintu pagar No. 6 is similar to pintu pagar No. 5, except that it is in the colour of natural wood, while pintu pagar No. 5 is painted. 

Pintu Pagar No. 7 consists of 4 sections, with the top section of individual wooden bars, the second section of glass (?) and the remaining 2 sections of solid wood panels.  

The window pagar is a lot less elaborate compared to the pintu pagar, with a plain design of 4 glass (?) panels that allow some light through and keep prying eyes out.

I wonder if the wooden doors are the original doors, as there are door knockers and a door bolt that I last saw on my hotel door in Bhutan!

Pintu pagar No. 8 looks similar to pintu pagar No. 7, except that the second section is wood instead of glass (?).

Uncle's Dream | Fyodor Dostoevsky | Alma Classics

 Uncle's Dream is decidedly more light-hearted than the other Dostoevsky works I have read thus far.  In fact, some parts of it was quite a hoot to read, and I can imagine the scenes as if they were transplanted into some dramatized Cantonese soap where the mother was desperately trying to marry her daughter off to a gold turtle (never mind that the old turtle was probably as old as her father).

It is astonishingly incredible how the psyche of Russians 170 years ago as narrated by Dostoevsky still feels so fresh and relevant.  Pavel Alexandrovich would also not be out of place today as an asshole. 

In fact, I was rather puzzled as I was reading, as the title was not immediately obvious in the story.  It felt to me that the gist was Maria Alexandrovna Moskalyova's ambitions for her daughter.  It was only in Chapter 11 that the title Uncle's Dream finally made sense.

浜辺

自分で、さびしいな！ #1

自分で、さびしいな！ #2

自分で、さびしいな！#3

自分で、さびしいな！#4

自分で、さびしいな！#5

自分で、さびしいな！#6


自分で、さびしいな！#7

自分で、さびしいな！#8

ネズミと一緒に！#1

ネズミちゃんと一緒に！#2

ネズミちゃんと一緒に！#3

チョウチョちゃんと一緒に！#1

チョウチョと一緒に！#2

チョウチョと一緒に！#3

チョウチョと一緒に！#4

チョウチョと一緒に！#5

カニちゃんと一緒に！#1

カニちゃんと一緒に！#2

カニちゃんと一緒に！#3

カニちゃんと一緒に！#4

カニちゃんと一緒に！#5

Traditional Pintu Pagar - 1

The very impressive pintu pagar in the museum evidently used to belong to a rather wealthy peranakan family had 4 sections of panels with plenty of intrigate details.

I wonder how those that are still in use (and not in museums) would look like and set to find out.

Pintu pagar No. 1 consists of 3 sections of panels, with 2 of the sections fitted with glass (?).  I wonder if this is the orignal glass, because a design like this would have reduced the privacy factor of the pintu pagar.  The design of this pintu pagar is straightforward and simple, without any intrigate details.

I looked at this photo more closely, and realised that that the two ratten armchairs are pushed right against the open pintu pagar.  I'm guessing that whoever now occupies this unit might not actually know what the pintu pagar is for, and the five-foot way is more for walking or sheltering from the rain and nobody would have wanted to sit along the five-foot way back then.  But this is a completely different era from way back then and I suppose there really isn't any reason to stop the occupants from seating outside their unit now.

Pintu pagar No. 2 consists of 3 sections of solid panels, with a very simple and straightforward design.

Pintu pagar No. 3 consists of only 2 sections of panels, with the top section fitted with glass (?).  

Pintu pagar No. 4  was surprisingly tucked within an entryway instead of being at the main entrance.  I wonder if this pintu pagar had been relocated to this position as the original unit had been reconfigured by some interior designer. 

This pintu pagar consists of 4 sections of panels with intrigate details of cravings.