Got nothing to do on a Friday night?

While most people tend to spend Friday night partying with friends or maybe going for a date with their partner, I recently opted to go to a cyber cafe…. Yes, I’m actually being serious, don’t worry I haven’t lost my mind! The cyber cafes of Tokyo (and other big cities in Japan) are increasing in popularity because they offer a pretty awesome service which most call the ‘Night Pack.’ Basically the ‘night pack’ allows you to use the cafe’s services for upto 6 hours for a specific set price (available every night but I believe Friday is a bit more expensive), and I have to say, the Japanese cyber cafes are a whole step above anything I have seen in England. For starters you get free unlimited drinks – there’s not only just the typical tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cola available but also slushies, which is pretty cool. Not only that but there is also free ice cream! What about the actual service in the cafe?? Well, not only do you have internet facilities but also access to about 15 free TV channels for your viewing pleasure, and if you specifically ask for it you will also get free access to a PlayStation 2! The cafe also stocks it’s own library of the latest video games and movies which you can use as well as a pretty well-stocked manga library and collection of magazines. With all of this you’re probably thinking it’s expensive, right?! Well, wrong… the night pack costs a mere 1500 Yen, which is about £7!! Needless to say, the cafe has proved invaluable for the salarymen who have been unfortunate enough to miss the last train home. Unfortunately the rise of the cyber cafe has also made way for a new problem- that is to say that a lot of unofficial homeless have taken refuge in the cafes due to the low price. In any case I can’t help but think of how useful it would be if a place like this existed in London, but I’m not sure how it would turn out if one actually was opened there. Anyway, if you visit Japan it might be worth a visit just for the novelty of experiencing the night pack for yourself!!

The clash of the Conbini

Recently a new ‘Lawson’ store opened in my neighborhood so I thought it would be worthwhile to write a quick post about conbini. The conbini (the Japanese convenience store) really do take the word convenient to whole new levels; for a start there is just so many of them in Tokyo. From my apartment I can get to 5 easily within just one minute of leaving the building. (There is one Daily store literally just across the road, a Lawson and a Family Mart nearby and also 2 7-Eleven stores. The competition between each rival store is pretty tough and each company are trying new things to gain a larger market share. The good thing about Lawson is Loppi – it’s a machine which you can use to order tickets for events such as concerts, and I think it’s the only way of obatining a ticket for the Ghibli Museum. The only catch with Loppi is that everything is in Japanese – I tried using it to get my Jimmy Eat World ticket and it was next to impossible for me to read the kanji, but luckily I asked one of the store assistants to help me through each of the options.

Family Mart also have a pretty useful machine (which is thankfully also in English) which you can use to charge phone cards (I’ve been using a phone card for international calls, they’re much cheaper than calling directly – I learned the hard way when I made some direct calls to my banks in England, the phone bill for my mobile phone almost gave me a heart attack!!) I have also heard that each conbini also has its own service for sending packages and mail. Most of the food in each of the conbini seem pretty similar to me but I usually go to Lawson. Oh yeah one last thing, you’ll also find ATMs in some large conbini- I haven’t used them before so I don’t know if they charge any money for taking out cash.

It’s a snow day…

Apologies again!! My new job is keeping me quite busy and lately I haven’t had the time to give the blog any attention… I’m hoping to change that from now on! Recently Tokyo was actually hit by a snowstorm and thanks to the almighty pain in the ass that is sod’s law I had to work on that day! Luckily there were no problems with my trains but several main lines were forced to stop service due to the persistent snow. Anyway, I took the opportunity to take some good photos of the Tokyo scenery in snow. Be sure to check ‘em out, I should be posting regularly from now on