love hotel

last week matt and i went to shibuya to an all you can eat indian buffet and it was delicious! our taste buds didn’t know what hit them, it had been a long while since spicy foods had taken them out for a little dance.

after the delicious meal we went to a new orleans-style bar where we ordered gin and tonics followed by a jack n ginger for me and a good ol rum n coke for matty. we smoked cigarettes and listened to some jazz amongst a who lotta gaijin. It felt so strange seeing so many other gaijin roaming the streets, we’re so used to being the only ones walking around our neighbourhood. i’m going to have some severe culture shock when i get home.

so after a couple of drinks we decided we’d go for a stroll on love hotel hill. it was pretty cool. we found ourselves walking along these small streets with a plethora of hotels surrounding us. names like hotel passion in red letters and rates for “rest stay” were a dead give away that we had located our destination.

we were hell bent on finding a themed hotel, apparently they are pretty hard to come by these days but we browsed around a little. immediately upon entering a hotel lobby you can see a large panel with photographs illuminated from behind. they look just like those hotel panels you used to see in an airport arrivals section. all the vacant rooms are lit up while the occupied ones are turned off. when you see a room that suites your needs, you press a little button below the picture that has the room number printed on it. you then go to a wicket and pay your money to a pair of faceless hands.

it was quite funny walking into these places. sometimes there were other couples browsing for rooms as well. no eye contact was made but we all knew we were there for one thing. i think it would be fascinating to work in a love hotel, i’d make some serious use of my camera that’s for darn sure.

the rooms are really nice! if you’re ever looking for a cheap place to stay while in tokyo love hotels are the answer!! our room had a crazy 70’s style radio with every station under the sun…all music all the time. we had our own karaoke machine, a nice jacuzzi tub and a fancy toilet with a heated seat. i have yet to try the crazy bum cleaning jets, i’m a little frightened.

there were two vending machines, one with toys and lubricants to suite all of your personal needs and another with beer, soda and water. the room was also loaded with complimentary tea, coffee, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, hair brush, and this fancy hair band…

Listening to Gllia - Kazumasa Hashimoto