Bonus Japan post: the capsule hotel experience

While reposting pictures on this blog, I realized that I never talked about my capsule hotel experience in Tokyo, back in 2012. Following a lodging booking mistake on my part, I nearly ended up homeless in Asakusa. I was able to find a bed in a capsule hotel and spent two nights there. In a way, while it was stressful going around Tokyo with a friend and colleague without knowing for sure where I would be spending the night, I am glad I got to experience the capsule hotel.

The hotel was far from luxurious, but safe, clean and the staff was professional. That pretty much describes Japan.

Much like a hostel, you are essentially renting a bunk bed in a dormitory style room. However, your bunk bed is outfitted with full privacy, your own outlet and light. You can read at night without disturbing other people in the dorm and you have a dark, quiet space to sleep. It is a great low-cost accommodation.

The hotel was gender separated, with men on different floors from the women.

The door to the dorm room.

The capsule bunk bed. A heavy curtain closed off the entrance if I wanted privacy.

Next to each bunk bed, there were personal lockers for valuables

There was a common storage space for luggage, and a personal locker for valuables.

The rest of the hotel was setup to accommodate a high population density, while minimizing wait times for access to the miscellaneous facilities.

Outside the bunk beds room, there was a common area with low sinks to brush our teeth and do our makeup.

There were also restrooms on the same floor. This is where I first learned how to use a Japanese toilet (they had helpful diagrams on the walls to help with that, as it is not intuitive).

A Japanese toilet. Now you understand the use of special slippers to use the toilet (see post on the slipper etiquette)

The washroom was on a different floor. There was a common bath and even a small sauna. I elaborate on the Japanese bath in a post on the Japanese bath etiquette. 

There was also a surprisingly nice common area for meals. And I am not sure if that was included in the price, or if the old lady who took care of the place felt that I was not having a healthy breakfast, but I was treated to a very nice miso soup and rice in the morning. It gave me the opportunity to practice my "gochisosama" (see Japanese table etiquette) as I was leaving and spotted her sweeping the stairs. 

The dining room

Travel makeup kit

I often travel for business, so having a complete, compact makeup kit is important. Even as a tourist, I like to maintain a minimum of a semblance of being put together. The challenge is to do that with a minimum of volume and weight.

This is it, at the moment. This is good for about two weeks, if I use my foundation every day.

It includes:

• Day moisturizer with SPF 50PR+++ for good measure 
• Eye cream 
• Foundation 
• Loose powder, concealer, cream shadow and highlighter 
• Peach blush, pink blush 
• Mascara 
• Brow powder 
• Eyelash curler (the purple device, special travel version) 
• Blush brush 
• Lipstick, one in pink tones, one in red/nude tones 
• Lipbalm and lipgloss permanently reside in my purse and so are not pictured. 

Aside from my travel eyelash curler and a number of small tubes of foundation, there are more items that I save for when I travel.

One is the loose powder/concealer and more set. The whole things gets screwed one on top of the other, to form a single, compact cylinder.

I also like lipstick palettes. It's like bringing multiple lipsticks in one. This one is in pink tones, good for summer. The retractable lip brush is stored in the top, which also comes with a built-in mirror.

Speaking of retractable, love my blush brush in a tube. The gold sleeves comes out to gather the bristles, then one can put the cap on and push everything in.

For summer travel, I replace the liquid foundation with a tube of green BB cream (the kind that hides redness). It is light, but can be built up. It is still good to set it with loose powder so I always bring that. And I skip the mascara, unless I expect to have to dress up for a formal occasion. I curl my lashes and fill my brows to give the illusion of having done my eyes.

For light travel or shorter term, I might do without eye cream and I bring only one shade of blush and one shade of lipstick (and coordinate with the clothes I bring accordingly). I usually end up bringing the pink blush and nude lipstick. I really like brow powder, but if I want to save space, I can go with a brow pencil.

Some further travel makeup tips, good also for a long day at the office or at home:

• lipbalm can be used to wipe makeup smudges around the eyes. Pat on the smudge and wipe gently with tissue paper. 
• body lotion doubles perfectly as makeup remover. But it can't be used for mascara removal (another reason to skip the mascara when traveling light). I use body lotion as makeup remover even when I am at home, as a cost saving measure.