Japan: 4 days and counting...

And already something has gone awry!

So I was checking on time differences to see when I should email the hotel manager in Toky where we're staying at (Yoshida House). And I went to their site... and the site was down.

Well, I started looking on Google for 'Yoshida House reviews' to see if they would list their phone number so I could get it... and I came across this nifty site: Have Bat/Will Travel.

So I was reading (to get a better idea about Yoshida House) and read this:
My first impression of Nerima is that it is extremely beautiful; although the houses are small, it truly is a country of aesthetes, all of whom display meticulously-kept semi-tropical plants. My second impression? *Damn, but there are a lot of whores here.* To their credit, they:re really meticulously-kept semi-tropical whores.

"HUH?" I said to myself... so I read more.
I told them I knew Peter was on vacation, but that I had arranged to stay the month. They let me in on the truth: Peter is not on vacation in Bangkok, he is in a detention center, having been deported for visa problems (which apparently plague about a third of Yoshida:s tenants) Peter left in a hurry, shackled, no doubt, to some humorless immigration official, abandoning his NINE CATS, who prowl about begging for food; the ad-hoc cat policy being not to give them any, in the hope that they will take the hint and scadoodle. One of these cats has twice followed me into my room; another tries to jump on me every time I sit down. My room, though carpeted, comes with a broom, which has proved an invaluable tool in Caitlin-cat relations.

Um... Peter was the one who reserved MY room too... (gulp) reading on...
As for my room, it is the worst place I have ever seen in my entire life, but there is something about its abject squalor that makes me want to tough it out. My floor is sunken in several places; the *bed* is an army cot covered with several quilts to signify a mattress, which I am instructed to air out every week or so to kill fleas.
Exhausted, I lay down and slept better than ever before, but was awoken by immigration officials conducting an impromptu sweep. When asked in Japanese whether I lived here on my way to the shower (one building
over!) I responded, in Japanese, *yes, since yesterday* and was left alone. The other tenants were in hiding, peering out their windows from their rooms or playing possum.

Needless to say, I cancelled my reservation with them immediately.
F**K-A-DOODLE-DOO!

So them I begin my literal SCRAMBLE to try to find ANY PLACE that could hold us for 9/10 thru 9/18 in Tokyo. Onward to bookhostels.com!

After 2 hours of searching, and much discussion with Jen, we settled on Ryokan Kangetsu. I didn't want to pay the $68 to reserve it through bookhostels... so we can only hope that they reply in time from their reservation area on their website.

Keep your fingers crossed, folks!