Today I found a great application on the App Store to remind the Japanese alphabet in a fun way. If you are owners of iPhone, iPad or iPodTouch i really suggest you to try it!!! And you can get it for free! The app is called HIRAGANA PIXEL PARTY.

Hiragana Pixel Party is basically a rhythm game, with a certain facet of teaching. Have you always wanted to learn Japanese? Well, I do not know if this game will help you inyour intent, but at least you can learn to read and write the alphabet. Here is why.

Hiragana Pixel Party is a musical game tap. In fact, our aim will be to replace the cap with the right timing and blow up obstacles to our female lead. Plug the pace is not enough. In fact, we also take care to plug the right letters, or rather the right characters. Before jumping obstacles, the CPU will show on the screen of the letters, and we will repeat them in the correct order by tapping with the correct timing. By the time we repeat the letters, they will be presented on the screen with Japanese characters. Thus, we learn, stage after stage, to associate the sounds of our letters, the Japanese characters. Sometimes, however, the process is reversed, and letters first in Japanese, will be “re-tapped” in english.

The gameplay and mechanics underlying the title is very simple. I do not know if anyone actually is able to learn the Japanese alphabet or a few brief words with this system, but after playing for a few minutes of play, I learned, more or less, as you write the ”I”, the “A” and the ”U” in Japanese characters. Maybe coming to the last stage, I will be able to completely repeat the alphabet.

Putting aside the educational side, Hiragana Pixel Party is a music game really easy, but with the Japanese style which is not bad. The title has a dedicated graphics with pixel art,with figures barely hinted at on the screen. Our young protagonist, in fact, be representedby a simple black silhouette, set against a colorful background. Moreover, during our march we will also sound accompanied by some small doves, which represent our chances of error. With the next update, already announced by the development team, will be loaded with new challenges, with ever more complex words to increase the degree of challenge and fun.

Hiragana Pixel Party has absolutely no advertising in the game and contains more than 200 Japanese characters, which are to be divided into as many as 200 different missions and internships. You have no excuse not to test it, and even if you learn the meaning of the words on the screen, you will know at least recognize the various japanese characters.

Two years ago, when I had to choose the kind of hotel where to spend my days in Tokyo, I found a chain of serviced apartments / hotel called TOKYU STAY. The hotel presents itself as a cross between a traditional hotel and a small apartment with all necessary services. Within each room there are in fact a microwave, a hot plate for cooking, a sink, a work shelf as in classic cuisine, and above all a convenient washing machine with dryer function. The presence of the washing machine immediately caught my attention! Unfortunately, as everyone knows, airlines companies raise the weight limit of baggage to be put in the hold of aircraft. But Tokyo is a city where you can’t walk the streets without buying anything …. indeed, is exactly the opposite! You can not think of spending a holiday in Tokyo without having to deal with everything that you buy and that you have, sometimes doing magic tricks, to bring in your suitcase!

ENTRANCE

Having a washing machine in the room is of great help! Knowing to be able to wash your own clothes when you want, allows you to pack the bare essentials, leaving free space for all the things you will buy on the way back! So I opted for this hotel and more precisely to the Shibuya Shin-Minamiguchi one.

TOKYU STAY SHIBUYA SHIN_MINAMIGUCHI

Another interesting aspect is how to make reservations. Through various travel booking sites such as lastminute.com or expedia.com when you book a trip, you must pay by credit card. If you are a common man like me and do not have a Gold , Platinum or Black card this could be a problem! When you book for two or more people at once the flight and the hotel, these sites give you the choice of paying  with 2 differents credit cards, only 2 …. at least my experiences tell me this …. and you can find you in the condition of not being able to pay for the entire trip! The Tokyu Stay chain allow, after the registration at the website, a reservation without payment, enabling you to pay once your arrival in the lobby!

MY ROOM

The hotel is very quiet and there is not a big lobby like in the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, but it is very organized and clean! In the square below the hotel is open 24 hours a Family Mart (like every convenience stores) very convenient to stock up on food or drink just before going to your room.

MY ROOM

THE VIEW FROM MY BALCONY

THE BREAKFAST MENU

The rooms, being like small apartments, are larger than the common rooms of the hotels in Tokyo. Mine had even a balcony! In the lobby there is a free wifi network (indinspensabile in Tokyo) and breakfast is included! The hotel, being very small, there isn’t a space where they could serve the breakfast. But in the same building there is a family restaurant called Jonathan’s where, by submitting name and room number, you can have breakfast for free!
Prices are in line with those of business hoels in Tokyo, so pretty cheap, but the services are definitely more interesting!

LINK:

http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/hotel/SIM/

Tokyu Stay Shibuya Shin-minamiguchi
Shibuya 3-26-21, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002