Review 4

At the small front desk of the hotel, I tried my credit card only to find it rejected. The chip part of my old card, near its expiry date, was obviously damaged perhaps because of tropical humidity. I told the man at the desk that I had tried two ATMs and failed to withdraw cash. He instructed me to try a credit card ATM located at “Loft” to do “cashing.” I walked to the machine to get some cash.

The hotel was small but looked decent enough. I found a couple going up in the elevator when I entered. After I checked out, I realized that people must be using the hotel as a “love hotel” as there was a free flow of pornography on TV in the room. How innocent I am. It was quite ok with me as I didn’t expect any fancy service. I only needed a roof above me.

The next morning, I moved to another hotel by taxi. The hotel was in Higashi-Umeda area, somewhere that I am familiar with. And this particular hotel was where I was when the Big One hit Kobe in 1995.

One thing that I think changed from the time I was there was that an upfront payment was required at those hotels. I had never been asked to pay first before then. Payment was always at check out.

Because, at the hotel in Higashi-Umeda, it was still too early for checking in, I left my luggage there and went out.

*

三沢光晴が死んでしまった……。