Drink tea and Respire

So I went to a hotel recently. A fairly newly built hotel in the heart of Umeda, here in Osaka, called The Respire Hotel just on the side of Yodobashi Camera.

It was a great experience. The room was clean and the view was excellent.

Now, I have heard that people in Osaka are a certain kind of hotel goer, the kind that appreciates, not only the hotel room itself, the views and facilities, but also the amenities (i.e. the stuff you get for free!). I myself am not an Osaka native but when I see #freestuff I tend to jump at the chance to grab as much as I can.

And so the hunt began, or so I thought.

This hotel is fairly new, and surprisingly cheap (I got a simple twin-bed room on the 32nd floor with a breakfast buffet for only 15,000 yen). But the amenities were few, only the simple stuff like a small bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body soap, toothbrushes and shavers etc. What bothered me the most was the room only came with two bottles of water which were non-renewable. That is , they did not bring any more. I asked…

But one more surprise waited in the sidelines to strike the unsuspected! The capsule coffee maker in the corner. The temptation of a caffeine addiction is strong with this one. I am a recovering two-cups-a-day kind of guy, so seeing a beautiful (and did I mention ..new?) coffee maker right in front of me was almost too tempting to ignore. That is, until I saw the other option. Green tea from Shizuoka. In a capsule. That's a first for me.

So I popped one of those bad-boys in the machine and it went cracking up one majorly delicious Shizuoka-style tea. And let me tell ya. Sitting on the windowsill on the 32nd floor in the middle of Umeda, seeing the tiny people going about their tiny lives, and me, drinking my tea in peace, really makes me grateful that I am not walking outside in that horrible cold wind.

The Shizuoka tea was one of the best ones I have had so far. It was mild and not too bitter at all. I think it had something to do with the fact that it came in a capsule that made it good. I tend to over-brew my teas, so I welcome the automation. Plus the capsule itself was made out of paper, so I didn't feel bad about throwing it in the burnable trash.

Anyway, that's how I stopped drinking coffee.

This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.