1st Visit to Ikebukuro-Tokyo

1st Visit / Report from Ikebukuro-Tokyo

AA135 NY to Haneda:
1st meal ~1 hr after take-off; 2nd meal ~1.5 hrs before landing;
economy 70% empty, easy to find 2 or 3 seats in row to stretch out & sleep!
1 hour weather delay; arrived 11:15PM; from plane to Customs exit less
than 15 min. (I had only carry-on); in view of Customs exit, ATM &
currency exchange side-by-side; got Y78 per $1US with no fee from
currency exchange! (on that day $1 = ~Y80.5); if I had exchanged
at JFK in NYC it would have been Y70 +$10 fee under $500US;
With help of hostess at nearby vending machines, used Yen cash
to get Pasmo card & was directed to 11:40PM Keikyu Line to
Shinigawa Station & then Yamanote Line to Ikebukuro Station
& 10 minute walk to hotel.

Toyoko-Inn Ikebukuro #2 Hotel
Spotless, modern, 24-hr uniformed reception desk, many amenities;
joined "club" on arrival to get discount, was offered Y300/day added
discount for NOT cleaning room (but bag with fresh towels, robe,
toothbrush is hung from door handle daily; pleasantly surprised
to find that daily included breakfast is buffet! (not just one serving)
ice coffee & chilled moist towels in lobby in afternoon/evening;
My opinion: great deal @$71.37/day total for a "small-roomed" 3.5*
2 hotel negatives for me:
a. included room cable Internet OK for surfing, email, but too slow to transfer data
b. only smoking rooms have street views, non-smoking face walls few feet away

2 questions:
1. why are there no public benches on city streets? (this is a big tourism negative IMO)
2. can someone explain the "chanting-singing" between employees at non-upscale stores & restaurants?

For your negative b for hotel, I don't think a street view would be necessary for me personally, I would only be going back to the hotel to rest, trasfer photo's onto the laptop, chat on facebook and sleep (no more than 9 hours of the day). So not having a view would not bother me too much.

For your two questions, as far as I could tell when I holiday'd in Japan, not alot of Japanese sit down, when they do, they are eating. People normally stand to talk to people or are walking from one place to the other. Although I did see benches at train stations and most shopping centres (although I have only been to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima. Not Tokyo.)
And for your second question I think your referring too "Irrheshimasen" (sp?), which pretty much means "welcome to our store." It was cute and awsome at first, but got annoying quickly. Lol. But even when we walk into a store now back in our home country (Aus) my partner and I will turn to each other and say it in a sing-song voice and giggle. Hehe.