Konnichi-Wa Tokyo!

What a difference a day makes ...

... we arrived in Tokyo after travelling all day and fell in love with the place!
It's all so clean - people even carry around keyring ashtrays so they don't flick ash/cigarette butts on the floor - and the people are so friendly and nice! In fact this is the first place we've felt like making an effort to learn the basics of the language - i.e. more than just please, thank you and the bill please!

We spent our first two days wandering around town and feeling completely awestruck! First up was Shibuya where 'Lost in Translation' was filmed - all big screens, flashing lights, music blaring and people everywhere - overwhelming! Next up was Ginza, a little more subdued but equally awe-inspiring for Ali, not least because of all the designer shops ;-) The final destination was Akihabara, or electric city as it's more commonly known, something to keep Steve happy!

Tokyo is best described as modern/futuristic whilst still being traditional, hi-tech but low-fi, conventional but wacky - a city with many contradictions. It's also a city that is expensive! A place where paying £5 a beer is a bargain and the average cost of a melon is £10 - not somewhere to live if you have no money!!!

We stayed at Dan's apartment in Tamachi which was fab - made us feel a little less like travellers and more like normal people! It also kept Steve entertained as he could take pictures of the mono-rail at least twice a day! Dan and his colleague Chris also introduced us to the hedonistic lifestyle of an expat - more on that later!

First, a bit of culture!

We ventured out to Kyoto on an infamous bullet train - very quick and impressive, wish the Bromley - Victoria train was so reliable and quick!!! Kyoto, once you got out of the surprisingly modern train station and town centre, met our ideal of Japan. Lots of wooden buildings, lanterns, sliding doors, pagodas, temples and shrines - we even saw a few meiko (trainee geisha). In fact with 1800 temples, hundreds of shrines, historical buildings and neighbourhoods, japanese gardens, spas and cuisine, Kyoto boasts something for everyone!

We stayed at a traditional Ryokan (Japanese Inn) which was all sliding screens, mats on the floor and tiled sunken baths! It was so authentic that they even gave us slippers and kimonos to wear around the place and served afternoon tea whilst we were seated on cushions on the floor! The only bad thing about it was the 11pm curfew (and lack of air-conditioning)!!!

Out of 1800 temples we managed to see 7! Still we did choose the best 7, including Kinkaku - the golden pavillion, a wooden one with great views (forgotten the name!) and Sanjusangen-do - which is guarded by 1000 buddhas as well as the 1,000 armed buddha.

We also fitted in a couple of day trips from Tokyo, including Hakone/Mt Fuji. The guidebook said 'if the weather cooperated Hakone makes for a memorable day trip where you can enjoy toy trains, pirate ships, cable cars a volcanic springs ... Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we had our first rain since arriving in Japan! Still, we had a great day out despite not being able to see Mt Fuji - we especially enjoyed the black boiled eggs cooked in sulphuric gases at the volcanic springs!

We made it back to Tokyo that night just in time to head out for Yakitori (chicken/veggie skewers), Beer and Sake with Dan and Chris - the first time we'd seen Dan since arriving despite staying at his apartment for 5 nights already! The night was billed as a 'quiet' one in preparation for our big Friday night out (tomorrow) - hmmmm! Several sakes later, followed by drinks at 'Magumbos' and a great time was had by all - although we must have caught the 'beer scooter' home as neither of us remembered leaving the bar!

We had an early start planned for our final trip out of Tokyo, Nikko, which had been billed as the absolute must do from Tokyo ... Amazingly we made the train, despite the sore heads, the trouble getting out of bed, leaving the apartment with only 15 minutes to get to the train station and catch a train to Tokyo station, getting on the wrong train at Tokyo and then having to run for ours!

Nikko itself was lovely, though we just weren't equipped to deal with it! We started badly, catching a bus to the temple area as we were too lazy to walk the 2 km - unfortunately we didn't check the bus destination and just followed the crowds ... a mistake we realised 4 km out of town so we had to walk all the way back again! Then when we did arrive at the temple area Steve realised we didn't have enough cash for our entry ticket so we had to traipse back to the station to find the nearest ATM - at leat 2 hours gone by this point! When we finally saw something it was actually worthwhile - more amazing temples mixed with great scenery!

And so our last night, which Dan had actually skived off work to prepare for - oh dear! We started well with a lovely Tepanaki meal and a couple of drinks - unfortunately it was all downhill again as soon as we got to Magumbos! It was made worse by the tradition of ringing the bell there - when you do, you have to buy everyone in the bar a shot, which a couple of people did that night!

A very, very big thank you to Dan for making our stay in Japan comfortable and memorable, as well as to Chris for letting us into the apartment, helping us out with everything, entertaining us and sharing the burden of expensing our entertainment! It was a pleasure hanging out with you both and we look forward to repeating the experience in London next summer!

Sayonara Asia !!!!