Konichwa!!

Well I’m finally here, my year in another country has began, however even though it is probably the most advanced country in the world, i STILL don’t have internet access!!! I am therefore unable to keep up regular contact (no phone line either) - so apologies for the lack of communication.

The internet (100meg :p), phone (ip phone) and cable tv are all being installed in a week, so expect much more regular updates.

Also apologies for the awful look of this blog, but it will get a lot better when I get net access and don’t have to work offline for everything.

Anyway, I shall begin….. let’s get back to the UK.

Thursday 18th August

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As you may or may not know, instead of chosing the direct flight to Tokyo, I decided to go via Shanghai and have my chums at the travel agents swing it so I would get a free night in a 4 star hotel and have 24 hours to explore. After getting on the plane however, I wondered if this was a mistake.

I was in the middle section on the end, with luckily no one sitting next to me, so was able to stretch out a bit (which was lucky to say the least, the legroom was awful!!) Then the next shock, this plane had no personal inflight entertainment… doh! So basically you had to watch what everyone else did. For the first 2 hours it was some V-TV chinese pop television thing, which looked absolutely awful and I couldn’t understand anyway…. (I passed the time by eating my dinner quite slowly - pork and rice).

Next up was “Swordfish” (with John Travolta and Halli Berry (sp)) which was in English, and quite a good movie so I was happy After this I had decided it would be best to try and sleep the rest of the flight out (or at least until 2 hours before the end when the wake you for breakfast), however this was easier said than done due to the cramped conditions. I did manage to make some sleep here and there though, so wasn’t completely shattered when we finally got to Shanghai.

Friday 19th August

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The plane landed at Pu Dong (sp) Airport, Shanghai at about 4pm local time (and quite a bouncy landing too, causing a few people to scream, haha) to the most murky looking weather ever. You soon realised when you got off the plane however that these looks were deceiving, as it was about 28 degrees!! I then had to join the longest queue *ever* to get through customs (1.5 hours) before finally heading off to get my luggage and going to find the shuttle bus to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, a porter came to the bus and picked up all our luggage. I felt quite sorry for his as he obviously wasn’t expecting the weight of my case to be so much and almost dropped it I told him not to worry and carried myself into one of the most impressive hotel lounges I have ever seen! Really high ceilings and marble throughout, it certainly looked the business.

After checking in to room 352 and being given the keycard for entry, I headed upstairs to drop off my baggage and have a quick shower. I must admit, I did get a bit distracted by the free broadband so sent a few mails (but hey, if not you wouldn’t have heard from me at all!) - a quick msn chat or so, then back to the lobby to find a taxi to the center of town.

The consieurge (sp) called a taxi for me, and told me it would be about 130 yuan (£8.66) - which didn’t seem to bad. This cost seemed even better after an hour and 44.6km later!! (let’s see a black cab do that).

I wasn’t sure where I was going (it was all on the recommendation of the guy in the hotel) - but it seemed to be a central restaurant/bar square where there were lots of people. I was quite hungry by now and just wanted something to eat and fighting the urge to try and Chinese McDonalds, went off in search of some authentic Chinese food.

In the large mall just off the square was a quite authentic (but modern) looking place, so in there I went. I wish I hadn’t now as the food wasn’t so good. (The cold chicken with mashed up bone was particualy yuck!) - but I did eat enough to get full.

After this, I was unsure what to do. Find a bar and sit on my own, find a bar and try and talk to a random person, or just go for a walk. I took a wander back out to the square to survey the situation (and almost tempted by the “Very Sexy Cabaret” with Chinese girls in school uniform) but in the end decided the “random train philosophy” would be much more beneficial.

Random Train Philosophy - Go to station, pick random station, visit. (repeat X)

A train here costs about 14p (or 20p for a further journey!!) - so it seemed like a good idea to go as many places as possible. (trying to descretly work out where using my map, so as not to look too much like a tourist :)) - i’m not sure where I actually went, but there was a big tower with a round ball about half way up and a “Super Big Mall” (or something) - which was obviously just a shopping centre.

Alex had told me to try and find “English Corner” at Shanghai Park, but I couldn’t find Shanghai Park on the map (loads of other ones, just not Shanghai) - which was a shame, as it would have been nice to chat with some locals, but hey ho…

I did manage to find a Chinese night club (which was playing that song you like so much monk, the foreign remix of “groove is in the heart”) - but was so tired I decided I just wanted to go back home.

Fell asleep in the taxi on the way back and woke just before the hotel, paid my £10 (it was night time now … haha) and staggered upstairs to bed, bumping into the 2 American girls smoking just outside the lift for good measure….

Saturday 20th August

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The idea had been to get up for 9 o clock to have breakfast then go and explore Shanghai at daytime, however when I woke up at 12:10, I realised I had kinda missed this opportunity I therefore changed plans to go to the airport for 1 o’clock to check my luggage in (plane was at 4:15) - then catch the Magna Lev train into Shanghai. Unfortunately, the checkin desk didn’t open until 2, so I had to wait around an hour, however when it finally did open, I was at the front, so got the front set (by the door) by the window. (shame it couldn’t have been for the first flight … oh well).

I was then free to find the Maglev Train (though it was now 3:10, so I didn’t have much time).

The Maglev Train is a magnetic levitation train (as in it doesn’t touch the track, it’s kept up and moving by an electromagnetic field) and as such, is able to go much faster than a usual wheel based train. You think the Eurostar is fast, take a ride on the 442km an hour (276mph) Maglev, which has the benefit of being very smooth (no bumpy track) and very quiet (there is no friction to cause any noise). It took 8 minutes to go as far as the taxi did in one hour!! I just had time at the other end to check out the Maglev Museum, before catching it back again to the airport to get the China Eastern flight MU719 flight outta there!
I think I fell asleep again on this flight (and it had no TV!!) - so not much to really report there.

Landing in Japan was a lot different to last time. I remember before thinking everything was so “wow!” and “look at that”, but this time the same fascination wasn’t there. I guess it’s because I now see it as my “home town” Of course, there was the customary 40 minute queue to get through customs, however there was no problem and picking up luggage was a breeze (it was already off the conveyour belt, so just had to get it off the floor).

Finally, I was able to head downstairs to the station to get the Narita Express to Shinjuku. It may have been an express, but it still took 1.5 hours!! I’m sure I remember it being closer last time, but hey I then got a train transfer to head to Shibuya to meet Seiko and Shiho in front of the metal dog.

Walking out of Shibuya station, everything started to come back to me and I must admit a wave of happiness came over me, knowing that this would be my home for the next year or so … sugoi!

Seiko and Shiho arrived about 10 minutes later to get me, which required another train journey (and no down escalator.. doh!) but was only 2 stops (and about 5 minutes) - so I thought cool, not far to get to school. However, we then had to transfer to a different train (which was about a 5 minute walk away…) before going for 3 minutes to our real home area of Wakabayashi.

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Now to say this area is slightly residential is a bit of an understatement. Well I said I wanted to be thrown in at the deep end, so I guess I got what I asked for. There is litterally nothing here. A small supermarket, convenience store and…. well that’s it I am most definately the only foreinger here (which I actually like… strange…) with the nearest shops about a 15/20 minute walk away (and even then there aren’t that many) - the nearest bars (Shimokitazawa - which was supposedly near) took me about 35 minutes to walk to)….

I guess you could say i was a bit annoyed (though maybe too strong a word) at the location, as I thought it would be straight in the action…. however, more of a shock was yet to come.

Rent in Tokyo when you share gets quite cheap (around £300 or less per person) so when I found out the rent for me was £410, I kinda figured we must have a pretty good place. I realised the request to Seiko for a “not too expensive flat” must have gone over her head a bit when we arrived at the entrace to our place (about 5 minute walk from the station)

Welcome to the Chez Griffiths and Co.

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Now come inside…

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And here you go… the front door of

4-33-14-312, Wakabayashi
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo-to, Japan

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Now since we moved in, we have aquired a bit of furniture, however on the first day, there was nothing… not even lights!!! I didn’t have a bed, nor were there any curtains in the house!!! However a bit of that has been rectified now….

After a bit of investigation I have now found out this is one of the most expensive apartments in the area and is famous for rich people living here!!! I’ll admit, it is a nice place (and has started to grow on me since I got a bed…) - but well…. judge for yourselves (it’s only just been built, so we are first tenants :))

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Now a special mention has to be made to the bath. As you can see, the shower is next to it (so you just shower on the floor, and what an amazing shower it is!) - but I couldn’t work out how you fill the bath up (there are no taps)…. may I introduce you to the bath computer..!!!

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Yes, our bath is computer controlled. The temperature on the left is for the shower (so ignore that), then the time, followed by a set of bars. These bars are how high you would like the water level (I kid you not), followed by how hot you wish the bath to be (constant temperature, not a one off fill).

You then input all this info, press the red button and your bath is run for you. When it’s ready, all the hot water controls in the house speak to you and tell you everything is set!! You can even set the time, so your bath will be ready for you when you arrive home!!!

Couple this with having a small park right next to the apartment block (green space is very rare in Tokyo):

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And a playground opposite

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And I guess you can see why the place costs so much. When I get a job and have an exact knowledge of my income, i guess I won’t worry so much, but now it just seems like this is going to be a very exensive year!!
Right, so that is the house done… now where was I…a yes…

So we arrive here, dropped all my baggage off and then went to visit one of Shiho’s friends “Shimpei” who lives a few blocks down. Luckily for me, he can speak English so was able to tell me a bit about the area, what there is to do (ie nothing… haha) and very kindly offered to help me out if ever I need it. He is a painter for a living, so always at home, which will be very handy.

Seiko then fell asleep, so we headed back home.

Sunday 21st August

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To be able to sleep here you have to be able to put up with the constant insect noises. We’re not talking a little loud here, we are talking incredibly loud, both rustling noises and sometimes bird like screeches. I managed to get a photo of one kind, but the flying ones are higher up in the tree and couldn’t get focused.

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Needless to say, I didn’t sleep so well, and woke up at about 2pm. Already round was Shiho’s boyfriend Toshi and his friend (who can aparently speak english, but is very shy)

They both left, leaving us to do my first ever Japanese Food Shop If you wonder about Japan being expensive, somethings are (mainly foreign style imports) - but Japanese food seems incredibly cheap:

250g Chicken Breast - £1.20
Bottle Beer - £0.60
Equivilant Alcopop - £0.50p

Hmm.. actually that isn’t too good a graph, as all I really can remember was the alcohol and chicken But take my word for it, it does seem a lot cheaper here (Though I am still working in pounds earnings…. maybe when I start to earn in Yen everything will seem to cost more…?)

We then headed out to Shibuya to buy lights, light bulbs, curtains and a rug - before going to an Italian for dinner (my choice :)) though you have to eat it with chopsticks. Which involves grabbing a load, then sucking it all in your mouth…

Shiho then went back to stay at Toshi’s house, leaving me and Seiko to take everything home, then have a very slow 2 hour conversation about not very much … hahah… i don’t think I can start my Japanese School soon enough… (conversation with Shiho is even harder, generally involving lots of hand movements and random noises….)

Yup, living here is definately going to accelerate my learning so much, as long as I am confident enough to keep trying (be strong my son!)

Monday 22nd August

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Everyone had stuff to do today, so the flat was empty when I woke up. I decided I wanted to try and find “Shimokitazawa” which Shimpei reckoned was a 20 minute walk away as it has many bars and arcades. So after getting ready (and forgetting to turn on the aircon when I got up, so having to do so in 30 degree heat :(), I braved the noisy bugs and headed outside into the hottest day so far.

Seiko informs me that the temperate in Tokyo is a pretty much constant 28 degrees (even at night) until October, so I hope my body starts to adapt soon, as I was sweating like a pig after only about 5 minutes!

After following the map for about 15 minutes, it soon became aparent that Shimokitazawa was not 20 minutes away, and I arrived there another 20 minutes later. I must admit, I could have probably made it quicker had I knew exactly where I was going, but would have had to run to make it in the 20 minutes Shimpei reckoned it was.

Shimokitazawa is how it had been described though, full of young people, clothes shops, arcades, restaurants and bars. I was pretty fed up by now though and wasn’t in the mood for sightseeing, so just headed off to the station to get the train to Shinjuku where I wanted to go to Sofmap to get a camera.

First stop however was the internet cafe, which soon turned into a 2.5 hour net session (it was so nice to be able to read something in English) and involved scouring my Japanese Penpal Site to try and find some English speakers to meet up with plus sending a few emails.

Then it was off to Sofmap to get a new camera. I was originally going to go for a high end one, like the Canon IXY 600, or the Casio Z750, however after trying them out, I decided I would prefer a smaller (and therefore cheaper) one. In the end I settled for the Canon IXY 55 (IXUS 55 in the UK) - so Justin you can be happy I now have a Canon - for about £150 plus a 1 gig SD card for £40
By now it was about 8pm, so I headed back to the station to get on the many trains (3) back home - arriving back the same time as Seiko and Shiho. They had brought back a matress and some curtains for my room, so we put all that together, and my rooms feels a lot more homely now
I just need to buy a load of paper to cover the glass doors (it lets in too much light, so I get woken up when the sun rises) and buy a light and a desk and the room will be complete! w00t!

Tuesday 23rd August

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Well this is today, and I’m just sitting on the floor (we have no chairs) - writing up all I have done so far. When this is done, I am off to Shibuya with my list of things to get:

1) Ceiling light
2) Desk lamp
3) Laundry Basket
4) Paper
5) Scissors and Sellotape
6) Shower Gel
7) English -> Japanese Dictionary

Plus I need to

1) Upload this 2) Pay Egg Card
3) Open Bank Account

Spent an hour or so this morning with Shiho trying to have a conversation, involving lots of translation book reading But I do need to get the dictionary to help me a lot more. Where possible I’m using the Japanese I know, but realistically it’s not helping me too much.

Friday I will go to the school to enroll, which then should begin on the 5th September. So by October I should be a little more useful in conversations…. haha

Anyway, I better go, been sitting on this floor for a good 2 hours now and my bum really hurts
Sayanara!!

Hmmm… Justin never filled in Monday, and we are back home now But hey, I will try and write the rest so we don’t forget what happened. Excuse me if i miss a bit, but it was 3 (now 4!) weeks ago!

Right, Monday the 12th was our big trip to Ueno, the supposedly largest shoe shopping district in Tokyo. As you can imagine, J was pretty excited about this as all he had been going on about all holiday was how great the shoes are and how he was going to buy so many.

We got there quite early (I believe I was awoken at 7:45 or something) and the day was really nice and sunny. Stepping out the station and all looked really nice. Flip, memory very bad… I think there was a big hill just behind the shops opposite the station, and some large (but clean) skyscraper buildings leading down the highstreet.

After finding a bank that would change sterling (most seem to only take US Dollar) we were ready to hit the market, or at least J was, i was happy to go back to sleep… hahah… This basically began J’s most dissapointing day…

You won’t believe how many shoe places there were, with every possible shoe you can imagine. Aparently there were all these great styles you dont get in the uk… I dont know about that as shoes don’t really bother me, but J was very happy…. until it came to trying to buy any.

Yes dear friends, the old ’shoe size’ problem soon cropped up. No matter where we went, no one seemed to sell shoes larger than a size 9 (perhaps a 9.5) - and with Justin being an 11, this was not good news. So desperate was J to get some, he was talking about just wearing them and dealing with the pain!?!?! Crazy!

Special mention should be made to the guy with the suitcase selling the (fake?) LV wallets, we’re not sure of the price, but I reckon it wasn’t as high as the £200 the real LV shop wanted around the corner, I know which one i would have bought

Not sure what time we got back to Yoyogi, but we were going to meet Seiko in Shibuya for her to take us to a traditional restaurant, the Lockup.

I suppose we should have guessed from the name it wasn’t going to be normal, and the haunted house entrance kinda made a few things seem odd, even when the waitress handcuffed J to lead us to our table, I still didn’t twig… LOL… we were led to a jail cell (complete with iron bars and everything) where we had to take our shoes off and sit on the floor nice one! You were then served by jailers or fellow inmates, lol. It was actually really nice, and the food was really good (though J didn’t approve, not sure why, it was japanese and was fish). We stayed too late to have pudding (it shut at 12) but was still great all the same.

Afterwards, trying to find something to do let us to the Starbucks (the one that overlooks the ‘famous’ crossing) we were sat for a bit drinking my frozen vanilla shake and mucking about with the blinds. We were then pretty undecided on what we should do, so we caught a cab back to Yoyogi, to sleep early ready for the next day….

Tuesday the 13th -

Pretty sure that never happened, I’m looking at the photos for reference. Seems we just went later on to Shijuku, where we did go and explore a bit, found all the dodgy pr0n shops and found a real shanty town style supermarket Were gonna go to a strip show (£25 for 3 hours) but didn’t bother… went on the arcades instead.. .lol.. i do know we had to be home early though as Seiko was going to take us out.

Wednesday the 14th -

We were up at a reasonable hour however on the run to meet Seiko at Harajuku station, we managed to become seperated, so were late as usual (Actually, i was still on time, i found a shortcut, but poor mr J went back looking for me… lol) where Seiko took us to 4Lab one of the best Tattoo parlours in Tokyo. Why I hear you ask? Well, ever since I had been thinking of Japan, I had decided I wanted a Kanji (japanese characters) tat of the year of the monkey. (which was actually why i started back at the gym, to try and build my uppers arms up!! it also HAD to be done in Japan btw, otherwise i didn’t want it) I know a lot of people dont think Kanji on your arm is so cool anymore, but i dont care, i wanted it cause i like it … simple However, after spending some time in Japan and developing such a love for the place, i decided ‘Monkey’ didn’t really symbolise anything ’special’ to me and that i wanted something that would always make me remember Japan, for this reason, I changed my mind to ‘Never Forget’ (which translated directly into Kanji as ‘Forever’). The artist loaded it up on his computer and printed out some samples which i held on my arm to see if it looked ok… they did so after getting the price (£60) we asked when we could book for… the artist said ‘now’ would be ok (i was expecting a wait) and did i want to do it………. bit nervous now, but said ‘yeah’ … eek!

The artist took the print out, then traced it onto some (best example i can give) carbon paper. He then cleaned my arm, put on some gunky stuff and applied the transfer. I now had a purple outline of the design i was about to get put on me, this was the last chance to change my mind… lets do it!

I was asked to lay back on a little bed/table like thing, get comfy, then he began… Now i had been expecting pain (as thats all you ever hear about) - but to my suprise, there was none! More a scratching sensation, cool! So i’m laying there .. and after 5 minutes “hmm… wow! this is gonna be there forever (ironic really)… hmm…” then after about 10 minutes “god, i really hope i like kanji symbols forever…” haha… after 20 minutes i was just bored, so started to drift off to sleep… then finally after about 45 minutes it was over..

Getting up and looking in the mirror, there was now an addition to my body…. and it looked great However i couldn’t keep it out in the open (as the guy explained, its basically an open wound! yuk) so it had to be covered in antisceptic, then wrapped in clingfilm, before being covered in tape…!

No matter what anyone says, about how i might get fed up of it, or regret it, i know this wont be true. I’ve got it because it means a lot to me, and always will… how can i ever regret that???

After that was finished, we were ready to catch the train to the Tokyo Dome where we were going to watch the Giants vs the Dragons in a first for me… Baseball!! We had been pretty excited about this, and made sure we bought some baseball tops to wear to the game. Seiko also bought some mini bats to hit, which i adopted part way through…

However, realistically, baseball has to be the most boring sport in the world!!! No one seems to be able to hit it, whether that means the pitchers are really good or the batters are crap, i just dont know. But to watch a game for almost 4 hours which the score only being 4-3 was quite a, whats the word, not sure… but you get my drift!!! Was worth it to say we’ve been though and it did only cost £8.
Afterwards, we went across the road to what can only be described as an outdoor mall/theme park. There were all shops and restaurants around the enge of a pond thing, with a log flume that falls directly into it, and overhead a massive rollercoaster with a huge ferris wheel! Even better, there was a ‘Moomin Cafe’ which I got quite a few photos of, make mum happy

We didn’t eat here though, and went to a ‘Jonathans’ Family Restaurant (pretty much the same as Denny’s) and Seikos favourite. The desert menu was too good and really hard to pick something, i think it did a good job though

Thursday the 15th - Asakusa

Seiko had again planned to take us out today, this time to visit Asakusa, where there was a massive market. Supposed to meet Seiko at Yoyogi station at 3, but J swore blind it was 2. This meant i had woken up late (i was planning for 3) so had to go pick her up instead of doing my washing. Went to station, waited half an hour then finally rang her. She was indeed meeting at 3, so i had to run back home to start doing my clothes. They didn’t finish in time, so J went and picked her up at 3 (hmm, or 3:30), we finally got out the house at 4:30!!!

Asakusa is a mix of old and new, it had a large temple and massive market which sold loads of great and wonderful things. Unfortunately I had *NO* money so couldn’t buy anything. Looking back, this was a fatal error on my behalf, as try as i might, i couldn’t find that stuff anywhere else

From the walk from the station to the market, we kept getting mobbed by guys with carts offering to run us ‘downtown’ for ‘great discount’ and ‘amazing experience’, this was actually really funny as that was all they would shout… much better would have been ‘downtown, monster, dragons, very cheap’ which kept us amused for ages.

Pushing through all this and walking to the end of the market brought us to a massive temple with many shrines. One of these things had a ‘luck stick’, where you shake a vase type thing to reveal a stick with a symbol on it. You match this up with the draws in this building and it tells you your fortune.

The first one I got was ‘Worst Luck’ stick, which basically meant everything in my life would go wrong. I was pretty upset about this and took another one… suprise suprise this one (UPDATE LINK) came up… which made me feel a lot better

After spending a good few hours in the market it was time for food, and time for justin to get his wish of a sushi bar. One was nearby and aparently very well priced… its crazy, just a massive conveyor belt that snakes around the restaurant with a load of different coloured dishes on it. Each colour is a different price, from 50p or so up to £5. YOu just sit at your table and pick off the plates that you want to eat!

Justin was in heaven (as you can see from the amount of plates he stacks up), I however wasn’t quite so happy as it was all fish My problem was soon solved when a plate of strawberries and a pineapple came around… hahaha… Don’t worry, i did try some fish too Prawns, Friend Squid and some batter prawns (though still with their shells on so they were quite crunchy!!)

After this, we headed to the 100yen store (yes I kid you not, 50p!!) where you wouldn’t believe what you could get for your money! I should have taken more photos inside, but some of the stuff back here would have cost a couple of quid!

We had to be back at Yoyogi station by about 10pm to meet chiakiy, so back we went. We had made (well Justin had, well done son!) a decision to not go out tonite (Cause everyone was so tired) so we bought a load of drink and went for an on the roof drinking session. We even made ourselves a lot more comfortable by dragging a few matresses out which was good for about 2 hours or so, when everyone was really tired and it was freezing cold… lol… Seiko as usual got completely plastered, and rather unfortunately managed to kick my camera across the roof giving a good dose of scratches and causing the memory card to fail (but dont worry, i wasn’t gonna let that stay like that!) - even funnier was trying to get to sleep with her rolling around drunkenly moaning… hahahahaha

Friday the 16th -

Justin and Seiko got up early to go (you guessed it) shopping leaving me and Chiakiy to lie in for a bit. We got up a bit later on, rang Sakura House to change the checkout time from 12 till 4, and went around the shops in Harajuku, before meeting up with Justin and Seiko (and her sister) at the station a bit later on. I still didn#t have any money, so we had to go to Shinjuku first to visit the only place that could change money after 4pm. We then went to the local Sofmap store to change my camera but were told it had to be done in the original store!! grrrr.

Me and Chiakiy then headed off to Akihabara planning to meet Justin and Seiko there later on.

Taking the camera back seemed to be a bit of a chore, as you can’t do it in store, you need to go to a ’service centre’ first where they check something actually is wrong with the items. Was a bit worried about this as the camerea error was intermitant and it was really the scratches i wanted sorted. However everything went without a hitch, even having the woman run down the road to the local Sofmap (And back) to get me my new camera,… HURRAH!

Can’t remember if I mentioned the no smoking policy, well if not, here it is again - Akihabara is a no smoking in the street district. To allow for the addicts (lol), they have built a ’smoking room’ which is basically like a shop with just bar style chairs where you go to smoke!!! hahahahah… pathetic

We had planned this night to go to Club Atom (in Shibuya) for a trance night, 3 floors of hard house and trance, so i was pretty excited. Firstly though, we had to eat and figured we should go to a traditional Japanese restuarant. We picked a IZAKAYA which is basically a bar/restaurant open until about 5am where business people go after work purely for the purpose of getting drunk! It was really nice inside and very traditional looking (no shoes allowed, slippers provided!) and after putting our shoes inside a locker, we were let to out little table/compartment type thing.

The menu had all manners of interesting sounding things on it (and some that looked really good, but when you got them translated suddenly you didn’t want them anymore!!!) so everyone picked a load of different things (to my embaressment i must admit i ordered a pizza!!) - with the starter being raw squid (See photo), its unclear quite how much J didn’t like it, but he tried his best to look manly. Me and Chiakiy thought better of this and let Seiko (Who again didn’t look so happy about it) finish it off

I’ll tell you what is great though, COW TONGUE. Yes my dear friends, roasted cow tongue on a stick is just soooo nice. Its like a really nice kebab, but without being all greasy and yuck! I highly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity of trying it. Also another weird dish… chicken bone. Yes, yup, uh-huh, thats right, the bit we throw away, the japanese boil until soft(ish) and then eat. The most pointless dish ever (though I guess it saves them quite a bit of money).

Ater leaving, it was a quick hop across the road and onto the JR for the 60p ride to Shibuya Seiko had a rough idea of where it was, so we followed her (Forever!!) up the hill to find Atom. Decided to stop on the way at the local Lawsons to get some drink (might as well get a bit merry first) where you can buy Smirnoff Ices for just 90p (NOT FAIR!!) so we found a little standing area where we were able to get the drinks down. (well tried, as they were very fizzy and Justin remember can’t burp… oddball! ;))

The road to Atom was off the main road and down the hill a bit, which led us through the ‘love hotel’ district of Shibuya. What is a love hotel? Let me explain. In Japan the houses are usually very small, with thin walls (or even sharing bedrooms) so its quite difficult for couples to get any ‘quality time’ if they live with their families. For this reason, the love hotels were built. Charging anything from about £15 up to £70/80 (i kid you not!) you can hire a room for 3 hours or so (in Tokyo you are limited to 3, or book whole night, other cities you can pay per hour as you wish)… You generally go in and there are pictures of all the rooms with buttons next to them, pick a room you want, press the button and pay the person behind reception (the button turns off the light to show room is no longer available), you then have your time to ‘get it on’ … due to the nature of the places, the rooms are usually very, very nice, and contain *everything* you need (this includes a sound system with multi channel music, lighting for every possible light controlled with dj mixer style faders and multiple heat control switches… cool!

What was quite amusing is they are all in the large club district… no prizes for guessing why.. when the clubs shut, suddenly the hotels fill…….

Anyway, we walked up and down this street until we finally found Atom (it was about 1am) we went to go in, but OH NO! We told it *closed* at 1… what is it with the japanese??? all the decent music clubs shut early…. not fair not fair… Justin was up for going to Club Asia next door, but i was determined to have some trance in Japan (my dream for godsake) and refused to budge on the issue.

Seiko claimed to know somewhere in (suprise, suprise) Roppongi that played trance, so we jumped in the £12 cab to get there… i sense the mood in the cab wasnt the greatest, as everyone was worried this was going to muck up again…

Got to the club, all ready to go in, read the sign on the wall…. Hip Hop Night?!?! NOOOOOOO… wtf was this… Seiko felt pretty bad, Justin seemed just pissed off, and i could see my dream just slipping away. To try and rectify though Seiko said she would go to an internet cafe around the corner somewhere to find out where we could go. Leaving me, J and Chiakiy to sit around (for quite a long time, J was getting quite annoyed :)) - however she finally returned claiming she had found somewhere, it did play all types of music but was the biggest club in Roppongi (though everyone seemed to claim that), its name, Club Vanilla… so we set off on the short walk to find it…

5 minutes down the road, down a little backstreet and finally, there it was. From the outside, it looked quite upmarket, had its own car park next door, and a really nice entrance hall. We had a problem though, males had to be 23 to get in… goddamit! However, we played it cool, and made it inside (”yatta!”) - £15 but you did get two free drink vouchers (shame we had forgotten to take our own) …. so we went in….

Ok, now we understood why this place had a good reputation… it was, not amazing (wrong word), but definately something special. It was like a really trendy place, but without the unconfortableness that usually comes with that style of joint. Lit with dim red lighting, all the furniture and walls where white and it just looked… WOW!

Downstairs as we entered we were greeted with the sound of R&B (woo bloody hoo :() and the lockers to put our coats in (not sure if i’ve talked about them before, but lockers are all the rage here… so much better than a cloakroom…) - the r&b room had white sofas all around the edge, with some tables and chairs dotted around, with the dancefloor in the middle and the bar and dj booths in the far end. Everyone seemed to be having a really good time, and the vibe was just wonderful…

A set of stairs led up to the next floor, so we decided to explore the next level. This brought us up to a smaller room, with a little bar and people doing massage and the like (i think, memory hazy) and also the toilets… it seemed like the ‘chill out’ room as people where standing around talking…

There were some more steps (5 or so) which led up to the next level and a corridoor which also had bar height tables and chairs on it, and the sound of house music coming from the far end. Down here we walked until we came into the main dancefloor. It was alot bigger than downstairs, the main floor being in front of us, with poddiums and higher levels dotterd around with various females dancing about, then behind that was a fake wall which had the bar behind that (i guess to block some of the sound so the bar guys could hear what you were ordering!). To the left of the dancefloor you had the seating area, huge it spaned almost the same size again and just had loads of high seats with loads of people sitting around chatting. At the back of this was the bar area. I’d like to point out again that this was all really nice looking, with the plants adding a really nice ambience to it all.

We all sat down on one of the chairs nearest the floor and went to get some drinks. The music was plodding along house, which no one seemed to like that much, but as we were all together, we decided to stay for a bit longer. Then something started to happen… as i listened, each song ’seemed’ to get a bit harder… then next one would drop back, but next would go one step forwards.. i commented to justin ‘it seems to be getting harder’, which he grinned but said wasn’t going to happen…

then finally, after a good 20 minutes of teasing… it happened… the dj started to play some decent music!!! my dream was being lived!! i ran out onto the dance floor and started to go for it! Justin and Seiko couldn’t stand it, so left for downstairs, but i persuaded Chiakiy to stay up with me and tried to get her into the music… even the introduction of some more crazy clubbers didn’t help, with her looking totally lost - yup, she left also to go downstairs

I used this time to get another drink, so headed up to the bar, gave my drink token and waiting for my drink. The barman was a bit distracted and giving me my drink, put the bar tokens he had in his hand down on the bar…. thank you very much! yatta!

Back on the dancefloor on my own was OK, but wasn’t quite as good as it could have been, so noticing some mad girls on the stage, decided it would be more fun to go dance with them… Lol, they were so drunk, but loads of fun, shouting ‘Agay (Aki?)’ repeatedly in time with the song. I don’t know what it meant, but it was fun, so i just joined in.. haha.. met up with a crazy (but cool looking) japanese guy (in the photos with the sunglasses) so we partied on down together - until i got up on the stage with the girls, then got dragged off by the bouncers… aparently only girls allowed up… grrr… had to leave, so went back down the corridoor where i bumped into Seiko and Justin who were heading back downstairs…

Chiakiy was happy to see me, but the music was, argh! nasty… however i did my best to try and dance, and must admit after getting used to the crapness of it all (hahaha) did have quite a good time, helped along by the very nice japanese guy who was giving us his (*very* strong) drink - too much though, and we had to sit down… lol…

Blimey, this is a long night report, but theres more!!! I couldn’t deal with much more r&b and seeing as there was only an hour or so left, i left the crew to go back upstairs to the dance room, where i hooked up with my new jap pals making sure not to jump on the stage again (though ironically, the girl got so pissed, she was carried off by the bouncer in a fireman style carry outside, only to escape and run back in!!! :))

A mention has to be made to my final drink, half an hour before the end, and realising i had a ticket left, i went up to order a vodka and orange. Now i dont really drink much here in the UK, so i dont know if its the same, but when he was pouring it, he does both liquids at the same time, then stops the vodka after glass about half full to fill rest with orange juice… except he didn’t he stopped both, looked at me, said ‘ah fuck it’ - then filled the remaining half glass with vodka!!?!? nice one!!!

That was what it needed to tip me past tipsy onto all out pissed, hurrah! I hit the dancefloor with gusto and had the best hour of the night - sadly it ended, and i had to say goodbye to my new friends (i can’t remember the names, sorry!) and go find the rest of TeamTokyo who were waiting downstairs by the lockers, ready to begin our final saturday …. the fish market…

Saturday the 17th -

As knackered as we were, Justin was determined to see the fish market, and to be honest, i did think it would be kinda stupid to miss it as it was such a big attraction. Luckily, the train went straight there from Roppongi, so it was just a case of waiting at the subway station before the lovely clean train arrived!!!

Getting out at the other end, the fish market was easy to find, a massive ‘warehouse’ style place, surrounded by a huge car park, filled with lorries, and guys driving around on the most manipulative fish carrying truck things (the driver and the engine are mounted at the front in a full 360 turning circle part, allowing change of direction and monouverability second to none… also means you have to look out as they fly around *everywhere*!)

After just making it across the carpark with our lives (and dignity) we entered the main warehouse where all the selling took place. It was so busy and full, with just enough room for one of the trucks to drive down a path and little else. Everywhere were boxes and boxes off fish, many of them still alive and flicking water at anyone who walked past… Justin was off with his camera again, photoing anything and everything…

We stopped by one guy who was having particular trouble with a fish, he was holding it up with it flapping away, so he punched it! Then, not content with giving it a black eye (:)) he proceeded to stick a metal hook down into its body via its mouth and pull out its insides!!!?! yikes!

Now for the main plan, Mr J wanted to eat here, so we headed off to find a fish bar (still in the market complex) where you could actually be served the fresh fish from the market. For this reason, it was quite expensive, and as I was really tired, i declined the offer, instead sleeping on the bar for a few precious minutes Everyone else tucked into their food, with justin thoroughly enjoying his ‘fish brains’…. until he found out what they were lol….

By now, everyone was really tired, and seeing as we had to be up quite early, decided it was time to go home… finding the station was a mission and a half though, and i was now hungry, so Chiakiy and I hopped into the nearest Lawson to get some Spaghetti Bolognese (no, really!) - however on coming out, Justin and Seiko had disappeared - we spent the next 30 minutes looking for them, but unfortunately to no avail… then finally caught the train home (the station was a mission to find too, we were wrecked and really just wanted to be back in bed), making it back home at maybe 8:30 (darnit! really can’t remember that…), but at least we were back! yatta! now we could sleep until about 2 or so, ready to clear our room by 4 ….

KNOCK KNOCK!

Bleugh… sleepy… sleep sleep…

KNOCK KNOCK!

Wtf?!? Who’s knocking on our door, its only 12… fuck off!

KNOCK KNOCK - scratching …. door opens, people come in, apologise and walk out!?!?

Neither Justin or myself were paying any attention (true!) so didn’t know what was going on, but Chiakiy who did see them said it was the same Korean people who had looked at the room before…

Confused… I’ll say… when suddenly - KNOCK KNOCK! “Phone for you, its Sakura House” - ah goddamit, so i got up and went upstairs to see what they wanted…

“Sorry to bother you, and I know you were moving out at 4, but can you do it sooner instead??!?” - was very annoyed, as the whole point of the later check out was so we could sleep in! Not for them to call us and wake us up anyway!!! Went back downstairs and explained it all, can’t remember if we went back to sleep, (too long ago.. sorry!) - however when we did start to pack, we realised maybe we hadn’t given ourselves long enough!! whoops!

The guy from Sakura house also turned up early (we were worried we would get in trouble for Chiakiy staying over, but he seemed cool / didn’t know / let us off whatever!) and helped us out a bit… We even got out of washing the bed sheets and hoovering as there wasn’t time result!! What we were left with the problem of though was trying to quickly get all of our stuff into our suitcases… not so much a problem for me as i had bought very little, however Mr J had, well lets just say… TONNEESSS!!! After putting everything in his case, it was at least 4 times as high as it should have been lol… serv him right for having too much money to buy things…

We had been given our deposit money back now, and although we felt bad, Chiakiy and me left for Harajuku for Kiddieland, leaving Mr J with a very puzzled expression on his face as to how he was going to pack everything …

Me and Chiakiy spent a happy afternoon (though perhaps a bit stressful) trying to find gifts for everyone (which was a lot harder than it seemed) and then realising that everything i wanted to get was in Asakusa… dilema… was there time to go there… unfortunately no, but i hoped that Shibuya might have everything.. we were to go there when we met up with Justin (about 20 mins or so…)

Except time dragged on, and on… we were waiting at Harajuku station, but Mr J had gone AWOL in kiddieland again… Seiko was telling us “he’s buying everything!!”, which was mad seeing the state of his suitcase to start with… however, we got some food and we sat on a wall, so not too miffed… (too tired to worry too much!)

When he finally turned up with a billion or so more bags, we just kept quiet …

So it was now off to Shibuya to look for some lucky cats for presents and anything else that might be needed. I’m not too sure of the details now, but I think at this point we split up, Justin to buy his records and myself to find lucky cats.

Chiakiy and I did however find the greatest food stand in the world (just outside the station also! unless you count the cream puff shop also at shibuya station, but thats more a shop :)) - the Grilled Cow Tongue on a Stick Stand… £2 per skewer, but worth every penny (or Yen :)), in a special sauce and tasting absolutely perfect… they were wonderful, mmm….

Anyway, I digress… So we were off to the Penguin Supermarket (* ASK CHIAKIY NAME *) to find the lucky cats… except you can’t get them… heck.. nor did they have anything else worth buying for presents… this was pretty awful for me as I had put a lot of faith in the good old penguin… alas…

Met up with TT at the station, not quite happy everything was complete… “PORN!” - nuts, had forgotten Haroons present… it was either disappoint a friend, or make the effort… Never to dissapoint, we left the others at Yoyogi station and stayed on the train to Shinjuku (me + C) to find the perfect gift….

Now this was funny… if you imagine again the shops mentioned before, but this time really busy, me taking a very embarrassed girl into them, asking her to translate and point things out… hahaha… especially funny was when we went to the ‘underground’ shops, full of businessmen and *very* hardcore porn, for them all to look and stare at Chiakiy as she walked around (covering her eyes for most of the time!! lol)

After about 30 minutes, finally found something (just about) worthy as a gift (it seems all the Japanese Gals that do HC are quite minging, the nice ones stick to the SC stuff… ah well…) , so that was it… back to the apartment to get ready for clubbing at ‘Womb’.

However after returning, it was apparent we weren’t going clubbing that night as Mr J was still trying to pack his case!! Lol… repacked my case with everything we had bought into it, so all was perfect ready for the flight. It weighed in perfectly, which was good, but also rather upsetting, as there was so much i had wanted to buy, but just cou;dnt bring back due to the weight… ah well, Chiakiy said she would send what was needed, or i could get the rest next year… (a plan!)

Not wanting to spend the whole night in, me + C left to go back to Shibuya… long story, lots of walking, get some money out at Citibank (god bless you!) ……

We ended off with some food at the really nice curry house, Justin me and Seiko had gone to before, staying there until the trains started and we could make the journey back to Yoyogi. We had wanted to stay out longer, but Mr J was very defiant that we get to the airport early, so go back we did….

Sunday the 18th -

Got back to our apartment (although I guess you can’t call it ours anymore!! :() at around 6 to find Mr J still trying to pack his case! Aparently it had been going on all night and required lots of throwing away of clothes. I wont go into too much, as i think J is writng about it, but you can see from the photos the fun that was had trying to fit everything in. I had quick shower (very quick, as there wasn’t much time, so no soap or the like, just a quick wash) and i was (very proud of myself also) ready on time… yatta!

Needless to say, when we actually got around to leaving, we were late… lol, this was a bit worrying as we wanted to get the bulkhead seats on the plane (after seeing the legroom on the way out, there was no way we were going to sit in a normal seat!!!) so we now had to rush. This was fine until we went to leave the building, or more to the point, Justin tried to lift his suitcase With all the additional items, it certainly wasn’t light, and slowed us down a heck of a lot more.

This was the only point when i was glad i hadn’t bought loads of stuff, as it meant i had a relatively light case to carry, or wheel to use the words correctly…. the trip to Yoyogi was pretty uneventful, and we managed to buy our tickets and get on the train without a problem hahaha… Nippori station was a bit of a different story, as there were a whole lot of steps and 2 heavy suitcases, but after taking a few deep breathes we managed to get up them, where we had to buy the tickets for the remaining part of the journey to Narita.

Here Chiakiy and Seiko were going to leave us, but we couldn’t have that, so a bit of gentle persuation and they joined us on our last train journey of Japan…. (well for this year at least)

As when we had arrived, we had come straight out into arrivals, we hadn’t really seen much of the airport before, so this was a new ‘adventure’ in itself. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time, so it was more a rush through, however one thing that should be mentioned are the escalators.

Now in england, if you want to take your baggage trolley up a floor, how do you do it… a lift (Elevator ;)) right…. well, a major flaw with that is time and you can only get a few people in it at once.. In japan (being the greatest country in the world and all), they’ve got a much better solution. Why not adapt the trolleys so they can go on the escalators?? Ingenious, they have a pivotted set of wheels (Which lock) so you just wheel it on, the front lifts up, then takes the back wheels on a few stairs down… AMAZING but such a simple idea..

Now was check in. Entering the main checkin hall we were greeted with hundreds of people waiting, Great! we thought, however luck was on our side as the desk for Alitalia had only just opened and there was pretty much no queue, I went through the baggage checks no problem, but suddenly… WAIT…

The canister of ‘Gun Power’ that Ming had requested Justin brought back (that he assured him would be ok) had flagged up on the X-Ray and J was told he would have to open his suitcase and take it out… now, baring in mind how long he had taken to get it shut, this was going to be funny….. 10 minutes later, and after fruitless arguements, we weren’t allowed to take it on, but could check in

This went without a hitch, and *BONUS* we still got our bulkhead seats! Yatta!

Then began the painful task of saying goodbye, it was now that realisation kicked in that we were going home. I’m not sure about J, but I really wanted to stay, there was so much we had missed and not done, 3 weeks just wasn’t long enough! Alas, we had a plane to catch, and we needed to get going…. a lot of hugs and goodbyes later, we were finally through security, wondering what all the ‘time delay’ fuss was as had a good 20 minutes to spare (note: the stamp on our ticket made it very clear the gate would *CLOSE* in 20 minutes) - we headed down the stairs, to walk into the largest queue we had seen all day. Apparently we had just been through security, now we had hit immigration?!?! fuck fuck fuck, this was worrying as although it was moving, it wasn’t moving very fast…. luckily, we made it through then made the dash for the plane, getting there with minutes to spare (ok, maybe not, but it sounds a lot more dramatic ;))

Our return seats weren’t like before as in right next to the door, but were the last row before business class started. It meant we didn’t have quite as much leg room (and didn’t have our ‘walk’ area) but was still a lot better than all the other suckers on the plane, as we could stretch our legs out and rest them on the wall in front if we wanted. The plan here was to try and beat jetlag, we’d stayed up all night before. Go to sleep on the plane for about 5/6 hours, then stay awake until we got home to go sleep again… and guess what… we did it! 1 point to us

Worth a mention are the awful air stewardess’s (well maybe they’re not awful, but their response time was) - I didn’t have any headphones, so asked for some… none came… i put on the ‘assistance light’ - 30 minutes later, still no headphones so i fell asleep. 5 hours later, i wake up and *still* no headphones. So call again, they say ok… then forget, finally about 45 minutes later i received my headphones… grrr…

Of course, being as stupid as we are, we had once again forgotten to change any euros for Malpensa airport (Doh!) but this wasn’t too bad as we were only there for 45 minutes this time - greeted with torrential rain… justin commented this was probably what england would be like, i was a bit more optimistic, but it was a far cry from the hot sun of japan….

And indeed, arriving back in England was bleak… a real come down from a great holiday, J was happy to be back, I however would have loved to stay a bit longer, didn’t really get done all the things i wanted to (Especially the mountain with the monkeys!), the massive rollercoasters and to actually go to the sea! (back in PC world, I had a photo on my desk showing a beautiful beach… i want to find it one day….)

This holiday has really been a life changing experience for me, not only has it let me get to know Justin a lot better (and i hope we are better friends because of it, despite all our argueing… lol) it has made me realise how happy it is possible for me to be. I love Japan and everything it symbolises, its such an interesting, fascinating place - the only downside being the lack of decent music clubs (although I’m told frantic do a night out there, just have to find it) and the food (noodle bar food, the rest is ok :)) and all the arcades, just cool! (if you live there, i’m sure there’s a part of you that never grows up…)

We made some good friends, some of whom will be returning to england in the summer, so we can meet up again and some who we will only see if we return, which i will do next year, i just can’t stay away from the place

So thanks Justin for the great idea, cheers for being a good friend and hope to see you around soon!

YATTA!

Blimey! Its been so long since I made an entry, everyday i wake up i feel all ‘out of it’, not sure why, i think i am oversleeping a bit too much!!!

Anyway, it seems justin has filled in the most block parts of the day (good boy!) so i will just fill in the blanks… btw, excuse my bad typing, the spacebar on the laptop broke, so we bought an external usb keyboard… but japanese… so the keys in different places!!! lol…

We seem to have been doing quite a lot in the evenings, but the days are always spent in bed sleeping (i guess cause of the tiredness factor from staying out all night…)

Making decisions seems to cause quite a few conflicts at times, as we both want to do different things, and i think this holiday is really testing our friendship, but it seems to be holding up, hurrah! Justin seems to be quite unhappy i dont; like japanese food… sorry japanese people, but your food sux!! All the types I do like, are apparently ‘western’ anyway, so don’t count…. don’t get me wrong, i would love to like it (its so cheap!) but its just nasty… cooked in, ummm, soya bean (i think misu) which reakes and is very offputting

Ok, hmmmm… where left off… well i think i had just bought the canon iXY 500, but the photos were so white it was unbelievable… just not good quality at all so i was determined to change it. Luckily the sales people seem pretty nice, and managed to swap it for a Casio Exlim exz40 (not out in uk yet) - good camera if you dont mind shed loads of noise wanted to take it back… but its so small and cute that i will keep it.. only £200 so no big loss… it will do until a better model is released (nothing else any good either) when i will get chiakiy to send it over

Thursday night we met Seiko for first time in Roppongi… she speaks so little english it was really, really awkward, but luckily after the drink had set in from Gas Panic (see j;s post) we started to get on a lot better… still not so good english, but can talk the language of smiles

Which incidently reminds me, since i have been here, i have had to dumb down my english (cut out a lot of words that are pointless) that i am worried i will not get it back when i get home!! lol… all the people we are meeting are female, so i am copying them… i sound like a frickin japanese chick! lol… when me and justin speak, so start with we talk slow, until we realise we are both english hahahahahahahahaha….

Erm anyway, yeah, so Thurday night was to celebrate justins start of birthday, so Gas Panic and then a club called the Lexington Queen… depending on the entry price, you either got 2/3/5 or 6 free drinks. There was only a 500 yen difference between 3 and 5 (currently 190 yen to the pound) so we went for the 5 drinks…. quite why i dunno as we were blatted after just the 2… lol… very good fun night, all range of music inc 2 or 3 trance tracks,. yay!

Oh, that reminds me… cost… Quite why everyone say Japan most expensive place ion the world i dont understand… its cheap as chips I guess somethings must cost a lot, but so far, most of my money going on Arcardes!!! Clubs cheaper than UK, drinks cheaper than London Central prices (Gas panic was only £2 per drink!), food cheaper, mcdonaldcheaper transport cheaper…. i love this place… You can have a bonza night out for so little… then the trains start a 5:30 (hell yeah!) so you can get home cheap after a night out, then get some food (read whole meal) in the local noodle bar for about £2!!!!

Hehe, I’m jumping about here… really can’t remember what order… its now 2/3am or something and i am parched! lol…. erm…. oh yeah, dont buy porn mags from the convenience stores. Japanese law prohibits showing of genitalia, so porn mag = naked woman all fuzzed out.. lol… it would be more attractive if she were dressed - if you want ‘proper’ stuff, head to shibuya or shinjuku… i can’t confirm this, but word on the street says there is no censorship in the more seedy shops…..

Shibuya is a wicked place… massive tv screens on highrise buildings and many many lights (admittedly daytime it doesn’t look so good, but at night its awesome… very very pretty) - its the #teencapital# of tokyo (or one of them, the other one is apparently harajuku) and many can be seen wandering the streets with their millions of shopping bags. You get the dodgy looking ‘Ganguru Girls’ here too… they look like sh*t, with really really tanned brown faces and really bright makeup… i don’t understand… the kogal’s (just lots of brightmakeup, short skirts, loose socks etc…)
however are a lot more appealing to the eye….

Right, so now we are up to Friday… i have a feeling i was asleep all day until late… but knwoing justin we probably went shopping at some point… i have managed to aquire about 10 Kanji t-shirts, so am quite happy, but there is a shop in Harajuku with some Kanji Style jeans!!! Well gow you always wanted to get me in jeans, maybe now you will… if they can get my size in i will buy there

Ahhhh… which reminds me… kanji clothing… so hard to come across… The japanese love english charatcers, so everything in flipping english… grrr… its funny though, justin bought a tshirt which makes heck all sense… it does go on about having sex with little children though?!?!!? and mudmud! wtf!!

Harajuku is our local walking distance shopping place.. its quite nice, big screens again and right next to Yoyogi park, which is very beautiful and houses a japanese temple (well its not going to be american now is it?!?! haha) There is a place called ‘KiddyWorld’ there… just a huge 5 floor toyshop.. but its awesome! any money i have left over at the end of this holiday will be spent there.. they have a lifesize (human size) Doromon (sp?) which costs over £200!!!! I have bought a fwe things so far, but will definately return…

Friday night for Justins birthday, we went out to Chiakiys house in Arakawoki (in Ibaraki) where her mother took us to a traditional japanese restaurant. Was very nice (see i do like some of the food!) but i dont want to imagine the cost… Chiakiys mother has been so kind to us this holiday, i am trying to think of something really nice to do for her… maybe something in Kyoto, or take her out or something… Afterwards, we went to a 24hour karaoke bar (so different to how i imagines, you get your own room rather than sing to otherr people, good in a way, but it would be nice to have an audience) - so if you see the photos, its me and j, Chiakiy (the non japanese looking girl ;)), Michiko (Micha) Chaikiys best friend and Tdu (works at Burtons, (snow board shop) with Chiakiy)

That ended at about 5:30 or something, when we had to go get the train back to Tokyo, to sleep ready for the big saturday night out in Shibuya… Unfortuntely, we also had to get up a 3pm to go get Chiakiy from the station, so it wasn’t all bed of roses… Didn’t do too badly though and was up by 2 to pick her up… didn’t show until 3:30… doh!

Chiakiy had not been Tokyo before, so we figured it would be a good time to go for a bit of a sightsee.. Decided on Tokyo Central as it sounded important… but not really anything there… Did walk to the Imperial Park though, there should be some photos… very beautiful and some cool trees which you dont get here.. Walked around it for a bit then followed the road to Ginza, the most expensive part of tokyo. Kinda same thing, big buildings lots of lights, but very nice all the same. Bought the new GunsnRoses cd from HMV for only £9 (see, japan cheeeeep!) though was pissed when the sales guy took the Kanji bit out to put in another one… grrrrrrrrrr….

For night out, decided on Club Pure in Shibuya as it was only 2500 yen (£13) with all you can drink… wicked idea, wicked club.. worked very well. We had been warned off the place, but inside it was so nice, loads of sofas, films on big screens for if you get tired (with english subtitles, oh yes!) and of course the free drink policy… ya ta!

That finished at about 5am, when we went to the arcades and then to a noodle bar to get some breakfast (noodles with fried beef… yummy!) then home to bed.

Sunday was really boring as it just rained all day, and did absolutely nothing… so no photos… nothing to write…

Today, hurrah! I can’t believe it, i’ve only been writing 45 minutes and i am up to now… yip!

Woke up so late, but didn’t want to get up… Justin left to go (suprise suprise) harajuku, went and met him later on at about 5pm… soooo sleeeppy!

Decided to meet up with Seiko again, which is cool… its good to have friends here to go and play pool. Went to some pool hall, which charged per hour not per game.. Cool, except Chiakiy and Seiko never played before, so we didn;t excatly get the most for our money. Especially when only after 2 hours and 1 drink each the bill came to over £35!!!! feck! Not worth it, stupid place! Should have gone bowling like i wanted to! ha! Which reminds me, Chiakiy and Sekio now becoming friends. This is good as C not know anyone in Tokyo, but S say she can come and stay at her house awww… teamtokyo bring people together! nice one !

Chiakiy had to go home for work tomorrow, so took her back to station and went out for some dinner .., lovely, chicken curry with burger, sausage, prawns and scrambled eggs for only £4!! i LOVE japanese food, hahaha, i’m sure justin will have something to say about that…

Now then, just back home writing this, when i should be sleeping as we need to be up early tomorrow to catch the BulletTrain to Kyoto… gonna be about £150 return, so only gonna make the trip once. But staying over 1 or maybe 2 nights to get the most out of the place. Credit cards can be useful after all (even if the fricking payments take one month to process!!!!)

re the Sakurs house rules… seems everyone just says ‘f*ck it’ so its not as strict and crap as we thought it would be.. MSN and ICQ work (though I have so far had anough will power not to log on) and the FTP to put the pictures up works great…

One shocking thing.. we think our 1 meg broadband is fast (or 2 meg if you really push it) here in Japan you get for 4500 yen (22ish pounds) 100meg broadband.. yes… thats right, you did read that correctly.. i will try and scan in the advert to prove it… would love it at home, though the upstream is not so good, but then i guess you can#t have everything….!!!

People are really nice and friendly, no trouble seen yet (unless you count the 60 person fight / double mafia murder outside gas panic… but that was Yakuza related, so doesn’t really count) - Chiakiy even dropped her purse in an arcade, abd someone came running out to give it back… i wonder in england if the same thing would have happened.

A lot of the people in our block are here for a year teaching english. It seems like such a simple thing to do, maybe I would like to do it when I finish Uni…. i will see… but definately something i will think about… Everyone have so much fun and you only work 4 hours a day, not bad considering you get to take home about £1000 a month…

Phew… well now I am knackered, if i think of anything more, i will write,,, but probably not for a few days unless we net cafe in Kyoto or something. I need to pack my clothes now, though Justin is sparko, so will need to get it done in the morning.

Bai Bai!

Posted by Justin

Woke up at 14:30 after only 3 hours of sleep… I’ve got to take care of myself!
Decided to go to Central Tokyo. Nice place - if i had to equate it to a part of london it would be Canary Warf, just offices everywhere. Walked round the parks and saw Tokyo tower in the distance.

Strolled down to Ginza which really impressed me. The headquaters of many japanese companies. SONY HQ but no time to see the museum.
Sat in the Nissan 350Z - lovely car but i still prefer my skyline (seen so many of them around here in japan!),

we let ben choose where to eat…. no suprise that it was a burger joint again ‘HAMBURGERS AT WENDY’S) argh!

Tried to find a VISA cash point for ages… no luck - started to get cold!
Got back to sendagaya at 10pm and was supposed to meet Seiko and her friends at Shibuya! always late.

Luckity Shibuya is 4 minutes (2 stops) from our station, went to ‘CLUB PURE’ Hip-hop and R&B night - cost 2500 yen for guys, 2000yen for the ladies. OPEN BAR! amazing!!! and the great thing was… no pikies!

We all got super cained, Kamikazes, sex on the beaches, karsesu’s and the regualar beverages.

Aparently Steven Segal was suppost to be there but he was held up doing a video shoot. I didn’t care - the guy can’t act. The fat guy from marshall law would probably kick his ass.

Finished at 5am, went to some arcades and took some sticker photos…
6am got back to our station and went to another noodle bar.

seems to be quite a routine…

no sleep!!! help!!!

Posted by Justin

Day started off cloudy and pretty miserable. To top it off, the exchange rate is hitting bottom… ARGH I pray it’ll shoot back up again!!!

Decided to go to Shibuya, 3 stops from our station.

!!!Organised Chaos!!!

thousands of people at that famous junction crossing waiting for that green light. Such a sight, we stood there watching for ages.

Had lunch at a noodle bar just round the corner from the junction. I’m now a lot more confident to order ‘collet cotdosai’ can’t spell it.

rain soon started to piss down like cats and dogs and i needed to find a jacket, but strangely, it was still fairly warm so i settled with an umbrella from HMV. All shops put out an umbrella cover dispenser outside - nice dry floors inside.

It was the launch of Utada’s new Album, not very interesting as it features all her number ones which I already have (I’m trying so hard to find her LP’s if they are out) but all through the streets you hear her tunes from ghetto blasters.
I was in HMV for ages, the atmosphere is so different. I can’t explain.
On the third or forth floor of the building is the Shibuya radio station where you can watch the DJ’s live from the sound proof window.

We soon lost each other - luckily I had my phone, ben took ages to ring it though

The rain got ridiciously powerful! haha so we kept running into arcade joints. Drains your cash… but so much fun!!!
I need to stop!

Got back to Sendagaya around 10ish but too wet to do anything at night.