Blogs from Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 4

Hong Kong Sevens Our last day in Hong Kong was spent at the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby .We couldnt get tickets to the stadium as it sold out ages ago but we went into the village where they showed the games on a massive screen-it was ace!even though Im not a rugby fan. There were a few technical hitches with the screen but after 20minutes they managed to get the screen fixed- phew! just in time for England. It was nice to see England winning at something for a change!!They have won the past 4 out of last 5 tournaments apparently. Shame they crashed out to New Zealand in the end! Tokyo, Japan More hustle and bustle as we arrived on Saturday in Tokyo Japan!It even more chaotic to us than Hong Kong for several reasons ... read more

We had dinner in an upstairs lounge with table-mounted grills and firepits in Asakasa. The food was very cheap and quite good, and the style of the place reminded me of the New Orleans restaurant in Easy Rider. I finally got that Gin and Tonic I was looking for. When we left it was pouring rain, so I dashed through the streets to the nearest convience store and grabbed some clear plastic umbrellas for us (I shouldn’t have bought three - I doubt we will have to use them at all for the rest of the trip, the weather forecast is pretty clear). We ended the night at that Bass Ale bar that I had been looking for on Saturday - it turned out to be a branch of the Hub (the British pub we ate ... read more

up. feeling a lot better than i was last night. maybe that was jet lag. I guess i was just up for a long time too. we went out to the streets and looked around for something to eat. an old woman was getting into a row boat and was being pushed out into the water near our hotel. it seemed like the denny's from last night might have an interestingly japanized version of the american restaurant, so we decided to try it. at least it would be cheap. after posing with tommy lee jones on a vending machine coffee ad we got to the restaurant. it was a lot nicer than any denny's i've ever been in. the menu was completely different. not really what we expected at all. i wanted to get a japanese ... read more

A quick walk around the block revealed our hotel, a massive two building complex overlooking Akasaka. Some stares while crossing the street informed us that the Japanese do not J-Walk, even when there is no traffic. We checked in and went to our rooms to freshen up before heading out. The rooms are absolutely beautiful, probably the fanciest hotel I have ever stayed in. The view from my room was breathtaking - a panoramic look at the Akasaka district. Our rooms seem about as large as a typical American Hotel, except more technical. Bathrooms are marble, with a tile painting in the shower and the ever popular computerized toilet. You can control all the rooms lighting from the nightstand, as well as the room's sound system, which ever pipes the radio into the bathroom. After we ... read more

We've just arrived in NZ after spending a lovely 7 days in Japan. It is a crazy city - absolutely massive!! but nice and easy to find your way about (if you speak japanese and don't need to use street signs). The language barrier really was the hardest part of the holiday, but we got round it just fine - its amazing what random guidebook phrases and pointing at pictures can get you! We did all the classical Japanesey things, such as eating sushi (it really tasted just as it looked...raw) eating oads of fish and noodles (by the end we went out of our way to look for none fishy things and ended up accidentally eating liver, 2 types of animal fat, chicken and some unknown organ on scewers). On the 1st morning we went ... read more