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Published: January 22nd 2009
Up nice and early and after barely sleeping- pretty excited, we head off to meet Tom in Staines for the grand Off Travelling!!! Sad to say goodbye to everyone, but so excited that Tom and i are actually heading off to japan to start 6months oftravelling,after so much planning and waiting it seems to have come around so fast.
Dropped off at Heathrow terminal 5, for 14.35pm flight BA007 to Tokyo, and checkin goes smoothly, with our bags weighing scarily little!!! Crack open the pink champagne (thanks HHD) and chill out in the terminal- feeling relaxed, but a little scared! the 11hour flight goes fine- tho with lots of turbulence and we are ready to get off after about 8 hours- hardly any sleep (stuck in the middle of 2 sleeping japanese women) but quite nice food and complimentry wine!! We are feeling tired by the time we arrive in to tokyo airport at about 11am, but find the train and continue to Asakusa, the oldest part of Tokyo- where our Hostel is. Hostelis nice- read TINY!! It has been a full 24 hours since Tom slept, i had a few naps, but we head straight to bed.
Woke
and went for an explore around Asakusa, little temples and traditional houses are mixed in with newer shops and arcades- Pachinko- a slot machine game seems to be big! find a strange little noodle bar for T, where you buy a token forthe meal you want, take it to the counter and they cook it for you! I had lovely Tempura veg and sticky rice, Tom had Beef curry, but everything came with a side of noodles- too fishy to stomach!
The jet lag the next day is a nitemare- up crazy early, out and on the tube by 7.30am, hit tokyo rush hour! head first to kyobashi- but realise that it is the Canary Wharf of Tokyo, just offices!! Back on the tube to ShinJuku, to see the neon lights and all the hitech stuff we imagined of Tokyo!!!- althoug in reality nothing was that far advanced of england, and everyone seems to have huge bricks for phones!!
We walked on to Harajuku- to the station and bridge where the Harajuka girls meet on sundays, but noone there on a monday, but walked through Meiji- jingu park to the Sinti Temple- really beautiful, with many japanese leaving prayers
there!
Exhausted from jetlag we head back to the hostel at about 2pm and sleepalmost all afternoon! \It is dark when we wake again, and get back on the tube to Shinjuku, to sse the bright lights by night, try and find the golden Gai. the traditional "nomiya"- bars, and find Bons- as recommended by the LP, but dont stay as there is no one else there, and at 500yen entry its expensive! so we head on- find a cute bar in a basement on the main street in shinjuku and stopthere for japanese beer and fish and chips- so english! also english football!!! But met a Tokyite, who chats to us to pratice her English!!
We are back to the hostel at about 11.30 and have a few more japanese beers!!
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Astley crew
non-member comment
you look good
Enjoyed the read you already seem to have done so much and this is just the beginning.