Tokyo

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Alarm went off at 8 am. Why did I think it was a good idea to go out drinking until 5 via KFC? Oh well.

Right, time to pack and clean my apartment. On the airport bus by 11. Got checked in and had a hot bagel and coffee to sober me up. Witnessed a woman beating up her husband / boyfriend in the deprture area. Gave me a good chuckle. Flight was traumatic. Asiana, why do employ kamikaze pilots? Got a grilling off the customs guy due to the size of my very large case for a three day holiday. Got the metro fine and arrived at the hostel without getting lost due to the fantastic directions with pictures and arrows the hostel provided. Thank you Khaosan Original!

4th May: After a lovely long lie-in I finally managed to drag myself from my bed. Decided to go on a wander around the Asakusa area, where I was staying, with one of the girls from the hostel. The streets were heaving with people, this was the Tokyo I imagined not the ghost town I had arrrived in last night. We walked to Kaminari-mon gate and through the market selling it's tourist tat to Senso-ji. Senso-ji was beautiful. The best bit was the cute little grandad guard, who was keeping order and waving people into the temple. We wandered around photographing the temple, five storey pagoda and the beautiful cherry blossoms that were out. Ate some street food, like a thick pancake on a stick, delicious. Wandered around the market area, very cute, a mix of shops for tourists and locals.

Due to the rain, we decided to head to Shibuya to look around the shops. Tokyo, why is your metro system so complicated? Especially coming from Seoul, which is extremely easy to use. It took a while to get to Shibuya, was it was at the opposite end of the subway line. We were walking through Shibuya whe disaster struck. I slipped on a wet tissue on the ground and went arse over tit and broke my flip-flop. Could only happen to me. After fixing my flip-flop to my foot with one of Anny's laces, I hobbled off to buy some new shoes. Managed to find a cheap shoe shop and squeezed my big foreigner feet into a pair that were less than £20. Didn't think shoes would be that cheap.

Wandered around Shibuya and up to Harajuku, dodging the rain by popping into shops. Found a gorgeous little area in Harajuku with funky lttle shops, like Hongdae in Seoul. Ate some delicious strawberry filled croissants from a bakery. Walked back to Shibuya and stood watching all the people crossing the road. It was crazy, everyone was like little ants scurrying across the road.

Took the subway back to Asakusa and decided to have a walk around the otherside of the river. We walked along to the skytree. It's huge, I wish it had been open so we could have went up. But it's just another reason to return to Tokyo. The area was really quiet and residential. We stopped for dinner along the way. Japanese curry at a fast-food place, the Japanese equivalent of MacDonalds, but a hundred times nicer and healthier.

5th May: Another lazy morning, well I am on holiday after all. The weather was much better today. Anny and I walked around Asakusa again. In the morning, we went back to Senso-ji temple and looked around the gardens. Deciding to make the most of the lovely weather we walked through the park along the river bank, there was a festival on, I think it was to do with lanterns and they had filled the trees with lots of cute balloons. Then we crossed over the bridge to another park we had discovered last night and wanted to explore properly in daylight. The park was beautiful, traditional Japanese style surrounded by big skyscrapers, a good mix of the traditional and the modern. The park had a lovely lake in the middle, which was filled with turtles, some of them swimming around, while others were sunbathing on rocks. We wandered around the park soaking up the tranquil atmosphere.

Back at the hostel to meet my Japanese friend, who I haven't seen in a few years, since she visited me in Korea. We decided to go to Ueno as it was close. We wandered around, I loved all the restaurants build in the railway arches, very cute. We wancered through the market, but it was toobusy an we kept losing each other. Becky decided we had to go for a traditional Japanese dessert, so we went to a popular cafe to try it. It was really good, green tea ice cream, red beans, cream, orange, red bean mousse, and Japanese jelly. Japanese jelly was a bit rank as it had no taste, but the rest was amazing. We had a stroll around Ueno Park, which as nice but busy. It was also nice to see a real mix of nationalities.

Next we headed to Akihabara, home of Cosplay, Maid cafes, and cheap electronics. We wandered into a big store and went to check out some of the Cosplay outfits. Anny was in her element as she loves Cosplay and all things Japanese. It was a great place to people watch. Loads of people came in just to try the costumes on and take photos of themselves. They had every costume imaginable, plus all the accessories to go with them. We were going to go to a Maid cafe, but hunger took over so we went to an Izakaya style place instead. The food and beer were great. We had a feast; radish and dried shrimps, salted peas, cold udon, rice and pork, and kushiage. Kushiage is skewers with different meats, vegetables, and seafood on. Also due to my egg addiction, I asked Becky to order me a kushiage egg, amazing! Although my stomach regretted it later. A great night with great company.

6th May: My last day in Tokyo! I was up early to make the most of it. Meet up with Becky and Takako, another friend I met traveling. We headed to Rikugi-en, a traditional Japanese style park, that I had seen in my guidebook and liked the look of. It wasn't far from the hostel, so we hopped on the metro. Rikugi-en is a typical garden from the Edo period. It's creation was based on the theme of Waka poetry during the Genroku period. We wandered through the trees as we entered the garden and them we walked up to a lookout point where we could see thepond and all the beautiful flowers that were in bloom. The park was peaceful and very picturesque.

Oh my feet! We walked miles that day We decided to head down to Meiji shrine. It was nice walking through the streets on a Sunday afternoon as it was really quiet. We stopped off for lunch at a French style cafe / restaurant. I love the cafe restaurant type places here. It feels like someone has rennovated their front room by adding a bar and tables. We then went for some red bean ice cream sandwiched between wafers. Meiji temple was very busy and beautiful. Takako taught me how to pray properly. First wash your left hand, then your right and finally rinse your mouth out. Then we joined the queue. When we got to the front of the queue, we went through a process of throwing our money in the trough, bowing, clapping and making a wish. It was compliated business and I was worried I would be cursed if I did it wrong.

We headed to Ginza to wander around the shops and I ended up buying two Hello Kitty t-shirts from Uniqlo. Well it would be wrong to come to Japan and not buy anything Hello Kitty. We had a look around some of the shop and then because it was raining we headed into a tourist information centre, which had some sofas we could chill and read on. I read an interesting book about Kimonos. After a pit stop for some coffee and one of those delicious strawberry pastries it was time to say bye to Becky as Takako and I headed back to Asakusa. We met Takako's friend, Saeko and went to the new tourist information centre that they have built opposite Kaminari-mon gate. We went to the 8th floor to the observation deck to watch the sun set over Asakusa and the Skytree. However many other people had the same idea, so we didn't get a great view and the Skytree didn't light up when it was meant to. Nevermind.

We headed for my last supper in Tokyo.We were going to have sushi, but since it was a little cold and everywhere was a bit expensive we headed for monja and okonomiyaki. Monja and okonomiyaki are kind of like pancakes, where you get all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix them together, then oil the grill in the middle of the table, pour the mixture on and cook it. It was really nice and washed down with the few beers. After dinner and a few beers it was back to the hostel for a quick shower, change and pack, before heading to the airport to spend the night. Early morning flight, no!

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