Arrival in the land of the rising sun


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Asia » Japan » Chiba » Narita
February 24th 2006
Published: February 25th 2006
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Having feigned sleep to avoid trying to avoid pegion english conversations I finally arrived at Tokyo Narita airport. I caught the "local" train into Tokyo itself which seemed to take forever, despite it being called "Express". I walked from Tokyo station to the hotel which was in a fantastic area - very buzzy and seemingly full of restaurants, ski shops and bookstores.

I headed out for a spot of lunch in a shokudo which is a cheap eating bar with fanstastically detailed plastic models of the food you were about to buy in the window. Upon entering the bar you choose your food and pay at a vending machine which serves you a token which you then use to collect your food and eat it at the counter. I had some noodles with something in them, and a bowl of rice topped with what seemed to be tempura vegetables (deep fried and battered).

After lunch I went down to Ginza and went into the Sony building which displayed a full range of sony products from walkmans to TVs bigger than my bedroom. One interesting feature was a musical installation piece (noted this one for you ally, so you'd better be reading this) which played a tune as you walked up the stairs - each stair played a new note. Simple things...

Having played to my hearts content I went to check out the leica gallery nearby, but got slightly geographically challenged en route. I was approached by a man to see if i needed help, and after some discussion it turned out he worked for the Tate and was their representative in Tokyo. He recommended a few galleries I should visit, and told me about a couple of opening parties that were happening that evening. Having assertained that I was straight and from near london he added "I know a girl in london you just have to meet, you might not get on that well but she has great t*ts and owns a bar and restaurant in islington, heres her home number". Not convinced I'll call it tho.

Back at the hotel I bumped into a couple of people from the UK, so we all went along to the gallery opening. We actually didn't find the right gallery - but gatecrashed another opening party instead. The gallery was about the size of a large shed, and only had about 10 pieces of art in it, and all the free drinks were gone, but nonetheless we felt cool. Well, coolish.

The evening was wrapped up by checking out a few happy hours including one in a salsa bar where dancing was against the rules. Legendary.

Things I have discovered today:


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25th February 2006

don't look at the t*ts
don't mix with people who may lead you astray. PS always change your underwear. You never know what may occur. Love mum xxx

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