Hotel Excellent Ebisu Shibuya

... weiter zur Passkontrolle, bei der wir leider nicht die einzigen waren. Netterweise gabs da keine Probleme, weder bei der Einreise [Japanische Beamten grinsen sehr freundlich und machen dir keine Angst, irgendwas falsches zu sagen und dadurch die Einreise zu verkacken, wies z.B. die Typen in Miami gemacht haben] noch mit dem Gepaeckabholen und wir mussten uns auch nicht, wie zuvor im Flugzeug angekuendigt, einer Temperaturabmessung unterziehen, weil wir ja aus dem Ausland kommen und mit ...

... a great trip a mile or two away from the station, Kat got a little depressed in our inablity to find the street, and we started heading back. After heading back, the street could be seen within eyesight of the station, but not a lot of time had been wasted and we still had the opportunity to travel the streets.

One thing that's fun about Japan is that the small business owner is anything but dead. There is lots and lots of small businesses, each ...

... them twice, and there was still screams when we left them. We went into the 3d "honey I shrunk the audience" show, which we realised we had actually jumped the queue for. There were some people at the doorway talking, and there did not appear to be a queue, so we just walked to the door and were ushered in. When we looked out at the (now closed) doorway though, there was a long line of unhappy looking ...

Woke up at 9 and packed and check out by 1030am. A little sad to leave our room for the last 5 nights. Bought our Airport LImousine tickets for 3:40pm. Then we walked to JR Shimbashi and took the train to Shinjuku. At Shimbashi we saw there was some traditional ceremony with many men in Jap Underwear and G-Strings waiting to carry some traditional idol. Then we transfered to the Odakyu line to Shimokitazawa. Then was ...

... a pathway for us to walk! What a reception. With all the people clamoring to see us and meet us and take a picture with us the line wait time has grown to as long as four hours the past two days. They line up as soon as the park opens and wait until we get there. On our lunch break they have already begun to line up to see us on our return. The line is usually cut before we finish our first half-hour set! There are very few things I would wait in line four ...

... Breakfast was nothing spectacular, but sitting on the tatamis sipping tea with everyone in their robes was a neat experience. Proceeding breakfast, I ventured around the small garden and checked my e-mail. Once everyone was packed up and we had taken pictures, we embarked for the station where we caught taxis to Sharp. The visit to Sharp was pretty much a giant tour. Led by a cute English speaking tour guide, the first leg of the tour traced the evolution of Sharp from the ...

... so then we went to a festival - all they seem to do in Japan is work, drink, eat and celebrate festivals! - and on to Karaoke. pictures will follow but there's no USB so you'll have to use your imagination in the meantime... picture me singing Aerosmith's Crazy. oh yes. On the Sunday i met up with Yuki and Toby - after spending 20+ minutes getting lost in the heat in Shinjuku station (yes, it was HOT in Tokyo - unlike ...

... and then headed off to The Ruby Room - a tiny funky bar where it was open mike night. Anything from a band to some guy singing to his laptop. On the way to The Ruby Room, we grabbed some free popcorn at one of the love hotels. People pay for the rooms here by the hour. You can rent kinky "love outfits". My fave is the french maid outfit. Had some more ...

... flute,hand performance,and a ROCKY HORROR PERFORMANCE! I was in the ROCKY HORROR GROUP! I was Janet. WE did the opening song with the lips, Janet and Brad walking in the rain and going to the door with Riff Raff letting them into the house while a party was going on,,,,Time Warp,,,,meeting Frankie and going up to the lab. After Time Warp, Brad and Janet are stripped down to their underwear because they are wet...so if you are wondering why I was in a slip that is why.Enjoy

... except for the occasional dude who would try to get me into his bar where the girls are waiting for you; to take all your money, that is...I walked around for an hour and a half, taking pictures and checking out the urban wildlife. Tonight will hopefully yield a bit more in the way of cross-cultural interactions. Maybe some karaoke and a couple of Asahi's to make the humidity go away.