Hotel Soga International Chiba

... returned from
dinner on Saturday night, we noticed a flier hanging in the lobby of the
hostel. A local couple offers breakfast
or dinner prepared in their home, so that visitors can get a taste of authentic
Tokyo. Sounded good to us, so we booked
for breakfast the next morning.

Mr. Hiro arrived promptly at 9:00 as scheduled, and drove us the quick
5 minutes to his house. His wife was
busy preparing a somewhat traditional Japanese ...

... to sleep through most of the flight, but this happy woman decided she would take care of me and refused to leave me alone. She eventually invited me over to her daughter-in-law's place the following week-end for the Chinese New Year. Sweet :) I can tell you I was excited to finally be landing in Singapore (I was looking forward to some warmth and FINALLY seeing my beloved WanWan).

... of all the tube systems i've used this one was the most complex, although after a couple of days i had it nailed!  So the next day i headed to Akihabara the electrical district for a full on assault of all my senses and without a doubt the coolest shop i will ever set foot in. Giant screens advertising stuff thousands of people christmas shopping, sales clerks with loud speakers and flashing lights, oh and japanese christmas music!!  I really just wandered about the place all day ...

... happy mom?) neighboring park, DisneySea did. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't getting that sense of nostalgia wandering through the themed lands. The park was essentially a carbon copy of CA's Disneyland, with the exception of the rides being narrated in Japanese and a few minor changes to some of the popular attractions that only a Disney freak like me would notice. It was like ...

... e piu' in la' le nuvole che si confondevano con il ghiaccio sottostante. Il clima qui e' proprio come diceva la guida, caldo e umido senza speranze.. cielo grigio, aria appiccicosa, piove un po' si un po' no (piu' no che si a dire il vero, mi sa che c'e' chi si sta prendendo molta piu' acqua di me). La cappa contribuisce al misto di odori del posto, che sara' perche' sono appena arrivata, ma sono abbastanza stuzzicanti l'appetito... non ho ancora sperimentato niente, ma stasera ...

... pretty funny, being so exhausted and just passing out on a random couch, but it sure beat sleeping in a cubicle in an all-night cafe where people go to read comics (they're very popular here, it seems.) So, the next day I bid them adieu on their trip back to the States.. then, headed to Shinjuku to go meet up with Elin.. we were both pretty tired after our crazy night, so we decided to head for some light shopping and park-picknicking near Harajuku....more on that in my next installment on Tokyo!!

... it was fantastic to catchup after all these years - I guess we've all changed/developed over the last 15 years - but it's always reassuring to know that the fundamentals stay the same. And thanks for not throwing me out after my comments about your 'typical Japanese' flat!!!! Tokyo is a fun city, and not nearly as daunting as you might think. It may be the metropolitan area with the largest population in the world - but ...

... days we're staying with Iku and her family. I love those guys.. even though we kicked her dad out so we could all fit.. He seemed like a lovely guy. My first image of him was seeing this guy standing at the airport holding a bunch of bananas and thinking.. that guy is weird.. and then I realised he was Iku's dad. Then the bananas made sense!! She knew how much I'd been craving one - although bananas arent $16 a kg back home anymore. Yay we're doing a $150 tour of ...

... many with tall traditional walls or bush walls, with ornate gardens within and beautiful traditional architecture. The old styles are so beautiful and peaceful; I am impressed with how these traditional homes really carve out space for rest and beauty despite the busy city that surrounds them. The shrine area was really beautiful, with some water fountains and lovely green and shade and architecture. There was a group of older Japanese at the ...

The ANA flight to Narita was pretty nice. There was no one in the middle seat, so there was plenty of room. The arrival at Narita was easy. We landed at 15:10 and by 15:50 I was on the airport limousine bus to Shinagawa. The bus took about 1.5 hours on the Higashi Kanto Expressway. The traffic got heavier around ...