Park Lane Hotel Tokyo

... delighted to spy a Geisha – so beautifully painted and dressed – who was posing for photos with all and sundry. The fun park next to our hostel was in full cry for the festival and many local families played and enjoyed the lantern festival.

Our evening meal was in one of the local restaurants – it resembled a chain store in design and set-up but specialised in the local cuisine (noodles, rice, curry ...

... so Rob and Michelle took an evening stroll through the historic alleys and back streets of the Asakusa area in a light rain. Warmed by a couple of Wild turkeys it was just a beautiful time and among the sites was a glimpse of a Geisha entertaining her guests in a little restaurant, the lanterns around the temple area and the neon lights shining through the light rain.

Sleep was welcomed finally...

Sayonara dear friends, until tomorrow.

... get it eventhough I knew I would regret it when I get back home. And surely I did. Anyway, so with not much more on the agenda, we decided to head off early to the airport and check ourselve into the Qantas Lounge to make the most of it. It was a great idea to do so, because it took forever on the train to the airport and we didn't arrive all that much early anyway. We rested in the Qantas lounge, ate and drank till our hearts content. I believe there was some type of ...

... by them! Luckily Tokyo is a very safe city. Although obviously it's important to not get complacent, at no point did i feel unsafe in Japan and even in the tiniest streets there was always someone to help guide me back on track.

On the evening on the 28th September I moved to Shinagawa (slightly further out in the south west of Tokyo) and checked into the Shinagawa Prince Hotel which is less like a hotel and more like anything you could ever need in a ...

... 93) and I reunited after the 15 years break.
17pm: With my classmates, we moved to "Harajuku" station and had a brief visit to "Meiji Jingu".
19pm: Walked "takeshita street" (not a "take ****"btw ...

Went for meal last night with an American and Ozzy guy we met at our hostel, I didnt manage to eat any Sushi but eat some fried squid and seaweed! getting pretty good at using chopsticks now. Afterwards we headed into the party area of Tokyo and didnt get back to our hostel untill 3am, had a good night. This morning we were very tired after our night out but still had to get up early as it was time for us to leave. Got a bus from Tokyo ...

... and the long night made it easy to sleep away much of the four hour flight to San Francisco. From there it was just a short 11 hour flight over the Pacific to Tokyo. My first view of Japan was Mt. Fuji burning red with the setting sun. And since I would probably only recognize a half dozen landmarks in Japan, it was a great start. Customs was fine. Japan had none of the suspicion, fear, and cavity searches of Western customs officials. But they ...

... much all night, lloking at mental people, and brightly coloured stuff. We wanted to try something local, but I didn't want to jump straight into Sushi, so we found somewhere with chiken and rice. When we went in, we saw everone drinking Guiness, and realised it was an irish pub! A grossly inaccurate irish pub, because it was perfectly clean, and had r & b on. The next night We had no where to stay, and we spend a large part of the day trying to find somewhere, which was ...

... nimi, joten Mika esittelee itsaensa nykyaan Mikoksi. Myohaisen lounaan jalkeen (kello oli jo yli viiden) kavelimme Ginzan ostosalueelle ja kappailimme Sonyn esittelytiloissa. Siella oli kaikia uusia tuotteita ja yhdessa kerroksessa oli pleikkareita, joita sitten pelasimme hetken. Taman jalkeen ollimme jo niin vasyneitA, etta paatimme suunnistaa Shinjukuun. Olimme paattaneet yopya talla kertaa Shinjukun rakkaushotellissa. Shinjukun yksi osa on muutenkin Tokion punaisten lyhtyjen alue ...

If this had been Europe,I probably would have preferred the poor countries,providing a culturally different experience in comparison to England's modernity. But Asia is a vastly different culture anyway,and I enjoyed visiting the parts of it that I could see in comfort,and appreciating the more civilised places. Japan has many unique aspects,and I mentally ticked off the ...