Shibuya Tobu Tokyo

... we went to this street ( Kappabashi ) and indeed...for every chef in the world...all the things they want. Knifes and cutlery and crockery, even a specialty we saw was the way they prepared skewers. In small BBQ style grills. You name it, they make it. Fantastic street if you wanna start your own restaurant. ( I actually know people who did once ) So we had a meal and a couple of drinks and went back to the hostel. ( Thank God we did not come in too late ...

... district (on the west) and the raucous nightlife district of Kabukicho (on the east).<br><br>I'm sure everyone has heard of Harajuku, the supposed 'home of fashion' in Tokyo. The area is filled from street to street with anything your heart desires, some of which is actually quite nice. But I wont give Japanese teenagers credit for their fashion choices. 'Emo' or whatever it is has taken this place by storm and a lot of the people hanging around look exactly like the kids you'd find ...

... me the most was the enormous effort put into the creation of the statues. Only 70 artists were commissioned to make them over a period which took 100 years. One Hundred Years. No wonder its a world heritage site.<br><br>Later, we headed towards Kiyomizudera, or the 'Pure Water Temple'. The narrow road leading up to the temple was still bustling with people, and was lined with shops selling everything from Star Wars masks to Traditional Japanese fans. Squeezing through the immense ...

... busts down the door and throws his bags against the wall - or stomps around getting ready in the mornings for that matter. Perhaps most disturbingly of all, however, was the hostel's resident Australian transvestite, who, despite making no real effort to look like anything resembling a woman other than a miniskirt and occasional tank top, seemed quite incapable of preventing her gums from flapping wildly all through every movie anyone in the hostel ever sat down to watch.<br ...

... cereal in our supermarkets, I would buy it. Unfortunately, however, I had already eaten.<br><br>One flight later, I awoke to find ourselves landing in Narita as well as an extremely snappy, sleep deprived Rachael. After surviving the immigration department and the long walks throughout the fittingly humble, efficient airport it was time to catch the shinkansen into Tokyo, which, was a surprisingly long trip. The benefit to this, however, was that Rachael finally managed to catch ...

... of English books in Japan. I usually buy about 10,000 yen of books and I almost walked out without buying anything but I couldn't do it (like going to movie theater and not buying popcorn) so I bought 2 travel guides for Laos and Cambodia. For lunch, I went to the Mexican restaurnt that I like and had tacos. One of the most popular shops in Shinjuku is the Krispy Kreme donunt shop which opened last year and quickly became super ...

... order to even reach buddha's impressively elongated earlobes). Needless to say, it was a very nice outing (to be sure) but I could not help but wonder how long it would take them to erect a midget statue next to the buddha for comparative purposes. Thursday and Friday were mainly spent preparing my final presentation for my class on Sunday, although Derek did take me out to an amazing lunch on Friday afternoon--I really have nothing more to say about it but I ...

... of the usual big-city randoms (drifters, beggars, street performers, drunk guys yelling stuff, etc). The people here tend to mind their own business, are extremely apologetic (e.g., the hostel receptionist who realized my bed had no sheets), and very willing to help out when you're in need of it. We still haven't figured out how people flirt here, given that a large part of the ...

... hotel), and the roads were clearly being closed off for some kind of public event. After a bit more shopping we got back to the hotel and enquiries showed that there was a big firework display starting soon after dark. So we grabbed a hasty dinner from a nearby restaurant (again, lovely- I'm really going to miss Japanese cuisine), and we got to a main street in time to catch nearly the whole jaw dropping hour long display. I've yet to ...

... woman as in the film .... The view was amazing, even in the rain. The antithesis of the Park Hyatt is the Capsule Hotel. In particular, the Akakusa Capsule Hotel, where we decided to brave the local salarymen and try it out. It is one of the few Capsule Hotels that will accept women, although in a much smaller pink coloured section. Upon checking in men receive little blue boxers and a green cotton robe. Women get spiffing pink pyjamas. M-L ...