The Prince Park Tower Tokyo Minato

... me into going out into the hallway for a little kimono party. We get kimono robes in our rooms and we all just hung out in the hall w/some beer and sake. Good times. We're calling it an early night because we're getting up at 4am to get to the fish market. Should be pretty cool. You can see all of my pics on Facebook.. it's easier than uploading them here as well. Hope you're enjoying it. Till tomorrow.

... sticklers for the rules. Phil's was 24.5 kilos and mine was 22.5 kilos although we're not exactly sure what the allowance is so we were working on worse case scenario of 20 kilos. The woman at the desk didn't seem to bat a Chinese eyelid so excess charge averted and full steam ahead. After checking in we went up to one of the restaurants and ate our "breakfast to go" which comprised of a ham sandwich , some relish to put on it (though I choice not too as it ...

... and bowing to me! I said I must have been a Japanese nurse in my second before last life! (I was an American one in Hawaii in my last one I am sure)! My cold has gone..which I thought was full blown flu..I had to hide the fact I was dying when I got to the airport..or they send you to the sick counter...then isolate you incase it is SARS! Sarah thought I needed the hospital..as I couldn't even speak or move off the bed last night..but a night in a safe environment and ...

... metro to Hibiya station and transfer to the Chiyoda line towards Yoyogiuehara station. It took us some time because like I said we were tryign to take a metro during rush hour in the most populated city in the world at 30 million in population. The trains would constantly show up with tons of people almost to their maximum capacity. There was one particular car that was packed to the point people were violating everyone's comfort zones and a guy had his cheek pressed ...

... we caught the bullet train from Tokyo there which was a nice journey, the countryside is very scenic. If for some unknown reason I'm ever back here again............... I'm gonna be sure to book longer. Nara Nara is a lil more laid back than Kyoto, we arrived and lucked up an got a very nice Ryokan with a little garden built into the middle of it. We could sit in our room and open the sliding paper doors and the garden was our view (apparently the french guy to the side ...

... Il rischio che si corre, se scoperti e` di essere espulsi dal paese per 10 anni....!!!! Quindi alternative ce ne sarebbero......e` l`energia mentale che manca. Ieri ho fatto un giro in scooter per la citta`con un simpaticissimo francese, un rappresentante di vini italiani, spagnoli e francesi, che lavora per le enoteche di Tokyo. S. voleva aiutarmi a trovare lavoro e mi presentava a tutti i piu` conosciuti maitres francesi, sommeliers e direttori di ristoranti e ...

Tokyo! What a place... We had three fantastic nights here, made all the better for having a Grant (or Guranto as they call him) and Takayuki (or Rookie as we call him) tour guides and translators. But on our first day it was just the two of us, taking on the subway system armed with three-word vocabularies (well, Shaz knew a few more than that). In pouring rain we went up Tokyo Tower, visited a nearby temple and cemetery site and then ...

... like it used to be in Europe. So it's interesting I guess. After the performance, the Japanese guy next to me says that it's old Japanese language, so even he struggles to make sense of it all. After kabuki, I go shopping for gifts and go back to the ryokan. Quick yakitori for dinner and a bit of a stroll around the Sensoji Temple before going to bed. It seems like ages since I last did that.

... point at Starbucks!! Also amused, as ever, by some of the stranger English language t-shirts you see here. Spotted in Chinatown, a girl in a t-shirt saying "Loser" on the front, and "I have my eyes shut tight" on the back. Must sleep now, though, as it's an early start tomorrow to try and beat the peak hour rush (a nightmare with a backpack) and get to Takayama as early as possible so I can make the arrangements for the rest of the trip. Up in 3.5 hours!!!