Tokyo Inn Tokyo

... But what Sapporo is really about, is the Snow Festival. And I must confess, we did very, very little actual sightseeing whilst in Sapporo, as our three days there all boil down to the greatest weekend of snow related activities anyone could ever ask for. It was here I built - and subsequently destroyed - my first snowman. My first snowman army. It's amazing just how many hours, and even days, can be lost gallivanting about in fields upon fields of glorious snow up to your knees ...

... Z's, and thus I was treated to a reasonably happier female the remainder of the day. Braving the subway system proved an interesting experience, from the automated ticketing system to the crowded seating arrangements. It was equally surprising to find out that not only did the trains run on time, they ran approximately every five seconds. Give or take. Although we didn't get to see much of Tokyo beyond a superficial browsing of the general area on the way to the hostel, what we ...

... which lines of over a hour. I decided to give it a try and wait the hour to buy a box of donunts so I could be a good quest and bring my friends a nice omiyage. One nice thing about waiting is that they give out fresh hot donunts. Was it worth the wait? I loved them and my friends seemed to like them. My friend whom I am staying with has a 4 year old daughter and the last time I saw her, she cried and said "kowai"-scary when she saw me ...

... felt it deserved its own mention in the blog. Saturday, Derek, Mina, Sumiyo and I took a trip out to an onsen, in order to send me off relaxed and ready to conquer Beijing. After a terrific lunch we headed over to the onsen and spent a couple of hours wandering around the grounds in a yukata and bathing 'au natural' in the perfectly heated baths (boys and girls separate, of course). The true adventure of it all was not hanging around in a hot bath with a plethora ...

... s etiquette involves avoiding all eye-contact (any suggestions?). Given the Japanese personality, it has been really easy for us to stand out. Especially with the constant talking, singing, dancing, and running through the streets with our shirts off. My brother and Jeff are making quite the travel companions. I just hope we haven't offended too many of the good Japanese people.

... out if there was a particular reason for it all (religious day, national celebration?), but it was a great way to round off our time in Japan. It still being early, I was still in time to keep my telephone appointment with Jonny. It was great to speak to him: After three months spent entirely in each other's pockets, it's been rather strange not to have him around! [Edit- I've since discovered that our little chat cost in excess of £25 (US$50)!]

... a great time in her side, as there were only a few other women staying that night who were demure as mice (demure mice). My side, however, was full of late night revellers, who rocked (I use that term advisedly) in at 4am and arose again at 6am onwards, smoking. Nice. The sight was horrendous in the morning - there were little Japanese legs poking out of capsules everywhere. Some of the poor buggers hadn't even managed to crawl into their pods ...