We started off the day with a complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Boy, I heard that the portions were small in Japan, but I wasn't expecting to see EVERYTHING in a bite-size portion! I did help myself to some Japanese rice and ham, along with kiwi yogurt, some eggs and sausage patties, and a small box of their version of Cocoa Krispies. I was like a kid in a candy shop at the breakfast buffet.

Since we were staying at the Hilton Tokyo Bay Resort Hotel, which was on Disney property, we were granted early entry access to the park. It was pretty funny how we figured it out - we were given a slip of paper with all Japanese character writing on it except for two words: Early Entry. We inquired at the front desk and were happy to show them our Disney tickets in order to receive the special Early Entry ticket.

After breakfast we headed over to the Disney Resort Line station so we could buy our monorail passes for the next two days. We decided that we would spend the majority of the day at DisneySea, and spend the night at Tokyo DisneyLand, considering that half of the rides in TDL were the same or similar to those at DisneyWorld in Florida, where Chris works.  We waited on line for the gates to open in the park, and to our amazement, once the gates opened, the guests were literally SPRINTING into and through the park. I've seen people run once the park opens, but these people looked like they were going to try out for Japan's track and field team at the Olympics!

The rides at DisneySea were pretty good, but I think my favorite part was watching the show "The Legend of Mythica". It was awesome - like a parade on water, there were floats, dancers, waterworks, kites, fire, and fireworks, and of course the Disney characters too. The show was about 45 minutes long, and not once did I feel bored or thought that it was just another cheesy Disney parade. This is definitely a show to see when you are there, and it only happens once a day. Even if you forget, you will have to notice how the park seems to empty out around showtime, and everyone is gathered around the lake in the middle, waiting for the show to begin.

We left DisneySea after 5 and made our way over to TDL by monorail. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before we were allowed access to the park (we bought the "after 6" discount tickets) The first thing we did was head towards Tokyo's version of Adventureland, and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. My friend Chris (who works in the Adventureland section at DisneyWorld) took a lot of pictures for comparison purposes, and he even posed with the girl who was working the treehouse. We continued through the park and went on almost everything before the park closed. We definitely accomplished a lot more than we had planned on. 

We headed back to the hotel, and mapped out the next day's route before crashing out for the night.

1. Japanese people are super, super stylish. I think the women look and dress BETTER as they get older. And the guys all look like they just stepped out of a GQ magazine. Our office was in Shibuya, and every guy who went to work in that area wore a suit that looked like it was painted on them. I mean, pretty girls are everywhere in every country...but I think in Japan, the guys know style better than the girls. Makes me never want to come to Japan anymore since I don't stand a chance!

2. The food is bland. Everything tasted bland, light, and the same. It was hot over the weekend when I was walking around taking pictures...and I must have had 10 or 15 bottles of ice tea, juice, etc. They all tasted the same. Other nice places we went to eat (that was "japanese cuisine) all had very light soups, vegetables, light broths. This is probably why everyone is very skinny in Japan.

3. The Japanese are very proudful. No one spoke English. It's like being in USA. Come to our country, respect our customs, speak our language! We stayed at the Westin in Ebisu, and the floor manager in the resturant spoke little English. I also stayed at the Sheraton, and the front desk clerk had trouble with "where's the fish market?"! And Hostesses in nice resturants around Ebisu could not understand "How long is the wait?".

I actually really liked this. I mean, everything is so stylish and clean and well kept...it was like they were the "Cool Club" and I didn't have a membership. The onus is on me to learn Japanese and get into their club. I will learn some Japanese for next time. * Oh, and I wasn't let into a "Japanese Only" Club...because I could only speak Chinese. That was pretty cool.

4. Japanese people really live their lives to the fullest extent. At nights, really nice resturants are populated by Japanese people. The tourist places I went to were populated by JAPANESE people. Even the hotels usually were full of JAPANESE people. It was like Japanese people really enjoyed their lifestyle. That was pretty cool.

5. When you're hungry, follow the well dressed Japanese female: I was told time and time again that to find good food, just look for well dressed Japanese women. They always know where to eat, and where the best food was. One night, my colleague and I went into a Thai/Japanese fusion place because we saw some pretty girls sitting in the outside tables. After we sat down, I looked around and whispered over with shock and amazement..."this place has 23 well dressed women sitting at various tables and just one guy who looks like he was forced to come"...not even kidding. 23 women eating together and 1 guy. Scoreboard!

And I also think that the 23 women were all taken. Just that their bfs or husbands were still at the office paying for their Thai/Japanese fushion meal.

6. I still think Taipei has the best nightlife in Asia...maybe it's because I know it better. But, definitely one thing is for certain. Taipei nightlife centers around women under 30, while Japanese nightlife centers around women over 30. If you walk around the 101 district in Taipei on Friday/Saturdy nights, you'll see mostly 20ish to 30ish girls in pretty skimpy clothing. If you walk around Roppongi Hills on Friday/Saturday night, you'll see a lot of well dressed older women in gowns, kimonos, dresses alongside super sharp looking men. There are still the younger crowds, but there are definitely more older, sophisticated men/women as well.

7. And there are no trash cans in Japan. Nowhere. Not even in the public restrooms. I think people just internally combust their trash.

More to come...

- Ginza

- Kabuki-za

- Coffee shop scene

- Upscale shopping

- Trip to Saty with Yasu.

- I lost my bag in the store for two hours and amazingly no one stole it!

The next morning we woke up early and went to the Edo Tokyo Museum, which was very impressive. They had everything from Jomon-era pottery and Samurai swords to an amazing exhibit on Japan's role in World War II. There was a whole section dedicated to the artwork of school children in Hiroshima during the time of the bombing which was paired with a documentary that was playing on a screen next to it. This had an overwhelming effect on me, and actually caused my eyes to tear up. I really must emphasize that this museum is fantastic and exceptionally comprehensive when it comes to covering the entire span of Japan's history. All of the exhibits are very impressive and I highly recommend visiting this museum while visiting Tokyo.

After we were done exploring the museum several hours later, we decided to check out the Tokyo Dome area. This turned out to be yet another big highlight of our trip and a huge cultural revelation. It was here that we uncovered several traits unique to the 21st century Japanese. Although the Japanese are often stereotyped as serious workaholics that spend their lives consumed by their work, it is places like the Tokyo Dome where you realized that they have a very fun-loving side as well. As we approached the dome, we were surrounded by hundreds of people in line to go see a baseball game that was taking place. There were loud voices, laughter and a general sense of chaos as a rollercoaster plunged down to street level seemingly out of nowhere and then went up again, disappearing into a tunnel that happened to go through a building. There were also ferris wheels, haunted houses and countless other rides, comic/anime/manga stores which fused together with a large shopping structure called "LaQua" and a large outdoor food court. This area is truly a play ground for both young and old. I loved it! I must have spent at least 45 minutes browsing through a large store dedicated to the art and movies of Hayao Miyazaki. They had everything from boxed dvd sets to erasers, pencils and t-shirts with characters from Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castles, as well as his older anime feature films. We then went on a couple of rides, including a rollercoaster that simulated earthquakes called "Geopanic" and the haunted house.

I do not recall seeing much about this area in the tourist guides I had bought in order to prepare for this trip, but it was definitely a place worth seeing. We spent hours on the rides, browsing through the shops and wandering the Baseball Hall of Fame. Prior to this experience, I had no idea that the Japanese were baseball fanatics. It was interesting to see the different types of people attending this sporting event- people of all ages, wearing sporty attire, suits and ties, and even kimonos! As we observed the crowds in somewhat of a bewildered state, sumo fighters zipped by on bicycles. It all felt very surreal.

As the sun began to set we decided to go on the ferris wheel, which I regretted soon after getting on. This was by far the tallest ferris wheel I had ever seen and, considering that I not only have a severe phobia of heights but also vertigo problems, it turned out to be the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life. To make matters worse, there was a little radio in our compartment, which Nicole and Alex were fiddling with to the point where it was extremely annoying, but even worse- once they realized how scared I was they started pushing the compartment so that we were rocking back and forth hundreds of feet above the Tokyo skyline!

Afterward, we were all pretty hungry so we decided to try an Indian restaurant that caught our eye. I had noticed that there were a lot of Indian people in Tokyo. In fact, this was the largest other ethnic group in this city that I had observed besides the Japanese, so I figured the food at this restaurant would be pretty authentic. I was right! In fact, the Indian food at this restaurant was better than a lot of the food I have eaten at Indian restaurants in California. After our meal, we were exhausted so we just got back on the subway and went back to Iidabashi and pretty much straight to bed. Yasu had been waiting for us because he had bought some manju (Japanese sweets) from a bakery down the street that he wanted to share with us. This was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

After an exhausting trip to Okinawa the ride home begins.

Arrived in Tokyo having had 0 hours sleep that night and on the back of a night bus the previous night so I had had little sleep. Did manage to see Mt Fuji popping out of the clouds from the plane though which ticked that box. I got to the airport, through immigration and I got my stamp, and am well and truely practised in the art of immigration card filling in and having my picture taken. Got to the baggage carousel and my bag came off, noticed that one of the pockets was open that had not been before I got on the plane, but nothing had been taken, but then I noticed a white powder in one of my other pockets everywhere. I did not know what this was and paniced but decided in my sound state of mind to go through customs as if everything was ok. Played it cool and got through with my heart beating and all sorts of crazy stories going through my head about backage handlers putting drugs in my bag, as several cases in the news in Australia claimed. This seemed like the only logical answer until I later slept and thought that it was the pocket I had had washing powder in whilst travelling Australia.

Had clear instructions to get to the hostel but got to the train station and was confronted with my first problem, everything is written in Japaneese and I do not speak Japaneese, decided I needed a coffee to pep me up and get me through it after some wandering about and question asking I got on the train. I first though of Japan was that it looked very much like the Picadilly line from Heathrow, very green and suburban. Then the coffee made me feel sick, probably mixed with the lack of sleep. Had to change train and managed it after some more question asking and finger crossing. Got to the station and successfully navigated my way to the Sakura Hostel, but because it was so early I could not check in. Went for a walk around the area and visit a temple near by and some gardens which were nice and an easy step in to a bit of Japaneese culture. Checked in and fell asleep straight away although jumped up 2 hours later in a sleepy haze and was sight seeing again before I had properly woken and new what was going on. Just played it cool for the rest of the day trying to get a grip.

After 13 hours sleep I was just about ready to go sightseeing again. Got on a boat and went round a very nice park and had a little lie down in the sun. Then planned to go to some entertainment district or something on a man made island. After an hour of walking around most of it being in an underground labarynth I returned back to the hostel. I refueled and went back out again and headed to the place with the big zebra crossing in all directions which was pretty cool and had a walk around admiring the neon.

After 12 hours sleep I headed off to visit the Imperial Palace and suffered from the same old story of struggling with my Japaneese, I managed to get there but did not really have a clue where the entrance or anything was, most parts seemed closed but headed to the East Gardens and admired some Japaneese architecture there which was nice. Then hopped on the train to the Shinjuku district which has all the sky scrapers and went up the Tokyo Metropolitain Government Tower to the top for free and took in sights of Tokyo although Tokyo does not seem to have any distinctive landmarks. Only spent 10 mins up there and headed back home.

Took a trip the following day to visit the Tokyo Edo Museum which is about the history of Tokyo, pretty boring and all in Japaneese so whizzed round and then went up to Akihabara, which is the electronics area. There are so many electrical goods it is unbelievable and puts Tottenham Court Rd to shame. Picked up some noise neutralisng headphones which was cool.

The next day was supposed to be a trip to Kyoto. I had my bus ticket booked and left the hostel with pleanty of time. The train took a little longer than I had anticipated but got to the train station the bus departed from with 30 mins to spare. It was not long enough. After walking on circles, visiting 3 bus stops, having to run around Tokyos biggest train station, going in the wrong direction, going to the subway station and not the overground station and taking a massive fall, I missed the bus by 3 minutes and being typical Japaneese, it had left on the dot. This had all taken place with my big back pack and smaller ruck sack whilst running in flip flops in very humid 30+ temps, I was sweaty through. I got to the front of the counter and after some gesturing I found there was not another bus today and that I would have to go the following day, fortunately I was not charged for this. Decided I had had enough of Japan for the day so ate a McDonalds and watched American crime shows all day.

We arrived at Tokyo Station and managed to get ourselves on the right train to go towards the bus terminal. We checked in at the counter and waited around for our tour to be called. The morning's itinerary consisted of visiting the Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace, and the Asakusa Kannon Temple. I enjoyed visiting the Tokyo Tower, especially since I have never been to the Eiffel Tower. I took a lot of photos from different angles, and purchased a small replica of the tower as a souvenir.

Next, we headed to the walls of the palace. I was a little disappointed with this part because all we did was stand on the outskirts of the walls as the tour guide told us some history about the palace. I was expecting to at least get a tour of the grounds or get closer to the house itself, but we couldn't even see the building from the street. Then we headed uptown to Asakusa, and visited the Kannon Temple. We were given 45 minutes to explore, and I took this opportunity to be snap happy with my camera. In the midst of our exploration, Chris noticed a parachute-type ride in the northwest, so we took a walk over to where  it was and we discovered a small amusement park. Chris, the avid coaster enthusiast, went inside the park and paid to ride their only roller coaster. I sat under a tree at the corner and analyzed the train map, trying to figure out how we were going to get from our ending point of the tour to where we wanted to go in the afternoon. When we got back to the bus, we overhead a couple asking the tour guide if they could leave the tour early because they wanted to see something in the neighborhood. Chris and I really did not have an interest in seeing the Tasaki Pearl place, so we also asked if we could depart the tour. The tour guide gave us directions to the metro, and we took the subway to the train, and made our way towards Tokyo Dome City.

We spend the entire afternoon in Tokyo Dome City, and probably would have spent most of the evening there too if  I had planned in advance to get tickets to the ball  game that night. I really enjoyed TDC, it had everything in one location and had something for everyone. In addition to the baseball stadium, there was also a park, a mall, a food court, bowling, and LaQua, the amusement park. First we walked around, taking everything in as we planned our afternoon. We decided to eat lunch at the nearby KFC (oh how healthy!), where I discovered melon soda! How delicious! We bought a ride bracelet and set out to start going on rides. The two rides I definitely wanted to go on were the big roller coaster called Thunder Dolphin, and the centerless Ferris Wheel called the big O. Thunder Dolphin went behind TDC, giving great signts of the city before descending through a hole in the wall (literally) and continuing to pass through the center of the Big O. It was an awesome ride! The other thing that impressed me was that in each of the cars on the Ferris Wheel, there was an mp3 player attached to the wall, and you could choose music from a list of 10 songs to play during your ride.

Finally, we left Tokyo Dome City just as the crowds started showing up for the game. We took the train back to our hotel, and decided to stop to ride the ferris wheel that was one stop away from the Disney Resort, and was the same one we saw from Disney the night before. I got some great shots of Tokyo Bay and the city skyline. We then went to Ikspiari and ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (the 4th one I've been to!)  before heading back to our hotel for the night.

In Japan there’s this twist on gift-giving where you give a friend a gift and it raises your standing in the community, so to speak. If you’re in someone’s home and you say how lovely that painting is, they’ll try to give it to you. The downside of this is that the receiver of the gift is then expected to return the favor, and even top it. This can have severe consequences if you’re poor. Or, in a very extreme case, if you’re drowning, they won’t save your life because they don’t want to burden you with returning such a huge gift.

The only good thing about this is that, as a gaijin (the polite translation is foreigner, don’t ask for more than that), I was exempt from this tradition. I wasn’t even expected to know about it, which suited me just fine.

And what was this giant gift I would have been unable to return? A night with a geisha!

Okay now, a geisha is not a prostitute. She had to remove her kimono when we got into the hot tub--or whatever it’s called--to finish the massage, but I was the gentleman I always was. . . I mean, am. Take a break from your usual gutter.

But check this out: she played both piano and violin. She knew all my violin requests, and then it turned out she was one of those memory players: she only had to hear a song once and could play it on her keyboard. She did Kat Parsons’ “Miss Me,” Adrina Thorpe’s “Did You Think,” Libbie Schrader’s “Come When I Call,” Killarney Star’s “Signature,” Marina V’s “Underneath Your Sky,” Arden Kaywin’s “Over You,” Tiff Jimber’s “Doin’ Fine,” and most impressively Riddle the Sphinx’s “Lullaby.” That was almost more fun than the massage. . .

I was not originally planning on going to Japan.  Along the way I met quite a few people who had been and they all said that I have to go if I had the chance.  I was flying through Tokyo on my way home anyway so it was just a matter of changing my flight dates to add the visit in to my plans.

My first impression of Japan was calm organization.  I could not believe how quiet and calm the streets of Tokyo were as I walked to my hostel in the early evening.  The slow moving horn-free cars, eco councious bikers, and traffic light abiding pedestrians, painted a much differnt picture of Asia than I had seen anywhere I had been so far.  The extreem cleanliness is also imeadiately evident.  The bathroom in my hostel was as clean as you would find in a five star hotel.  To put it plainly, the Japanese do absolutely everything better than anyone else.  Supiriority is in your face everywhere you look.  From layout of the giant mega cities to the care put into the tiny details of food preperation and everything inbetween, it is all undiniably better.  It would be impossible to list everything that makes more sence in Japan but a small example that I like is the toilets.  To save on space ond water many toilets have a sink and facet attached to the top.  When you flush the toilet the water refilling the tank first goes through the facet so you can wash your hands without waisting any water.  Brilliantly simple.  So Japanese.

At a whopping 35 million, greater Tokyo is the largest urban area in the world.   It is not really just one city but rather a  comglomerate of cities that have merged over time.  Each area is quite diiferent from the other but one common thread is high fashion.　You are never far from a high end shopping district packed to the brim with magazine cover look-alikes eager to be cutting edge.  The fashion is very diverve but always intentional.  The girls almost all wear high heels, short skits and high socks to foccus your attenition to the legs.  Every warm blodded man in the word loves that stuff.  I believe they direct the attention to their legs since they generally don`t have much to shown off up top.  Either way they know their assests and the clothes they wear acentuatele them perfectly.  Honest to god I think I saw the 10,000 hottest girls in my life during the first hour of strolling the streets of Tokyo.

The early morning daily fish market is the largest in the world.  I caught the first train at 5:00am to get there early with a couple Aussies I met in the hostel.  Giant tuna flash frozen with dry ice dominated the scene.  The market must have been the size of several football fields but it was difficult to tell while getting lost in the maze of little shops. 

We left NY on Saturday and arrived in Tokyo on a rainy Sunday afternoon. We took Japan Airlines. While the food was good, the seats were a little uncomfortable, even for economy standards. We were lucky enough not to have a row behind us, but the seats were narrow and did not leave a lot of room for flexibility during a 14 hour flight. After landing, we had to go through customs, wait for our baggage, and find the bus area. By the time we found the shuttle bus to take us to the hotel and actually checked in, it was already after 8. We decided to avoid going back out in the rain and instead take it easy by exploring the hotel.

When I first came to Japan to teach english I was told I would be living in  town called Hon Atsugi. 

Upon my arrival I was greeted with a small yet hustling and bustling town with lots of shops, resturants and cafes.

My apartment was located nearby the Sagami river.

In summer time this town comes alive with the Atsugi Ayu (sweet fish) summer festival lots of stalls line the river selling food, drink and snacks.  At the end of the festival there is huge fireworks display.

In spring time cherry blossom (Sakura) line the banks of the Sagami river making it a great location for a picnic to enjoy the spring season.

In Autumn all the leaves start to change colour and the weather become comfortable.

In winter you can see the nearby mountains covered in snow.

I don't think I could have lived in more a diverse, fun and exciting town.

After another wonderful flight in business class, we arrived in Tokyo on Saturday for 4 days.

It was very good to stay with a local, which provided for many opportunities, especially dining, that one would not be able to have otherwise.

The weather also managed to be better than in Hong Kong.
Tokyo is certainly a crowded place, and since we managed to visit every stop on the main subway line, we experienced the crowds a lot.

It was great to come back to Japan after nearly 7 years, it truly is the land of courtesy and efficiency.  The trains run smoothly to the second, people line up patiently for everything from escalators to taxis.  A very trusting society, where you can leave your umbrella in front of a store, or your briefcase on the top rack on the train, and it will still be there later.

Tokyo was a fun experience, we visited all the major areas and had some great food too.   Even if lacking in major tourist attractions, it is a great place to people watch, and get lost in the crowds that always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere (most likely work!).

Millions of people have been to Tokyo and there's nothing I can add to it. It's crowded, it's fascinating. Two things, though: first, drunk people LOVE cherry blossoms. People love cherry blossoms. I didn't think I loved them til I saw them, but hanami is infectious. And apparently the most popular way to celebrate is to drink.

Secondly, karaoke there is amazing. We went to one place for my birthday that had the best bathrooms I saw anywhere in Japan (Toto toilets with all the bells and whistles, including the air freshener and water sound functions,  those great airplane jet hand dryers, and an array of perfumes, cosmetics, and other toiletries), and we saw the waiters picking up one woman who was passed out in the hallway and bringing her back to her karaoke room. Now that's service.

I am slightly embarrassed to say this, but the most glorious moment in my trip so far, was shared with a throng of teenage girls. Teenage J-Rock fangirls, to be specific.

So I arrived at Shibuya O-East, feeling nervous that I was going to see my favourite Japanese singer in person. I was so nervous, that I almost backed out. In the train, I had put on my headphones and tuned in to Muse, reminding myself that I've seen international acts who're THAT MUCH bigger, and didn't drop a sweat.

So ok, I got to the venue half an hour late, was asked which band I had come to watch, surrendered my camera with much reluctance, and slipped into the hall.

The performing hall was HUGE; I was anticipating something the size of Eggman, but this place could easily fit a thousand people - a thousand dolled up, underage fangirls, at that. "Shit, there's no way I can deny being a fangirl now", lingered in my consciousness. After a few moments of sheepish grinning to self, I thought, "What the heck, I'm really enjoying this!" From then on, it was stand back, relax, and watch pretty boys in elaborate costume. It turned out that I had missed a band that I wasn't there to watch, and my band was supposed to be performing in an hour, said the man at door. It was alright at first, novel experience and all, but I got so bored at some point that I headed to the bar and had a few whisky waters (水割り, it said on the menu). Man at door had lied, and my band was last to come on.

But I was grinning from ear to ear when Daisuke stepped onstage. And I can't narrate the rest of it, having been in a trance-like state - but it was good, yup it was good. Thing is, most Japanese bands I've watched are (except for some of the previous visual/oshare-kei bands that I watched today).

So yeah, all in all a pointless entry, no pictures due to surrendered camera, but I just wanted to share my excitement, or at least what's left of it.

Mike - now I know how you must have felt in the L'arc concert. Mad stuff!

In Tokyo is the market and temple; after another train ride you can get to Tokyo Tower, Hard Rock Café.

Calvary Chapel is Japan’s largest Christian church (1,000 members) I just took one photo and flash off so not to disturb the service and it is a bit blurry, very nice church!