Tokyo update

Day Two (continued)

An update on our trip. It’s now 10pm and Ness and I are struggling to stay awake, so I’m posting another update. Also, while I have free Internet access it seems worthwhile. Tokyo’s Shinjuku district was amazing; brimming with life and in the first 3 hours we only counted 9 other Westerners — quite an experience. We didn’t feel at all threatened though, the Japanese are flawlessly polite and helpful! Some areas of the distrct are slightly tacky to begin with but when dusk fell, the feeling went from Margate at its worst to Vegas at its best. At lunchtime we plucked up the courage to try out are pidgeon Japanese phrases on an unsuspecting Italian restaurant — they spoke good English so we were thankfully saved from starvation!

Later on we thought we’d take a ride on the tube system, but after wandering around a bit we gave up on a bad jo, unable to fathom how to buy a ticket. Or rather, we worked out how to buy a ticket, but knowing which one we needed was the trouble! The machines had an ‘English’ mode, but only dealt in prices…and the only map which showed prices was in Japanese.

Instead we continued our exploration of Shinjuku district. It really is beautiful in places, we found a temple right in the middle of a built-up area and although it was covered in scaffolding and a little bit in need of a paint job it was stunning inside.

To top the evening off we decided to try out the bar in our hotel on the 45th floor. Absolutely staggering views, beautiful live Jazz and exquisite cocktails. What more could you possibly want on the first evening of your honeymoon?

More pictures at my Picasa Web — I’m saving them on there at lower quality to try and fit as many as possible on. I tried contacting them to get more space but they wouldn’t wave the US- only space upgrade! Boo!