tokyo: the update

so perhaps its about time i updated my blog and gave you voyeurs more information on my eastern adventure, to recount on this page all the stories i have already recounted to friends but to tackle it in a journalistic manner seems to suck the fun out of the holiday slightly, but i'll break it down and give you the brief re-caps of how it all went down but don't expect the full story in a travelogue stylee, if you know me, talk to me about it, if you don't know me then take in what i have to say and perhaps consider getting out there to see it for yourself.... it's amazing

in no particular order we took in the sights of Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku as well as making it a little further out to Ginza and Roponghi, we threw money away on the arcade games that we could figure out how to play, threw away some money on some that we couldn't quite figure out and after several failed attempts gave up trying to figure out where we bought the metal balls to play pachinko.

we struggled with the language, we struggled with directions, we struggled with the subway system and we struggled to find places where my vegetarian girlfriend would be able to eat.

despite japans non-understanding of vegetarianism and an abudance of non-translated menus we did manage to feed ourselves, whether it was taking chances on bento boxes from convenience stores or a particularly helpful and filling traditional noodle bar, we also searched high and low for a vegan cafe in Shibuya, ate out at Tokyo's Hard Rock Cafe and had the best italian of our lives in a small italian restaurant that didn't seem to actually employ any italian people but did import in tomatoes from italy every day



we tried to cover a wide spectrum of sight-seeing and activities to make the most of our time in Tokyo, local parks, visiting shrines, shopping at the stalls and shops of Harajuku, peeking in the bewildering boutique shops of Bathing Ape and Billioniares Boys Club, watching kabuki in a traditional theatre, using the Shibuya crossing, going to the Ghibli animation studio museum, wondering what we were doing at Tokyo Tower, taking a look at the imperial palace, clubbing in Atom and Womb and a day trip out and about round Mt Fuji which we very nearly missed.... there is probably loads i'm skimming over but i'm struggling to try and keep this brief

it's amazing, the neon tinged pictures don't do the place justice, it wasn't an easy holiday but it was a rewarding holiday full of unique experiences

and i haven't even mentioned the friday night we spent in a cat cafe (yep, a cafe, full of cats) instead of going to a transexual cabaret show.... or the amount of time we spent in kiddyland (too long, on multiple occasions).... or the bewildering selection of songs being played in Atom (i think that deserves a post of it's own).....

or.... ok, this was meant to be a brief post, i'm leaving it there





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