After the delayed blog entry about my time in Sydney, I have finally gotten around to writing a bit about Tokyo for you. The week was amazing from start to finish. We arrived at Narita Airport at some ungodly hour of the morning, but were still met by three smiling faces, our old friends tk and sa & his charming girlfriend. After lots of mutual back slapping and exchanging of Japanese expletives on our arrival we adjourned for a quick beverage before setting off for the countryside for the day. tk and sa had the whole week planned out for us and we are very grateful to them for that. So off we went in convoy along the toll-infested highways and byways of Tokyo out to Hakone National Park where we would spend the rest of the day relaxing in one of the region’s many hot springs. This was the way to relax after a long flight, chatting with friends whilst soaking in Jacuzzis, rose baths, green tea baths and even sake baths! That evening we ate out at a lovely Japanese restaurant before going back to our hotel for some Japanese beer and a civilised game of cards. Well, semi-civilised… …there was a lot of burping!

The next day we left the hotel and headed off for Kamakura to see the town and then on to see the Daibutsu. That afternoon we headed back to the City where we would spend the rest of our week. After checking into our hotel we spent some time in Ginza searching for a bank that would accept my Cirrus card. Japanese Pancakes were the order of the day to line our stomachs for a few more tins of Asahi!

On the Tuesday, our Japanese friends had to attend the office (I couldn’t bring myself to type the W-word) leaving rtm, mec and I free to go to go to Tokyo Disneyland for the day. Hey… I’d never been to Disneyland before and I had a thoroughly fantastic time. I hope one day to bring my little sister to Disneyland, but perhaps I’ll go to one a bit closer to home*.

The rest of the week was fairly relaxing. Apart from catching up with friends and sampling the local cuisine, the only other touristy thing we engaged in was an afternoon bus tour with ta.

Our last night in Tokyo was one of the most memorable of the whole trip: a lovely meal with the guys and their colleagues. Much alcohol was consumed that night and when the guys suggested sampling some Japanese-style karaoke… it seemed like a fantastic idea. Photos of me singing many rock classics are not available anywhere on the Internet. Thank goodness!

Once again I would like to thank tk & his father, sa & N and ta for giving us a wonderful week in Tokyo.